danfrodo

The failed bridging operations just reek of someone up high forcing decisions on the command structures below. Like Stalin in 1941, constantly ordering immediate piecemeal attacks instead of make proper, coordinated, powerful counterattacks. so how exactly was Russia planning on supplying the troops that were crossing the river well within UKR artillery observation (via drone)??? They'd be out of fuel in a day or two. The bridges wouldn't last. Bizarre, completely unrealistic choices being made.

wow, what kind of graphics card & settings do you have? -- this is CMBS w mods, right?

I think I'd nuance what you said. Putin had some strategic vision, even if it was often just opportunistic. But now he's trapped by his lack of strategic execution, so all the vision stuff is out the window. Like you said, he's in crisis management, and it's ad hoc crisis management.

These Russian thrusts aren't really all that strong or deep. So UKR, I think, has intention of delay & fighting withdrawal, whittling down RA strength at relatively low cost (not to say 'low cost' on someone's life). Which brings up the question: where is the strength of the UKR forces? If it's not being used here then it must be somewhere else planned for something else..... Putin does know that, right? He's putting his best forces farther and farther into a position where they can't easily pull back to repel an attack on Kupiansk or elsewhere behind his lines? Crossing that river might be just about the dumbest thing he could do.

well, one more: did you hear the utter bull-s--t RP spewed about covid and vaccines? How many americans died because he sat there in the senate telling endless lies, attacking the CDC constantly? feeding into the lie machine that was literally killing hundreds of americans every day. That's Rand Paul.

I guess I better give myself a vacation, this is making my blood boil.

as if no one has bothered to think about where the weapons are going? Oh, gosh golly, we're all utterly f-ing incompetent and need serial con man RP to lecture us on good governance.

I wish that were true. But it's rand paul, senior senate f-ing snake. Have you heard the garbage he's been spewing about Ukraine the last couple months? he would have handed UKR to Putin on a silver platter. He said that UKR was part of Russia so what's the problem. And 44 million people and their descendants would lose their freedom, forever. That's the stakes we're actually talking about. RP doesn't give a flying f-k about the money. He's one of Putin's like autocrat-wannabe waterboys.

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that seems to be the calculation that the US, Poland, and a lot of other countries are making. This is pocket change compared to the year in, year out costs of staying prepared and vigilant about the rabid dog next door.

We're on same page, Steve. And note that the costs currently (and for next few months) associated w Ukraine are actually pretty trivial compared to what we spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet in Ukraine we have a much better, by orders of magnitude, chance of making the world better via a Ukrainian victory. The future where despots realize that wars of conquest will bring 1000X more cost than benefit is a good one. The future where Russia has a choice of being N Korea or making real efforts of being a responsible adult is a good one.

oh, I knew that but now realize I wasn't clear in the quote I used. Sorry 'bout that.

The bit from above quote that caught my attention was "Looks like Russians are throwing in the battle own reserves". Yes, please throw in everything you've got Putin. It'll make it that much easier to come in behind and cut off your LOCs on that huge front you've got. Yes, Putin, throw more increasingly bad troops into one area, stripping them from other sectors. Oh, if you could also place all your artillery in that one area that would also be appreciated. Thanks, in advance.

Professional quality humor, BlackMoria, well done, deserves more recognition than just a like

This is not quite right. ~1/2 US people don't end up paying federal income taxes. This gets promulgated into the myth that half of america is free loading. These are children, stay at home parents, disabled, etc plus the majority which is low income folks. But low income folks DO pay social security and medicare taxes. Since Social Security, and Medicare make up ~1/3 of the budget and around half of mandatory spending, they are chipping in. And they are paying all sorts of state & local taxes. I don't want to distract just wanted to clarify a bit. But if anyone thinks being low income worker is free loading, they should try it for a while.

I agree w Vanir Ausf B. One is called panzerfaust. Other is called Russian tank. Land is Ukraine. That's a pretty good similarity for me.

Thanks for that, Beeron. Absolutely epic war reporting from the front.

I still hold to my belief the west needs to send more support Russia. We should be airlifting the supplies that Russian troops most desire. Specifically, as alluded to by DanCA above, we should put a dozen cases of vodka at each potential bridging site. Problem solved.

Yes, but could've done this in powerpoint w just 10 slides and a bunch of bullet points. Each bullet point revealed one at a time, 3 per slide, and read verbatim by the presenter. Now doesn't that make a lot more sense? Don't we all learn more when people read their slides out loud to us? So RU making some big pushes today, w their rapidly dwindling forces. I get that they want to secure territory that would be hard for UKR to retake. But UKR probably wouldn't frontally assault these areas anyway. They work to cut the LOCs choosing less well defended areas to attack -- like they are doing now. So hopefully this all just puts more RU assets in what will later be a pocket, or at least a supply-starved area that simply can't hold out under pressure.

Overall, it sure looks like a very very very bad couple of days for Putler. 1-2 BTG lost/combat ineffective at the Great Patriotic River Crossing Offensive. Multiple turret tosses, one in a very behind the lines location. And Ukraine moving into position to threaten in multiple directions: 1. move across Russian border to cut Belgorod rail line via artillery 2. OR move toward Vovchansk and cut Belgorod rail line via artillery 3. And, independently, take advantage of RU losses & withdrawals to cut off the increasingly weakening Izyum salient. This is shaping up as a major fiasco. Things are really stacking up for potential collapses. If rail line is cut, then already stressed and inadequate logistics are further degraded. Lots of artillery shells need to be arriving to keep UKR forces at bay, and that stuff takes up a lot of train cars and trucks that will have to take the long way around from Belgorod if that rail line is cut. Once again, UKR bleeds the spearheads while working to unhinge Russian fronts via interdiction of logistics, avoiding costly offensive slugfests. It's amazing to watch. Remember the Korsun pocket? "we gotta pull back, this whole salient is in danger!" "NO! I need this salient for future offensive operations!" ooopsy.

dang Steve is gonna get a timeout

So once again it looks like UKR is working to cut off RU forces instead of frontal assaults. They are moving toward that Belgorod rail line NE of Kharkiv -- maybe they'd even make an incursion into Russia to cut it. If they are in artillery range they can really cut it and keep it from being repaired via intermittent shelling of section that's been cut via arty or air or special forces behind the lines. The Izyum salient is in danger of being cut off at the same time that units that would protect the salient are being sent NE of Kharkiv. And losing ~1 BTG per day. What a mess! And now they remove their big fancy theater commander. Things are looking good for Ukraine so far this week.

looks like an entire BTG destroyed. Wow. unbelievable.

I don't know art but I know what I like. And yesterday's RU losses were, once again, terrible. As per Dan/CA -michael mckay posted earlier: Increased Russian losses over the past day: > 350 killed helicopters +2 tanks +17 armoured combat vehicles +48 military vehicles and fuel trucks +17 artillery systems +9 operational-tactical UAVs +10 That's well more than a BTG worth of armor losses. And the artillery losses are stacking up.

I guess the UKR reserves will get some good training if these knuckleheads actually invade. UKR will know exactly where the Belarus troops are massing and it'll be a slaughter.