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What is the most powerful flying bug? This poll is closed. |
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| 🦋 |
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15 | 3.71% |
| 🦇 |
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115 | 28.47% |
| 🪰 |
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12 | 2.97% |
| 🐦 |
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67 | 16.58% |
| dragonfly |
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94 | 23.27% |
| 🦟 |
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14 | 3.47% |
| 🐝 |
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87 | 21.53% |
| Total: | 404 votes | ||
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fanfic insert posted:Swedish state media has an article with a video of an "expert" from our military academy where he implies Iran sponsored/created the jihadists in Afghanistan The big problem with the Iraq war is that eventually, occasionally, you’d have reporters ask questions and push back. that problem has been solved now, so it’s time to get nuts and see how far they can push it
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Aug 23, 2023 07:08
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Is Ukraine really losing? Is there no hope left? How can you know this, my media says everything is just fine. Are you sure this thread is not full of Russian propaganda posters?
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Aug 23, 2023 07:17
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fizzy posted:- “These Ukrainian troops are being sent to do something we’d never do—launching a counteroffensive without total air superiority,” said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. I can’t believe ukranians aren’t furious with the west and NATO lol. we’re stringing them along so hard
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Aug 23, 2023 07:19
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fizzy posted:Good news for Ukraine - Ukraine has made progress in its shifting of goal-posts and counteroffensive against Russian forces simply by proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy What's important to understand about my drinking "problem" is that my liver has not yet completely disintegrated, and therefore everything is fine, and there is nothing unhealthy about a 750ml daily gin ration.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:20
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Winning? Losing? Irrelevant, what matters is still attacking even when you're outnumbered, outgunned and have no hope of so-called 'victory'. That's the real victory and why Ukraine has already won several hundred thousand times.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:23
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you have to pay the price to know the cost
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Aug 23, 2023 07:29
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BearsBearsBears posted:There's no such thing as a Nobel prize in economics, it's the "Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences". It's like the difference between "cheese" and "cheese product". Ice cream vs frozen treat
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Aug 23, 2023 07:29
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It must be very unsettling for someone who's been following the narrative this whole time to see this sudden burst of negativity and defeatism in the US media despite no apparent real change in the conditions on the battlefield.. Like if you accept that Ukraine is still inflicting disproportionate casualties on the Russian army and exchanging artillery in a 4:1 ratio and the Russian state / army is a month away from collapse it's hard to square an admittedly unexpected lack of progress on the ground with the sea change that has happened with the way people are talking about this conflict and how it might end.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:40
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Slavvy posted:Winning? Losing? Irrelevant, what matters is still attacking even when you're outnumbered, outgunned and have no hope of so-called 'victory'. That's the real victory and why Ukraine has already won several hundred thousand times. I know this was a cheeky post, but wanted to throw my two cents in as well economically, ukraine has no real future even if they are miraculously able to pull off their military objectives - all the aid they’re receiving is in the form of debt. one of the rare mainstream pieces on this, honestly maybe the only one I’ve seen, was from politico https://www.politico.eu/article/european-union-ukraine-war-debt-crisis-aid-loans-18-billion/amp/ quote:European leaders haven’t been shy about trumpeting their €18 billion in loans to Ukraine in 2023 as a tool for“maintain[ing] the macro-financial stability of the country.”For European Council President Charles Michel, such aid shows that Brussels is “very committed to supporting Ukraine as much as we can.” of course this article presumes that the west wants to see Ukraine succeed with a debt relief program - that’s…not it at all. the goal is to force ukraine to privatize and, as some poster put it really well sometime ago, make a Delaware on the Black Sea. this plan may not work anymore though, or it will be limited in scope. as the counter offensive dies out, Russia may go back on their offensive and actually have some measure of success if they do another mobilization and shore up their annexed borders or…go further? it may actually make more sense to have peace talks with Russia now because the frontlines could freeze instead of whatever may happen next year. regardless, ukraine is debt trapped for generations to come and whatever is left of it will be hell on earth as inflation stays rampant, labor laws get struck out and most likely, political opposition remains suppressed to make any meaningful reforms. I guess you could call that winning if you’re blackrock
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Aug 23, 2023 07:41
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Ihmemies posted:Is Ukraine really losing? Is there no hope left? How can you know this, my media says everything is just fine. Are you sure this thread is not full of Russian propaganda posters? depends on what you call 'winning'. the ukrainian win condition of restoring all territory to pre-2014 borders was always an enormously long shot, but if you assume that the objective is simply the survival of the ukrainian state as a nominally independent entity (as will no doubt be the established truth once the dust settles, because nobody in the west has been explicit about this stuff) then that seems quite achievable. the nice thing about shutting down any critical discussion is that you can keep the war goals extremely vague and then decide afterwards that, in fact, it was all worth it. this is similar to the "finnish victory in the winter war" narrative.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:42
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the biggest take away from all this is that the west have learned nothing from Iraq and they are the devil
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Aug 23, 2023 07:44
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meanwhile there's more than enough indications to justify a belief that ukraine's big sponsors actively blocked peace talks which would've secured such a survival; this will be conveniently forgotten, because the documentation is a bit vague and only a few marginal guys like naftali bennett have been willing to put their names to it
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Aug 23, 2023 07:46
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Al-Saqr posted:the biggest take away from all this is that the west have learned nothing from Iraq and they are the devil 
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Aug 23, 2023 07:52
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dk2m posted:I know this was a cheeky post, but wanted to throw my two cents in as well Subscription-based proxy war Al-Saqr posted:the biggest take away from all this is that the west have learned nothing from Iraq and they are the devil Same as it ever was
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Aug 23, 2023 07:52
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Al-Saqr posted:the biggest take away from all this is that the west have learned nothing from Iraq and they are the devil what we learned from iraq is that you can manufacture consent for a war on false pretenses and then when the whole facade crumbles, you can just quietly walk away and say “hmm, hindsight is 20/20!” while millions of lives and destroyed from the upheaval. we also learned that you can demolish civilian infrastructure at will, including things like water treatment plants, and when the local population suddenly starts an insurgency in response, it was inevitable and there was nothing we could have done about it
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Aug 23, 2023 07:52
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Seems like the big takeaway from Iraq was that everyone is surely just as dumb and clumsy as the US and therefore the blowback could be harnessed as a weapon Turns out that wasn't the case and now nobody in Ukraine really feels like doing an insurgency
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Aug 23, 2023 07:55
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well you can attack civilian infrastructure but you can also then call it an unforgivable war crime when someone else does it imagine realising that nothing seems to matter and no one remembers anything past a week and instead of feeling dread you just kinda rub your hands together and cackle. Congratulations you're a western political advisor.
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Aug 23, 2023 07:56
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Ihmemies posted:Is Ukraine really losing? Is there no hope left? How can you know this, my media says everything is just fine. Are you sure this thread is not full of Russian propaganda posters? ah but have you considered that Ukraine can fly drones into buildings in Moscow?
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Aug 23, 2023 08:06
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Frosted Flake posted:I have no idea why they think they can run the same playbook on China but I've seen every indication that they do. My hope is that Taiwanese politicians are smarter. Culturally, it seems they've been unable to cook up an insane nationalist identity with the same ideological effect, so that helps. I think they mostly have the liberal part of the coalition in Taiwan, and I don't think they'll be able to steer their country towards destruction by declaring independence since the US has been quite openly crowing about using them as a proxy battlefield and I don't see what's in it for them. I think the nationalist ultras in Taiwan are much less numerous/powerful than in E Europe, and the liberals are more conscious of what they have to lose economically. US is doing its best to start that war though
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Aug 23, 2023 08:06
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The big takeaway from Iraq is that the US used to be bad, but became the good guys by supporting Ukraine in that country’s brave resistance against Russia’s illegal,unprovoked, immoral, destined-to-lose war. How did a country as bad as the US used to be end up making the right moral choice here? I don’t know but I sure am grateful. America has learned and grown a lot, and I’m here for it.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:14
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Ihmemies posted:Is Ukraine really losing? Is there no hope left? How can you know this, my media says everything is just fine. Are you sure this thread is not full of Russian propaganda posters? Your media is, in fact, not saying that everything is fine. A Chronology of the Great Pivot - A Tale Told in Headlines 15 August 2023 Washington Post - ‘A jumble of tendons, bones and muscles’: Mine injuries haunt doctors in Ukraine The Guardian - Bribes and hiding at home: the Ukrainian men trying to avoid conscription 16 August 2023 David "Ukraine is Winning the Artillery War" Axe (Forbes contributor) - Ukraine’s M-55S Tanks Weren’t Supposed To See Heavy Fighting. The Russians Had Other Ideas. Washington Post - A disastrous strategic failure has Ukrainians discussing politics again 17 August 2023 Washington Post - U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal ABC News - Ukraine taking heavy casualties 10 weeks into its counteroffensive Politico EU - As Ukraine counteroffensive gets bogged down, it’s back to the drawing board 18 August 2023 MSNBC - What a NATO official’s surprising statement reveals about the war in Ukraine New York Times - Belief or Betrayal? Ukraine’s Conscientious Objectors Face Hostility Radio Free Europe - Amid Corruption Scandals And Mounting Problems, Ukraine Vows To Shake Up The Military Enlistment System. It's A Tough Task. David "Ukraine is Winning the Artillery War" Axe (Forbes contributor) - Ukraine Needs Every Brigade It Can Get. So Where Is The 115th Mechanized? CNN - Ukraine’s recent focus on Crimea draws skepticism from corners of the Biden administration 19 August 2023 The Guardian - ‘They said my husband had died – but there wasn’t a body’: The families hunting for Ukraine’s missing soldiers 20 August 2023 Wall Street Journal - Why Russia’s War in Ukraine Could Run for Years Financial Times - US grows doubtful Ukraine counteroffensive can quickly succeed The Economist - Ukraine’s sluggish counter-offensive is souring the public mood Washington Post - Ukraine running out of options to retake significant territory 21 August 2023 Washington Post - Ukraine’s hopes for maximal victory look remote 22 August 2023 New York Times - Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say David "Ukraine is Winning the Artillery War" Axe (Forbes contributor) - Ukraine’s Powerful 82nd Brigade Has A Serious Weakness: Its Lightweight Mineclearing Vehicles
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Aug 23, 2023 08:17
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Frosted Flake posted:Beyond the obvious stuff about Full Spectrum Dominance and Network-Centric Warfare, I think that if you really examined root causes there are a couple things, and we can chart them based on the books that have come out in the past ten years or so for very small professional audiences. These are the belief that the US can achieve decisive, strategic results against peer opponents through: I tried and failed to come up with additional commentry. Agree in full. However voicing all this is akin to burning a koran in the middle of a mosque during prayer time in ramadan so I suspect there won't be an institutional course correction without a generational shift. And since we're getting failkids raised by failkids... well. Maybe in a new institution in some kind of successor state in another century. It's all a monumental testament to hubris. When people who don't know where milk or eggs come from make policies against farming then take that same basic lack of "how the world works" to military planning, well here we are.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:18
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Punished Turtle posted:The big takeaway from Iraq is that the US used to be bad, but became the good guys by supporting Ukraine in that country’s brave resistance against Russia’s illegal,unprovoked, immoral, destined-to-lose war. When you really think about it, maybe America was the friends we made along the way after all!
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Aug 23, 2023 08:18
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Al-Saqr posted:When you really think about it, maybe America was the friends we made along the way after all! Indeed, nobody has made more friends than the United States of America. See this handy guide on the list of friends made by the USA.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:22
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fizzy posted:Indeed, nobody has made more friends than the United States of America. See this handy guide on the list of friends made by the USA. Fizzy, no one denies that America has made mistakes in the past, but this is all old news, not to mention it begs the question of agency. Do you really think America is the center of the world? This is about Ukraine, and Ukrainians. Either you are on the right side of history, like the US is by helping them, or you are on the wrong side of history like those who oppose the US.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:27
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Punished Turtle posted:Fizzy, no one denies that America has made mistakes in the past, but this is all old news, not to mention it begs the question of agency. Do you really think America is the center of the world? thank you Punished Turtle. It's important to have normal thoughts in these troubling times.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:45
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Punished Turtle posted:Fizzy, no one denies that America has made mistakes in the past, but this is all old news, not to mention it begs the question of agency. Do you really think America is the center of the world? Al-Saqr posted:the biggest take away from all this is that the west have learned nothing from Iraq and they are the devil
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Aug 23, 2023 08:48
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Regarde Aduck posted:thank you Punished Turtle. It's important to have normal thoughts in these troubling times. You are very welcome. I just feel like this thread can become an echo chamber sometimes so I have to speak up. Even though I agree with cspam on like 90 percent of stuff, things such as that access to healthcare is good, that it is time for a young progressive as President, and that the US used to do bad things, I feel like you guys miss out on the critical perspective of the normal citizen of the democratic, free countries of the world: That Ukraine is good, and that they will win a strategic moral victory.
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Aug 23, 2023 08:55
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Punished Turtle posted:You are very welcome. I just feel like this thread can become an echo chamber sometimes so I have to speak up. appreciate you helping us keep grounded and not succumb to nihilism and fake news
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Aug 23, 2023 09:01
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icantfindaname posted:I think the nationalist ultras in Taiwan are much less numerous/powerful than in E Europe, and the liberals are more conscious of what they have to lose economically. US is doing its best to start that war though it's also harder to create a cultural or ethnic distinction that the US loves to exploit best they can do is vague signifiers like "democracy" and "freedom"
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Aug 23, 2023 09:06
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drat i woke up this morning and all of the pustulent boils and zits on my skin are gone and i feel fresh, alive, ready to be moisturized and thriving in my lane, a girl even smiled at me when i payed for my coffee is this what being free of putins spell feels like?!
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Aug 23, 2023 09:08
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dk2m posted:I know this was a cheeky post, but wanted to throw my two cents in as well fwiw, this is my take as well. ukraine is lost. it’s important to make a distinction between “is lost” and “has lost” here, because even if by some divine miracle ukraine were to achieve total military victory (lol), all that debt is going to break the country even harder than the invasion did. the only way they can even begin to think about repayment is to privatize everything that isn’t nailed down, which they’ve already started doing. whatever’s left of ukraine when the war ends is going to make russia in the 1990s look like a loving paradise.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:16
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Comrade Koba posted:whatever’s left of ukraine when the war ends is going to make russia in the 1990s look like a loving paradise.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:20
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bedpan posted:appreciate you helping us keep grounded and not succumb to nihilism and fake news I want all of the civilized world to get along. Like, I’m not ideological at all. I don’t care whether you are a tankie or a human being, the struggles that Ukraine is going through, and their strength in overcoming them should resonate with you, Tell me you can read this sentence without feeling anything: quote:
Pretty sure I have never seen this story posted here, but then again since it punctures the anti-🇺🇸🐶myths that are this thread’s bread 🍞 and butter🧈 I am not surprised.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:22
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yellowcar posted:it's also harder to create a cultural or ethnic distinction that the US loves to exploit i vaguely remember some stuff from the asia thread about how they changed chinese history classes to begin with the KMT arrival in taiwan so they've been at it for awhile. they speak Mandarin in taiwan (same as on the mainland) but they write in Traditional Chinese instead of Simplified Chinese. a useful point of comparison to another place they are trying to foster separatism is Hong Kong, where they use Traditional Chinese as well as speak a different dialect (Cantonese). the more i learn about how the US (and the british empire in the past) uses wedges to split people apart the more that i think.... skullface was right.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:26
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Bad news for Ukraine - The Western establishment media (Wall Street Journal) continues to pivot towards the Western establishment cutting its losses on Ukraine. - After a brief skirmish, the Ukrainians withdrew, fearful that a larger Russian force could be lurking, two of them recalled. Then they realized one of their comrades was missing. As the Ukrainians moved back, he came crawling toward them, his left leg bloodied and limp. A member of the unit dragged the injured man away as others opened fire. - A 48-year-old journalist nicknamed Reporter brought up the rear. Suddenly, grenades began flying. After one explosion, Reporter cried out, “I’m a 300!” Soviet-era code for a battlefield casualty. By the end of the day, only three of the five-strong team would be able to fight on. - This is what the Ukrainian counteroffensive looks like after two months: a slow and bloody advance on foot. - When the Ukrainians launched their assaults at the start of June, their Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles struggled to advance under withering fire from helicopters, antitank missiles and artillery. - So in late June, Ukraine switched tactics, and started advancing methodically in small units, a new phase in the conflict that is proving to be arduous, slow and risky. - In the first 10 days, 2nd Company didn’t once dismount from their Bradleys and enter battle. Vehicles lost their way through confusion or a lack of night-vision equipment. One demining vehicle was blown up by mines laid by the Ukrainians themselves. When they got closer to enemy lines, the Russian defense was ferocious. - In one assault, a Russian antitank missile struck and disabled the lead vehicle in a long Ukrainian column as it entered a minefield, recalled Kotsyurba, the Bradley commander, better known as Kocherha, or Fire Iron. The vehicles behind it were stuck, and the Russians jammed their communications, then fired antitank missiles, rocket artillery and laser-guided missiles from helicopters. - One Leopard tank, turning to escape, detonated two land mines. Kocherha managed to pull his Bradley out after its turret stopped turning. - Two further attempts a few nights later ended similarly. The Russians were clearly zeroed in on the route. - Kocherha set his troops down at the trench when an antitank missile hit the second Bradley 70 yards short of its target, concussing the crew. One of them managed to scramble out and open a small door. The troops ran for the trench. - Kocherha’s Bradley was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, disabling the turret and the gun. The attack temporarily blinded Kocherha. He was concussed and injured on his arm. - Over several hours, the Ukrainians held off repeated Russian counter attacks that were backed by rocket artillery and mortars. As dusk fell, they were short on water and ammunition. Reinforcements hadn’t arrived, and they were under threat of being surrounded. - The withdrawing troops included Sad, Ryzh and Eiry, the nickname for Kuznetsova, the teacher from Bucha. They struggled more than a mile up a slope toward the Ukrainian positions, exhausted, dehydrated and carrying the weapons of the walking wounded. - Barely 20 yards from their goal, a Russian tank emerged and fired a shell, killing three of them and badly wounding four. Shrapnel hit Ryzh in the calf and Eiry in the arm. Sad was severely concussed and went into cardiac arrest. Medics revived him. - But the assault’s failure had sapped morale. It was clear the Ukrainians would have to change tactics. They were losing armored vehicles at an unsustainable rate for little gain. - Assault squads would walk miles on foot, facing dehydration in the scorching heat as well as an entrenched enemy. They hugged tree lines for rare cover on the open steppe, or moved at night to avoid detection. - When they noticed Mars wasn’t with them, they crept back toward the woods and saw him crawling toward them, his left leg bloodied and limp. A bullet and shrapnel from a grenade had torn a 2-inch hole in the bone. - Donbas dashed to his colleague, but had to return to cover as grenades rained in again. Donbas returned and saw smoke: Shrapnel had pierced Reporter’s radio and set it on fire. A Russian grenade had exploded right next to him, spraying his right leg, arm and torso with shrapnel, according to Donbas and a video of the aftermath. Reporter was still conscious, mumbling something about a drone, as his colleagues applied tourniquets. Two men carried him to the next trench, while others helped Mars. - Reporter was dead. The men turned their attention to Mars. Hours later, an armored car came to evacuate him. As it sped away, a Russian tank fired and blew apart its tires. Somehow, the car made it to safety. Mars is now in hospital in western Ukraine facing a long rehabilitation. - Donbas is fighting in southeastern Ukraine. He is one of many questioning why their commanders seemed to throw them into such dangerous assaults. - “But when, every time you go out, your fellow soldiers are killed and injured, it’s psychologically tough.” - Many members of 2nd Company gathered at Reporter’s funeral. Days later, they went to another, for 24-year-old Yulia Shevchenko, killed when a headquarters building was hit by a Russian missile. https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-counteroffensive-b06589fa Ukraine’s Reset: A Slow and Bloody Advance on Foot By James Marson Aug. 23, 2023 12:01 am ET ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—The Ukrainians on the front lines of the counteroffensive were crouched in the woods when they spotted the Russian patrol. The five troops had left behind their U.S.-supplied armored vehicles, which proved easy targets for Russian artillery. Instead, after walking for hours, they were aiming to retake territory by yards. The company had already seized three trenches in close-quarter combat. Winning in the woods would move them another small step toward the Azov coast, their ultimate goal, which would slice the Russian occupying army in two. After a brief skirmish, the Ukrainians withdrew, fearful that a larger Russian force could be lurking, two of them recalled. Then they realized one of their comrades was missing. As the Ukrainians moved back, he came crawling toward them, his left leg bloodied and limp. A member of the unit dragged the injured man away as others opened fire. A 48-year-old journalist nicknamed Reporter brought up the rear. Suddenly, grenades began flying. After one explosion, Reporter cried out, “I’m a 300!” Soviet-era code for a battlefield casualty. By the end of the day, only three of the five-strong team would be able to fight on. This is what the Ukrainian counteroffensive looks like after two months: a slow and bloody advance on foot. Units such as this one—part of 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade—were trained and equipped by the U.S. and its allies to use heavy equipment to smash through entrenched Russian positions and advance deep into occupied territory. The Russians had prepared, too, by laying dense minefields and digging deep trenches across the patchwork of farm fields. When the Ukrainians launched their assaults at the start of June, their Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles struggled to advance under withering fire from helicopters, antitank missiles and artillery. So in late June, Ukraine switched tactics, and started advancing methodically in small units, a new phase in the conflict that is proving to be arduous, slow and risky. Instead of sweeping across the fields, the company from the 47th began battling a few hundred yards at a time, with occasional success—the brigade said on Tuesday its troops had taken the village of Robotyne—but with danger lurking in every trench and tree line. The original plan The 47th Brigade was honed for Ukraine’s D-Day. With the war largely stalemated late last year, and Russia occupying nearly 20% of the country, Ukrainian commanders singled out the former volunteer battalion for expansion, which meant receiving training abroad and equipment from Western allies. The members of the 2nd Company were typical. Roman Pankratov, a 38-year-old who had managed the garden section at a branch of Ukraine’s equivalent of Home Depot, became a machine-gunner. Among the assault infantry were Olena Ivanenko, a 41-year-old restaurateur, and Olena Kuznetsova, a 27-year-old schoolteacher from Bucha who enlisted after she returned to her hometown to find dead bodies on the streets. Mykhailo Kotsyurba, a 38-year-old realtor, became the commander of a Bradley, the U.S. Army’s main infantry-fighting vehicle. Reporter, a journalist named Dmytro Rybakov, transferred to 2nd Company late last year from another unit in the 47th. He became an assistant to Pankratov, who had the nickname Sad, or Garden. “He liked our fighting spirit,” said Sad. “People didn’t need anyone to motivate them to learn.” Reporter, a father to two teenage daughters, who has an interest in history and philosophy, stood out for his intelligence and enthusiasm. He also complained to Sad about work in the kitchen when he thought they should be training. “I’m not here to clean jars,” he told Sad. “I came to liberate my homeland.” After lunch one day in Germany, Reporter left his rifle behind in the canteen, according to soldiers in the company. As a punishment, an officer made him carry a stick instead. His fellow soldiers considered it excessive, but Reporter took it on the chin. He wrote RPG-22 on the stick, the name of a Soviet-designed rocket launcher, and carried it with his head held high. When Ukraine launched the first phase of the counteroffensive in June, the 47th Brigade was assigned one of the toughest tasks: to blast a path down the shortest route to the Sea of Azov from the city of Orikhiv. In the first 10 days, 2nd Company didn’t once dismount from their Bradleys and enter battle. Vehicles lost their way through confusion or a lack of night-vision equipment. One demining vehicle was blown up by mines laid by the Ukrainians themselves. When they got closer to enemy lines, the Russian defense was ferocious. In one assault, a Russian antitank missile struck and disabled the lead vehicle in a long Ukrainian column as it entered a minefield, recalled Kotsyurba, the Bradley commander, better known as Kocherha, or Fire Iron. The vehicles behind it were stuck, and the Russians jammed their communications, then fired antitank missiles, rocket artillery and laser-guided missiles from helicopters. One Leopard tank, turning to escape, detonated two land mines. Kocherha managed to pull his Bradley out after its turret stopped turning. Two further attempts a few nights later ended similarly. The Russians were clearly zeroed in on the route. The pivot The next assault — and its failures — became a turning point. On June 17, the company set out to take two parallel trenches about 1 1/2 miles long. The operation was supposed to clear a path to a Russian supply route. They started early in the morning. Once a path had been cleared through a minefield, Kocherha’s Bradley set out for the nearest trench, followed by a second Bradley with eight troops crammed inside, including Reporter. Kocherha set his troops down at the trench when an antitank missile hit the second Bradley 70 yards short of its target, concussing the crew. One of them managed to scramble out and open a small door. The troops ran for the trench. Kocherha’s Bradley was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, disabling the turret and the gun. The attack temporarily blinded Kocherha. He was concussed and injured on his arm. The platoon pressed along the trench, which was more than 7-feet deep. At times, they were so close to Russian troops they made eye contact, Reporter later told his family. Ivanenko, the restaurateur better known as Ryzh, turned and saw Reporter. Unlike most of the others, she later recalled, he had no fear in his eyes. “I’ll cover you,” he said. They pushed forward. The Ukrainians needed to dig firing positions to fend off Russian counterattacks. Sad spotted that Reporter had a shovel and told him to dig. “I can’t,” Reporter responded. His fingers were curled tight. He couldn’t relax them because of the adrenaline coursing through his body. Sad had the same problem. It took them 15 minutes to unclench. Over several hours, the Ukrainians held off repeated Russian counter attacks that were backed by rocket artillery and mortars. As dusk fell, they were short on water and ammunition. Reinforcements hadn’t arrived, and they were under threat of being surrounded. As the Ukrainians prepared to pull out, Reporter said he would stay to provide covering fire. Others encouraged him to leave, but he refused. “I came to fight,” he told them. The withdrawing troops included Sad, Ryzh and Eiry, the nickname for Kuznetsova, the teacher from Bucha. They struggled more than a mile up a slope toward the Ukrainian positions, exhausted, dehydrated and carrying the weapons of the walking wounded. Barely 20 yards from their goal, a Russian tank emerged and fired a shell, killing three of them and badly wounding four. Shrapnel hit Ryzh in the calf and Eiry in the arm. Sad was severely concussed and went into cardiac arrest. Medics revived him. Reporter was nowhere to be seen, and they chalked him up as missing, presumed dead. Plan B Reporter turned up the following morning. He told the others that he had hunkered down overnight, killed a couple of Russian looters, and followed tank tracks back to Ukrainian positions at first light. The rest of 2nd Company began to look at him as among their bravest fighters. But the assault’s failure had sapped morale. It was clear the Ukrainians would have to change tactics. They were losing armored vehicles at an unsustainable rate for little gain. So they reverted to tactics used by other Ukrainian units earlier in the war: using small units to advance methodically, defeating one Russian position after another. Other Ukrainian units made a similar switch after having faced the same kinds of losses. Assault squads would walk miles on foot, facing dehydration in the scorching heat as well as an entrenched enemy. They hugged tree lines for rare cover on the open steppe, or moved at night to avoid detection. Bradleys were a target for the Russians, so they would be used primarily to deliver troops or to evacuate the wounded. They were advancing. Reporter’s wife thought on a video call that he looked exhausted. Over several days in mid-July, the company pushed the Russians out of three trenches of about 200 yards each along the edge of a wooded area. The woods now became a new front line. On July 17, Reporter, Donbas, a 23-year-old miner, and Mars, a 39-year-old sales supervisor at the eponymous confectionary company, were among the squad sent to clear it. They crept along the trenches then into the trees and took up defensive positions to wait for instructions. Donbas spotted a Russian patrol and opened fire before starting a pullback to the nearest trench. When they noticed Mars wasn’t with them, they crept back toward the woods and saw him crawling toward them, his left leg bloodied and limp. A bullet and shrapnel from a grenade had torn a 2-inch hole in the bone. The Ukrainians took it in turns to pull Mars. They had made it to the trench when an automatic grenade launcher began firing at them, apparently directed by an aerial drone. Everyone took cover as best they could, in a dugout or in burrows made by Russian soldiers. Reporter hunkered down in the trench. Seconds later, Donbas heard Reporter cry out. Donbas dashed to his colleague, but had to return to cover as grenades rained in again. Donbas returned and saw smoke: Shrapnel had pierced Reporter’s radio and set it on fire. A Russian grenade had exploded right next to him, spraying his right leg, arm and torso with shrapnel, according to Donbas and a video of the aftermath. Reporter was still conscious, mumbling something about a drone, as his colleagues applied tourniquets. Two men carried him to the next trench, while others helped Mars. When they reached the second trench, they were targeted by an explosive drone. Other soldiers used an antidrone rifle to disable it before it hit. Reporter was dead. The men turned their attention to Mars. Hours later, an armored car came to evacuate him. As it sped away, a Russian tank fired and blew apart its tires. Somehow, the car made it to safety. Mars is now in hospital in western Ukraine facing a long rehabilitation. Donbas is fighting in southeastern Ukraine. He is one of many questioning why their commanders seemed to throw them into such dangerous assaults. “The brigade is highly motivated. No one has ever said, ‘I’m not going,’ ” said Donbas. “But when, every time you go out, your fellow soldiers are killed and injured, it’s psychologically tough.” Many members of 2nd Company gathered at Reporter’s funeral. Days later, they went to another, for 24-year-old Yulia Shevchenko, killed when a headquarters building was hit by a Russian missile. They talk, without question, of returning to the fight. Ryzh was planning extra training to overcome her fear of grenades. Eiry went to Bucha to fetch an off-road buggy funded by volunteers that she hopes will allow the soldiers to move quickly and less conspicuously. Kocherha’s arm is in a sling and he can’t make a ball with his fist because of nerve damage. He is scheduled for an operation to remove shrapnel from his arm. Asked whether he would return to the front after recovery, he said, “My guys are there.” Sad left the hospital at the start of August. He sat in a park in his hometown of Chernihiv one recent day, and mused about how most of the civilian men passing by would end up serving in the military. “It’s a question of our existence,” he said.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:28
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Punished Turtle posted:I want all of the civilized world to get along. Like, I’m not ideological at all. I don’t care whether you are a tankie or a human being, the struggles that Ukraine is going through, and their strength in overcoming them should resonate with you that's just it, Punished Turtle. the civilized world already does get along! the problem is that there's a jungle out beyond the walls of our garden and we need to go out there and civilize it. if that means doing some war crimes then that's a small price to pay for peace and prosperity.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:31
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wtf you can double bold
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Aug 23, 2023 09:32
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Punished Turtle posted:Pretty sure I have never seen this story posted here, but then again since it punctures the anti-🇺🇸🐶myths that are this thread’s bread 🍞 and butter🧈 I am not surprised. dude calm down, mod is going to misunderstand and think something not normal is going on Homeless Friend posted:wtf you can double bold some technology should remain lost...
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Aug 23, 2023 09:33
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Starsfan posted:It must be very unsettling for someone who's been following the narrative this whole time to see this sudden burst of negativity and defeatism in the US media despite no apparent real change in the conditions on the battlefield.. Like if you accept that Ukraine is still inflicting disproportionate casualties on the Russian army and exchanging artillery in a 4:1 ratio and the Russian state / army is a month away from collapse it's hard to square an admittedly unexpected lack of progress on the ground with the sea change that has happened with the way people are talking about this conflict and how it might end. Yeah, it's hard to really put myself in that headspace, but it must be confusing if your prior understanding of the war was "Ukraine is using their superior Western tech and tactics to own the swarms of Russians who are doing human wave attacks against them." It seems like there'd be a strong feeling of whiplash/confusion (like Krugman in those tweets, where he just assumes that the remaining optimistic sources like ISW must be accurate). My prediction is that, in the end, they'll just stop paying attention to it.
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Aug 23, 2023 09:37
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