LukeFF

"Soldiers prepare to fire at Russian positions using a US-supplied M777 howitzer, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, July 14, 2022. EVGENIY MALOLETKA / AP"

Brother, no offense but it’s been over 40 years since you were in the military. I spent most of the last decade on active duty with the army and am currently a reservist. Trust me, it’s an 8 year service obligation. 
https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/IRR/

Next: why sandpaper is better for you butt than regular (evil decadent imperialist) TP...

I think you'll find that almost all activity on this forum is contained in this thread. The forum isn't about CM any more, it's about the Russo-Ukraine war.

Some pictures taken today in Nova Kakhovka, the scale of destruction is appaling. No news on collateral damage yet.
With almost 2M Ukrainians living permanently in Russian Federation, stuff like this is bound to happen:
 

The Russian World:
 

Mad photo:

Looks like more SMArt 155 sub-munitions working (one is off-camera), but possibly against an already destroyed AFV:
 

Let me direct you to my rant at the page 1014
This is interesting news. From all the AA equipment captured in first months of the war, maybe UA will be able to whip up enough protection for mobile forces?
Also, Russians are REALLY scrapping the bottom of the barrel in artillery department:
 

Yes, for me it was the 4 years of active duty and then 4 years of IRR. But, at the time I got out (2007), they had a great deal where if you agreed to serve two years in a National Guard unit, they would waive the remaining two years and guaranteed you wouldn't be required to deploy in case the unit was mobilized. So, I took that deal and in the end it was a good choice. I'd done a year in Iraq and had no desire to go back. 🙂

Yes, for me it was the 4 years of active duty and then 4 years of IRR. But, at the time I got out (2007), they had a great deal where if you agreed to serve two years in a National Guard unit, they would waive the remaining two years and guaranteed you wouldn't be required to deploy in case the unit was mobilized. So, I took that deal and in the end it was a good choice. I'd done a year in Iraq and had no desire to go back. 🙂

Whole Donetsk and Luganks oblasts barely contributed to 15% GDP and that was before the invasion. The actual invasion of 2014. Since then their contribution to GDP was even smaller.
Russians have been creeping to Kyiv too, taking much more land than they took in the Donbas region this time. If they will keep "winning" like they "won" at Siverodonetsk and Lysychansk - they soon will either have nothing to "win" with, or will have to resort to asking China to give them their T55s and T62s back. Because they already lost nearly 50% of their whole tank force they have in their country.

Checked interview of RU nationalist expert Maxim Klimov (former RU Navy officer). He was supposed to talk about Mobilization, but they talked about many issues.
Below are notes of the useful bits

Never use Trukha channel as a sourse of reliable information. This is channel of hype, tracks of owners of wich reportedly lead to Kharkiv administration. Before a war this channel has poorly hidden pro-Russian moods. Now it often shows footage of damage instantly after missile strikes, despaite MoD prohibit to do this, it also throw-in unreliable information. There are no any articles in FT that USA decided to give ATACMS. There was only opinion of two senators, that US shoul give this weapon to Ukraine. But Trukha gives this as acomplished fact.
So, you can use this channel to watch some video, but almost never do not trust all what they write as resonant news

Hey guys, this is HISTORY under our eyes ! 🇺🇦
 
 

How not to destroy captured equipment:
 
 

The most madding aspect of this war to me is the delusion the Russian nationalists/imperialists/knuckle draggers have that they still can "win" this war, despite all evidence across a wide spectrum on a wide range of metrics that it simply isn't going to happen.  Russian isn't a great power anymore - it has not met that definition pre-Feb 24 and even less so now.  That is got to be some fantastic 100 proof hooch that is being served up in tanker trucks that is being swilled in the power structures of Russia to continue to believe that all their stated objectives will be met by their beaten to crap army.  Completely ignore that the expected 3 day op and a parade in Kiev is now 4+ months in.  And everything is 'going to plan' we keep hearing from Kremlin talking heads.  It is like they are snorting lines of coke off of a stripper's ass and then getting in front of a camera and proclaiming everything is going as planned and victory is just around the corner....yeah, right <eye roll>.
Except that dream is a nightmare now.  Except they don't see it or accept it.  And the dying on all sides just goes on and on.

Been out there twice now, as a civilian aid worker, different this last time, aid convoy was shelled, no one hurt, but the signs that the Russians are shelling villages etc for fun very obvious, more widespread firing. Watched a massive firefight  (from safety of a cellar) lots of night time artillery. Things more tense. Last time  I am going, as my missus says at 64 I am to old, hey in my head I'm still a 21 year old soldier. Sadly i see peace has more chance of platting fog than stopping this war at the moment.
 

Sorry for spamming so much, but that's worth mentioning. Imagine how pissed off this guy has to be. A tragic character indeed, I hope he finds his peace.
 

No. Our arty played big role in defneding of Kyiv, Brovary, Hostomel, Kharkiv, Chernihiv. Even in Kherson during the battle for the bridge. Maybe this imagination formed with numerous videos of light infantry ambushes on columns and AT-team works, but actually our artillery met the enemy with first hours of invasion.  Brigade's artillery moved behind own mech.infantry, artillery brigades hit concentrations of enemy and conducted couter-battery fire

Actually historical experience shows trhat there WILL be a huge problem ... munitions factories (and armament factories in general) simply do not have the capacity to simply switch on such massive increases. New production lines will have to be built, workers trained, ancillary industries also expanded. WW1 and WW2 experience suggest around a year would be required if the society were fully mobilised ... but Russia isn't and the severe economic sanctions will hamper their efforts anyway.
Also, someone here posted something a while back that indicated large swathes of Russian heavy and military related industries are still using Soviet era machinery which is ... wearing out ... and someone suggested that the explosion at the munitions factory in the Urals may have been due to clapped out gear.
Of course, as still others have pointed out, its not all that likely that the Russians will last long enough for it to matter.

FIRMS is totally lit up in the south around Kherson:
https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@33.0,47.1,9z
Then this twitter post says UA is within sniper range of Kherson suburbs. Not sure if it is correct or not but sure am hopeful.
And if the above isn't true, at least there is good news with CanadianUkrainian finally being outed as an airsoft poser. His account is now gone from twitter. 
 

You can simulate pretty much any of those things by decreasing the crew's skill level.

Testing the AI plan continues. Made a few tweaks to the Soviet OOB and associated AI plan. Its getting there. Takes a while to test the thing though.
Some close ups from the Soviet side.



From the German side I decided to recreate Fleugal's counter-attack, supported by a SPW company from III./ "Germania" at Jasienica.

 

An unhorsed Panther crew picked up by an SPW get in on the action!

Not so good for one unlucky Soviet defender/attacker...