Russia

[dawg80]

So, it's come to this?

The Russians are now using mules to move supplies, pulling carts. Citing the lack of fuel for trucks, not to mention the lack of trucks, the Russians have resorted to using the animals. Already, a goofy animal rights organization has chimed in demanding that the mules not become targets by the Ukrainians. Not condemning the Russians for putting the mules in harm's way by bringing them into combat zones. Nope! trying to get Ukraine not to target the mules. Well, already one Ukrainian commander has said, hah! the mules are fair game, no different than the trucks that support Russia's army.

So, this is the mighty Russian Army? Using mules? LOL!

[dawg80]

I knew this, from following the war in Ukraine closely, but I guess I did not fully realize the extent of this and the ramifications. And it is, Ukraine's army is not organized into divisions and corps. That's right, the largest Ukrainian army unit is the brigade. And as such each brigade is like a small army, able to operate on its own, engage or not engage, relocate where it thinks it can be most helpful, etc. President Z and his central commanders are now trying to organize the army into divisions and corps. The problem is getting agreement who the commanders will be. Already the individual brigade commanders are advocating for this guy or that guy, and the commanders are saying, hey! we want to be in the same division with this brigade or that one, etc. This lack of overall organization and command structure is the main reason Ukraine has not already won this war...which they are winning, but this could have been over already. Can Ukraine pull this together, especially during an actual war? When peace returns to Ukraine and they have the luxury of time then yeah, a massive reorganization can happen. But right now, those Ukran brigades are up to the asses in alligators trying to defend against a much larger, evil neighbor.

One pundit has suggested that for now, the brigades reorganize themselves into divisions, absent guidance from Kyiv. The commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade (Azov) has put out a desire to be joined with one armored brigade and one mechanized brigade, such as the 5th Tank Brigade and 47th Mechanized Brigade. All of these are elite brigades and working together would form a force of nearly 20,000 troops and some of the best tanks, like Leopard IIs and Abrams tanks.

Clearly, going forward, and if Ukraine is to be admitted into NATO, they need this reorganization. For now, the individual brigades forming alliances and working together makes the most sense.

[dawg80]

Wow! it's happening! There is a Foreign Legion of F-16 pilots forming to go to Ukraine. Led by retired Lt. Colonel Dan "Two Dogs" Hampton a contingent of US F-16 pilots are heading to Ukraine. I mentioned I had the opportunity, and I think the privilege, to speak to a retired US F-16 pilot who told me he was considering volunteering to go to Ukraine, and he mentioned Lt. Colonel Hampton saying he would gladly serve under "Two Dogs." Well, here ya go!

France has sent 6 Mirage jets to Ukraine, and Ukraine has trained pilots to fly those.

So, Ukraine's air force is getting better and Russia is using mules....

[dawg80]

Ukrans advance to the southeast, expanding the salient in Kursk. They captured 3+ miles of ground along a 6-mile front. This was designed to drive Russian forces further away from the key city of Sudzha.

Back in Ukraine Putin's drive to take Pokrovsk has stalled. On the southern side of this key city the Russians ran out of favorable terrain and now face several miles of flat, open ground, no cover. So, the Russians tried to strike on the northern side but again the terrain favors the defenders, the Ukrainians. To their credit the Russians repaired the railroad line and used it to ferry tanks and APVs closer to the front. But these same armored vehicles had to try to negotiate a bottleneck between two rivers to advance north of Pokrovsk. Of course, the Ukrans knew this, so they just waited until the Russians entered the "killing zone." Unable to maneuver, the Russian tanks and other vehicles were sitting ducks. Ukrans used artillery and drones to destroy them all.

It's going to take a lot for the Russians to capture Pokrovsk; a lot more than has been committed thus far.

Reports are Putin has grown his army with an additional enlistment of 420,000 fresh soldiers. This report has not been confirmed by independent sources, but at least one usually reliable source is reporting it as factual. If true Russia now has 1.5 million soldiers in their active army. We shall see.

[dawg80]

"That's just plain dirty," says a French news woman anchor, referring to a Ukrainian drone attacking a Russian helicopter crew trying to rescue two wounded, downed Russian pilots.

A Russian SU-25 fighter-bomber was shot down while attacking Ukrainian troops, this happened in Donetsk, scene of recent heavy fighting. The jet was crippled by a missile hit, and the two crewmen, bailed while the jet was only about 500 feet up. Both of them landed hard, as their shoots barely had time to open. They did land in Russian-held territory but close to the front lines. The Russian helicopter came in, and medics quickly jumped out and aided the two crewmen toward the copter, knowing full well what was coming...a Ukran attack of some kind. Sure enough, a Ukran drone appeared, the kind carrying four grenades. The first grenade exploded near the copter, sending shrapnel through it, and bringing it down as it had been hovering several feet off the ground. Then the drone chased all the Russians who fled toward a patch of woods, two more grenades were dropped, taking out two Russians, and then after searching it located the Russians huddled together trying to hide. The final grenade landed amongst them, either killing or severely wounding all of them. The drone was then seen speeding away, all of this video captured by a Ukran recon drone. It videoed the helicopter now a smoldering wreck left abandoned.

The French TV newspeople argued about "the rules of war." The female stubbornly maintaining that such medical rescue operations should not be attacked.

All's fair in love and in war! What do you think?

[olddawgfan]

Fine with me. At least they were all participating in a military endeavor - Putin has been targeting civilians for months.

[dawg80]

It's Mad Max! The Russians have gotten so desperate for "combat vehicles" they are fixing up civilian vehicles, like pickup trucks, into combat vehicles. They resemble the makeshift creations of the movie, with guns mounted and light armor attached to trucks. Of course, they have zero chance of surviving the modern battlefield with artillery and drones. And so far, none have. The Ukrans are shown laughing as they track these Mad Max vehicles, just before they destroy them and their occupants.

The Ukrans launched a very successful counterattack south of Pokrovsk, pushing the Russians back and turning the tables on the supply lines. The Russians have been advancing westward south of this key city and by doing so has stretched their supply line. The Russians have been trying to reach a small village, through which a railroad and major highway pass, and is one of three major supply lines for the Ukrainians defending Pokrovsk. But, instead, it is the Ukrans who have severed the Russian supply line and have also placed in danger of encirclement all those Russian units furthest west.

The Ukrans "won" every engagement along the front the past 24 hours and also continue expanding the salient in Kursk. But, this war has its ebb and flows, so the Russians will have their day somewhere along the front again.

[dawg80]

The British drove off a Russian spy ship which had entered the English Channel. It was surveying the floor of the channel mapping where the fiber optics cables and pipelines are. We all know that the Russians and the Chicoms purposely destroyed the fiber optics cables under the Baltic Sea. The Russian spy ship, the Vantar (sp?) was seen off the coast of France days before, the French intercepted electronic jamming signals originating from the Vantar. The French sent a frigate which challenged the Russian ship demanding to know what it was doing. The Russians never responded but did sail away back into the open Atlantic Ocean. The French alerted the British who dispatched an attack sub to stalk the spy ship. The British also monitored the Russian activity, documenting what it was doing. Then, the sub surfaced directly behind the Vantar which was moving very slowly, using sonar and other electronics to map the channel floor. The British sub commander challenged the Russians telling them they have been caught in espionage and could be fired upon and/or boarded and retained. The Russian ship then made a 180 turn and hurried out of the channel back to the ocean. The Vantar has no armament save for a contingent of Russian marines with small arms. As the ship hurried away, the British sub stayed on its tail and the British commander sent another warning to the Russian captain, saying: We have been right behind you for two days and could have sunk your ship at any time. Come back again, and next time... He said no more. The message was received.

Yesterday, another one of Putin's spy ships, the Silikin, experienced engine trouble while in the Mediterranean Sea. The engine caught fire and now the ship is adrift, waiting for assistance from other Russian ships. This ship is an old freighter, built in the 1950's, and while it has been updated, etc. its machinery is still old and prone to failure. The Russians claim it is "research" ship studying the fish. hah! everyone knows better.

BTW, if this sounds like a repeat of news I posted about a month ago, it is not. This is the second Russian spy ship to experience engine trouble in the Mediterranean. That one caught fire and had to be abandoned by the crew. The ship was wallowing so Russian forces went aboard, removed sensitive equipment and documents, then scuttled it sending it to the bottom. Seems none of Putin's ships are seaworthy.

[dawg80]

The entire staff, all commanders, and 6 North Korean officers were killed in a missile attack on the Russian 35th Brigade HQ in Selydove, Kursk. The brigade commander is (was) a full colonel and had 18 officers with the ranks of captains, majors, and lieutenant colonel present for a meeting. The NK officers are identified as majors and one colonel. The stupid Russians never seem to learn. Heck! they have only to read this thread to see it is never a good idea to gather in an unprotected location, in this case an office building, because the Ukrans will know and the Ukrans will kill you all.

A Russian soldier, a non-comm is recorded on video walking away from the smoldering remains of the building, he looks at the camera and quips, "Yes, they are all dead."

Next!


And of course, while Ukraine concentrates attacks on military targets and key infrastructure, Putin continues his terrorist, criminal attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Recently, Putin attacked a small town in Kharkiv, hitting a suburb and killing 6 people and wounding 20 more. And, Putin hit a high-rise apartment building, killing two and injuring 30 more. These attacks are indiscriminate, no pattern, which is similar to Hitler's assault on London with his V1 and V2 rockets. It is the randomness of these attacks that make them more frightful...terrorism...as the average Ukrainian citizen has no clue where/when the next attack will come. They are designed to create fear.

Yes sir, good ole Vladimir...

[dawg80]

A Russian tank accidently ran over, crushed and killed 4 Russian soldiers riding in a civilian SUV. The accident occurred at an intersection with neither driver paying attention to the 4-way stop signs. The SUV lost that encounter .

After a brief withdrawal, the North Koreans have returned to the killing fields in Kursk. Last night 16 NK soldiers were killed in a firefight, another 20+ wounded. No prisoners were taken because the NKs have been instructed, ordered, to commit suicide rather than being captured. One incident captured on Ukran bodycam shows a wounded NK soldier being approached by Ukrainian soldiers, using their best Korean (taught to them by South Korean army consultants) to assure the NK soldier he would not be harmed. But the NK held a grenade under his chin and detonated it. None of the Ukran soldiers were hurt. Pretty graphic video...ugh!

In the northwest portion of the salient a combined North Korean/Russian attack was beaten back, with over 200 casualties sustained by the bad guys.

In the southeast part, the Ukrans have reached the "Deel" (sp?) river and have effectively cut off Russian troops in that sector. To rescue those trap units, Russia is building a large force. As one YouTuber says, and this is so true, what Ukraine captured in less than 24 hours will take the Russians a week+ to retake, if indeed they actually can.

[dawg80]

Tens of thousands of people in Slovakia have taken to the streets to protest PM Robert Fico's cozying up to Putin. A recall petition is being circulated gathering signatures to force a recall election on Fico. He narrowly won election as prime minister in October 2023 and immediately reversed the previous administrations support for Ukraine. He ran on a platform of being neutral in that war, supporting neither side and that got him the undecided voters' support. But, after being sworn in as PM, he switched to a pro-Putin, pro-Russia position at first under the guise of wanting to bring the war to an end. But, immediately his true colors shown through, he was not neutral at all. Now the people of Slovakia, most of whom support Ukraine or want to be truly neutral, are fed up. A recent poll indicates that fewer than 10% of Slovakians support Putin/Russia in the war.

Get at that POS out of office!

[dawg80]

Another Putin murder victim..."fell" out of a window to his death. Putin is starting to rival the Klintons in murders of his political and adversarial opposition. Most of them have "fallen" out of windows. This latest was a popular entertainer, a singer, who has been outspoken about Putin and his "illegal war" in Ukraine. He was accused of sending money to support Ukraine. During a raid on his apartment by Putin's security forces, the singer "fell" out of his window to his death. His name was Vadim Stroykin.

[dawg80]

Russians have to use hand-pulled carts and wheelbarrows to evacuate their dead to makeshift graveyards. That's bad enough, but now they are also evacuating wounded soldiers the same way. Many of these wounded die before they can reach medical care...and so the cart is diverted to the graveyard. It is absolutely primitive.

General Gerbosky is doomed. A Russian general in command of the eastern sector of the Kursk salient. He was interviewed on Russian TV and gave an honest response to the reporter's question of can his forces hold the line against this recent Ukrainian advance? He gave an emphatic no, said no chance. Says he lacks the manpower and the equipment. We are low on ammo, and morale is at an all-time low. Less than an hour after this aired, that general got a message to report to army HQ. I suppose we won't be seeing General Gerbosky again. He'll probably "fall" out of window too.

Probably just blustering, but the retreating Russian Mediterranean fleet, pulling out of Syria and Libya, sent a message to the British they will be using the English Channel and will fire on any British warships that appear close to them. Yeah, right. The British Admiralty was measured in its response avoiding escalating the rhetoric. But, did make it clear that British warships will go wherever they please in the channel...period.

More BS coming from the Russki propagandists. One YouTube channel, the 'Hindustan Channel' echoed the Kremlin's spin machine that "Ukraine and the world better watch out...something big is brewing in central Russia, soon to be released!" One western YouTuber mocked this stupid BS showing scenes of Cossack cavalry from a 1950's movie, charging on horses and wielding swords. "This is the modern Russian army now," the YouTuber laughed.

President Z has somewhat buckled to US and NATO pressure to enlist 18-24 yr olds in the Ukrainian army. Not conscription, but a program offering all kinds of benefits to those young men who voluntarily enlist. Such things as free college, government assistance in buying their first house, good pay and an enlistment bonus, free health care for the rest of their lives, and a $25 gift certificate to McDonald's...okay, I added that last item . This is an important step in the right direction. Trying to protect "the future of Ukraine" by denying enlistment of 18-24 yr olds has caused the Ukrainian army to be...old. The average age of the current Ukrainian soldier is 45. That's the AVERAGE age, so there has to be a lot of fellows in their late 50's and into their 60's. These "old" guys have held the line really well, but through losses and attrition the ranks are thinning. We shall see how successful President Z's enticement program will be.

[dawg80]

News from the front lines, all good news today.

In the Kursk salient the 47th Brigade annihilated attacking North Koreans, wiping out an entire company of infantry. Just to their right along the line, the Ukrainian 82nd Airborne Brigade destroyed 3 Russian APCs and a makeshift civilian truck carrying Russian troops who were attempting to flank the 47th Brigade using the NKs as a diversion. But elements of the 82nd had other ideas. And on the SE sector of the salient the Ukrans have pushed another mile reaching the town of Ulanok. Russian troops are still holding the town itself, the Ukrans occupying the woods on two sides.

Back in Ukraine, the Ukrans have continued to wither down the Russian units south of Pokrosvk. And at Terny, in the Donetsk oblast, the Ukrainian 60th Brigade earned the "unit of the day" award wiping a Russian column, killing 1,000 troops and destroying 6 armored vehicles and several civilian vehicles.

And this little gem! Confirmed that the Russians have introduced the WWII vintage T-34 tank to the modern battlefield. At least three T-34s are confirmed joining the Russian forces in the Kursk oblast. How appropriate as it was the vaunted T-34 that won the day for the Soviets in the Battle of Kursk, July 1943, in the biggest tank on tank battle in history. This is too good to be true. Way to go Putin, ya gotta love it! The old, famous T-34 back in action. (until they meet the first Ukran drones and then kaboom!)

Oh, I had missed this story. Kanal13 YouTube Channel ran a story 3 months ago that Russia was refurbishing T-34s and had video of a train carrying dozens of T-34s, in various condition, to a tank repair factory. Appears a few have been deployed to the combat zone.