Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Jarhead0331]

Couple of things spring to mind
1. No recruit with 2 days training will be able to do this
2. Where was all his support - The Ukrainians had 5 soldiers to his one
3. All that bullshit I had in basic on learning to fire at targets at 400 yard distance with controlled stances and breathing is out the window - everyone is within knife fighting range

There is supposition that he wasn't alone and was either supported by a larger group behind him, or that he was part of an advance element. But yeah, it does appear that he was going all Rambo until he started taking some fire.

Range in infantry combat is largely dependent on terrain. As this appears to be from the Donetsk region, which is very industrial and urban, I'd expect a lot of close-in fights. In Afghanistan, on the contrary, at least 50% of engagements were fought beyond 300 yards.

[FarAway Sooner]

In WW II, at least, there seemed to be some historical learnings that the US Army had placed too much emphasis on marksmanship and too little emphasis on saturating an area with bullets.  Or so I recall from reading something or another.  It may have been Closing with the Enemy.

[JasonPratt]

Behold! -- the only new Russian platoon with uniform uniforms!

Created for propaganda purposes, of course.


Note: the pistol holster (pistol not guaranteed) also signifies a line officer of some kind. That would be an execution pistol in Soviet Russia.

[JasonPratt]

Meanwhile: fourth unexplained Nordstream pipe 'leak' (for want of a better word) -- not news.

Impact on global warming -- news!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/as-fourth-nord-stream-leak-is-discovered-here-s-what-scientists-are-saying-about-the-environment-impact/ar-AA12niL1?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=26f187a2471349088ca80b8f635fa9e0

Impact will be minimal, i.e. practically negligible -- not news. ;)


A little more seriously, we're now entering the territory of "he fell on a knife four times".

[FarAway Sooner]

I'm sure it's a false flag operation perpetrated by Swedish commandos to hasten their entry into NATO!


Or so a Russian spokesperson will soon announce on state TV...

[Pete Dero]

Oleksi Arestovych, one of the main advisers to Ukrainian President Zelensky, shows himself to be combative in an interview with the German weekly Bild.
He suspects that the first load of Russian mobilized will comprise about 100,000 recruits and that the majority will be killed. In fact, "Some of them have already died in the Kharkiv region." Arestovych does not have exact numbers, but it concerns "tens of", according to the adviser.

The information provided by Zelenski's advisor is not verified for the moment.

[al_infierno]

Not sure if it's confirmed, but I read there are more people fleeing Russia than there were committed to the initial invasion.  :o

[Pete Dero]

Not sure if it's confirmed, but I read there are more people fleeing Russia than there were committed to the initial invasion.  :o

More than 300.000 have crossed borders but you can't know for sure the reason why they left.

[PeaceFlower]

Tangential perhaps, but read that two U.S.
citizens are facing charges of spying for Russia.
A former Army major and his anesthesiologist wife. I call them "The Odd Couple"
after seeing their pictures.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/army-major-wife-russia-health-data-plot-b2178860.html

News like this gives me the disconcerting sensation that when I wake up...I wake up in a parallel universe which is similar to, (but not identical) to the universe I fell asleep in.

[GDS_Starfury]

wow those teeth!   :hide:

[GDS_Starfury]

the current Lyman....... bulge.   :P

[JasonPratt]

I'm sure it's a false flag operation perpetrated by Swedish commandos to hasten their entry into NATO!
Or so a Russian spokesperson will soon announce on state TV...

How are you spying on Russian policy, Comrade!  ^-^

Reuters and the Epoch Times reporting on the TASS statement (it's behind a paywall, so I'll just copy-paste):

Russia said on Thursday that pipeline leaks emitting natural gas into the sea appear to be the result of state-sponsored terrorism.

The European Union is investigating the cause of the leaks in the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea and has said it suspects sabotage.

"This looks like some kind of terrorist act, possibly at the state level," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to TASS news. "This is an extremely dangerous situation that requires urgent investigation," he stressed.

A day before, Peskov dismissed claims that Moscow was behind the damage to the pipelines and described those allegations as "predictably stupid." He questioned why Russia would sabotage its own pipeline system, which would lead to the loss of significant amounts of "expensive" gas.

A report from CNN alleged that European security officials had observed Russian navy support ships and submarines not far from the sites of the leaks. When asked to comment on the CNN report, Peskov said there had been a much larger NATO presence in the area.

Russia has also said the leaks off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden occurred in territory that is "fully under the control" of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were not supplying gas to Europe when the leaks were first detected on Monday but still had gas in them. Russia had halted deliveries via Nord Stream 1, saying Western sanctions had hampered operations. Nord Stream 2 had not started commercial operations.

Earlier this week, researchers with seismology agencies in Denmark and Sweden found that the damage to the pipelines was most likely caused by explosions and ruled out the possibility of natural cases.

A senior U.S. official told reporters Wednesday that the United States was not involved in the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines and said "the jury is still out" on what happened. "We were absolutely not involved," the official said in response to a question.

"Many of our partners, I think, have determined or believe it is sabotage," the official remarked. "I'm just—I'm not at the point where I can tell you one way or the other."

Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the damage to the pipelines on Wednesday. Both said it was an act of sabotage, although they did not publicly say who could be responsible.

"There is reason to be concerned about the security situation in the Baltic Sea region," Bodskov said in a statement to media outlets. "Russia has a significant military presence in the Baltic Sea region, and we expect them to continue their saber rattling."

No nation-state or group has claimed responsibility.

Meanwhile, Andrei Kortunov of the Russian International Affairs Council think tank, told the BBC that such an attack by Russia would make no sense.

"They always point finger at Russia but I think since it's the Russian property it would be not very logical for Russia to inflict damage upon it," he told the broadcaster. "There are other ways to make European lives harder. They can simply stop the gas deliveries without damaging the infrastructure."

The Russians do kind of have a point in this case: they can just keep the gas turned off, why waste it and hurt their own equipment?

Of course, being engaged routinely in being the Third Rome by out-Byzzing the Byzantines, this means they have plausible deniability!  :D So why do it? -- to sow chaos and distrust by hurting themselves? They shell themselves to start wars, etc.

Still, to be fair, it could be someone else. I won't go into details about the comment thread to the original article, which was speculating pretty crazily about who did it and why; I doubt such a(n unstated) theory in this case. But I can at least sympathize that in the current world almost any conspiracy theory sounds like it could be possible or even plausible.  :-\

[SirAndrewD]

At this stage every source I see was that Lyman has been cut off.  The troops did not pull back, they're surrounded.

That's different from Izium.  The Russians didn't stop the rout in Izium or try to.  They fell back leaving heavy equipment behind but they preserved their troops. 

Not so in Lyman.  Around 2500 high quality troops are now surrounded there.  They were ordered to die where they stood. 

That bothers me...that gives me concern that something else is in store. 

Also Lukashenko has made a statement that he's now mobilizing the Belorussian military to have 100k troops by February.  He reiterated that his border is open for Russia to use.  So it looks like he's now on board with a buildup for a potential 2023 push on Kyiv. 

There'll be no settlement where the Russians accept their annexed oblasts.  It's all or nothing for them...and the next....

[GDS_Starfury]

pretty sure the russians get out of a lot of financial obligations if they cant deliver contractual supplies due to 'other' circumstances.

[GDS_Starfury]

That bothers me...that gives me concern that something else is in store. 

wait until the AFUK close the noose really tight and use a tactical warhead as a demonstration?