not even close to being true.
ALERT RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE - Consolidated Thread
- Thread starter danielboon
- Start date
not even close to being true.
But Russia Today and youtubers who repeat Russian propaganda all confirm this, they also confirm Covid Did Not come from a lab in China.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I suspect that when Turkey threatened to leave NATO yesterday they expected a "please don't go," and instead they got a "well, we are sorry you feel that way but..." instead.
Turkey is also probably going to get their fighter jets and the like, but they are not going to get that huge list of demands which included (I gather) things like handing over some serving members of the Swedish Parliament (who are Kurds).
Turkey is also probably going to get their fighter jets and the like, but they are not going to get that huge list of demands which included (I gather) things like handing over some serving members of the Swedish Parliament (who are Kurds).
WTSR
Veteran Member
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
�
| Breakdown | Casualties | Time period | Source |
| Civilians | 10,067–25,067+ killed (est.)[d] | 24 February – 18 May 2022 | Ukrainian government |
| 4,600 killed (conf.)[436] | 24 February – 23 May 2022 | ||
| 572 killed, 1,717 wounded | 25 February – 20 May 2022 | Donetsk PR[e] | |
| 24 killed, 47 wounded | 17 February – 5 May 2022 | Luhansk PR[439] | |
| 3,974+ killed, 4,654+ wounded | 24 February – 24 May 2022 | United Nations[440] | |
| Ukrainian forces | 2,500–3,000 killed, 10,000 wounded | 24 February – 15 April 2022 | Ukrainian government[441] |
| (ZSU, NGU) | 5,500–11,000 killed, 18,000+ wounded | 24 February – 19 April 2022 | US estimate[442] |
| 23,367 killed | 24 February – 16 April 2022 | Russian government[443] | |
| Russian forces | 1,351 killed, 3,825 wounded[f] | 24 February – 25 March 2022 | Russian government[445] |
| (RAF, Rosgvardiya, FSB) | 2,622+ killed | 24 February – 18 May 2022 | Meduza & BBC News Russian[446] |
| Donetsk PR forces | 1,808 killed, 7,536 wounded | 26 February – 19 May 2022 | Donetsk PR[g] |
| Luhansk PR forces | 500–600 killed | 24 February – 5 April 2022 | Russian government[h] |
| Russian and allied forces | 10,000+ killed | 24 February – 30 March 2022 | US estimate[450] |
| (RAF, Rosgvardiya, FSB, | 15,000+ killed | 24 February – 23 May 2022 | UK estimate[451] |
| PMC Wagner, DPR & LPR) | 29,350 losses | 24 February – 24 May 2022 | Ukrainian government[452] |
I am unable to find any POW counts for either side at the moment, with the exception of the Approx. 2,400 taken at the Azovstal plant recently.
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2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia
Breakdown Casualties Time period Source Civilians 10,067–25,067+ killed (est.)[d]
4,600 killed (conf.)[436]24 February – 18 May 2022
24 February – 23 May 2022Ukrainian government 572 killed, 1,717 wounded 25 February – 20 May 2022 Donetsk PR[e] 24 killed, 47 wounded 17 February – 5 May 2022 Luhansk PR[439] 3,974+ killed, 4,654+ wounded 24 February – 24 May 2022 United Nations[440] Ukrainian forces
(ZSU, NGU)2,500–3,000 killed, 10,000 wounded 24 February – 15 April 2022 Ukrainian government[441] 5,500–11,000 killed, 18,000+ wounded 24 February – 19 April 2022 US estimate[442] 23,367 killed 24 February – 16 April 2022 Russian government[443] Russian forces
(RAF, Rosgvardiya, FSB)1,351 killed, 3,825 wounded[f] 24 February – 25 March 2022 Russian government[445] 2,622+ killed 24 February – 18 May 2022 Meduza & BBC News Russian[446] Donetsk PR forces 1,808 killed, 7,536 wounded 26 February – 19 May 2022 Donetsk PR[g] Luhansk PR forces 500–600 killed 24 February – 5 April 2022 Russian government[h] Russian and allied forces
(RAF, Rosgvardiya, FSB,
PMC Wagner, DPR & LPR)10,000+ killed 24 February – 30 March 2022 US estimate[450] 15,000+ killed 24 February – 23 May 2022 UK estimate[451] 29,350 losses2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia
[TD]24 February – 24 May 2022[/TD]
[TD]Ukrainian government[452][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
these number seem reasonable overall.
WTSR
Veteran Member
It does not include POWs and Missing, I believe for either side. I asked you some time ago in a previous post if you are getting any information on MISSING Ukrainian military. Listed as MISSING is how militaries hide deaths and POWs.
WTSR
Veteran Member
A stopped watch is correct twice a day...
EMICT
Veteran Member
This just shows that not unlike 'liberals', there is nothing one can say to alter preconceived notions whether on the side of Ukraine or on the side of Russia. No amount of facts will alter one or the other's perception if they're caught in the liberal loop mindset.
Great interview of a DPR commander reflecting on the war to date with some open admissions and honest-sounding assertions. Part 2 will be published tomorrow, apparently.
Awful Avalanche
Ukraine War Day #91: How “Vostok” Battalion Took Mariupol
Posted on May 25, 2022 by yalensis
Dear Readers:
Today I have for you this very interesting interview with Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) military commander Alexander Khodakovsky. The reporter is the ever-stalwart Dmitry Steshin.
Readers will be interested to learn that the fall of Mariupol to the pro-Russian forces was not predestined. In fact, it was more of a nail-biter. If the Russians had been up against a better, more professional force, they could have easily lost the battle. Which feeds into the narrative, as we are learning day by day, that the Azov Nazis were not actually the great super-soldiers that everybody assumed, and which they advertised themselves to be. If they had spent more time studying in the military academy and less time in the tattoo parlor; more time reading Clausewitz and less time Mein Kampf … well, you get the picture…
A grizzled Khodakovsky sits at his desk.
Reporter Steshin has spent 100 tough days embedded in the “Vostok” (East) Battalion of the DPR army. Now, catching one moment of rest and sitting down with its Battalion Commander, Alexander Khodakovsky, the two men look back on the just-completed campaign, take stock of what happened, and draw lessons learned.
At the end of February, at the very start of the Special Operation, Vostok Battalion headed out of Donetsk and marched in the direction of Mariupol, all in a single column. Which they now realize was a dumb thing to do, but somehow they survived. After several days of battle, they crossed the border between DPR and Ukraine, then occupied several towns within the metropolitan area of Mariupol: Kalinovka, Talakovka, a section of Sartana.
A series of exhausting battles ensued in the high-rise complexes of the Vostochny (“Eastern”) micro-region. The latter being adjacent to the vast Azovsteel complex. After the high-rises were captured, sometimes in literally room-to-room fighting, the Azov Nazis fled and retreated into the factory. And the rest is history.
Steshin: So, the first phase is over. What have we learned during these months?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can beat them. We learned that we are able to carry out all the military tasks that we take on. This has been a big psychological breakthrough for us.
Steshin: How do your front lines look now? In the Republics?
Khodakovsky: In the LPR (Luhansk Peoples Republic) the guys have moved out even beyond their administrative boundaries. But here in the DPR we are still in the process of development. Taking into account that our front lines reach farther: Berdyansk, Melitopol, Kherson. Mariupol was such a problematical stain within our territories. The amount of resources accumulated by the enemy in Mariupol was a constant source of worry to us.
Steshin: The enemy could have counter-attacked from there?
Khodakovsky: Yes, and there were such attempts. Twenty-eight units of armored vehicles. Initially our perimeter around the city was quite spotty, one could expect anything to happen. And you see what happened recently, it gives you an idea [what we were up against]: Just at that one point of contact between our Battalion and Azovsteel, over 1,000 militants walked out on their own feet; in other words, they were still combat-capable. And later we saw a number over 2,000, these were the guys who were blocking up the Azovsteel plant.
[yalensis: Khodakovsky is making the point that so many guys inside the plant, and still possessing so many armored vehicles, they could have made a break for it at any point.]
Steshin: When I was covering the front and we heard that they were giving themselves up, our guys were really worried, they thought [it was a trap and] they were going to try a break-out!
Khodakovsky: True. But the Azovites were not able to take advantage of their own superiority of resources, of manpower. What they lacked was boldness and cunning. They could have sneaked up on us at our rear, like Kovpak’s Brigade. But, in the end, we were able to solve a problem of a type the world has not seen in modern military history. They could have remained holed up in Azovsteel for many long months.
We had questioned some of the people who used to work there, they told us there was a system of bomb shelters, communications lines, tunnels so wide you could move a tank through. But, in the end we forced them to give up, and at the same time we received a very unique war experience in these conditions.
Steshin: What kind of experience?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can prevail over forces which outnumber us, and that we can do that with minimal losses to ourselves. We learned a lot. […] And after the fall of Mariupol, many changes took place at other areas of the front. The change [of mood] is palpable.
Steshin: What do you mean?
Khodakovsky: There were the first fiery battles, and then the sobering-up period, people got used to the new realities and conditions of the war. Lenin had a famous saying: “Do you want to learn the art of war in a real way?” Well, that’s how we learned it. We passed that stage of development where we would march in a single column onto the territory of the enemy.
We learned how to properly siege cities… [At the beginning] some units were pushed into taking rash actions… But now everything has got calmer, we don’t see that chaos of the first month of war. We learned from our own losses: losses of equipment, losses of men. We started off in a war frenzy, we thought we were just going to rush out there and break the enemy, regardless how much assistance he is receiving from the West.
Steshin: The Ukrainians still believe sincerely that the West is going to help them win.
Khodakovsky: No, that won’t happen. But the West can definitely make our victory that much more complicated. Earlier I was skeptical about the deliveries of those Javelins and Bayraktors.
My military worldview was not broad enough. I measured everything according to positional warfare on an open field. But in the city we started to understand that, oh boy, this thing [yalensis: I think he’s talking about the Bayraktor] is really effective, it can strike at you from hidden positions, from great distances. On the other hand, even this Western weaponry didn’t help them change the course of the war. All they succeeded in doing was giving us more things to worry about; and having to endure greater losses. It was definitely a palpable factor. But a factor that can be dealt with. And that’s even adding that the enemy outnumbered us.
Steshin: So, you’re compiling all the lessons learned?
Khodakovsky: Yes. You might even consider us to be a living experimental war laboratory. We are even being visited by weapons manufacturers and vendors now, they come to us and want our help in creating and applying drones of the next generation.
Steshin: What kind of drones? If that’s not a secret. Something interesting?
Khodakovsky: Drones that can strike down singular, but very important targets. Drones working in groups, that’s called a swarm, they are connected by a neuro-network. All those [vendors and manufacturers] who are working on military equipment, they are all very interested in this. Even Russian businessmen are getting in on the act.
And we have come to understand that we need to stand our ground and prepare for the future wars. Which will not be against the Ukraine.
[to be continued]
Awful Avalanche
Ukraine War Day #91: How “Vostok” Battalion Took Mariupol
Posted on May 25, 2022 by yalensis
Dear Readers:
Today I have for you this very interesting interview with Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) military commander Alexander Khodakovsky. The reporter is the ever-stalwart Dmitry Steshin.
Readers will be interested to learn that the fall of Mariupol to the pro-Russian forces was not predestined. In fact, it was more of a nail-biter. If the Russians had been up against a better, more professional force, they could have easily lost the battle. Which feeds into the narrative, as we are learning day by day, that the Azov Nazis were not actually the great super-soldiers that everybody assumed, and which they advertised themselves to be. If they had spent more time studying in the military academy and less time in the tattoo parlor; more time reading Clausewitz and less time Mein Kampf … well, you get the picture…
A grizzled Khodakovsky sits at his desk.Reporter Steshin has spent 100 tough days embedded in the “Vostok” (East) Battalion of the DPR army. Now, catching one moment of rest and sitting down with its Battalion Commander, Alexander Khodakovsky, the two men look back on the just-completed campaign, take stock of what happened, and draw lessons learned.
At the end of February, at the very start of the Special Operation, Vostok Battalion headed out of Donetsk and marched in the direction of Mariupol, all in a single column. Which they now realize was a dumb thing to do, but somehow they survived. After several days of battle, they crossed the border between DPR and Ukraine, then occupied several towns within the metropolitan area of Mariupol: Kalinovka, Talakovka, a section of Sartana.
A series of exhausting battles ensued in the high-rise complexes of the Vostochny (“Eastern”) micro-region. The latter being adjacent to the vast Azovsteel complex. After the high-rises were captured, sometimes in literally room-to-room fighting, the Azov Nazis fled and retreated into the factory. And the rest is history.
Steshin: So, the first phase is over. What have we learned during these months?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can beat them. We learned that we are able to carry out all the military tasks that we take on. This has been a big psychological breakthrough for us.
Steshin: How do your front lines look now? In the Republics?
Khodakovsky: In the LPR (Luhansk Peoples Republic) the guys have moved out even beyond their administrative boundaries. But here in the DPR we are still in the process of development. Taking into account that our front lines reach farther: Berdyansk, Melitopol, Kherson. Mariupol was such a problematical stain within our territories. The amount of resources accumulated by the enemy in Mariupol was a constant source of worry to us.
Steshin: The enemy could have counter-attacked from there?
Khodakovsky: Yes, and there were such attempts. Twenty-eight units of armored vehicles. Initially our perimeter around the city was quite spotty, one could expect anything to happen. And you see what happened recently, it gives you an idea [what we were up against]: Just at that one point of contact between our Battalion and Azovsteel, over 1,000 militants walked out on their own feet; in other words, they were still combat-capable. And later we saw a number over 2,000, these were the guys who were blocking up the Azovsteel plant.
[yalensis: Khodakovsky is making the point that so many guys inside the plant, and still possessing so many armored vehicles, they could have made a break for it at any point.]
Steshin: When I was covering the front and we heard that they were giving themselves up, our guys were really worried, they thought [it was a trap and] they were going to try a break-out!
Khodakovsky: True. But the Azovites were not able to take advantage of their own superiority of resources, of manpower. What they lacked was boldness and cunning. They could have sneaked up on us at our rear, like Kovpak’s Brigade. But, in the end, we were able to solve a problem of a type the world has not seen in modern military history. They could have remained holed up in Azovsteel for many long months.
We had questioned some of the people who used to work there, they told us there was a system of bomb shelters, communications lines, tunnels so wide you could move a tank through. But, in the end we forced them to give up, and at the same time we received a very unique war experience in these conditions.
Steshin: What kind of experience?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can prevail over forces which outnumber us, and that we can do that with minimal losses to ourselves. We learned a lot. […] And after the fall of Mariupol, many changes took place at other areas of the front. The change [of mood] is palpable.
Steshin: What do you mean?
Khodakovsky: There were the first fiery battles, and then the sobering-up period, people got used to the new realities and conditions of the war. Lenin had a famous saying: “Do you want to learn the art of war in a real way?” Well, that’s how we learned it. We passed that stage of development where we would march in a single column onto the territory of the enemy.
We learned how to properly siege cities… [At the beginning] some units were pushed into taking rash actions… But now everything has got calmer, we don’t see that chaos of the first month of war. We learned from our own losses: losses of equipment, losses of men. We started off in a war frenzy, we thought we were just going to rush out there and break the enemy, regardless how much assistance he is receiving from the West.
Steshin: The Ukrainians still believe sincerely that the West is going to help them win.
Khodakovsky: No, that won’t happen. But the West can definitely make our victory that much more complicated. Earlier I was skeptical about the deliveries of those Javelins and Bayraktors.
My military worldview was not broad enough. I measured everything according to positional warfare on an open field. But in the city we started to understand that, oh boy, this thing [yalensis: I think he’s talking about the Bayraktor] is really effective, it can strike at you from hidden positions, from great distances. On the other hand, even this Western weaponry didn’t help them change the course of the war. All they succeeded in doing was giving us more things to worry about; and having to endure greater losses. It was definitely a palpable factor. But a factor that can be dealt with. And that’s even adding that the enemy outnumbered us.
Steshin: So, you’re compiling all the lessons learned?
Khodakovsky: Yes. You might even consider us to be a living experimental war laboratory. We are even being visited by weapons manufacturers and vendors now, they come to us and want our help in creating and applying drones of the next generation.
Steshin: What kind of drones? If that’s not a secret. Something interesting?
Khodakovsky: Drones that can strike down singular, but very important targets. Drones working in groups, that’s called a swarm, they are connected by a neuro-network. All those [vendors and manufacturers] who are working on military equipment, they are all very interested in this. Even Russian businessmen are getting in on the act.
And we have come to understand that we need to stand our ground and prepare for the future wars. Which will not be against the Ukraine.
[to be continued]
POWs can't be very many, since the Orcs would for sure publicize a big number and they also do not have the infrastructure to take of of more than a few, who we have seen being taken away.
as for the missing, i could for sure ask my neighbor, and i would get an honest and informed answer, but even if i wanted to do that, i could and would not post it here.
Zagdid
Veteran Member
Ukraine Is Using Quiet Electric Bikes to Haul Anti-Tank Weapons
The e-bike is ideal for moving snipers and anti-tank weapons quickly and quietly around the battlefield.
www.vice.com
Ukraine Is Using Quiet Electric Bikes to Haul Anti-Tank Weapons
The e-bike is ideal for moving snipers and anti-tank weapons quickly and quietly around the battlefield.
By Matthew Gault
May 24, 2022, 12:21pm
IMAGE VIA TELEGRAM.
The Ukrainian military is using stealthy electric bikes modified to carry next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWS) to fight Russia.
Soldiers on electric bikes have been spotted across Ukraine since the early days of the war, mostly on ELEEK brand bikes. e-bikes are fast and, critically, much quieter than a gas powered bike. They allow soldiers to perform quick guard patrols or move swiftly into position.
On Telegram last week, pictures surfaced of the Delfast branded bikes that had been modified to carry massive anti-tank weapons. The two photos showed the e-bike modified with a crate on the back and a huge missile launcher poking from the back.
The e-bikes are used for transporting the launchers; the anti-tank weapons aren’t fired from the back of the bikes. The quiet design and fast speed—a Delfast can reach speeds up to 50 mph—allow the bikes to move NLAWS into position and quickly flee once fired.
Both Delfast and ELEEK are Ukrainian companies. When reached for comment, representatives of Delfast in the United States denied it had sold Ukraine any of its bikes. “Delfast continues to support the people of Ukraine. We are working with governments and the larger tech community to end this war,” a representative of Delfast in the U.S. told Motherboard. “We have not sold Delfast bikes or made modifications to our e-bikes to support any military action. We are also donating 5% of all sales to fund humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.”
This is technically true: Delfast has not sold the Ukrainian military any of its bikes. It gave them away. Daniel Tonkopi, CEO of Delfast, is Ukrainian. When the pictures of the modified e-bikes surfaced on Telegram, Tonkopi shared them on his personal Facebook page and explained what was going on.
IMAGE VIA TELEGRAM.
“Delfast has been providing electric bikes to the Ukrainian Army since the first day of the war,” he wrote on Facebook. “We transferred electric bikes to the front line, but we did not talk about it—we do some things quietly. Now we've gotten permission from the command, and we're publishing these pictures.”
Tonkopi also shared some quotes he said were feedback from the Ukrainian military about the bike. “The bike was great and can really work for mobile groups,” a member of the Ukrainian military said, according to Tonkopi. “Plans to use it for aero driving tours and with equipment for work on tanks.”
“It was very hot out there. Three cars came back with holes, the guys intact luckily,” said another unnamed member of the Ukrainian military, according to Tonkopi. “One of them got his arm caught on the edge. All in all, your bike was highly appreciated by the guys.”
Tonkopi also mentioned the donations on his Facebook page. “We help the Ukrainian Army from our own pocket,” he said in his post. “Since the first day of the war, we have been donating at least 5% of all revenues to help Ukraine.”
Militaries across the world have been developing electronic stealth bikes for around a decade. Australia has been testing them for the scouting missions and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—the Pentagon’s mad scientists—began throwing money at the problem in 2014. The development has led to two prototypes: the NightHawk and the Nightmare. The SilentHawk is a hybrid model that sounds about as loud as a vacuum cleaner and can get up to 80 mph. Less is known about the Nightmare.
The speed and low heat signature make e-bikes ideal for reconnaissance and special operations. In addition to the NLAW hauling Delfast bikes, reports have flourished online of Ukraine using e-bikes to move snipers around the battlefield and quickly deliver medical supplies.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
It should be obvious to all by now, that the world is basically run by psychopaths and sociopaths.
Yet so many do not recognize it.
(I'll try to wait a few days before
again)I suspect any jets they get will be D level config, of course with this DC clown show anything is possible.
Good point the stopped watched beats the accuracy of pretty much all media.
So with any reports the potential accuracy is at best maybe.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
It should be obvious to all by now, that the world is basically run by psychopaths and sociopaths.
Yet so many do not recognize it.
(I'll try to wait a few days before
I disagree.
The globalist elites want world population to be reduced in order to restore planet Earth back to their green Gaia fantasy.
However, they do not want a world radioactive from nuclear wars.
Their problem is how to keep conflicts just below the nuclear theashold.
War....yes
Famines....yes
Nukes?....no
Diseases....yes
They really don't care how you die.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Remarks were meant for Raven's quoted post.
That the evil people behind the Great Reset are crazy is beyond all doubt.
I wasn't referring to Tristan comments.
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von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Deleted found an uncensored version.
Last edited:
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Morale counts for a lot.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
German anti-war song from the 1980's by Nena.
3:57 minutes
Been there, done that.
Difference was der Wehrmacht conquered Kiev in about a month.
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jward
passin' thru
Zelenskyy rejects Kissinger plan to concede territory to Russia; Ukraine hero alive, in Russian custody: Live updates https://news.yahoo.com/kissinger-urges-ukraine-concede-disputed-071841011.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr via
@YahooNews
news.yahoo.com
@YahooNews
Zelenskyy rejects Kissinger plan to concede territory to Russia; Ukraine hero alive, in Russian custody: Live updates
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the return of Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia is a precondition for peace negotiations.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
It's amazing how old these globalists are.
Kissinger at 99?
Kissinger at 99?
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WTSR
Veteran Member
Is Russia signaling there might be an escalation coming? Pulling assets home. I don't think it is becuase of Ukraine directly. Turkey is signaling it is going on the offensive in Norther Syria.
Grumphau
Veteran Member
Not sure what forces Russia has there exactly, but it seems like they need veteran troops to support action in the Donetsk offensive.
WTSR
Veteran Member
I guess we will see what gets pulled out, seems more like a Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Syria kind of Debacle brewing.
jward
passin' thru
The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
3h
Media: NATO members informally agree not to supply Ukraine with aircraft and tanks. Citing its sources in NATO, the German Press Agency reported that alliance members fear Russia could see the delivery of Western tanks and combat aircraft as entering the war.
~~~~~~~~~~
Visegrád 24
@visegrad24
21h
BREAKING: The Czech Republic recently donated attack helicopters, tanks and missile systems to the Ukrainian army - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Poland donated 236 modernized T-72 tanks more than around 2 months ago. Central Eastern Europe showing the way.
@KyivIndependent
3h
Media: NATO members informally agree not to supply Ukraine with aircraft and tanks. Citing its sources in NATO, the German Press Agency reported that alliance members fear Russia could see the delivery of Western tanks and combat aircraft as entering the war.
~~~~~~~~~~
Visegrád 24
@visegrad24
21h
BREAKING: The Czech Republic recently donated attack helicopters, tanks and missile systems to the Ukrainian army - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Poland donated 236 modernized T-72 tanks more than around 2 months ago. Central Eastern Europe showing the way.
jward
passin' thru
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
Update: US Department of Defense: The Russian withdrawal from Syrian areas includes thousands of infantry units, air forces and engineering.
5:40 PM · May 25, 2022·Twitter Web App
My understanding is they've had, at max, 5k there. This isn't a big shift when there's 100K+ committed already. This seems....odd.....
They’re not planning on taking the whole country, correct? That was what I heard.
As I know only the north side of the country.
Here we go, their prepping for the big war.
@EndGameWW3
Update: US Department of Defense: The Russian withdrawal from Syrian areas includes thousands of infantry units, air forces and engineering.
5:40 PM · May 25, 2022·Twitter Web App
My understanding is they've had, at max, 5k there. This isn't a big shift when there's 100K+ committed already. This seems....odd.....
They’re not planning on taking the whole country, correct? That was what I heard.
As I know only the north side of the country.
Here we go, their prepping for the big war.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
"seems more like a Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Syria kind of Debacle brewing. "
Sorry to be so dense, WTSR, but could you spell this out for me, what you mean by your statement?
WTSR
Veteran Member
Intel Slava Z
⚡The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Belarus is preparing to remove weapons and military equipment from storage Tomorrow, the Belarusian Army will begin maneuvers near the border with the Volyn region, the Kyiv media write with concern. Special operations forces and aviation...
t.me
️The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Belarus is preparing to remove weapons and military equipment from storageTomorrow, the Belarusian Army will begin maneuvers near the border with the Volyn region, the Kyiv media write with concern.
Special operations forces and aviation will take part in the exercises. Belarusian troops will train to cross the water barrier with the support of helicopters and attack aircraft. A lot of military equipment will move, the Ukrainians quote the head of the executive committee of Brest Alexander Rogachuk.
WTSR
Veteran Member
Separatist republics hold 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war: Official
Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics number about 8,000, Luhansk official Rodion
There are currently about 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war in Donbass, said Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador of the Lugansk People's Republic to Russia.
“There are many prisoners. Of course, there are more of them on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, but we also have enough, and now the total figure is somewhere around 8 thousand. This is a lot, and literally hundreds are added every day, ”he said on the air of Solovyov Live.
Earlier, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that, as Ukrainian prisoners said, they had an order to shoot at civilians and not take Russians prisoner.
The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, spoke about plans to bring Ukrainian neo-Nazis to trial.
Zelenskiy complains about divisions inside the European Union over more sanctions against Russia – as it happened
This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
www.theguardian.com
"
8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Luhansk and Donetsk by pro-Russian separatists
There are about 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Luhansk official Rodion Miroshnik was quoted by Tass news agency as saying on Thursday, according to Reuters.
“There are a lot of prisoners. Of course, there are more of them on the territory of Donetsk People’s Republic, but we also have enough, and now the total number is somewhere in the region of 8,000. That’s a lot, and literally hundreds are being added every day,” Miroshnik said."
I have only been able to find a link that says Ukraine is holding about 600 Russians.
"Nearly a dozen have appeared in news conferences held by the Ukrainian authorities, just a few of the 600 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says have been captured. "
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jward
passin' thru
Guy Elster
@guyelster
10m
#BREAKING #Ukraine's deputy defence minister says #Russia is moving Iskander missiles to Brest, #Belarus, could be used to target western Ukraine
View: https://twitter.com/guyelster/status/1529796189729738753?s=20&t=eRn274ZFiiBeaxGws7V_iw
jward
passin' thru
NATO expansion and the challenge of deterrence in the Black Sea
Iulia-Sabina Joja
Director, Frontier Europe Initiative; Project Director, Afghanistan Watch
The Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to reshape the European security architecture. For the first time it has prompted ample Western resistance, and an essential part of this shift consists of Sweden and Finland deciding to join NATO. Strategically, this decision will have two major implications. First, Finland joining means that the Alliance will be expanding its border with Russia by 830 miles, suggesting further deterrence on both sides in the years to come. Second, the two Northern European countries joining means that the Baltic Sea will be transformed into a “NATO lake,” making the Baltic countries more secure from a potential Russian attack.
But Finland and Sweden joining this summer is by no means a done deal. Turkey has leveraged its position in NATO to threaten a veto of their accession. Publicly, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has conditioned their membership on ending what he describes as Sweden’s support for Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) elements and the lifting of the arms embargo both countries have imposed, along with the U.S., against Turkey since 2019. Though negotiations between Turkey, the U.S., Sweden, and Finland take place behind closed doors, Ankara’s interest would be to obtain a lifting of the embargo by the U.S. (and implicitly Finland and Sweden). President Erdoğan’s veto threat suggests Ankara is continuing its policy of balancing Turkey’s role in NATO with its dependence on Russia when it comes to the conflict in Syria, energy, and tourism.
Chances are Turkey, Sweden, and Finland will reach a deal in the coming weeks, as we are getting closer to the NATO Madrid summit at the end of June. This summit itself will represent another shift in European security, though the final outlines remain unclear. The Alliance will have to adopt a 10-year security strategy in the midst of the most devastating conflict Europe has faced since World War II. NATO is certain to shift its focus almost exclusively to deterring Russia and change its strategy from deterrence by reinforcement to deterrence by denial.
The strategic difficulty will be to achieve deterrence in the Black Sea. Today Moscow exercises dominance of the region and has effectively denied NATO access to a maritime area that borders its territory. Russia’s Black Sea blockade threatens to create millions of victims of famine worldwide this summer. Both U.S. lawmakers and the United Nations are looking for ways to address the coming catastrophe. But for the Alliance the Black Sea region is its major weakness. The Madrid summit will take place at the end of next month and time is running out for NATO leaders to issue a strategic deterrence plan for the Black Sea region and address the short- and long-term threats posed by Russia’s military and blockade.
www.mei.edu
Iulia-Sabina Joja
Director, Frontier Europe Initiative; Project Director, Afghanistan Watch
The Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to reshape the European security architecture. For the first time it has prompted ample Western resistance, and an essential part of this shift consists of Sweden and Finland deciding to join NATO. Strategically, this decision will have two major implications. First, Finland joining means that the Alliance will be expanding its border with Russia by 830 miles, suggesting further deterrence on both sides in the years to come. Second, the two Northern European countries joining means that the Baltic Sea will be transformed into a “NATO lake,” making the Baltic countries more secure from a potential Russian attack.
But Finland and Sweden joining this summer is by no means a done deal. Turkey has leveraged its position in NATO to threaten a veto of their accession. Publicly, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has conditioned their membership on ending what he describes as Sweden’s support for Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) elements and the lifting of the arms embargo both countries have imposed, along with the U.S., against Turkey since 2019. Though negotiations between Turkey, the U.S., Sweden, and Finland take place behind closed doors, Ankara’s interest would be to obtain a lifting of the embargo by the U.S. (and implicitly Finland and Sweden). President Erdoğan’s veto threat suggests Ankara is continuing its policy of balancing Turkey’s role in NATO with its dependence on Russia when it comes to the conflict in Syria, energy, and tourism.
Chances are Turkey, Sweden, and Finland will reach a deal in the coming weeks, as we are getting closer to the NATO Madrid summit at the end of June. This summit itself will represent another shift in European security, though the final outlines remain unclear. The Alliance will have to adopt a 10-year security strategy in the midst of the most devastating conflict Europe has faced since World War II. NATO is certain to shift its focus almost exclusively to deterring Russia and change its strategy from deterrence by reinforcement to deterrence by denial.
The strategic difficulty will be to achieve deterrence in the Black Sea. Today Moscow exercises dominance of the region and has effectively denied NATO access to a maritime area that borders its territory. Russia’s Black Sea blockade threatens to create millions of victims of famine worldwide this summer. Both U.S. lawmakers and the United Nations are looking for ways to address the coming catastrophe. But for the Alliance the Black Sea region is its major weakness. The Madrid summit will take place at the end of next month and time is running out for NATO leaders to issue a strategic deterrence plan for the Black Sea region and address the short- and long-term threats posed by Russia’s military and blockade.
Monday Briefing: NATO expansion and the challenge of deterrence in the Black Sea
Read MEI's weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
They'll be back.
Ukraine War Day #92: How “Vostok” Battalion Took Mariupol (concluded)Great interview of a DPR commander reflecting on the war to date with some open admissions and honest-sounding assertions. Part 2 will be published tomorrow, apparently.
Awful Avalanche
Ukraine War Day #91: How “Vostok” Battalion Took Mariupol
Posted on May 25, 2022 by yalensis
Dear Readers:
Today I have for you this very interesting interview with Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) military commander Alexander Khodakovsky. The reporter is the ever-stalwart Dmitry Steshin.
Readers will be interested to learn that the fall of Mariupol to the pro-Russian forces was not predestined. In fact, it was more of a nail-biter. If the Russians had been up against a better, more professional force, they could have easily lost the battle. Which feeds into the narrative, as we are learning day by day, that the Azov Nazis were not actually the great super-soldiers that everybody assumed, and which they advertised themselves to be. If they had spent more time studying in the military academy and less time in the tattoo parlor; more time reading Clausewitz and less time Mein Kampf … well, you get the picture…
Reporter Steshin has spent 100 tough days embedded in the “Vostok” (East) Battalion of the DPR army. Now, catching one moment of rest and sitting down with its Battalion Commander, Alexander Khodakovsky, the two men look back on the just-completed campaign, take stock of what happened, and draw lessons learned.
At the end of February, at the very start of the Special Operation, Vostok Battalion headed out of Donetsk and marched in the direction of Mariupol, all in a single column. Which they now realize was a dumb thing to do, but somehow they survived. After several days of battle, they crossed the border between DPR and Ukraine, then occupied several towns within the metropolitan area of Mariupol: Kalinovka, Talakovka, a section of Sartana.
A series of exhausting battles ensued in the high-rise complexes of the Vostochny (“Eastern”) micro-region. The latter being adjacent to the vast Azovsteel complex. After the high-rises were captured, sometimes in literally room-to-room fighting, the Azov Nazis fled and retreated into the factory. And the rest is history.
Steshin: So, the first phase is over. What have we learned during these months?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can beat them. We learned that we are able to carry out all the military tasks that we take on. This has been a big psychological breakthrough for us.
Steshin: How do your front lines look now? In the Republics?
Khodakovsky: In the LPR (Luhansk Peoples Republic) the guys have moved out even beyond their administrative boundaries. But here in the DPR we are still in the process of development. Taking into account that our front lines reach farther: Berdyansk, Melitopol, Kherson. Mariupol was such a problematical stain within our territories. The amount of resources accumulated by the enemy in Mariupol was a constant source of worry to us.
Steshin: The enemy could have counter-attacked from there?
Khodakovsky: Yes, and there were such attempts. Twenty-eight units of armored vehicles. Initially our perimeter around the city was quite spotty, one could expect anything to happen. And you see what happened recently, it gives you an idea [what we were up against]: Just at that one point of contact between our Battalion and Azovsteel, over 1,000 militants walked out on their own feet; in other words, they were still combat-capable. And later we saw a number over 2,000, these were the guys who were blocking up the Azovsteel plant.
[yalensis: Khodakovsky is making the point that so many guys inside the plant, and still possessing so many armored vehicles, they could have made a break for it at any point.]
Steshin: When I was covering the front and we heard that they were giving themselves up, our guys were really worried, they thought [it was a trap and] they were going to try a break-out!
Khodakovsky: True. But the Azovites were not able to take advantage of their own superiority of resources, of manpower. What they lacked was boldness and cunning. They could have sneaked up on us at our rear, like Kovpak’s Brigade. But, in the end, we were able to solve a problem of a type the world has not seen in modern military history. They could have remained holed up in Azovsteel for many long months.
We had questioned some of the people who used to work there, they told us there was a system of bomb shelters, communications lines, tunnels so wide you could move a tank through. But, in the end we forced them to give up, and at the same time we received a very unique war experience in these conditions.
Steshin: What kind of experience?
Khodakovsky: We learned that we can prevail over forces which outnumber us, and that we can do that with minimal losses to ourselves. We learned a lot. […] And after the fall of Mariupol, many changes took place at other areas of the front. The change [of mood] is palpable.
Steshin: What do you mean?
Khodakovsky: There were the first fiery battles, and then the sobering-up period, people got used to the new realities and conditions of the war. Lenin had a famous saying: “Do you want to learn the art of war in a real way?” Well, that’s how we learned it. We passed that stage of development where we would march in a single column onto the territory of the enemy.
We learned how to properly siege cities… [At the beginning] some units were pushed into taking rash actions… But now everything has got calmer, we don’t see that chaos of the first month of war. We learned from our own losses: losses of equipment, losses of men. We started off in a war frenzy, we thought we were just going to rush out there and break the enemy, regardless how much assistance he is receiving from the West.
Steshin: The Ukrainians still believe sincerely that the West is going to help them win.
Khodakovsky: No, that won’t happen. But the West can definitely make our victory that much more complicated. Earlier I was skeptical about the deliveries of those Javelins and Bayraktors.
My military worldview was not broad enough. I measured everything according to positional warfare on an open field. But in the city we started to understand that, oh boy, this thing [yalensis: I think he’s talking about the Bayraktor] is really effective, it can strike at you from hidden positions, from great distances. On the other hand, even this Western weaponry didn’t help them change the course of the war. All they succeeded in doing was giving us more things to worry about; and having to endure greater losses. It was definitely a palpable factor. But a factor that can be dealt with. And that’s even adding that the enemy outnumbered us.
Steshin: So, you’re compiling all the lessons learned?
Khodakovsky: Yes. You might even consider us to be a living experimental war laboratory. We are even being visited by weapons manufacturers and vendors now, they come to us and want our help in creating and applying drones of the next generation.
Steshin: What kind of drones? If that’s not a secret. Something interesting?
Khodakovsky: Drones that can strike down singular, but very important targets. Drones working in groups, that’s called a swarm, they are connected by a neuro-network. All those [vendors and manufacturers] who are working on military equipment, they are all very interested in this. Even Russian businessmen are getting in on the act.
And we have come to understand that we need to stand our ground and prepare for the future wars. Which will not be against the Ukraine.
[to be continued]
Posted on May 26, 2022 by yalensis
Dear Readers:
Today concluding my translation/review of this piece by reporter Dmitry Steshin, as he interviews DPR Vostok Commander Alexander Khodakovsky.
Professional Soldier General Valery ZaluzhnyBut first one quick BREAKING NEWS type note. Or, file this under “Cat Fighting”, if you wish. This is something to keep your eyes open for in the next day or so. I was reading yesterday, in the various military blogs that I follow, of a new spat between Valery Zaluzhny (Ukrainian Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces) versus Volodimir Zelensky (Supreme Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces).
As soon as the Popasna Flower bloomed, Zaluzhny, professional soldier that he is, somebody who actually went to Military Academy and has read books, pointed out to his boss that tens of thousands of his best men are about to be surrounded in the Lisichansk/Severodonetsk Cauldron. Zaluzhny requested permission for his soldiers to perform a tactical withdrawal Westward before it’s too late. (According to Ukrainian law, soldiers are not allowed to withdraw from the front line without the explicit permission of El Supremo.)
Backstory: Zelensky and his camarilla, which includes Alexei (aka “Lusya”) Arestovich, a complex and highly intelligent yet also dilettantish and completely insane guy who considers himself to be a great military genius — have run this war into the ground.
General Zaluzhny knows they are doomed but is too loyal to stage a coup; however he was able to extract at least one concession from the Clown In Chief, namely that he has the right to order a withdrawal when he deems it necessary, on his own judgement, without having to wake up the Clown, say, in the middle of the night, from one of his cocaine binges.
Zaluzhny won that concession, BUT!!! Zelensky still has to give the permission in advance. And, here is the really interesting bit: Zel told Zaluzhny he may order the retreat on his own judgement, but only AFTER May 27! Which is tomorrow, Friday.
So, what big thing is supposed to happen between today and tomorrow? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out. Some people say there will be a big plot twist, like maybe the entire Polish army rushing to the rescue some time this afternoon?
Other evil minds claim that Zelensky is secretly working for Putin. Like, he would have phoned Putin on his secret burner and asked, “Is the cauldron ready yet?” And Putin would have replied, “Hey, Volodya, can you give me just one more day to get everything ready?”
Anyhow, back to our lede:
The Big Battalions Are Decisive
We continue translating the interview between Steshin and Khodakovsky.
Steshin: We have been talking about technology. But what about people? How have they been performing: Ordinary soldiers? Spetznaz?
Khodakovsky: You may be surprised to hear my conclusion: It’s the army which fights, all the same. Not the Spetznaz. Don’t get me wrong, the Spetznaz guy is a very valuable soldier, both according to his equipment, as well as his training. But the military result is given by the [regular] army, in the majority of cases. If you were to use Spetznaz in place of [regular] soldiers, then things would end rather quickly. Of course, when it comes to a duel rifle vs rifle, the better-trained soldier, with the better reflexes, would win. But even he has no immunity against incoming from hidden positions.
Steshin: I understand what you’re getting at. In the past few years the Spetznaz have been hailed as “our everything”.
Khodakovsky: For sure, a lot of resources have been invested in the Spetznaz formations. Whereas the [regular] army were sort of pushed to the side, treated sort of like grey mice. By the same token, the drone reconnaissance program has been implemented at the level of Headquarters, while it really should be in every single company.
I’ll go even further: there should be a drone and its operator in every storming group, which is smaller than a platoon. When I say this to people who are responsible for the unmanned drone operation, it’s like a revelation to them. But for us, it’s already become common practice.
Steshin: What’s next? What tasks has the Vostok Battalion been given to do next? And just in general, in our theater of military operations.
Khodakovsky: First we’ll finish with this whole Azovsteel business. We have already transitioned from purely military tasks to more specialized ones. Now that all these enemies have been taken prisoner, the next step is to finish the entire clean-up operation. We need to find out if there is still anybody left down there.
We also understand that the enemy might have left some caches, or even — this is not as crazy as it sounds — groups of diversionaries. We encountered precisely that, when we were fighting near Volnovakha. There was a group hiding out in a cache, in the middle of the night they opened a hatch to get some air, one of our patrols just happened to notice and sounded the alarm. And this happened after we had already taken Volnovakha and considered it to be ours!
In Azovsteel there are tons of places to hide out and wait it out, until nobody is left but regular police, and everybody has relaxed their guard. Where are we off to now? It could be anywhere, there are still lots of places… And we are considered “universal” now [all-purpose], we know how to fight, and we can also carry out special operations.
Steshin: I have the feeling that people in the Ukraine have still not fully absorbed the fact that their “Fortress Azovsteel” project, which they hyped to the entire world, has finally ended? What will happen once they figure this out?
Khodakovsky: The official propaganda in Kiev can say whatever they wish. They can spin it like, “We evacuated out own people out of the factory.” But the reality is more banal, and even somewhat humiliating: A grouping which outnumbered us, was squished into a corner and had to raise the white flag. They gave up.
The enemy has understood that every grouping he has, every grouping currently hunkering down in the cities, we can bring them all down to the status of “the defenders of Mariupol”. They might continue their usual tactic of hiding in the cities, using civilians as “human shields”. But it didn’t help them then [and it won’t help them now].
They had eight years to plan for this war, they boasted that they had the “strongest army in Europe”, and look what happened, it was all destroyed. By us. Not without a lot of effort. But that is what makes our victory all the more significant.
RIP Motorola and Givi
danielboon
TB Fanatic
this will open the door for turkey and israel the mideast is about to get hot