Russia

Putin is cut out of the same cloth as Hitler. The only difference is that the Russians don't have the emotional attachment to Putin that the German people had with Hitler. Back in his day, Hitler was a God to the German people. Poor Putin has to resort to stuffing ballot boxes to win.

Salty, good to see you post again.

Russians testing a new, unmanned, remotely controlled assault vehicle called the Zubilo. It is a standard, lightly armored, yet weighing 16 tons, 4-wheel drive, rubber tired vehicle designed to do "too much." Much of the weight is large batteries designed to recharge other drones. It will also carry an array of weapons: anti-aircraft auto cannon, a grenade launcher, and machineguns. It can also carry 4 soldiers in the back of the vehicle. Well, if it's designed to be "unmanned" to minimize casualties, why provide for soldiers to be in it? And at 16 tons....??? Reminds me of a song: "Sixteen tons, and what do you get...?" In this case this will get the Russians more failures.

Pundits say this is an admission by the Russians they have lost way too many men in this war and are now trying to invent weapons to replace manpower. Drones and unmanned weapon systems are the future of warfare, that is true.

The Ukrans skoffed at this Zubilo vehicle calling it nothing more than another easy target for their drones. At least it's an improvement over the Chicom-made golf carts the Russians have been using...:icon_roll:

Clever Ukrans...

they took an old Cessna airplane, rigged it with remote control, like it was a drone, packed it full of explosives and then flew it 750 miles into Russia to strike an ammo plant...and it worked like a charm. The plant is burning after massive explosions rocked the facility. Number of deaths still unknown but the plant operates 24/7 so there was a full shift present. The plane was registered to a Russian businessman, one of Putin's buddies, no doubt, so it did not trigger any alarm as flew across Russia toward the ammo plant. One YouTuber offered an explanation how the Ukrans came to possess the plane, but another source doubts that story. Another source claims the plane had simply been left abandoned at a Ukraine civilian airport when the war began. Regardless how they got it, they used it well!

Putin has announced another conscription seeking a fresh batch of soldiers, 150,000 new recruits. The Russians may call them "recruits" but the Ukrans just call them "cannon fodder."

Russians attempting to seize all that land west of Avdiivka up to the ring of lakes and rivers and have been pummeled again. Yesterday the Russians tried to send 12 APCs (called BMPs or BRTs by the Russians) and quickly lost 8 of them to Ukran drones and artillery. One Ukran YouTuber laughingly yelled, "Are they just really that stupid!?" The answer is "Da."

Finally, another strike on a Putin oil facility, after 10 days of quiet on that front. The Bidenites begged, threatened, tried to coerce the Ukrainians into stopping the attacks on Russian oil, but apparently it was just a pause.

This is getting repetitive...stupid Russians!

The Ukrans have held a narrow foothold south of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region for about a year. They have not been able to greatly expand this foothold, around the town of Krynky, but the Russkies have not been able to expel them either. It's been a stalemate. So, in an attempt to break the stalemate the Russians hatched a clever plan (ahem!) to send troops across the river in small boats to flank and cut off supplies and reinforcements flowing to the Ukrans at Krynky. Okay, in concept it was not a bad idea, the execution well, led to the EXECUTION of every Russian soldier forced to take part in the operation. The river crossing was supposed to take place 2 miles above Krynky and at night, you know, under the cover of darkness. But due to more Russian stupidity the boats were late arriving, by truck, and the transport battalion decided they didn't want to try to drive a crappy road to the designated point, so instead they dropped the boats in an open field about a mile above the town, in clear sight of the Ukrainians. And, instead of delaying the crossing until the following night, the Russians decided a daylight crossing in clear sight of the Ukrans would work okay. There were 24 boats each with 15 soldiers, 360 total, and four other boats carrying armored golfcarts (no, I am not joking). The Ukrans waited until all 28 boats were in the river, the lead boats having reached the north shore where they were eagerly greeted by dug-in Ukrainian troops, and then artillery and drones were unleashed on the hapless Russkies. Early reports say 240 Russians were KIA, the rest wounded/captured and all 28 boats were sunk.

The goofy Russian commander, a colonel, remarked afterwards, "We'll have to rethink such operations going forward." Ya think!

The Kerch Bridge and the Russian's new railroad line are two critical supply lines going forward. On the latter, the Ukrans have been doing their best to attack the rail line, which is under construction, with long range missiles and drones. It's a constant struggle between the Ukrans' attacks and damage inflicted and the Russians increasing capacity to quickly repair the damaged sections. The bridges are key targets, as a downed bridge cannot be repaired/replaced as quickly as damaged rails. On the former, the Kerch Bridge is an extremely well-built structure. It is millions of tons of reinforced high-quality concrete with redundant systems of support and protection. Just watched a video of a structural engineer comparing the Kerch Bridge to the Baltimore Bridge which collapsed last week. There is no comparison. That same container ship striking the Kerch Bridge would have damaged itself to the point it would have sunk, while inflicting only minor damage to the Kerch Bridge. This engineer says the Kerch Bridge would have survived the hit so well that there would be no need to even close it to traffic.

But, according to sources, the Kerch Bridge does have its most vulnerable points and a proper missile strike, or strikes, as it would take more than one, non-nuclear warhead to bring it down. France has such a cruise missile which is designed as a "bunker buster" which can penetrate reinforced concrete before detonating a large warhead. President Macron is considering delivering this missile to Ukraine as part of France's on-going commitment to supporting Ukraine. I hope he does.

Meanwhile, the goofy Russkies are slowly learning lessons from all their past failures, and as such, have altered their strategy and tactics...well, for the most part as they continue to do stupid things in some situations. The Russians have learned from their "successes" at Bakhmut and Avdiivka and that is they have to concentrate enough forces in a pointed assault to overwhelm the badly out-numbered Ukran defenders. There is simply no way Ukraine can match these build-ups in troops/equipment as they have to maintain garrisons spread along the whole 900-mile front, while the Russians don't have the same concerns.

The Ukrans struck three Russian air bases inside of Russia, one about 750 miles deep in Russia. The attack was conducted with drones. Early reports say there was only minor damage, two jets destroyed, others damaged, and some damage to buildings on the bases. But, the Ukrans just have to keep at it. Take the fight to Putin!

The 3rd Assault Brigade made their appearance again, this time in the Kharkiv region where they liberated a small town recently seized by advancing Russian units. Like at Orlivka, there is no way they will stay and try to hold this unimportant village. All the Ukrans can do, and what they are doing, is be opportunistic giving the invaders a setback and causing the Russkis to have to commit forces to retake a place they had taken, lost, and want back.

The 3rd Assault Brigade (the Azov Brigade), along with the 47th and 79th brigades, is an elite unit. The 3rd has won, tactically, every fight they have been in during the war. Actually, when the opposing Russian forces learn it is the 3rd Brigade they are fighting, they usually run away. Those that don't run away...die. The same thing just happened at this latest encounter. Both the 47th and 79th have enjoyed successes too. These are good troops, well-trained, and properly equipped. But the Ukrans simply don't have enough of such troops.

The Russians have begun their all-out assault on the important city of Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut. It didn't go well for the Russkis today, but that never seems to deter them. Situation was made worse for the poor saps when Russian planes bombed their own troops. Losses today for the Russians were about 90 KIA and a dozen or so wounded. They lost 6 APCs, no tanks were involved in the assault. The Russians will eventually take Chasiv Yar if the overall strategic situation doesn't change for Ukraine. The Russians will lose many tens of thousands of moronic soldiers and scores and scores of vehicles, some planes, and other stuff, but they will eventually take the city, after many months of heavy combat.

Ukran drones struck a drone-making plant deep inside of Russia, nearly a 1,000 miles from Ukraine. The facility was damaged shutting it down pending repairs. But, also struck and damaged was a dormitory housing Russian(and other foreign nationals) college students from a polytechnic school of engineering who must work the plant as part of their academic rigors. There were injuries but no deaths among these college students. Of course, the Putin propagandists are trying to spin this into a terrorist attack against "children." The youngest students injured were two 17-yr-olds.

Well...let's not mention all the deliberate attacks by Putin on Ukrainian schools, hospitals, and apartment complexes where children have been killed and injured. And that crap happens weekly, sometimes daily.

Ukrans easily destroy Russian "Frankenstein" tank. The Russkis tried to fit a bunch of armor plating on a tank to supposedly make it bomb-proof (drone-proof), but it didn't work. For one thing the T-80 tank fitted with the tons of extra armor is already under-powered and with the extra weight the monster could barely move, less than 10mph top speed. This made it an easy target and it didn't take long for the tank to be hit, first by a perfectly placed FPV drone which took out one of the tracks, then for Ukran artillery to finish it off. Dumb idea.

Now, the Russians are improving their anti-drone EWS (electronic warfare systems) fitted onto their tanks and APCs. Up to now the Ukrans have been able to counter every EWS move made by the Russians by simply tweaking the signals sent to control the drones. But the latest version by the Russians appears problematic. Two Russian T-90 tanks successfully defeated attacking drones by sending out an electronic signal which causes the distant controllers to lose contact with the drone. The drone then careens out of control, crashes and explodes safely somewhere else. The Ukran controllers tried adjusting the signal but found each attempt also failed. However, the ever-clever Ukrans recorded the signals emitted by the Russian EWS on the tanks and are now analyzing it, seeking an answer to once again by-pass the defensive system. This is the new reality of modern warfare. It's all about the engineers.

But, you know what, this may also lead back to some good old fashion weapons, the kinds that do not depend on sophisticated electronics and therefore will be immune to engineering ploys.

Poor ole Putin, just can't catch a break...

a dam burst flooding the city of Orsk which happens to be home to a Russian oil refinery and a factory that produces food for their army. Both facilities are presently shut down due to the flooding. This was just an engineering failure, unrelated to the Ukrans or the war, but it does help the Ukrans anyway.

Stupid Russkis faked a drone attack on one of their nuclear power plants and are trying to blame Ukraine. Pathetic attempt and blatant lies. The Putinites are growing stupider and more desperate daily.

Another ship sunk!!???

Ukran sources are claiming they have sunk another Russian ship, part of the Black Sea fleet, this one the Kunikov, another landing ship. Say sea drones struck the ship while it was in transit, supposedly heading toward a safer port further away from Ukraine (Crimea). Some independent sources are reporting it, citing official Ukrainian military sources. My favorite YouTubers have yet to post anything on this, so I shall wait to see.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" or actually, on the Russian missile frigate the Serpukhov. Seems a disgruntled crew started fires on the ship. The extent of the damage is unknown, but there was fire and smoke pouring from inside the ship. It is part of the Baltic Sea fleet ported at Kaliningrad.

No additional news on the above Russian ship, so I have my doubts about that story.

In addition to their "Frankenstein" tank, the Russkis have created a "hangar" tank, and this one actually worked, well it did yesterday. They have built a building on top of a tank, a T-90 in this case. It's a barn-like structure, or a "hangar" that completely covers the tank. All you can see of the tank is the very tip of the barrel of the main gun sticking out the front. It is composed of light-weight aviation metal, and apparently this "hangar" tank is also equipped with the latest ESW as Ukran drones kept swerving away from it. It carried some troops into battle, at high speed, then sped away again just as quickly. Ukran artillery tried to hit it, but it only paused for a few seconds for the troops to jump off, and then it was rolling again at high speed. No doubt the Russians think they have found a solution to their problems, but I am betting on the Ukrans to take it out next time it appears.

If nothing else, this Ukraine-Russia war is serving as a labatory for the rest of the world to study.

Greece is transferring 30 F-16 Falcons to Ukraine. Of course, part of this deal is the US is sending some F-35 fighters to Greece.

Will be very interesting to see just how effective the F-16s will be once they become fully operational. They are superior planes to anything the Russians have, but as always, it comes down to the pilots flying the planes, the human-element. By all reports the slow deployment of the Falcons is due to the training of Ukran pilots, not so much because they are slow-learners, but because the F-16 is a sophisticated plane, and its narrow wings make take-offs and landings a little tricky, so it requires extensive training to handle this machine.

The "hangar" tank, or as some called it, the "turtle" tank is kaput! I won my bet on the Ukrans taking it out the next time it made an appearance.

Ukraine is taking credit for the fire/damage on the Serpukhov, saying their commandoes successfully placed a time bomb aboard the ship which detonated after the ship went to sea. The Russians are sticking to their story that it was a disgruntled crewman who started the fire. Not sure why the Putinites prefer their story over acknowledging it was the Ukrans responsible. They want to blame the Ukrans for most everything else.

The anti-Putin forces, the RFL, announced they were withdrawing from Belgorod but then got reinforcements the other day, so I guess they're staying for a while longer. It's amazing the Russians haven't been able to drive the freedom fighters out. Well, maybe not, since the Russkis have suffered such heavy losses, they simply don't have the resources to mount a counter-attack in their own country, I suppose it's not so amazing.