Homo_Ferricus

Page 1000 incoming... I think it's only right to mark this milestone with a bone

Is this a suggestion that RU did indeed capture a CAESAR intact? I recall reading that claim a few pages back.

"When they come across us... first of all we don't take prisoners. You come across my squad, it's a death sentence for you" Just casually admitting to war crimes I guess? Or maybe implying that they engage to kill without ever intending to give the guy a chance to put his arms in the air. Somehow I get the feeling there were plenty of guys that tried.

I just love how they decided to translate "Bly*t" into "B*tch" instead of the more context-appropriate, "f**k." Makes the transcript read like a methed-out rant by Jesse Pinkman.

I agree. Shocking that some would say that this is an insignificant development--if it were Russian lines that were broken in this manner, I suspect the same people would say "case closed, they're done." UA are not invulnerable to falling apart after intense pressure from multiple fronts and GLOCs under serious threat. Clearly, there are at least SOME issues with manpower, equipment/weapons, leadership and the confidence of the troops. Let's not forget that the majority of forces in Mariupol are now freeing up--whatever condition they may be in. Another reliable channel insists that the 40th and 58th brigade are nearby and can plug the gaps or maybe even counterattack. And the Bakmut road is not the ONLY supply route. Still, the threat level for UA forces in and around Severodonetsk just rose from a balmy orange to ruby red.

I suspect maybe the better way to think of it is "timid" mass. I don't think the generals and colonels on the ground are getting much in the way of strategic directives let alone operational ones from the highest levels. The planning was shrouded in secrecy and the execution has been nothing but chaos from the start. I'm referring to a command issue that goes beyond the mass being "blind" from lack of C4ISR assets. Downstream of that, the soldiers on the ground don't have full confidence in the colonels and generals. I'm sure there is this palpable sense that even if the leaders committed their mass in a given direction, they fear they'd cross a line with the men. No colonel wants to find that line when his men tell him, "Really? And you think I'm going to accept that death sentence for you?" After all, modern Russians are less numerous and more casualty averse than WWII Soviets, and they know there isn't a true existential or ethical reason for them to stiffen up and march forthrightly into oblivion.

You've got to wonder how many of those engines are usable. I assume a proportion of them are in disrepair, parted out, in deep storage, clerical errors... all that stuff. Not to be too pessimistic, though. I admittedly know nothing about trains.

On topic of how secure are UA LOCs--this excellent UA youtube channel yesterday mentioned in his "strategic challenges" segment that Russian missiles struck railyards where locomotives were stored. Apparently a very distressing fact as these are not very replaceable, especially granted that Ukrainian railways are of different gauge than European ones. Ukraine is probably about as dependent on their railways as Russia I would imagine. Hard to deliver large amounts of the heavy stuff to the front with only random lorries and sprinter vans clogging the roads.

Just some dark humor... if you listen to (and believe) the phone intercepts between Russian soldiers, they have very little respect for their officers. Obeying orders is deeply ingrained, but they don't necessarily respect the people giving them. Lately some have started to refuse the orders, which is pretty bonkers. High-ranking guys die? Good, they're the ones that got us into this mess and continue to screw us over with their selfishness and incompetence. Reminds me of a personal experience that captures this relationship between the leaders and the led in Russian military culture--I was playing a tactical game called "Project Reality", a FPS game centered on coordination that draws a military simulation crowd. Decided to play in a Russian-speaking squad once. All were grown men from Russia (that had presumably served in the military), I speak Russian so I could play with them. The leader overbearingly gave orders, micromanaging everyone while insulting them both inferentially and explicitly. No one had room to practice personal initiative in the evolving tactical situation for risk of provoking more of his berating chatter. Everyone was confused trying to execute his half-baked orders. In the defense of an apartment building, we were overrun by an unspectacular attack that should have been repelled. There was a most odd moment--one of the guys went down wounded and asked for orders. The frustrated leader called him an idiot and told him to count to 100 (this served zero purpose and was really just an insult). The wounded man patiently counted to 100 while lying in the street bleeding out. I later asked him, "Why the F* did you actually count to 100 out loud, on mic?" His reply? "It was an order." The American and European squads did not roll like that, generally speaking...

Unfortunately this is likely to be a morale-booster for the Russian troops at the front.

Source is as biased as they come, highly likely to be PsyOps. Though I very much believe that many Russian soldiers are becoming more disgruntled as their special mission goes on. Would be interesting to see more evidence emerge.

You know, emotional decisions are very rarely good ones. There's a problem with the fact that we are inundated with videos that, as humans, we can't help but respond to with visceral emotion. It didn't used to be like this. We used to read about facts, and have time to consider them, and then the odd photo or video that made its way through the editorial process. Nowadays it's all, "Forget ethics, forget the law, forget standards and decency. I just watched a video that made me emotional. Now I'm ok with war crimes." I've felt this myself, and seen it all over this thread. Truly the moment is all that matters, ala George Orwell. I've recently realized that all the "war porn" and videos from the front generally have a very negative effect on my pysche, and my capacity to live well. Now trying to cut down on the emotion, and sort through facts. From there is where the better decisions are made. As always my sympathies are with the Ukrainian nation.

Well, with the glaring exception of the Bolsheviks. Of course, to see an uprising like that again would mean Putin would have to **** things up as badly as Nicholas did. And I definitely wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Russia has a culture of protecting the figurehead and blaming the underlings. This was particularly prevalent in Stalin's time; it was a popular sentiment among Russians that, sure things were terrible and the government was ****ing up, but it wasn't Stalin's fault. He is our golden boy and all the suffering and imperfection stems from incompetent governors, corrupt party apparatchiki, capitalist saboteurs, greedy managers and bumbling fools. If Stalin could only be omnipresent, he'd be able to correct all the systemic weaknesses. And so, Putin is our golden boy. If only he could be the KomBat of every BTG, if only he could govern every region and city and run every office, we'd be in excellent shape. Alas, the underlings continue to fail us. That's why Girkin can talk all he wants, until he ruptures this belief with something explicit like, "Putin has failed us, a change in top leadership is needed." Exhibit A--my grandmother lived under Stalin from birth until age 19. A few years ago, she was writing fanfiction about Putin... literally. Like the way a tween would write fanfiction about Harry Potter. The instinct to cult of personality is deep. Communism is a hell of a drug. Tell your kids to stay away!

Taking down Girkin would mean having a valuable cohort turn against Putin, he wouldn't do that. His comments are embarrassing to the Army moreso than Putin, and the Russian people are already ignoring that Putin is wearing no clothes--Girkin's comments won't make them see clearly. Especially if he isn't calling out Putin by name.

Thanks. Not sure if it was pointed out already but that means this was video of the recent pullout. This column is getting shot up as it tries to leave the country.

And this is in Chernihiv Oblast as Haiduk pointed out?

Amazing footage. it's a tight keyhole, solid position. But only thing shown are misses, or perhaps AP flying through BTR armor without catastrophic effect. Looks like a tank pouring smoke from a hatch may have been hit and kept on moving? There is definitely one dead BTR that looks to have been hit in ammo storage or with a HEAT round in the killzone. Goes to show you an interesting problem that doesn't exist in CM--do I keep an APFSDS or a HEAT in the barrel?

^These kind of posts here are cringe. This is the Battlefront forums, not twitter.

Are we past the fog-of-war for Gostomel at this point? Initially we heard of one helo-borne wave. Then there was alleged more waves. Then we were told they were smashed and dispersed by a counterattack on the first night, but the information never confirmed that the Russians ever lost control/abandoned the airfield. I'm still not sure what really happened there, would love for someone to lay it all out and show the receipts to prove it. It is high on my list of events in the war that I want to see properly debriefed at some point in the future.

Was this quote deleted or something? It's not loading in for me. All I see is:

It's obvious that this thread has become utterly unsustainable and has no hope of meeting it's original objectives. I predict in no longer than 10 days this thread will hit a culmination point, at which point the topic will either be resolved (unlikely) or the entire forum will collapse in on itself. All the ingredients are present--flame wars, spam, conspiracy theories, off-topic rants. We've barely seen any gains in information or useful discussion here for the last two weeks. No way the forumites can keep this up for much longer. XD

Liveumap has been painting a lot of areas, namely in the south of the country and north of Luhansk with solid red. I've noticed a LOT less footage of supply convoy ambush aftermath and destroyed trucks in the OSINT sphere. Wondering a few things: DLNR and Russian auxiliaries mobilized to guard supply routes--is this having an effect on Ukrainian capacity to disrupt Russian supply convoys? Drones/helicopters increasingly tasked with supply route patrols? Has there been a UA military/govt directive to avoid publicizing supply convoy attacks for OPSEC or other reasons? Is public/TD resolve to launch effective rear-echelon attacks starting to wane, as Russian rear security slowly improves and war-weariness begins to set in? @Haiduk Wonder if you have any answers to some of these points. Of course would be greatly appreciated as has all your input thus far.

So few facts, so much projection in modern "sprint to publish" journalism. Photo in the article calls out burning BTR-4E as a destroyed Russian apc. Not that I'm arguing against the other contents of the article re:putin. Just lamenting...

Likely that he volunteered, or was encouraged to volunteer to boost morale.