Kraft

Please notice I wrote seemingly, this is not my opinion but what is generally thought. 
If it were up to me everything would be fair game and NATO would intervene but if you look at what is actually the case, it is even a debated topic whether or not Ukraine should step foot into Russia or stop at the border.. those are political constraints set simply because public opinion in the west matters for the level of support that can be given to Ukraine.
Back when the Mi choppers attacked Gas storage inside russia, or back when the Kerch bridge was hit, or the nazi daughter of that ru nat was killed, each time news channels here spoke of escalation and the Risks this brings with Russian retaliation etc, which influences people who do not care beyond those news and as you might see on western europes decisions, politicians are not sending everything they could because of the fear of escalation.
Dragging another country into this (even if it is already hybrid involved, but thats details) would fuel this thinking of people who wince when Putin talks about red lines, Nukes for the 100th time.
 

Hey guys, I am putting the finishing touches on a campaign that focuses on the Russian VDV landings at Hostomel Airport on February 24th and 25th of this year, during the opening days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I could use some play testers to play through the missions and offer feedback to help me polish this up for release.

The campaign features a 1:1 detailed scale map of the full airport and portions of the surrounding towns (Ozera, Blystyvytsia, Hostomel), a map of a town called Sosnivka that I thought would make a nice ambush location northwest of the airport, a map of the crossroads at Berestyanka, which you'll likely recognize from satellite imagery of the infamous 64km long Russian column from early in the war, and several custom flavor objects created for me by the incredible @Lucky_Strikeand @JM Stuff

If you are interested in helping, please leave a comment below or DM me. Thanks in advance! 
-TheFriendlyFelon

 

The new Perun video, about winter war requirements, makes it very clear that the most vital item going forward is to add winter battle packs for CMCW & CMBS. 

Thanks for that excellent post, most appreciated.  I would respectfully disagree w the above statement, not to pick a fight, but so that people are not misinformed.  Paul's word's on Ukraine, on the senate floor, if said on this forum woud've had him expelled as an RU troll.  His lies, again on the senate floor, about covid contributed to the ignorance that led to thousands and thousands of americans dying needlessly.  He continually attacks science, fact and evidence, in public on the senate floor.  He may be seem reasonable in person, but his record in public is despicable.  If Rand Paul had his way, Ukraine would've been annexed by Putin -- we know this because that's what he fought for on the senate floor, it's in the public record.
Other than that, I very much agree w everything you posted.  And with KevinKin's follow up post.  I think there won't be enough radical votes to stop UKR funding.  What I worry about is delaying tactics and getting smaller aid packages due to the pro-putin folks.

Dead Russian prisoners of Wagner on Bakmut front


UKR soldier writes:
The day of almost continuous fightings. Russians driven here more and more people. Captured "zeks" (prisoners) say about 2000 for our section of front. You begins to believe so far. This start to remind WWII. All land aroud covered with this motherf...rs. The group of 10 persons come, get fu...d, 4 retreat. New group, again get fu...d, again rollback. And whole day we spend in such format. Sometime they crawl corpses of their dead comrades and start to dig in almost under them to survive. It's happens, they lay prone near bodies and lay by hours.
Other soldier:
We are going to battle for Bakhmut. Now already this come almost to "bayonet attacks". Wagnerites driven forward "zeks"  - they dig in one-by-one like Japanese. Our infanty told they as if from nowhere burts to our trenches. Fu...k, where is my katana?
 

Article 37 does prohibit perfidy or the unlawful use of the protections of the LOAC; however, it does not give license for further violations or mean the rest of LOAC does not apply.  https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/ART/470-750046?OpenDocument
The Russian soldier(s) who are proven to have participated in an act of perfidy are prosecutable under the LOAC.  If the whole unit and its chain of command were involved then they too can be prosecuted.
However none of this gives licence to legally gun down every man in the RA squad, especially unarmed men lying face down on the ground.  For that, they would need to prove that the entire squad was about to get up and re-engage in combat - so intent and capability, which allowed for lawful engagement or self-defence.
As to the legal defence of “well they are doing it!”  Welcome to the western world. Having spent time in combat with people who were absolutely medieval I can sympathize but this is the deal - we follow the rules even when the other team is not. Why? Western Rules Based Order…key word is “rules”, and we all have to follow them or risk breaking the deal.
You want to support the Russians just keep promoting a reciprocal Russian-way of war for the Ukrainians.  You want to beat the Russians in the strategic narrative?  Keep to the high ground and remain recognizable to your western supporters.  Fair?  Nope.  Reality? Yup.

The Czech Republic just designated the current Kremlin administration as "terrorist". I'll quote the reportage, since it's on a "live page" and will move/get swamped by later developments:
 
 

Well guys, at last I got this!  Symbolically in the day of Kherson liberation ) 
Thank you @Kinophile for this initiative and enough "family diplomacy" in resolving of sudden obstacle on "last mile" 😀
Thank you @Battlefront.com - Steve, your "bribe" ) will be worked out ))))
Thank you all, who donated anonymously
Thank you, all other, who just have been reading and support our country - first two months were some nervous and psychologically hard, so this my 24/7 "marathone" here was giving me some emotional relief. 
 

"Russian military volunteers and civilians undergo shooting training at a shooting range in the Rostov region on November 11, 2022. STRINGER / AFP"


"Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training exercise organized by members of the Joint Expeditionary Force, in the northeast of England, on November 9, 2022. ANDY COMMINS / AFP"
*These two photos above alone show the difference in training and its quality between the Russians and the Ukrainians.




"In Siversk, a city in eastern Ukraine hit by Russian forces a few days ago, on November 11, 2022. BULENT KILIC / AFP"




"In a basement in a former position of Russian soldiers in the village of Blahodatne, taken over by the Ukrainian armed forces, in Kherson oblast, on November 11, 2022. VALENTYN OGIRENKO / REUTERS"



"A former position of Russian soldiers in the village of Blahodatne, taken over by the Ukrainian armed forces, in Kherson Oblast, November 11, 2022. VALENTYN OGIRENKO / REUTERS"




"In a Ukrainian position near a front line in the Kharkiv region, November 11, 2022. STRINGER / REUTERS"
*ZU-23-2

Lest we forget


"A woman in front of the wall of memory of defenders of Ukraine who fell during the Russian-Ukrainian war, in downtown kyiv, Monday, November 7, 2022. BERNAT ARMANGUE / AP"

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Incredible 27min video from Counter offensive on Kupiansk, by Kraken Unit. Contains NSFW CQB clip.

Just an illustration of bloodiest battle for Bakhmut.
The woman, UKR civil volunteer, which took care over one of companies of 93rd mech.brigade to help them with fundrising and supply with food and goods:
I feel very f...g bad because of I can't more to open fundrising for "own 93rd", because they are gone. In company left 4 men, which know "own angel". They have seen such things, that they already don't need anything in principle. I'm writing, writing to them, but they don't need anything. Just would be survive. 
Now they went to rear to replenishing, who remained. But if could see those eyes...
My mother have been knitting a socks for them from the spring - for all company.... She had a time to sent only 10 pairs. At last she finished socks for all other and now she "and what to do at all?!" - in full stupor. And mashrooms... What for we collected mashrooms? We have been rolled it into liter jars... Sad smile... 

I must say that my current life is a paradise compared to what it was at the end of February, beginning of March. Then, in the current situation with electricity, I am daily exposed to artillery shelling and air bombing. I was in my apartment and just moved away from the window, when a 152-mm shell fell right in front of my window, at a distance of about 100 meters. They threw shards of glass at me, later I found one of the shards in my apartment. Miraculously, I didn't come back. But this is a trifle. It all happened so suddenly that I didn't even have time to get scared.
Air bombardment of senior artillery. When you sit in the basement and hear the rapidly growing whistle of a Russian jet engine. With this blood in your veins, you literally freeze with fear, you understand that now he will drop bombs and, perhaps, you will find yourself under the rubble. When the FAB-500 bomb explodes a kilometer away from you. A building in the basement that literally shakes like an earthquake.
But I experienced the greatest fear when, in the conditions of street fighting, I traveled from Irpen (I had the stupidity to wait until the last, hoping that the Russians were not going to my city, because the bridge to Kyiv had already been blown up). As I was walking towards the bridge along the main street on the next street, literally 200 meters away from me, a heavy firefight broke out. I saw tracers flying across the intersection that I had to cross to get to the bridge. I waited until the Russian turned the fire in the other direction, and with all my might ran across the intersection. Despite this, thanks to adrenaline, I had more energy than ever. I ran a mile and a half with large and heavy bags. Normally I wouldn't be able to do this.
 

Some facts about Shakhed-131 (smaller brother of 136 with 10-15 kg warhead) and -136 after their remains research by UKR engineers:
1. Engine (in Shaked-136).  German-develped Limbach L550E for small aircrafts. Clones produce in China and Iran (likely China was a source). This is air-cooled 4-cylynder horyzontally-opposed two stroke engine with displacement 548 cc and 50 hp
2. Navigation. Drones are not guided, they fly by coordinates and have GPS (CRPA) and inertial navigation system. GPS is default. It has protection against GPS-jammers/spoofing. If drone is losing GPS signal, inertial system is turning on and the drone continue a flight, but can have course errror 5% of traveled route. When GPS signal is renewed, GPS-navigation turning on again and drone is conducting course correction
3. Electronics. Flight control block of Shakhed-131 composed from five boards with processors TMS320, F28335 from Texas Instruments. Shakhed-136 - CPU marking is removed, but due to architecture it matched to Altera/Intel product. Some types of Korean chips are present of Shakhed-136 board
4. Manufactiring. One of factories, which produce theese drones (as well as Mohajer-6) was built in Tajikistan by China, use Chineese technology and controlled by Chineese
Sources:  https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/an_advanced_radio_communication_device_on_american_processors_found_in_the_shahed_136-4446.html (in English)
  https://techno.nv.ua/innovations/drony-kamikadze-shahed-136-50277597.html 
https://defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/ne_tilki_shahed_136_zjavilos_detalne_doslidzhennja_sche_odnogo_iranskogo_drona_kamikadze_jakij_vikoristovuje_rf-9033.html (here pdf file with detailed report with photos of Shakhed-131 components)
Communication board of Shakhed-136

Putin being a genius yet again.  Launching terror attacks on UKR civilians which is on TV news in US every single day.  With support for UKR already at 66% and Putin slaughtering civilians and actually boasting about kidnapping UKR children, It will be interesting to see if a MAGA congress can actually shut off the funding.  Putin is not making US folks waver by demonstrating, every day, that he's a monster killing women and children.
The GOPers on this forum who are going to vote for these GOP candidates wouldn't stand for removing UKR funding, I believe.  As much I disagree w them on other items, this is a place we all can easily see right vs wrong.  GOP is supposed to stand for freedom against tyranny.  Let's see the leadership walk that walk instead of their spiritual leader actually praising a serial mass murdering, child kidnapping destroyer of cities (and economies).  The vast majority of GOP members of congress and the senate have been honorable and steadfast in doing the right thing, let's see that continue.  If not, get on the phone and email and give the candidate you supporting a solid bit of your mind -- they do listen sometimes, especially when they know you are a GOP voter.  

Happy ending:

Interviews with some soldiers of I gather the 93rd brigade. They were near Izyum for months but were replaced very shortly before it was retaken, then relocated to near Bakhmut. They really seem to have got the short end of the stick and seem tired but resigned to their lot. The English captions work pretty well.