Blazing 88's

Huge BOOM was at 2:40 of night today. Preliminary not only Shakheds attack on Kyiv was repelled, but some missiles were shot down - no official info to this time. There are rumors, that ballistic type missiles were used on Kyiv this night, but they were intercepted by Patriots in first time. But this is not confirmed yet. 
Air raid alarm was announced hour ago. Some recon drone was shot down over Maidan half hour ago. But it suspicious looks like UKR PD-2, but it could be and Mugin-5  
 

For those who like rock music with a heavy metal flair, this is some ukrainian band video in praise of artillery supporting Bakhmut.  Song is rather catchy.  Music video has lots of video of western provided towed guns in action near Bakhmut.
 

Bakhmut. Russians still don't attack in mass, just continue to shell the city and outskirts. No "shell shortage". Ukr troops conducted some local counter-attacks, pushed of Wagners from some buildings, but don't gain a foothold, so somewhere grey zones appeared. All atatcks on Khromove, Ivanivske area are repelled. Korsuns'koho street in most part still under UKR control. 
Way to Bakhmut through  SW road
According to UKR TG, against us in Bakhmut area operate 26500 pf personnel, 65 tanks, 450 armored vehicles, 154 artillery pieces, 56 MLRS.   
Video collage of 228th TD battalion of 127th TD brigade (Kharkiv city) of combat actions in Bakhmut. 127th TDBr currently is backbone of city defense together with part of 93rd mech.brigade
 

It looks like M2 in Ukrainian service will be called „Kitty Cat” (I do not dare to suggest another name, commonly used for both cats and ladyparts). UA are really good with social media and I love witty videos they usually post - but this one is just too much 🤣😂
 

This former Bradley crewman loves it!

Terra Unit gets into the (very) close air support business for 3rd Separate Assault Brigade (cont. from previous video):
 

Just posting to round out the shots of the Bradleys from yesterday
 

Wonder if this is true.  I would really like to see one working under combat conditions
 

Ukraine today returned 44 POWs (including two civilians)
This guy didn't see apples very long time...

hopefully they fly one in with the dildo.

First time using the IGNORE option. What a great feature.

Throwback to 2022,from Wikipedia, Sumy Cherniv campaign 

Look at all that empty space north/south of the sumy axis. The multiple choke points and awkward pathing of the invasion.  
Do we know more about the defense of Nizhyn, and Ichnya? 

Ukrainian sociologists criticized methods of some pollings (GfK, Gullop) because they polled only in towns with 20000+ population and only via stationery phones (most of their users are people 50+). Many of Crimean Tatars and other citizens more loyal to Ukraine lived in rural area, so results of 1000-2000 not enough representative polling extrapolated on whole Crimea. 
In 1991 during Independence support referendum 67,5 % of Crimean Autonomy Soviet Repuplic participated in referendum and 54,19 % voted "yes" (42,22 % - "no").
Separately in Sevastopol (the city had own constituency) participated 63,74 % and 57,07 % voted "yes" (39,39 % - "no"). Such result in Sevastopol, the city filled with many of retired Soviet officers, who moved here after retirement from all USSR (mostly from Russia) turned out like cold shower for Soviet and later Russian authorities. 
Alas, Ukraine up to 2014 had been remaining in Russian orbite of influence, so it can't provide own policy in appropriate way in most of south-eastern oblasts, giving situation to local "elites", borning from alloy of criminal business and so-called "red directors" (chiefs of industrial eneterprises, who often didn't hide own soviet nostalgia), who exploitated idea of "Russia is our all, evil L'viv nationalists and NATO want to enslave us" among miners, metallurgists, engineers in order to keep own power in regions and to rise these people if central power will do something against. 
Crimea, having own legitimate authonomy turned out under almost direct influence of Moscow. And Russian propaganda was making own work  properly. Especially ridiqulous were statements about "violent ukrainisation of Crimea", where only three schools with education in Ukrainian language existed in 2014. Most high peaks of anti-Ukrainian hysteria was in 1994, during first Crimean crisis, when in some cases it came down to shooting and entering Ukrainian National Guard to Crimea to cool separatism. Second peak was in 2008-2009  on background of Georgian war, attempts of Ukriane to interfere of using Crimea as base of aggression and plans of combined trainings with NATO on peninsula. Victor Yushchenko, turned out very weak politic and didn't risk to challenge influence of Russia.
Most of pro-Russian moods in Crimea is a result of Russian agenda, their propaganda and "stomach interests". Most of pro-Russian Crimeans just though with Russia they will be wealthy. Now most of them dissappointed in very tough way. The same with pro-Russian moods you can observe even in some districts of western Ukraine. For example, inhabitants of some districts of Rivne and Ternopil oblasts have some "anomaly" pro-Russian sympathies. Even now many of them didn't recognize Russia as aggressor. Reason? Activity of Pochaiv Lavra - largest "influence point" of Russian Church (formally Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but it anyway under power of Russian) in western Ukraine. It's lucky its influense expands mostly on rural population of several districts. But if we take Transcarpathia or to some less degree Bukovyna (Chernivtsi oblast), where influence of Russian Churh is also enough big we maybe can't see such pro-Russian religious fanatism, but more degree of indifference about this war.  "Give me a people and I will turn them in a herd of pigs" (Goebbels).     

First time using the IGNORE option. What a great feature.

Part of ceding was hoping I could do my little part to make the discussion go away .  And I wasn't going to take the time to see if his data was any good, so was throwing in the towel because there's bigger hills for me to die upon.  
Meanwhile, I am wondering how the forum breaks down into UKR spring offensive camps.  I see two main camps in the world of internet opinion:
1.  UKR offensive will be big, sudden surprise attack on (mostly) one axis and we will know it's the real deal and will come late spring.
2.  UKR will conduct increasingly aggressive corrosion plus some attacks of small-ish depth, like 5-10 kms, in multiple areas to shape the battlefield and completely confuse Putin as to where to put his reserves.  Then will strike later in summer in a much bigger way and we will then know that's the real deal.
I am believer in #2

I think you took a wrong turn ending up on this forum.  Maybe your GPS is screwy or you have trouble reading a map. but you might want to look again to see where you really want to go - it ain't here.

Your sniping is exasperating. Take an L. 

I think this is covered above but had to say that while this sounds great it isn't quite the case.  Putin chased out everyone that didn't like RU and brought in a bunch of Russians and now we have a vote?  It's like kill everyone in a village, bring in new people, have them elect a sheriff from their own who then gets to decide whether to prosecute for the murder of the villagers.

Mate, I really, really don't want to sound rude...but you get that bringing Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine or XVIII-cent. issues of American Declaration of Independence into local context full of charming characters like Igor "Devil" Bezhler or Alex 'The Surgeon" Zaldastanov may sound a little...how to say it... well excessively pompatic?
I am quite sure nobody from them ever heard about Thomas Jefferson and his ideas. Maybe some older ones know Jefferson Airplane, though.
Btw. how you imagine validity of such referendum till at least one Russian soldier is in Crimea? Are expelled and persectued Tatars able to vote? People who flew to Ukraine? Or illegally settled Russian military colonists- can they vote? How do we know if buses of thousands of voters that just "reminded themselves" of their ancient Crimean identity and came back from Russia are legit or not? Whose military forces-and how- would secure at least minimal validity of such plebiscit? Mysterious Green Men riding in BTR's on the streets "for voters' own safety" ?

So if I violently invade your house, kick you out, and when you try to get back, you get told "sorry, the people who live in the house decide", that is fine and dandy? Good to know, where do you live?
EDIT: the fact that the openly pro-Russia+pro-China commenter is actual Florida Man tickles my stereotyping brain in a funny way.

LOL a fake plebiscite would be most galling. Many in the west are pretty upset about the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the following faked plebiscite results. So, it is pretty rich listening to you imply the results of that faked plebiscite mean that Ukraine taking Crimea back would via a "war to compel" the inhabitants under the Ukrainian government. If there wasn't so many people dying I would find it funny.
 
Again seriously. I am fully aware there have been issues of governance in parts of Ukraine but come on you cannot seriously think that people following this thread believe that the plebiscite you refer to is legitimate.
We don't know how the people living in Crimea would like to be governed. I would be fine with them getting to decide but before a fair plebiscite can be conducted you have to get the occupiers out of there and then you have to decide if the imported people should really get a say or sent home - tricky question. Not to mention the people displaced by the occupying Russians need to have the choice to return. Only then could you have a free vote. Honestly I'm not sure how that should look and I would leave that up to the Ukrainians and the citizens living in Crimea to decide. None of that can happen while its under Russian occupation.

Who are "people of Crimea"? It's a nationality? Maybe Crimean language exists? 
Crimea? Really? Not Russia? 

I'm not that impressed. Out of the Top 5 list of scenarios you've asked for, only "Omaha Beach" does exist. AFAIK there is nothing like:
Red Thunder" (Battle for Normandy) "Crossing the Dykes" (Battle for Normandy) "The Cauldron" (Battle for Normandy) "Operation Martlet" Battle for Normandy) "Goodwood" (Vehicle Pack) "Missions for the Lazy" (Battlepack 1) I've strong concerns with those ChatGPT stuff. It spits words one after another based on statistical analysis on tons of webpages, and people drink these words like supra-biblical truth.

I would be really surprised if that pattern was only applied to Germany.