[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

Polish edition of the Newsweek writes about people welcoming Debaltseve defenders at Kiev Rail Station. Journalists who asked soldiers about dead were told about 'several hundred dead' 

 

There is Russian proverb: "He is lying like a witness" 

[ECM and M982 Excalibur question.]

At medium ECM level PGMs can't be called in at all, although AFAIK this really should only apply to US PGMs.

 

Laser-guided PGM should be callable but with appropriately increased timing (due to communication network disruption).

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

About Ukranian (and sometimes Russian meida). There is a one guy in youtube - Anatoly Shariy. He is regularly exposes fakes in media. He mostly is focused on Ukraninan sources but occasionaly slams Russian news as well  

 

Overll conslusion from his videos is that current news from these sources generally should be dismissed as intentional fakes or instances of incompetent journalism. 

[ECM and M982 Excalibur question.]

M982 Excalibur uses GPS guiadance which is affectable by electroinc countermeasures (GPS jamming).

Does ECM level set in mission properties affect precisionof Excalibur in game?

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

Steve, you seem to possess some detailed reports about Debaltzevo.

Could you, please, share links to public sources you use?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

I'very found some official info. Ukraniand admitted 22 KIA, 150 injured "during last three days"

Googled for that tweet, found none. But there are numerous Ukranian sites copying same scary story about Russian special force fighting rebels for trucks to move bodies away

Looks like this text is basis of that "tweet" was mentioned.

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

I read a good three weeks ago that Ukrainian troops in Debaltseve already had contingency plans in place for an orderly withdrawal if desired. Who goes in what order, under what protective fire, by what routes.

 

A Russian mercenary commander at Debaltseve tweeted that Russian bodies were strewn unburied  across the battlefield. All to take possession of a blasted hole that used to be a railway yard. The definition of a Pyrrhic victory.

 

I would be very strange for "Russian mercenary commander" to tweet things like that. 

Can you provide link to that tweet?

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

One question that came to my mind after reading about the fall of Debaltseve is: how does a 'orderly' retreat from a frontline position looks like? Everybody lining up in nice ranks and driving of in proper column formation? ;-)

 

Er... "Reverse Direction Advance"?

[Smoke launch direction]

I've noticed some strange thing with smoke launchers on T-72B3. 

AFAIK smoke mortars are located on turret and should be launched along main gun axis.

But when I order smoke to my tank, it appears along hull axis. 

 

Is this a bug?

 

EDIT:

And one more quiestion: are smoke launchers reloadable?

I've seen one Bradley for launch smoke 3 or 4 times.

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

Are any official reports about casualties?

 

Zakharchenko claims "3500" of Ukranian casualties

 

Ukranian resources do not report any summary numbers, but are quite grim when talking about this battle. Titles are like "Hell in Debaltzevo" and authors exhibit general distrust to official reports.

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

European MSM is quoting Ukrainian forces saying they had to retreat though fields - as the road network was cut or under sustained artillery fire - in groups of under fifty and under small arms fire. From reading these sources it looks like whatever was in Debaltsevo only came out in fragmented pieces minus their wounded and heavy equipment.

 

That mode of retreat implies loss of all heavy equipment, doesn't it?

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

This article is quite interesting.

http://www.sott.net/article/292772-Minsk-Merkel-and-the-American-Way-Der-Spiegel-says-Putin-has-won

 

It's hard to tell, has Putin won or not without knowing his intent.

There are widly different speculations on this matter. Versions range from that all war in Eastern Ukraine is just cover operation for tacking Crimea back, to that he wants to annex entire Ukraine and rebuild Soveit Empire (of Evil).

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

I've seen multiple messages that from Debaltsevo Ukraninan Army pulled out ~2450 men and 200 vehicles including 15 tanks and 50 BMPs.

 

Any sources on total amount of forces Ukranian Army had in Debaltsevo?

 

Has only unofficial source in LJ saying that inside Debaltsevo there was 5 BTGs and 4 more were sent to rescue.

[Uh so has Debaltseve fallen?]

I am only confident in long term trends. The war in Ukraine is unsustainable from Russia's perspective. This is more akin to First Chechen War or Afghanistan than it is any other conflict Russia has fought or proxy fought since the fall of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is in tough shape too, but Ukraine isn't the one that is trying to be a world power.

Everything in life is relative. If you keep that in mind when assessing something, you'll do a lot better than if you stick with absolutes. Nations can win battles and lose wars. Even the most powerful ones.

Steve

 

Actually, I don't see why Russia needs this, I mean intense combat. From Russian perspective it would be better if sides adhered Minsk[-2] agreements and simply kept conflict frozen for a while. The only reasonable explnation is that Russia is not controlling rebels that tightly to enforce strict adherence.

 

IMO, Putin is now between two fires: further escalation of this war is pointless for Russia, but he can't simply abandon rebels, as he would face drop in popular support whithin Russia.

[PBS Documentary on the Ukraine]

Could you please identify countries and populations that support Russia's actions in the Ukraine?  They may oppose it less than the US, but about as positive as you'll get is "Russia is wrong to do this, but we don't strongly care because it's not our backyard" 

I don't say they support it. They mostly don't care or seek to use this situation on their own behalf, like South American countries that increased their food export to Russia or China that has signed long prepared gas deal. 

[PBS Documentary on the Ukraine]

Which is equally offensive to the rest of the world at large.  Same effect different goal.  Objection to Russian intervention is the objection to Russian intervention, not exactly supporting the Ukraine (although because of the way Russia has followed through it's turned into effectively supporting the Ukraine).  

 

I don't think it really offensive to "rest of the world"

It is offensive mostly to US and US imposes it's will on it's European allies.

[PBS Documentary on the Ukraine]

And Russians hade a legit grievance against the west in 1940 as a result of German actions. 

 

And yet that experience continues to define Russian policy making.  History has a way of lingering, especially traumatic history.   

 

Ukraine isn't a great country by any stretch of the imagination, but if the US carved off part of Mexico because it was full of US retirees (they long to be Americans again, and Mexico is a failed state!) the UK returned various commonwealth countries to colony status (they're the queens subjects and they long to return to her welcoming arms and are suffering under the present government!) the lid flipping would be just as severe.  Objection to Russian actions shouldn't be seen as tacit approval of the Ukraine, but objection to sneakily taking parts of other countries.  If the Eastern Ukraine really wanted to return to Russia there were other ways to do it that didn't involve "separatists," Russian special forces on leave, and T-72s and BUKs sprouting up from the soil.

 

I doubt that Putin or anybody in power in Russia really want to chop off Eastern Ukraine and annex it. 

I think that low-intensity or frozen conflict inside Ukraine if more preferrable option.

[Increase Quick Battle time over 2 hrs]

Is there any way to increase QB time duration over upper limit of 2 hours?

 

I'am still slowpoke a bit

[155mm HE round vs Explosive Reactive Armor]

Is shock damage from HE rounds that didn't achive penetration modeleed in game?

[PBS Documentary on the Ukraine]

The eastern rump of Ukraine, composed heavily of ethnic Russians, longs to re-integrate with the mother country. And not just for nationalist reasons. Economic interests play an important role. Ukraine has been in arrears with Russia's natural gas deliveries.

It's not only gas. Eastern Ukraine has majority of industry and good share of it's products was exported to Russia. Space rockets (Zenit) and some space tech, helicopter engines, railroad locomotives, etc. These economic ties were formed during Soviet period and helped them to keep afloat after fall up USSR. Now these ties are cut off for political reasons and no new markets to replace them have emerged.

[Precision artillery strike. How to call it in?]

It's not outside the realm of possibility. For the longest time the US artillery had a contact fuze that would go off in heavy rain or hail! A thick enough branch would be more then enough. 

Wow, that's funny fact

[Precision artillery strike. How to call it in?]

I've just shot Krasnopol against Stryker. Round has merely scratched foilage and exploded midair 

Is this realistic? I doubt 152mm round whould detonate unless it hit shaft of the tree.

[ATGM squad ammo question.]

Thanks, now it clear!

[PBS Documentary on the Ukraine]

It seems to me that over the last 70 years or so whenever there has been civil conflict within a country super power involvement has only made it worse, bigger and bloodier but with probably the same outcome. There may be exceptions, but it appears to me that that serves as a general rule of thumb.

 

Michael

 

Can't say anything about outcomes, but completely agree that external involvement tends to make civil wars bloodier.

[Ukrainian T-84 Oplot analysis page]

Hm, I thought they got rid of carousel-type autoloader.