Ukraine war mega thread

[bsnub]

Absolutely disgusting, Misskit, and it beggars belief that there are still people on this forum who support and cheerlead these Russian bastards.

[bsnub]

Ukrainian forces around Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, appear to have pushed Russian troops east past Ternova, a settlement on the Russian border.

If confirmed, the Ukrainians’ liberation of Ternova could mark an inflection point in Russia’s 10-week-old wider war in Ukraine. In late March, Ukrainian forces drove Russian invaders from northern Ukraine. Now it appears they’re driving the invaders from northeastern Ukraine, too.

Heavy fighting continues around Izium, south of Kharkiv—and also around Kherson on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. The Russians late last month briefly advanced around Kherson before stalling out. And Russian battalions more recently have captured a few settlements around Izium.

But those Russian gains are in jeopardy owing to Ukrainian gains around Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million just 25 miles from Russia. As the Russian front collapses around Kharkiv, it could free up powerful Ukrainian brigades to push south, toward Izium, potentially tipping the fighting there in Kyiv’s favor.

The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces was the first to hint at the Russian retreat across the border near Kharkiv. Battalions from the 138th Separate Mechanized Brigade, part of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army, fled across the border to the Belgorod region of Russia “due to significant losses,” the general staff stated on Tuesday.

The U.S. Defense Department’s daily Ukraine briefing didn’t mention the purported Russian retreat. But heat-detecting satellites operated by NASA did register significant fires around Ternova starting around Friday—fires that could signify intensive fighting. The fires seem to have faded by Monday.

If indeed the Ukrainian forces around Kharkiv, including the battle-hardened 92nd and 93rd Mechanized Brigades, have pushed all the way to the Russian border, they not only can prevent Russian artillery from targeting Kharkiv—they could fire their own guns at Russian staging areas on the far side of the border.

And they also would be free to pivot right and head toward Izium, 60 miles south of Kharkiv. The Russian army has 99 front-line battalion tactical groups in Ukraine. A dozen of the best BTGs slowly are advancing in fits and starts south and west past Izium.

Think of any Ukrainian brigades rolling toward Izium from the north as a hammer. The Ukrainian brigades south of Izium, including the 4th and 17th Tank Brigades and the 95th Air Assault Brigade, would be the anvil. The conditions are becoming clearer for a major Ukrainian victory.

Monday, May 9th was Victory Day in Russia—the day the country celebrates its defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Many observers expected Russian president Vladimir Putin to use Victory Day as an opportunity to announce a major escalation of the war in Ukraine.

That didn’t happen. The Russians might not be losing the war quite yet. But they’re definitely not winning it. The Kremlin clearly assumed Ukraine’s defenders would cave soon after Russian tanks crossed the border on the morning of Feb. 24.

They didn’t cave. And 76 days later, Ukraine’s army arguably is as strong as ever. Its reserves have mobilized. It has captured more than 1,200 Russian vehicles. It’s finally begun using in combat some of the hundreds of artillery pieces that the United States and other allies have donated.

“Russia's underestimation of Ukrainian resistance and its 'best case scenario' planning have led to demonstrable operational failings, preventing President Putin from announcing significant military success in Ukraine at the ... Victory Day parade,” the U.K. Defense Ministry explained.

What happens next depends on Kyiv’s assessment of its own strength—and Moscow’s weakness. Do Ukrainian commanders believe Russia lacks the reserves to re-invade northeastern Ukraine? If so, will these commanders send south the two best brigades in the Kharkiv area?

And can those brigades sustain an advance all the way to Izium in order to initiate what could be one of the most important battles of the war?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=3e6055f84409

[misskit]

Russian Troops Fed Up With ‘Old Nutjob’ Putin Vanish After Bizarre ‘Tribunal’



A Russian soldier sent to do Vladimir Putin’s bidding in Ukraine has been caught calling the Russian leader an “old nutjob” and trash-talking his war, while others say the Kremlin’s military leadership has sent in a ruthless general to bring disloyal troops in line.


That’s according to Ukrainian intelligence, which released two audio recordings Thursday of what it said were intercepted calls capturing the rapidly deteriorating morale among Russian soldiers.


In the first recording, shared by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, a young man identified only as a Russian soldier can be heard venting with a female friend about Putin’s speech at the May 9 Victory Day parade.

Calling Putin’s speech “gross,” his friend said that “after the parade” she had been “shaking all day.”


“Well what do you want, he’s an old nutjob,” the man shot back, before mockingly saying, “Yes let’s get the USSR, fuck, Lithuania, Latvia, fucking Estonia, everything that’s not part of Russia let’s win back.”


As the pair rattled off the list of territories they said Russia will probably try to seize, once they got to Belarus—which the woman said would willingly join Russia “as soon as Putin needs it”—the man said, “let them fucking join already then, what the fuck are we taking the rap all alone here for.”


In one last parting shot after his friend noted Putin probably just doesn’t want to share his “victory” in Ukraine, the soldier vented “right, ‘victory,’ as if we didn’t fuck up enough around here already.”


Ukrainian authorities did not reveal where the purported soldier was based in the country, but the disdain heard in his scathing comments has been echoed by other troops in a slew of other recent intercepted radio traffic.

Perhaps that is why Russia’s military leadership reportedly sent in a general with a brutal reputation to bring soldiers in line.


“Well, Muradov arrived and arranged a demonstrative tribunal,” one purported Russian soldier told his friend in what Ukraine’s Security Service said was another intercepted phone conversation between troops.


The general’s full name was not revealed in the recording, but the men appeared to be referring to Rustam Muradov, a lieutenant general and the deputy commander of the Southern Military District, known for overseeing fierce fighting in Syria. Muradov has also been personally sanctioned by the European Union in connection with Russia’s war against Ukraine.


According to the unnamed soldier in the recording, Muradov was sent in to crack down on his unit because “no one wanted to keep going ahead.”


“The commanders didn’t want to lead their boys to death. The guys themselves just weren’t ready. So yesterday [Muradov] busted the fuck out of the commanders to make an example, he undressed them, made them pull everything out of their pockets, tied their hands. Then they loaded them into [buses] and took them away,” he said.


No further details were provided by Ukrainian intelligence on when the intercepted conversation took place, or what unit the soldier belonged to.


Accounts of fed-up soldiers with low morale have multiplied exponentially since Putin launched his “special military operation” in late February, with troops routinely complaining of faulty equipment and lack of leadership.


One of the Russian soldiers sent into Ukraine at the start of the invasion told BBC’s Russian service that he and others had been duped by the military leadership into believing they were only partaking in military drills, a common claim among troops.


In an interview published Thursday, Sergei Bokov said he had been sent to a field camp along the border with Ukraine at the beginning of February under the guise of taking part in drills.


“They told us then to let our families know we were at the ‘Allied-Resolve 2022’ exercises. You see, they even thought up a name for the drills. But there were no mass drills. They tricked us beautifully, they fucking tricked us,” he said.


After spending more than a month in the war and fighting in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, he said, he and several others in his unit deliberately broke military rules and then refused to be part of the war any further.


“They didn’t even try to talk us out of [quitting], because we weren’t the first,” he was quoted as saying.

Russian Troops Fed Up With ‘Old Nutjob’ Putin Vanish After Bizarre ‘Tribunal’

[Backspin]

⚡Finnish politicians have been warned that Russia, as a countermeasure to Finland's entry into NATO, may cut off gas supplies to the country as early as Friday, the Iltalehti newspaper reports.
Telegram: Contact @intelslava

[russellsimpson]

He is accused by the U.K. and the European Union of overseeing the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury in 2018.

Is this a reference to the Skripal poisoning.

Chemical weapons attack my ass.

[misskit]

Ukraine lines up Russia’s Vsevolod Bobrov ship off coast of Snake Island



In a strike by Ukraine's Navy, Russia lost off the coast of Snake Island their logistics vessel Vsevolod Bobrov, launched in 2016.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa Regional Military Administration, reported on Telegram that the ship was damaged and set on fire as a result of a Ukrainian strike, Ukrinform reports.


"As a result of the actions of our Navy, the Vsevolod Bobrov logistics ship, one of the newest in the Russian fleet, set on fire. They say she is limping toward Sevastopol," Bratchuk said.

However, the spokesman added, "the information is yet to be clarified." "But the fact that she suffered a ‘snake bite’ in the area of ​​Snake Island is true," he said.


According to the head of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies, Andriy Klymenko, the vessel was engaged overnight Thursday, May 12.


As reported, over the recent weeks, near Snake Island, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lined up or destroyed half a dozen warships and cutters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including the flagship cruiser Moskva.

Ukraine lines up Russia’s Vsevolod Bobrov ship off coast of Snake Island

[pickel]

Is this a reference to the Skripal poisoning.

Chemical weapons attack my ass.

Novichok is a chemical weapon dumbass.

[HermantheGerman]

⚡Finnish politicians have been warned that Russia, as a countermeasure to Finland's entry into NATO, may cut off gas supplies to the country as early as Friday, the Iltalehti newspaper reports.
Telegram: Contact @intelslava

Korhonen just needs to find another gas station

[David48atTD]

Ukraine lines up Russia’s Vsevolod Bobrov ship off coast of Snake Island

[David48atTD]

[HermantheGerman]

Nice interview.

NEVER TRUST A RUSSIAN!

sound familiar

[David48atTD]

This was supposed to be part of the Victory Day fly-over, but was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions ... it was a sunny day with a 5 knot wind.

So it can fly during a nuclear war, but can't fly on a sunny Spring day ...

[bsnub]

A military expert on Thursday told Newsweek he believes Russia's military can only last about 90 more days in Ukraine before its forces and equipment become too depleted to continue.

Sean Spoonts, editor-in-chief of the military news outlet SOFREP, said Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces have already expended a sizable portion of its arsenal since the war began in late February. He also noted that Russia is facing difficulties replenishing military equipment and vehicles due to supply chain interruptions and severe economic sanctions placed on Russia.

After first estimating Russia's timetable to be at three months for how long it can last before it may decide it needs to cut its losses, Spoonts said that figure may be on the high side.

"I think the Russians would not be able to go much further than 90 days longer," Spoonts said. "At the bleed rate that they're going through right now, 90 days may be stretching it."

Spoonts said evidence that Russia's troop ranks and arsenal is suffering can be seen by how troops units and equipment were recently moved from Russia's border with Magnolia thousands of miles away and placed in Ukraine.

"That's desperation," he said.

Russia's military has faced large amounts of casualties in ground conflict, while its naval forces have struggled on the waters of the Black Sea. Even the country's air force, which experts felt would be a dominant factor in Russia claiming a quick victory in Ukraine, has failed to establish air superiority.

Throughout the conflict, Putin has repeatedly warned NATO about interfering, even going so far as saying "lightning fast" retaliation would come to any countries that provided Ukraine with the ability to make a strategic threat against Russia. Given the damage sustained to his forces already, Spoonts said he doesn't feel Putin could mount much of a challenge should he become engaged in combat with NATO.

"NATO would slaughter them," Spoonts said. "And they would do it mostly with air assets."

He said the U.S. could have 200 to 300 military aircraft over to strike Russia within a week. The American firepower combined with the militaries from Poland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom would give NATO a "formidable fighting force," and Russia would be "stopped cold."

"The Ukrainians did that without an air force," Spoonts said.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that he believes Putin wouldn't want a direct conflict with the powerful forces of NATO.

"If Russia decides to attack any nation that's a NATO member, then that's a game changer," Austin said in response to a question about possible Russian escalation. "But if you look at Putin's calculus, my view—and I'm sure the chairman has his own view—but my view is that Russia doesn't want to take on the NATO alliance."

https://www.newsweek.com/military-ex...-1706246?amp=1

[bsnub]

[misskit]

This is an interesting interview.

Notice the Ukrainian soldier says Chinese drones he used are being tracked by the Russians, that the Chinese are giving Russians the ability to do so.


Video: Ukrainian fighters use drones to kill Russian soldiers - CNN Video

[harrybarracuda]

This is an interesting interview.

Notice the Ukrainian soldier says Chinese drones he used are being tracked by the Russians, that the Chinese are giving Russians the ability to do so.


Video: Ukrainian fighters use drones to kill Russian soldiers - CNN Video

Yes, the vile chinkies have Ukrainian blood on their hands too.

The only surprise here is why Ukraine trusted them.

[Backspin]

The Urban Dictionary accepted my submission Link Urban Dictionary: brOSINT

[Backspin]

Absolutely disgusting, Misskit, and it beggars belief that there are still people on this forum who support and cheerlead these Russian bastards.

It's once again completely fabricated. You will fall for any ridiculous fabrication.

Don't try and drag ppl into your faux guilt trip

More ppl support Russia in the war than oppose it. More countries support Russia in the war than oppose it. Ever wondered why..

[Backspin]

BREAKING: Turkey's President Erdogan says his country does not favor Sweden and Finland becoming NATO members https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/s...rGAOQlC9g&s=19

[pickel]

More countries support Russia in the war than oppose it. Ever wondered why

Liar.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow.

The vote on Wednesday saw 141 states vote in favour of the motion, five against and 35 abstentions.

UN resolution against Ukraine invasion: Full text | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

[Backspin]

^ I was basing it on what countries have sanctioned.

[Troy]

I was basing it on what countries have sanctioned.

Which is why you are incorrect...

[misskit]

It's once again completely fabricated. You will fall for any ridiculous fabrication.

Don't try and drag ppl into your faux guilt trip

More ppl support Russia in the war than oppose it. More countries support Russia in the war than oppose it. Ever wondered why..

What do you have to support your assertion this is a fabrication?


Your brOSINT is a bit of a irony, BTW. Describes you except you cheer for the Russians.

[bsnub]

It's once again completely fabricated. You will fall for any ridiculous fabrication.

You are currently the biggest imbecile on this forum, and you prove it time and again. Furthermore, you really are a disgusting cretin.

More ppl support Russia in the war than oppose it. More countries support Russia in the war than oppose it. Ever wondered why..

So, more of your outright lies.

What do you have to support your assertion this is a fabrication?

He has nothing to support it. He is just lying again as usual.

[Switch]

Gonna be a lot more Republicans in the house in a few months.... plus of course the American public cares about domestic matters first and foremost. Better be hoping for some quick results, or meaningful peace negotiations, rather than a quagmire methinks norts. It does look like Vlad can afford to stick this one out.

Your views, like the worthless poll you linked, are quickly becoming more irrelevant than Putin. How wrong headed can one person be?