Russia's War Against Ukraine

[Jarhead0331]

...
Serious question. Would RPG's work well against the Russian armor and if so, why haven't we seen any? Or maybe we have and I just missed it. It seems there would be tons of them laying around a country with lots of old Russian equipment and could be very useful. Do they only work in an urban environment? Are they now obsolete? Just curious.

There was some discussion of this several pages back. Yes, RPGs are a thing in this war, and they have been "seen."

There was actually a video of Ukrainian Special Police with RPGs stalking a couple of Russian tanks in a field...and it seems like they took them out. I have also seen another video (sorry don't have the link anymore) where an RPG takes out a Russian tank by hitting it on the side. 

In theory, the Russian's have a bunch of Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) on their tanks that should stop "traditional" RPGs. These ERA upgrades look like boxes hanging in rows on the turrets and side skirts if you aren't familiar with it. When these boxes are hit, they explode outward, reducing the penetration power of the incoming round. But the discussion was that the ERA may not be working as designed. Maybe missing. Maybe poor quality. So that is why the Ukrainians are still able to kill the tanks. Also, there are some RPGs that can fire "tandem-charge" rounds designed to defeat ERA. Basically, the round has two stages, the first sets off the ERA charge, then the second comes in behind.

Also, those RPGs can eat lighter vehicles alive. They can also be used for anti-personnel work. Think there is a sniper firing from a basement window, but you can't see him? Send in an RPG round.

[ArizonaTank]

...
Serious question. Would RPG's work well against the Russian armor and if so, why haven't we seen any? Or maybe we have and I just missed it. It seems there would be tons of them laying around a country with lots of old Russian equipment and could be very useful. Do they only work in an urban environment? Are they now obsolete? Just curious.

There was some discussion of this several pages back. Yes, RPGs are a thing in this war, and they have been "seen."

There was actually a video of Ukrainian Special Police with RPGs stalking a couple of Russian tanks in a field...and it seems like they took them out. I have also seen another video (sorry don't have the link anymore) where an RPG takes out a Russian tank by hitting it on the side. 

In theory, the Russian's have a bunch of Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) on their tanks that should stop "traditional" RPGs. These ERA upgrades look like boxes hanging in rows on the turrets and side skirts if you aren't familiar with it. When these boxes are hit, they explode outward, reducing the penetration power of the incoming round. But the discussion was that the ERA may not be working as designed. Maybe missing. Maybe poor quality. So that is why the Ukrainians are still able to kill the tanks. Also, there are some RPGs that can fire "tandem-charge" rounds designed to defeat ERA. Basically, the round has two stages, the first sets off the ERA charge, then the second comes in behind.

Also, those RPGs can eat lighter vehicles alive. They can also be used for anti-personnel work. Think there is a sniper firing from a basement window, but you can't see him? Send in an RPG round.

Wow, these guys are not hurting for AT capability.

[Jarhead0331]

It still surprises me just how poorly Russian forces are faring, even considering the corruption, poor morale and lack of preparedness...the Ukrainian military did not strike me as so professional while observing operations over the last several years in Donbas and the LPR.  Today, they look superb. Well equipped, confident and utilizing great skill and tactics. 

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-10

March 10, 4:00 pm EST

The likelihood is increasing that Ukrainian forces could fight to a standstill the Russian ground forces attempting to encircle and take Kyiv. Russian forces also appear to be largely stalemated around Kharkiv and distracted from efforts to seize that city. Russian advances in the south around Mykolayiv and toward Zaporizhya and in the east around Donetsk and Luhansk made little progress as well in the last 24 hours. Russia likely retains much greater combat power in the south and east and will probably renew more effective offensive operations in the coming days, but the effective reach and speed of such operations is questionable given the general performance of the Russian military to date. There are as yet no indications that the Russian military is reorganizing, reforming, learning lessons, or taking other measures that would lead to a sudden change in the pace or success of its operations, although the numerical disparities between Russia and Ukraine leave open the possibility that Moscow will be able to restore rapid mobility or effective urban warfare to the battlefield.

Russian forces around Kyiv did not attempt to renew offensive operations on a multi-battalion scale on March 10 following the failure of limited efforts on March 8-9. Ukrainian forces badly damaged a Russian armored column in the Brovary area east of Kyiv, likely further disrupting Russian efforts to set conditions for offensive operations on the east bank of the Dnipro. Ukrainian resistance all along the Russian lines of communication from eastern Kyiv to the Russian border near Sumy continues to disrupt Russian efforts to bring more combat power to bear near the capital. The episodic, limited, and largely unsuccessful Russian offensive operations around Kyiv increasingly support the Ukrainian General Staff's repeated assessments that Russia lacks the combat power near the capital to launch successful offensive operations on a large scale.

Key Takeaways

    Russian operations around Kyiv remained largely stalled over the past 24 hours.

    Ukrainian forces badly damaged a Russian armored unit east of the capital, likely disrupting Russian efforts to encircle or assault the city from the east.

    Russian forces continue to struggle in efforts to seize Chernihiv city and to secure the long ground lines of communication from Sumy, which the Ukrainians still hold, to eastern Kyiv.

    A new Russian invasion from western Belarus, with or without Belarusian ground forces' support, appears increasingly unlikely.

    Russian forces remain pinned down attempting to reduce Mariupol by siege and bombardment.

    Russian efforts to bypass Mykolayiv and establish a reliable ground line of communication across the Southern Bug River to the north of Mykolayiv remain stalled.

    Ukrainian air force and air defense operations continue to hinder Russian ground forces maneuver by likely limiting Russian close air support and exposing Russian mechanized forces to Ukrainian air and artillery attacks.

[GDS_Starfury]

Ive seen videos of RPGs being used to take out tanks.  the RPGs being used have a tandem warhear where the 1st charge activates the ERA and the 2nd charge blows through that and into armor.  The Javelin also uses a tandem warhead as do most atgm worth a shit these days.

[GDS_Starfury]

B-52 over the Alps today

[Con]

Plaque on the tank trap says its a museum piece from WW2

[GDS_Starfury]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1502096611543031808

[Gusington]

^Wow everything old is new again.

[Dammit Carl!]

^Wow everything old is new again.

Diggin' the armored train the Russians have supposedly got going about.

[GDS_Starfury]

a few more months or Ukraine farmers and the commies will have to start using maxims and ppsh's

[Uberhaus]

Well, if you're no good at invading, you can always try theatre.  https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60685883

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss Russia's claim that the US is funding the development of biological weapons in Ukraine.

The meeting is being requested by Russia, which Western countries say is fabricating the allegation in order to justify its own possible future use of biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine's president denied Ukraine was producing any such weapons, and accused Russia of preparing to use them on Ukrainian civilians.

Reacting to the news of the meeting, a spokeswoman for the US mission to the UN told AP News that Russia was seeking to "gaslight [deceive] the world or use the UN Security Council as a venue for promoting their disinformation".

President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at Russian claims that Ukraine is developing chemical or biological weapons on its territory with US help.

"Allegedly, we are preparing a chemical attack," he says in a video address.

"This makes me really worried, because we've been repeatedly convinced: if you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of [doing]."

As to Russia using chemical weapons, it is a possibility.  The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons supervised the destruction of Soviet era stocks as of 2017, so Russia no longer has 40000+ metric tons of blister agents (mustard, lewisite, mix m-l) or nerve agents (sarin, soman, VX) that would have blanketed West Germany.  However, some agents like sarin are not particularly difficult to produce, isopropyl alcohol being the precursor, and sarin was used by Russia's client state, Syria.  Unknown is the amount of Novichok the Russians possess; it is the nerve agent used in the poisonings in Salisbury, UK and against political opponent of Putin, Alexei Navalny.  Another possibility is that the Russians were able to hide some CW from the OPCW inspectors for approximately twenty years. 

For good information on Ukrainian nuclear and biological activities and explanations of how there is nothing nefarious occuring, I recommend the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.  https://thebulletin.org/disruptive-technologies/ https://thebulletin.org/nuclear-risk/

I especially recommend two articles from the site, the first an analysis of Putin by professionals.  https://thebulletin.org/2022/03/inside-putins-head-paranoid-calculating-obsessed-by-the-conspiracy-theories-of-a-rehabilitated-russian-fascist/
The second on Russian use of nuclear weapons to "de-escalate a conflict on terms favorable to Russia."  https://thebulletin.org/2022/03/read-the-fine-print-russias-nuclear-weapon-use-policy/

[GDS_Starfury]

Ukrainian farmer going for the gold!

[Sir Slash]

That video reminds me of scenes from The Battle of the Bulge.

[Boggit]

SNIP.

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Thank you.

[al_infierno]

I laugh at the notion that Zelensky is a neonazi puppet because he used to be a comedian.  The neonazi political party makes up 2% of voters and 0 seats in gov't.  Putin's claims about neonazis in Ukraine are pure theater to justify war goals.