cesmonkey

In my reading of the Russian telegram channels, they have no doubt where the real axes of advance are being attempted right now. For example: https://t.me/polk105/9594

With this and the actions in other sectors, it sounds like today is going to be a very bloody day of the war. Hoping for the best!

Russia telegram channels say a particular strong attack by Ukraine near Robotyne in three waves was repulsed. I guess we'll see. War Gonzo reports that they will have video of it soon taken by their own crew.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, @annamaliar, says: https://t.me/annamaliar/961

Ukrainian naval drone: https://t.me/operativnoZSU/107200

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3470064/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/

Agreed. But whether or not the West will make the necessary investments to support and sustain Ukraine to not only contribute to a successful counter-offensive but help Ukraine to win back their territory for what still looks to be a very long war seems questionable. Putin may be very correct in thinking that Russia has longer staying power for this war of attrition, even if they do endure a higher causality ratio.

An interesting interview. One of the things mentioned is that Ukraine has a substantial need for non-lethal aid like communication equipment and portable generators but tells the United States that it only wants lethal aid as they believe that there is a limited amount of funding available from the US and its better to devote that entirely to lethal aid. Non-lethal aid can "usually" be bought commercially off the shelf while the options for buying lethal aid commercially are very limited. However, Ukraine still has big needs for non-lethal aid that are unfulfilled.

https://t.me/operativnoZSU/106951

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_I_video_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_I_board_wargames https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War:_Western_Front Maybe mod in some drones? Or maybe the capabilities of air balloons and aircraft of that era could stand-in? Note: I'm only half-way joking.

Things seem to be kind of hot now in Kleshcheevka according to Russian telegrammer, Two Majors: https://t.me/dva_majors/21974

I wonder if the US would allow one of its ATACMS-equipped allies to send a few missiles to Ukraine just to find out how effective they could be? Or is the the language above just hiding the real reason - which may be to not provoke Putin?

War Gonzo reports some small Ukrainian advances in the south and near Bakhmut, and a Russian advance near Luhansk https://t.me/wargonzo/13937

Claim that Storm Shadow missiles were used to strike an oil depot and ammunition storage in Crimea: https://t.me/rybar/49946

Thanks for the link! Kofman spends some time on the idea that the officers that went to the newly formed brigades were not the best the Ukraine military has because the officers that experienced brigades would be willing to spare for this task were the ones that would not be missed much from the current brigade. Whether that is based on speculation or some evidence he is aware of, I don't know. But if it were true, then, yes, it would partly explain the performance of the new brigades. And it would reinforce the idea that it would have been better to upgrade existing brigades that create new ones. It would be nice to hear from the NATO officers that trained these brigades what they thought of the quality of Ukrainian officers assigned to them. So how does one extract a quality cadre from an experienced brigade for the purpose of forming a new brigade without hurting the existing brigade too much?

A few miscellaneous tidbits: https://t.me/RVvoenkor/49657 https://t.me/dva_majors/21752 A lot of voices are echoing the CNN story on: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/20/politics/pentagon-watchdog-report-ukraine-weaponry/index.html Pentagon watchdog finds some Western weaponry sent to Ukraine was stolen before being recovered last year What I find interesting is this part from that story:

FYI. This appears to be the telegram post that NOELREPORTS translated: https://t.me/obrazbuduschego2/14813

https://t.me/dva_majors/21682

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3463890/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/

Crimean authorities order the evacuation of four small villages near the site of the exploding ammunition storage: https://t.me/RVvoenkor/49528

Big update from Mashovets. Kind of a mixed picture, but I"ll let someone else dig further.