Kinophile

Oh I get the purpose but nope nopity nope no. Until the first shell lands near this armchair warrior, I'm sure...

The trench I'm fine, totally. But no ****ing way am I going under earth that dense and heavy with only a tiny mousehole to escape. Also, that hole is at floor level, so first heavy rain that cozy little death trap is gonna flood.

Or entomb you. Jesus no bloody way am I going in that.

Such confusion is deeply satisfying.

@Battlefront.com Another flag.... Notable that these guys self organized without the pressure of combat losses to get them stirred up. Someone motivated them, informed them and organized them to a take a stand, despite threat of law enforcement. From little acorns...

Man, I love the backflip symmetrical beauty of UKR with ****ty T64s beating RUS forces and capturing T80/90s, then using those more modern MBTs against the replacement RUS tanks that are... T62s. Perfect.

Like say, when a company or two are trying to cross a wide river, just as they start embarking on to barges....

Plus digging in is not the way to fight this offensive. UKR has simply brute-forced the nature of the war is this theater into medium-long range maneuver (instead of the previous attrition format) with forces deliberately trained, built and supplied with that in mind. RUS by contrast is still in a static attritional configuration (and seems unable to adapt - surprise) with the added insult that RUS command (ie Putin) has thrown the whole theater to the wolves.Operational level forces do exist for RUS to attempt to stall or stop the offensive, but are clearly being held back. RUS "reinforcements" seem to be just local units shifted from tactical crisis to crisis, with consequential erosion and eventual destruction. The previous read we've noted here, that Putin seems to not care about Luhansk, seems to being borne out on the ground, to UKR s reward. I suspect North Luhansk will fall to a combination of perfectly opposite objectives and priorities: - UKR actually wants Luhansk & the border and has built a force to achieve that. - RUS (Putler) does not need Luhansk and has refused to waste operationally significant forces defending it. The MoD seems to be trying to support the defence but I suspect Putler is constantly interfering and corrupting their attempts. So UKR will hit the border, eventually and inevitably. Then turn south, to directly threaten something Putler has made clear he does care about - the land corridor to Crimea. That's when we'll see how much Putler cares, and by inference how many Russian men he wil send to get slaughtered to defend that priority.

Hmm interesting

What's Sheep talk for "NO! I SAID NO GODDAMIT! "

Still, it's good to track movements of the enemy.

Interestingly, the prevailing wind direction in Toronto is W--> NE. We do get snow dumps but I personally definitely notice when the wind is from the N/NE.

Hmmmmmmm

I think it's the other way around? The cold dry air comes from the north, hits the "warmer" (relatively) and moister air from off the Black Sea, and hey presto snow. Generally large bodies of water are warmer than equivalent land areas. The immediate coast will be snowy but comparatively wet and thinner, with the heavier levels a bit further inland. A general overview of Ukraines climatology. Note the temp increase over the last decade. In 10 years its possible there'll be no snow on the coast for a lot of the winter, I suspect. Even here in Toronto there's markedly less snow over the winter as a whole than when I first came here on 2009.

Thats only part, the cold worms its way in inevitably. You wont regret it. Ive put a set in my boots, shot an entire day's worth (12 hours!) and come home with them still warm. And, I swear to goodness, I put the boots on the next morning and the pads can still have heat.

toe warmers for the ULTIMATE WINTER WIN. My god those things are the magic of the angels.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/world/europe/ukraine-russia-prisoner-lyman.html yes yes its the NYT, but 1- I love that photographer's work 2. The article notes something we haven't mentioned here (I think) - the use of the North-South running rivers as water highways, RLOCS (?) and not just as water obstacles to be crossed. Because the inevitable course of the Kharkiv offensive is to turn south into Donbass, the rivers will turn from being Defensive Lines the UA must deliberately assault across and instead into Ground(Riverine) Lines of Communication, running in the same operational direction as the offensive itself. So in theory a potential source of friction will become a source of speed & mobility. Now, the winter obviously will reduce the usefulness; I doubt you could trust the river ice with anything heavier than a van or light truck. Not just in terms of weight, I think UKR gets decent river ice, but sheer quantity of vehicles and rate of use. Im sure there will be areas/stretches than can take a heavy truck etc, but no river ice is reliable for very long under heavy and continuous vehicular use. Then, come the spring.... So the undeniable fact that the UA will need to turn south at some point and will then be flowing with the grain of the topography rather than against it, will absolutely be a factor in the pace and flow of operations against the RUS. An interesting analogy might be the Shenandoah Valley in the US Civil War. Essentially a giant channel into the Union heartlands, it became a critical strategic theater. Once the Confederates were eventually beaten off (sorry Stonewall) it then became a dagger into the heart of the Confederacy. The point being, that both sides used the natural grain of the land to enable & amplify operational and strategic missions and objectives. Another example would be the Allies hitting the Rhine - once they had that, they had a logistical artery par exellence to support the advance east and south. The Donbass watershe essentially flows in the same ultimate direction of Ukraine's strategic (not just operational!) objectives - to the Azov sea. wrong, dummy. But it still flows into the flanks of RUS lines and to the RUS border, and we all know how much the UA loves a nice flank attack... Conversely, Russia will be still be defending and communicating across the topological grain, offering lots of opportunities (as already exist) for choking GLOCs at bridges and river crossings. So their friction will remain and steadily be increased. --- Now, I'm thinking of this here, at this early/mid-ish point in the UA Kharkiv Donbss counterattack. I'm pretty sure some clever lads in the UA GenStab are right now badgering geographers, hydrological engineers, river police, structural and transport engineers and anyone else they can think of (maybe we can too?) for insights and ideas of how to exploit this coming synchronicity in the UA's national war aims and the natural topography of the battlefield.

I've previously shot overnight on the Toronto Lakefront in January and holy ****ing **** its awful. Just ****ing ****ty **** **** *** **** mother****er **** ****y ****ing awful. And that was with Baffin boots, heating pads, many layers, canada goose level coat, insulated overalls, gloves with heat pads, spare layers, etc. I was fine, in the end, but I was in no bloody hurry to do anymore days on 1st Unit of The Strain, I can tell you. I've never been so cold - except in the old power station, the Hearn. But that has gigantic concrete floors that hold and radiate the cold, plus wind* and a nice nasty asbesto-y dust to blow around and as it was literally my first day on a film set and I knew nothing, I absolutely was not dressed correctly. Which is the point, really. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but we were all jabbering in the Spring about the expected rains giving a mud season that would slow down RUS ops. Personally I saw very little impediment or hindrance due to surface conditions. Certainly nothing dramatic compared to the Wehrmacht's experience. I doubt this coming winter will slow the UA. As has been noted by others, winter hits the unprepared unequally. And I dont hear no stories about Ukraine "losing" 1.5 million winter uniforms. *Wind is the killer, it really is. I find Terry Pratchet's description of a "Lazy Wind" as perfectly apt - "It doesn't bother going around, it just goes right through you."

Isnt it simply about safety? ie being as far away as possible from mines and being able to rapidly get away from the vehicel if it becomes a target or is actually hit. The soviet garbage is very vulnerable to mines, has useless armor and is not designed for fast, safe egress (i.e if hit). You get a light vehicle thats easily produced, modified and maintained, but at a cost of safety & protection. As always: Good, Fast or Cheap, pick two. Or - Survivable, Maintainable, Buildable. USSR couldnt build a maintainable and properly survivable APC/IFV, not at the quantity they needed. So they choose having a lot of vehicles for a reasonable price, at the cost of crew/infantry survivability. Soldiers arent stupid, no one rides on the outside of a military vehicle for comfort. Hell, inside often aint great either!

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3505811-pavlo-fedosenko-hero-of-ukraine.html I've tracked him since 2014. Read that article and note how many times he says that he, personally, is responsible for his subordinates - their welfare, lives and military support. And they repay it back. As noted early by others, the German Wehrmacht had a similar Esprit de corps (as did the Western Allies, and I assume some Soviet commanders). Winning is inevitable. No matter what, the UA will find a way, together.

Those damn Angles, Saxons and Normans. Never mix languages, dammit. That way lies madnesssssss....

We must inform NAFO of this future development. Memes must be ready for winter!

Yup. We've already explored this topic. There's a simpler explanation than some long-view deep thinking on the part of politicians - prior agreements panning out by accident into a better overall situation.

No, more than that. Russia made the mistake of boycotting in protest, attempting to discredit or politically weaken the UNSC. But the UNSC kept working and voted without them. Naturally no one has ever made that mistake again, which is kinda a good thing, i.e. Tantrums get you nothing and we're still going to do what you don't want us to do. From wiki, but also what I grew up learning: "The resolution passed since the Soviet Union was boycotting the UN for recognising Republic of China as China.[2]"

Not exactly or only. A Causeway can be on top of a dam or dyke.