Russia

Getting worse for the Ukrans in the Kurakhove region. Stymied by Ukran defenders in Kurakhove itself, the Russians split their advance swinging north and south of that city, did so about a week ago. Well, apparently the Ukrans had failed to take that into consideration and in the past 5 days, both prongs of the Russian advance has gobbled up ground at the fastest rate since the opening of the war in 2022. The next large town west of Kurakhove, sitting about 6 miles up the road, is Kupiansk. The Russians managed to enter that town from the north but have been driven out by a Ukran counter-attack. The appearance of such a large force of Russians totally surprised the Ukrainians. One Ukran commander appeared on social media expressing alarm. Most of the Ukrans belong to the 114th Mechanized Brigade, a regular army unit but much under-strength. The other Ukran units in the area are reserve units, the 30th Brigade, and militia units, like our National Guard, all also under-strength, and not exactly the best Ukraine has to offer. By contrast the Russian units are among Putin's best, especially the 25th Armored Brigade, and 1486th Motorized "Leningrad" Regiment. These are veteran Russian units, well-trained and well-equipped.

At the moment, the Russians have pulled back from Kupiansk, but are expected to try again. The 6th Mechanized Brigade and the 96th Recon Regiment have been identified approaching the area north of Kupiansk. The commander in the 114th Brigade says he expects they will be driven out of Kupiansk soon, and that will trap the Ukranian units back to the east in Kurakhove.

And this little tidbit...which I have not verified yet with more reliable sources, but for now, there's a report that the US i.e. the Biden Administration, sent mines to Ukraine which have been banned by the UN in conjunction with the Geneva Convention. These are anti-personnel mines, and I am not sure exactly what the problem is with them. Might be the type that cannot be detected with mine-detectors, and tend to kill civilians for years after the war is over. According to one Ukrainian source, the Ukrans have not deployed these mines out of fear of being branded war criminals. But, those units in the Kurakhove area requested a re-supply for mines, and when these arrived, well...you can see their dilemma. Don't know how true this is. But, given it was the Biden administration making the mistake...

Heating up! No matter how this ultimately turns out there is no doubt that Trump is stirring the pot.

Pundits are saying, and there is some documented truth to this, that Trump has given both sides, President Z and Putin, ultimatums. Trump wants the two leaders to meet to discuss an end to the war. Both of them will have to give up something, and that "something" is very distasteful to them both. But, IMO, the deal favors Putin more than President Z. Except! one economic professor at a British university says Trump is setting Putin up for a huge collapse and end to his reign in Russia. The Russian economy is barely hanging on. The Ruble is crumbling, causing one Russian YouTuber to calling it "rubble." Trump's plan, it is thought, is to cause a total collapse of the Russian economy, plunging it into a deep, deep depression and causing civil unrest. This can be EASILY DONE provided!!! Europe cooperates. Nothing China, or Putin's other weak-ass allies, can do to save Russia's economy. Commie regimes are paper tigers themselves. Trump will also dangle the threat of serious tariffs over Xi forcing him to abandon Putin/Russia. There is a wonderful, 40-minute YouTube video on the pending collapse of the Putin economy, explains it all better than I can.

So, back to Trump and the two presidents. What are Trump's ultimatums? Simple, if Putin refuses Trump's plan, the US, together with NATO, will up the ante, providing Ukraine with more weapons. If President Z refuses Trump will yank all support for Ukraine allowing Putin to finally win his war. Already both Putin and Z have made public statements (Putin's last night on Russian national TV) saying they are eager to come to a resolution under the guidance of President Trump.

Trump also f**king finally!!! got the EU central banks to stop investing in Putin's war machine. Biden had kind of requested it, but the EU banks ignored Sleepy Joe. Trump made a "very strong" suggestion it would be in those banks' best interest to cut ties with the Russian Central Bank, totally. They have announced there will be no more transactions between their banks and the Russian bank. It's done, and Putin's weakened economy cannot stand up without that support from Europe. Also, Germany has agreed to cut off purchases of Putin's natural gas, agreeing to buy US LNG instead.

This is all great and bodes well for the end of the war. But, meanwhile, until January 20, 2025, the war has heated up. The Ukrans are holding on in Kursk, but Putin has really turned up the heat. Overnight he launched two attacks, one again against Novo... and on the opposite side of the salient. Ukraine has steadily been pulling back in Kursk, trying to keep its forces together. The salient is slowly shrinking.

Ambush in Toretsk. Ukraine is clinging to holding this eastern front city. The Russians have seized some of the suburbs and hold the high ground east and north of the city. This has been the situation since July. Well, as is continuing everywhere, the Ukrans enjoy some tactical successes, even as the overall strategic outlook is not so rosy, especially on the Eastern Front. Yesterday the Ukrans completed the destruction of a Russian unit, said to be the 117th Battalion, in a cleverly conducted ambush. The whole thing was set up when the Ukrans captured some Russians in the fighting near the city and among the captives was a captain and his radio operator. Using his identity and call-sign, and the radio, a Ukran with a Russian accent, convinced the Russian commander the way was clear to enter the central business district in Toresk. A Russian battalion, numbering about 450 soldiers and some armored vehicles, were allowed to pass Ukranian check points and march straight into a massive ambush. Those Russians not killed have been captured.

These small successes tend to boost Ukrainian morale and have an impact locally but are doing nothing to change the larger picture on the Eastern Front. Russia has halted all activity on both the northern (Kharkiv) and southern (Kherson) fronts, reallocating all resources to the eastern front, and concentrating its forces against specific targets, major cities with some strategic value. Losses don't matter to Putin/the Kremlin, and several sources state that the kill ratio is 8:1 in favor of Ukraine. Putin changed his strategy this summer and is now doubling down on his big push on the eastern front. Some say he wants to seize as much territory as possible and needs to possess several key cities for their industry and infrastructure, all of this to be done before January 20, 2025. And, the Ukrainians have unwittily aided his cause by relying on second-rate units (militia and reserves) along a good portion of the eastern front. The Ukrainians seem to be HOPING winter weather will halt the Russian advance, or at least slow it down enough, to not lose too much ground. Not a good strategy, IMO.

Ukran cruise missiles (British) and ATACMS missiles (USA) destroyed more targets in Russia and occupied territory. The partially rebuilt oil storage facility in Rostov, Russia, was hit again leaving the place in flames. The Ukans have struck it twice before with drones, but the cruise missiles have probably finished it off for good. And the Russian airbase at Belic, Crimea, also partially restored and remanned, was hit last night. Flames are seen in several hangars and fuel storage tanks. A Ukran recon drone had taken video of Russian jets, including several SU-35s at Belic, but the drone had passed over it several days ago and it is not clear whether the SU-35s, and some SU-27s, were still present when the ATACMS missiles hit last night. A recon drone has been sent this morning to survey the damage.

"More dead Russians," the Ukran replied to a reporter's question. Speaking on the repeated attacks against the western flank of the Kursk salient, focused on Novoivanovka (Novo...). "It's the perfect killing fields, the terrain favors us," the Ukran commander added.

The Russians tried to forged a crossing of the river, which is crossed by the one remaining bridge at Novo..., by attacking at a small village Nizhniy Klin, and planning to place a pontoon bridge there. This is several miles south of Novo... But, because of the Ukran recon drones patrolling the region, the Ukrainian defenders knew exactly what the Russians were intending to do. The Ukrans in their command center showed the video, taken over the past 72 hours, of Russian vehicles moving toward Nizhniy Klin, including the trucks carrying the pontoon bridge. It was an easy matter for the Ukrans to shift units to contend the crossing down river. They showed only token resistance compelling the Russians into thinking their flanking move had worked. But, the Ukrans were dug in and ready with overwhelming firepower. Every Russian soldier in their rubber boats and in/on the two amphibious vehicles trying to cross the river were killed. The supporting armored vehicles were destroyed and half the trucks carrying the pontoon bridge were also destroyed by Ukran kamikaze drones.

Then less than 30 minutes later the Russians sent infantry rushing the main bridge at Novo...which was obviously part of the plan. The Russians lost about 80 killed and another 100+ wounded/captured.

Various reports that the 12,000 North Koreans sent to Russia are totally out of the fight. Best estimates show the NKs have lost 300+ KIA, 700+ wounded/captured, 500+ have deserted, and the rest have either refused to fight or have been recalled by Fat Boy to avoid further embarrassment. The 1,000+ number of combined KIA/wounded is said to be low by western sources.

Putin sent about 200 missiles/drones to attack more civilian targets in Ukraine. Not even trying to hide the criminal nature of these attacks. In fact, the Kremlin and approved Putin communication sources are boasting about it. "Yay! we killed women & children, and the elderly, and yippee! we knocked out several power plants such that those dastardly Ukranian people will freeze this winter." Ah yes, the world needs to endorse this behavior by pulling support from Ukraine. :icon_roll:

They're back! After a month-long hiatus the elite 3rd Assault Brigade (Azov) is back in action. At least, one of its five battalions is. They crushed a Russian unit near the besieged city of Toretsk. Using two tanks and a Bradley in support, Azov infantry attacked and overwhelmed Russians holding a small village near Toretsk. This city, Toretsk, is one of three targets Putin is focusing on, trying to secure them before the worst of winter sets in and also prior to anticipated "peace" talks orchestrated by Trump.

The Azov Brigade was one of several elite units pulled off the frontline a couple of months ago, for R&R, refitting, and to secure replacements. Since then, the Eastern Front has been not going well for Ukraine, as their reserve units and militia units have been hard-pressed trying to hold on against concentrated Russian attacks. The return of the 3rd Brigade and hopefully the other elite units will turn the tide on this front.

The "Wild Hornets" are at it again. This loosely organized, half public (i.e. Ukrainian Army) and private (combination of volunteers and those forming a company) bunch are the brains behind the Ukrainian drone industry. Without getting too deep in the details, this was formed by volunteers over 2 years ago in an attempt to help the Ukrainian war effort. Since then, the Ukrainian Army/government has gotten involved contributing funding and guidance and expertise. It is still just a bunch of techy nerds with very high IQs, and they are quite literally leading the world in drone development. They plan to make this an official, for-profit company after the war is over and Putin has been vanquished.

Their latest creation is a machinegun-carrying drone which has already demonstrated its capability. Mounted with an AK-74, an upgrade of the iconic AK-47, the drone has been field tested very successfully, most notably by wiping out a company (120+ soldiers) of North Koreans. Three of these drones were sent to attack the NK unit. All three came back safely to their bases, one with five bullet holes as the NKs were shooting at the drones during the encounter. But despite being hit 5 times the drone kept operating and returned safely. Shows how durable these drones are.

The "Wild Hornets" also released an updated version of their Drone Mothership, a large drone that can carry 18 operational drones, which includes attack drones, including the Kamikaze drones, and recon drones, as needed. The Mothership drones have also been ungraded carrying enhanced electronics which enable the Ukrans to expand their reach in recon, and also in jamming Russian systems.

Speaking of the worthless North Koreans...

in Kursk the Russians have been slowly making gains, with tremendous losses, of course, but gaining back ground nonetheless. On the northeastern front of the Kursk Salient, Russian forces fought and eventually won a battle, driving the Ukrainians back about 4 miles, and capturing trenches built by the Ukrans. This was a 3-week battle which cost the Russians 1,000+ KIA and the loss of 30+ armored vehicles. But, hey, "they won." The Russian commander in that region placed North Korean troops in those captured trenches with orders to hold them, while he pulled back his exhausted and battered Russian troops for some rest and refit. The very first night the North Koreans deserted, some went over to the Ukrainians begging for asylum, and some of the NK soldiers simply left and returned to their camp about 10 miles behind the lines. Of course, the Ukrans took advantage of the situation, moved back into those trenches, and even worse for the poor Russians, were able to get behind some Russian units in the trenches further along and killed/captured hundreds of Russian soldiers who were taken by surprise since they had assumed their NK allies were holding those trenches. Well...it has been reported that the Russian commander was so pissed that he ordered his Russian soldiers to open fire on those NKs who had returned to their camp. This portion of the report remains unconfirmed by independent sources, but Ukran recon drones did record something going on in that NK camp, including gunfire.

Ya know...we sometimes fear what could happen if World War III started, or if the bad ole commies, like China, started a shooting war which involved the US. And, sure, we should be "concerned" and seek to avoid war as much as possible. But, truthfully our enemies, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran...are really just paper tigers. Their own people, their own soldiers despise those regimes and are not willing to fight for them. Not when push comes to shove. No! I am not saying we should start a war just to test this theory, but let's remain vigilant and confident in our armed services and that of our allies. Sleep well...

Another battalion of the vaunted 3rd Assault (Azov) Brigade accompanied a unit of drone operators, and they ventured into Kursk to deal the North Koreans another blow. Took out all six of NK's anti-tank vehicles, the Bulsae-4. These vehicles carry lethal anti-tank missiles and are considered very dangerous. Great! except they are vulnerable to attacks themselves being lightly armored, and Ukrainian drones can make short work out of them...and they did. Kaboom! six times. Next!

And while there the Azov fellows decided to go kabooming themselves. They overwhelmed two enemy positions, one held by elite Russian paratroopers and another held by a combination of North Koreans and Chechian soldiers. Oh, BTW, Ukran struck another military target in Chechia taking out an army barracks at a base. The loony Chechian leader Kadyrov was so incensed by the attack he is threatening to place Ukrainian POWs on the roofs of his key buildings to prevent further attacks. Not a good idea.

Dealing with the devil.

Okay, first, none of this has been confirmed by any reliable sources, but I found this "news" compelling enough to share it, just in case there is a grain of truth in it. Given the characters involved it certainly is possible, even plausible. Try this...

Sources say Assad has reached Moscow safely, seeking asylum in Russia. Okay. But now Putin is striking a deal to return Assad, and I guess his family too, into the hands of the rebels in exchange for his being able to keep his two bases there. Whoa! if true. The rebels would torture and kill Assad (and his family) in the most brutal, heinous manner possible.

Bad news...the Russians are continuing to advance in several places on the Eastern Front, they captured a small village, Trudove, south of Provosk, which is their target.

Better news...the Ukrans are at it again with their tech advances in drones. They are using drones connected by a very thin, lightweight, fiberoptic cable, which prevents electronic jamming of the drone. The cable is only so long so the range is limited, although they have some 2 kms (1.3 miles) long. Intended to be used by local forces. It works very well. The Ukrans have improved their sea drones mounting a machinegun and a rocket launcher on them, plus each sea drone has an aerial drone which has a machinegun on it. It can be launched to attack the Russian helicopters which are sent out to attack the sea drones. Activity has picked up in the Black Sea after over 6 months of quiet as the Russians have grown bold again. The Ukrans severely damaged a supply boat trying to reach the Ukranian coast.

Good news...Russians lost two convoys completely destroyed by Ukran drones and artillery. This happened in Kursk.

Putin's forces, even while suffering heavy losses, are continuing to gobble up ground. Russian units are now only 6 miles away from the border between Donbas and the next province in Ukraine. Russian forces are threatening to cutoff three more large Ukrainian towns, all on the Eastern Front.

In Kursk, the Russians finally garnered a tactical victory and have surged to within a mile of the town of Sumy, which was the Ukrainians original target and the whole reason for the incursion into Kursk. When the Ukrans crossed the border into Kursk, led by the 82nd Airborne Brigade (yes, designation borrowed from the US 82nd Airborne Division), the original intent was a quick strike to destroy the supply/ammo depot at Sumy, Kursk. The Ukrans had no intention to stay. But, much to their surprise, the defenses in Kursk was nothing but an empty shell, so they stayed. And then President Z and his advisors saw an opportunity to exploit the situation, so reinforcements were sent in. Now all these months later, the situation is changing. Really, it's been "mission accomplished" since Putin has been forced to halt all his offensive operations in both the north (Kharkiv) and south (Kherson) in favor of sending troops to Kursk.

But now, all reliable, independent sources agree, Ukraine is played out in Kursk. Putin has amassed a huge army, some say 70,000 troops, and they are attacking from multiple directions. The Ukrans have, at the most, 15,000 troops in Kursk (one source says it's only about 9,000 troops). Yes, Putin and his propagandists will thump their chests claiming a major victory for Mother Russia, but it appears it is time for Ukraine to salvage the situation and get those 9,000-15,000 gallant troops out of there.

President Z and Ukraine have a bigger problem than trying to hold on to Kursk, the Eastern Front is collapsing. Time to focus all resources there.

The Ukrans struck the Kerch Bridge with a combined sea drone and aerial drone attack. About a dozen supply trucks were destroyed, two were fuel trucks and they exploded in a huge fireball, blocking traffic for over 24 hours as the fuel burned itself out. The bridge is presently closed for inspection to see if structural repairs are needed to make it safe. The sea drones, 5 of them, were used to attack the barrier the Russians have built to protect the pillars. Two of the drones were damaged and then later destroyed by Russian attack-helicopters, but the other three sea drones struck the barrier causing some damage to it, the extent unknown at this time.

The Ukrans are manufacturing their own cruise missiles, which they have not yet sent to attack the Kerch Bridge. They did, however, strike another oil facility in Rostov with their cruise missiles and the facility appears completely destroyed. A huge mushroom shaped fireball climbed some 30,000 feet into the air, and the surrounding town has been evacuated as flames have spread into residential areas near the oil depot.

Two Russian oil tankers collided in the Black Sea, both sunk. There were 29 crewmen between the two ships, only 10 have been rescued the rest missing and feared lost. Official reports claim it was just an accident, but some sources say a Ukran sea drone was seen approaching the tankers which were sailing side by side, and one of the tankers veered to avoid the sea drone and collided with the other ship. Both tankers were old, taken out of mothball reserve because Putin had lost his newer tankers, plus his remaining oil tanker fleet, which are sea-worthy, have been tasked with international oil trade so the older tankers were pressed into service on the Black Sea. Oh well, too bad for old Vladimir.

Good news from Kupiansk! (see post #1621). Ukrainian units crushed the Russian northern flank, taking back over 2 miles of ground and driving the Russians back a further 2 miles. These Ukrainian units have not been identified but it is thought to be one of the elite brigades that had been pulled back for R&R and refitting. This should stabilize the situation at that place and get Ukraine into and through the dead of winter.

As usual, it's not all good news, the Russians will be seizing some ground along the Eastern Front, probably in the next few days. Ukrainian troops, said to be no more than 200 soldiers and a few pieces of equipment, are being withdrawn from a small village to keep from being cutoff. The Russians have learned...finally...not to rush in immediately as Ukran troops withdraw. Booby-traps, mines, and a few drone operators are usually ready to eradicate the first Russian soldiers who, in the past, gleefully rushed into vacated Ukrainian positions. Now, the Russians wait, send in combat engineers with mine-detectors and take a more cautious approach.

Ukraine is continuing to strike Putin's ammo/supply depots, his oil storage facilities...some many hundreds of miles inside of Russia, using their long-range drones.

Russian fuel train completely destroyed and took a bridge and some 1/2 mile of track with it. Ukran drones tracked a Russian train, which had 40 fuel tank cars and 6 boxcars of ammo/supplies headed for Russian army depot in Donbas. The track ties into the Crimea lines (of which there are 3) and that Ukraine repeatedly strikes. The Russians have enormous resources stationed to quickly rebuild the railroad tracks and bridges after strikes by the Ukrans.

This time two Ukran drones took out the locomotive leaving the train stationary on the track. The Russians were rushing another engine to rescue the stranded train when two more Ukran drones hit it. This blocked both approaches to the train. Then ATACMS missiles were used to strike the train and the fuel cars exploded igniting the whole line of stalled cars.

In more good news, 122 North Korean corpses were videoed by Ukran recon drones, and then the footage made public after Russia/North Korea denied the casualties had occurred. The bodies were neatly lined up in rows awaiting body bags.

Update on above post...more Ukran drone footage places the number of dead NKs at closer to 200.

re: post #1626

After the 3rd Brigade crushed the Russians on the northern flank of Toretsk, the Russians tried an ill-fated maneuver south of the city. Using a narrow river valley, lined by small farming communities, and sending only infantry to try and sneak past the Ukrainians who held the high ground on both sides of the valley, the Russians walked into a trap. There were 300+ Russian soldiers, spread out over about 1 mile, in smaller groups of 30-40 soldiers each. They thought these small groups could use the houses and barns as cover and make their way through the valley to an unoccupied hill, but Ukran recon drones with infrared cameras tracked them every step of the way. The Ukrans combined drone strikes with swift attacks from armored vehicles including six T-64 tanks which rolled down the hill to cut off the trapped Russians. The Ukran tankers did not see a group of Russians, about 20-25 soldiers, hidden in some brush which had just come up after the recon drones moved up the valley. One of the Russians upon seeing the tanks careening down the hill toward them fired an RPG which missed, but alerted the Ukran tankers. The order was given to roll through the brush, don't stop. The Russians were crushed beneath the tracks of the tanks...quite a mess. The rest of the 300+ Russians were either killed or captured.

This is just another episode of the stupidity of the Russians and the needless loss of life. Putin will continue to send these poor saps, under-trained, poorly led, to their deaths.