Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Crossroads]

Here's hoping for massive equipment losses, and tons of surrendering soldiers are welcomed in my book as well.

Maybe not. He's been quite reliable with his assessments. Also, "battalions" have often shrunk in size to companies, so there's that too.

On the western side of the Dnieper there are no longer any regular and large RUS forces. In several places, the Ukrainians are liquidating the last RUS shielding forces, which have not managed to withdraw beyond the Dnieper, among others east of the Antonowski Bridge.

In general, the AU achieved great military and political success, but the retreat of the RUS itself was quite successful, i.e. we do not have whole RUS brigades broken. At most, a few battalions that did not manage to withdraw in time or the AU caught them in the field.

https://twitter.com/Artur_Micek/status/1591060163167125505

[ArizonaTank]

Russians are apparently taking heavy losses in Kherson region as they retreat, and the Ukrainians pound them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-troops-suffering-catastrophic-losses-while-retreating-report/ar-AA1404sf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ea7f34763fa549ca979d125cbbe44b3e

The thing I don't get is why the Russians announced their retreat.

From the military point of view, you never tell your enemy your intention to retreat.

I can only think the announced retreat was for political reasons.

[JasonPratt]

One of the articles I linked to earlier, suggested that the announcement was theatrically staged by/using "General Apocalypse" to shield Putin publicly from the political fallout. Hopefully not to involve literal fallout... 

[Pete Dero]

Russians are apparently taking heavy losses in Kherson region as they retreat, and the Ukrainians pound them.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-troops-suffering-catastrophic-losses-while-retreating-report/ar-AA1404sf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ea7f34763fa549ca979d125cbbe44b3e

The thing I don't get is why the Russians announced their retreat.

From the military point of view, you never tell your enemy your intention to retreat.

I can only think the announced retreat was for political reasons.

This is why many still believe it is a trap for the Ukrainians.

Announce a retreat but keep a part of your army (maybe in civilian clothes) in a booby trapped city.

[Gusington]

The Ukrainian 'massive crowd' clip is allegedly from March when the Russians came in, according to the posts below it on The Twitface.

[Crossroads]

The Ukrainian 'massive crowd' clip is allegedly from March when the Russians came in, according to the posts below it on The Twitface.

Duh. So many videos out and of course I picked an old one. Edited with a new clip. 

[Gusington]

^Not blaming you! Blaming...The Twitface.

[Crossroads]

^Not blaming you! Blaming...The Twitface.

The Kherson front is collapsing faster than Twitter.

https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1591044944369704961

[Gusington]

 ;D

[Sir Slash]

The big question now is will the Ukrainians continue to push across the river toward the Crimea or settle for what they've got right now? One thing's pretty obvious, Putin's not capable enough to pull-off a modern day Stalingrad by trying to hold Kherson.  L:-)

[Gusington]

Zelensky has stated 'we want all of Ukraine back.' Including Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. What that will look like in reality who knows...I just hope it doesn't involve the Russians lobbing tactical nukes as they 'advance to the rear.'

[MengJiao]

The big question now is will the Ukrainians continue to push across the river toward the Crimea or settle for what they've got right now? One thing's pretty obvious, Putin's not capable enough to pull-off a modern day Stalingrad by trying to hold Kherson.  L:-)

  They don't have to cross the river.  They are already across it north of there.  I would imagine that if the Ukrainians launch a major offensive any time soon, it will be to cut off the land connection to the east of Crimea clear down to the Sea of Azov.

[Crossroads]

BBC also out with news that Russia's evacuated the west bank of Dnipro River.

When the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Gen Sergei Surovikin, appeared on television on Wednesday, apparently asking the defence minister's permission to order his troops to leave the city, this staged bit of theatre marked the end of the process, not the beginning. Anything of value had already gone.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63598805

[GDS_Starfury]

love these folks!

https://twitter.com/Official_NAFO

[FarAway Sooner]

My sense is that specific details of what is happening to the Russian Army around Kherson remain extremely vague.  We know that the Russians retreating in the past have seen disastrous results.  All we have here is a couple vague articles.

With the Russians having to cross at bridge locations or using whatever ferries and light boats might still be working, I can imagine that they're still losing vehicles at a hefty rate as Ukrainian heavy weapons work over those concentrations thoroughly.  OTOH, the phrase "I can imagine" pretty much means what it says.  Given the Ukrainian caution, it's obvious that his been more of a retreat than a route.

Question for those folks on this board who know more about certain topics than I do:  Does it get cold enough in Ukraine that the Dnieper ever freezes over enough to get vehicles across?  Or even men?  And how much artillery does it take to shatter a frozen river?  Or do you just build a pontoon bridge on top of the ice?