let's play bumper jets.

Quote from: Cassia on September 08, 2023, 04:05:29 PMlet's play bumper jets.

They're too tired.  :P

Don't get your hopes up, but there's been a flurry of articles about the US maybe sending ATACMS in the next aid package.

It seems silly to consider HIMARS and tanks and F-16s acceptable but to consider ATACMS an unacceptable escalation. Russia has no such qualms as it routinely bombs civilians and  disrupts trade to the point of intentionally causing starvation as a blackmail tactic, among other things.  This can be reduced considerably, but only with bold action.

Sick and tired of Oligarch Elon and Garry Kasparov says it better than I can.  Suffice it to say that Dictator Putin is empowered by oligarchs around the world.

Ukraine kills 49 Russian paratroopers, Russia refuses to retrieve the bodies

That's another morifyingly embarrassing blunder.  Not only losing, but losing and showing not even basic regard for your own troops.

QuoteIt said that in the recording the soldier said he was going to retrieve the bodies himself as the Russian command would not do it.

Jeez.  And they wonder why morale's so low.  Not only will Russia not pay you and let you die, they'll leave you to the crows.

Russian general: Ukraine "just a stepping stone" for further aggression

Bear in mind that early into the Ukrainian war, when Russians were much more confident of victory, Russian officials regularly threatened that Moldova, Kazakhstan, the Baltics, and/or Poland would be next.  Those first two are very probable, with Russian troops nearby and those countries are completely outmatched by Russian forces on paper.  Those last two are theoretically protected due to being NATO members, but as I type this, recently Russian drones rained down on Romanian soil and you tell me NATO's response to that.  Poland certainty isn't leaving its sovereignty to chance and others' whims, and is arming itself to the teeth.  I don't blame them one bit.

This is so colossally stupid that I have a hard time thinking it's real, but this is from a military that armored its jets with spare tires, so really nothing is off the table.

Russian military reveals firing positions while shooting at Ukrainian flag attached to balloons

You read that right: Ukrainian civilians launched a Ukrainian flag lifted by balloons that wafted over into Russian-controlled territory and the dumb orcs were so stupid and hate-filled that they just started blasting, apparently not realizing that there's this little thing called operational secrecy and going berserk is a surefire way to get noticed, located, and possibly annihilated by enemy fire.

This whole thing is Schmuck Bait if I ever saw it.  A brief definition - Schmuck Bait is super obvious bait that will absolutely cause you to suffer negative consequences if you fall for it, like a shiny treasure chest surrounded by lethal traps.  Only an idiot would approach.  Cue the traps going off.

One of Russia's many serious weaknesses is that a lot of its troops are poorly trained with basically no discipline, as well as rampant alcoholism, which counteracts any training or discipline.  So if you test their discipline and make failure painful, you can cause quite a lot of pain.

Of course, most pro-Russian conservatives miss the most important issue with the US supporting Ukraine as we are. Financial sanctions damage the dollar's standing as the reserve currency. It's not like the other 'BRICS' countries didn't notice how the US froze Russian-owned US Treasuries. If you weaponize the US dollar you are also lessening its global appeal.

China, Russia, India, Brazil and the Saudis have more than half of the world's oil and population, so if they stop trading in dollars; it's kind of a big deal. This war seems to have accelerated their efforts. They have already launched their own versions of The World Bank and International Monetary Fund and there are dozens of countries lined up to join.

Ukrainian forces destroy six Russian boats near Kherson region

Ukraine retakes oil platform near Crimea

Russia had been using it as a helicopter landing site and to deploy radar equipment, so now that's denied to them.

Ukraine partially retakes Opytne

This territory was stolen by Russia back in Nov 2022, so this is a happy wiki update.  Also, it denies use of the Donetsk airfield by Russia, which is a nice strategic win.

Note: don't be like me and assume they're talking about Opytne just south of Bakhmut.  That one is still deep in enemy territory.  :'(

The one that was liberated is close to Avdiivka, not the one close to Bakhmut.  Man, it really is true that Americans only learn geography through war.  :/

Russia gets made fun of a lot for its problems at the tactical level: cope cages, drunkenness, poor equipment, poor training, poor logistics, drunkenness, friendly fire, etc.

But where it really drops the ball is at the strategic level - 'cause lemmee tell ya, repositioning troops from the south to the east on the eve of the counterattack was a HUGE strategic blunder.  Even a dum-dum like me correctly predicted a push towards Melitopol.

Also, apparently Gerasimov had the bright idea to put as many troops to bear on the front lines as possible rather than keeping some in reserve.  So now they're desperately trying to send in reinforcements to areas where the first and sometimes the second lines have already been breached.  That's like sending in firefighters after half the building is already toast.  Too little, too late.

Also, the wasting of Russian lives in Severodonetsk and then the supremely pyrrhic victory in Bakhmut.  If it hadn't been for these Russian "victories", then the Kharkiv offensive wouldn't have rapidly forced them out nor would they have had to abandon Kherson city, nor would their lines be so thinned out that they more or less ceded the initiative on all future operations to Ukraine. (Russia must react to Ukraine, rather than vice versa)

Russian telegram:

Quote"During the retreat of our troops near Donetsk, a tragedy occurred. We reported that our forces had slightly retreated, and the Ukrainians had advanced toward Donetsk and Donetsk Airport. A source in the General Staff provided us with new details of this troop withdrawal.

"Unfortunately, not everyone retreated in an orderly and coordinated manner. Some soldiers withdrew to new positions chaotically and practically in panic. As a result, a tragedy occurred - our military personnel were killed by their own artillery fire," our source said.

According to him, a large group of soldiers retreating toward the airport was hit by their own artillery fire. "Our troops assumed that it was the Ukrainians coming to seize Donetsk Airport and launched a massive attack. As a result, 27 soldiers were killed, and 34 were wounded. Approximately half of the wounded have lost their arms or legs. Several pieces of equipment were lost as well. It's just horrifying," the source lamented.

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Not a crossover I necessarily expected, but one of my favorite gun historians interviewed a Western instructor on his experience with the Ukrainians. Nothing incredibly shocking, but some more fun detail as to why Ukraine has been able to surprise and Russia... likewise surprises, in the opposite direction.