Three Russian oil tankers have exploded in the Mediterranean Sea this month. Experts suspect sabotage...really? Keep wearing down Putin's resources. Cripple the bastard!
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Three Russian oil tankers have exploded in the Mediterranean Sea this month. Experts suspect sabotage...really? Keep wearing down Putin's resources. Cripple the bastard!
Another Russian ship goes down, this one a cargo ship.Originally Posted by dawg80
The "home" teams won yesterday. The Ukrans drove the Russians back almost a mile along a 3-mile front, and also delivered two severe blows to entrenched Russians, all south of Pokrovsk. But, in Kursk, the Russians scored two big wins along the western front of the salient. This came as a surprise to both sides. The elite Ukran 24th Brigade had rotated some units off the front line, leaving one battalion and being joined by units of another brigade, the 77th Mechanized Infantry. Apparently, the 77th was too slow occupying the prepared defenses and advancing Russians beat them into the Ukrainian trenches. The men of the 77th were taken by surprise when fired upon from their own trenches. The battalion of the 24th responded for calls for help and sent 3 of its 5 companies to assist the 77th. Meanwhile, this coincided with a concentrated attacks by the Russians against the position of the 24th. The two remaining companies were outnumbered 10-1 and after a 2-hour fight were compelled to fall back. As of this morning the Russians are still holding both places.
This points to the great weakness of the current Ukrainian army organization. As I posted previously, the largest organized units are the brigades. There are no divisions, no corps, and each brigade operates independently. While the commanders of the brigades try to and want to cooperate with each other, sometimes communication breaks down and one brigade commander might not see the urgency of the matter. Under a proper divisional setup, the commanding general would have assured proper coordination of the 24th pulling back and the 77th replacing them at the front. There would have been no 6-hour gap in time, during which the trenches were left unoccupied until the Russians seized them. President Z and his commanders, back in Kyiv, have admitted this is a problem needing addressing and have pledged to fix this...when they have the luxury of peacetime.
The typical Ukrainian brigade is composed of 4 battalions, three combat battalions, and one support battalion. The usual compliment of men in a brigade is about 6,000 soldiers, although this varies depending on the primary function of the brigade. Infantry brigades have more men than armored and artillery brigades. Each brigade has its own, separate drone units, and there are 10 central drone units, usually designated as battalions, and who answer directly to Kyiv.
More destruction visited on Putin's infrastructure last night. Reports of fires raging in Moscow.
Some more great videos. One shows two Bradley Fighting Machines attacking Russians who had taken refuge from the recent cold wave in a small village, the Russians thinking they were safe in the houses. Nope! the 30mm auto-cannons raked every house along about a 1/2 mile stretch, exploding ammo inside, bringing roofs down, utterly shattering the brick/wooded walls of the houses. The Russians managed to strike one of the Bradleys with an RPG, huge explosion, but the Bradley appeared from the smoke unharmed. They are amazing machines with the best armor of any vehicle, including tanks. Later Ukran infantry swarmed in and finished the job, retaking the village south of Pokrosvk.
The second cool video shows 4 Russian soldiers using a mule to pull a cart full of fuel and ammo. The fuel was intended for the kerosene heaters the Russians are using trying to stay warm. The Ukran drone tracked the cart until it stopped outside of a mostly collapsed barn in a farming community. Next the drone hovered over a hole in the roof sighting a group of Russians huddled together around a fire. Coordinates were sent to Ukrainian artillery units and then the drone returned to the cart. By this time the mule had been unhooked and led to corral with other mules. The mule safely away, the drone attacked...kaboom! all four Russians were toast (literally) in the big fireball explosion. Moments later Ukran artillery ended the cold misery of the Russians in the barn.
Quick update...the Ukrans have retaken those trenches. The full might of the elite 24th Brigade was unleashed, together with a carefully coordinated artillery and drone strike, and all the Russians who had advanced are no more.
In a separate video, this one from the Russian side, a Russian soldier, a sergeant, is shown standing near rows of dead Russians. He says, the cold weather has at least frozen our dead, so they don't stink. Most of the corpses are half buried in snow, and there are lumps of snow over completely buried corpses. This Russian shakes his head, adds, it is shameful we don't bury our dead.
President Z has offered to resign if his continuing as president is a roadblock to continued support from NATO (including the US) and to Ukraine being invited to join NATO. His "existence" has been a major sticking point for Trump, who calls him a crook and a dictator, while kissing Putin's ass. So, what say you now, Trump?
I think history will show President Z is a true hero. All of his critics will end up eating crow. Ukraine was steep in corruption, and some still exists. President Z is trying to clean it up. Hmmm...kind of like what DOGE is doing here. Only, the grand total of all of Ukraine's corruption added together since the collapse of the Soviet Union, 30+ years, does not add up to just ONE YEAR of US corruption. Some morons say Ukraine has no right to exist as a sovereign nation due to its corruption. Oh oh! Say bye bye to the good ole USA based on that stipulation!
Another day goes by...more dead Russians (reportedly 1,180 Russian KIA yesterday), and more destroyed Putin infrastructure, especially his oil industry.
Three years in and Putin's grand scheme is not going as he planned.
More of the same last night. Two more of Putin's oil storage sites were struck, fires raging. And the Ukrans enjoyed another day and night of victories on the battlefield. Small gains, yes, but wins nonetheless.
More winning yesterday and last night for Ukraine. The shamed brigade, the "deserter brigade" it has been labeled, the 155th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, trained in France (this is too good to be true, if you understand the historic connection), is back in the fight. Well, most of it. About 1,700 of the former 5,000 soldiers are still missing, deserters. The rest, about 3,300, have returned and are now fighting south of Pokrovsk. Together with other Ukran units, in some awful winter weather, a frickin' blizzard, they are attacking and driving the Russians back. The weather is limiting movement, especially of equipment, but the Ukrans are advancing anyway.
More good news! Ukraine has re-entered the key city of Toretsk. Russia seized this key location two months ago and moved west from there. But now, the Ukrainians are driving the Russians back. And yesterday, Ukran forces entered the city itself. Russians are still holding about half of the city, and close-up street fighting is ongoing. But this is a HUGE reversal! HUGE!!
These recent successes by Ukraine, if they can sustain them as better weather comes on in the spring and summer, are incredible. The concern is better weather will allow Russia to use its airpower again. Right now, the heavy snowstorms have grounded aircraft and drones are very limited too. Neither side can use planes, and neither can use drones very well either. BUT! Ukraine will have about 60 F-16s ready to go, and at least 12 Mirage 2000 fighter-bombers come spring/summer. Plus, Ukraine is about to launch their latest generation of drones. So, perhaps, clear skies will actually benefit Ukraine rather than Russia.
In the Kursk salient, the lines were unchanged except the Russians did enter a small village on the northwestern sector of the line. The village was being held by a "picket post" 6 Ukrainian soldiers, who quickly withdrew when 100+ Russians appeared out of the snowstorm advancing on them. Other than that, Kursk was quiet yesterday. I did fail to post about the big disaster, for Russia, in Kursk that happened two days ago. A Russian column was ambushed trying to rescue trapped North Koreans. The NK soldiers are still trapped in a town, surrounded by Ukran forces.
Also, about a week ago now. Ukrainian special forces orchestrated a nasty surprise for Russian drone operators. Remember the exploding pagers the Israelis struck Hamas and Hezbullah with? Israel had intercepted a shipment of pocket-pagers bound for the terrorists. They placed explosives in them and then sent the shipment on. Kaboom! About 40 terrorist scumbags were killed, another 50+ severely wounded.
Well, Ukran special forces, working with anti-Putin partisans, intercepted drone operation goggles and placed explosives in them. Then when the Russian FPV drone operators put them on and activated them...kaboom! Reports are that 8 Russians "lost their heads." Ouch! Another 18 were killed/wounded when they attempted to open their goggles setting off the explosives inside. The bigger effect has been the Russians don't trust goggles being sent to them, so engineers are having to investigate them, open them, to assure they are safe to use. This is slowing down the increase in drone operations for the Russians.
Good job!
After that ridiculous display in the Oval Office it seems irrelevant to focus on what is going on in the war itself. But...
The Ukrans enjoyed more tactical wins yesterday and last night. Yes, these are small gains, in the big picture, but they are wins and in Toretsk, Ukraine is pushing a huge reversal. When Toretsk fell months ago pundits were saying that was it, Russia would seize all of the Luhansk Oblast. Taking Pokrovsk would assure Russia seizing all of Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine understood this and planned their counter-offensives in both locations. Under the cover of a blizzard the Ukrans launched their assaults. Elite units like the 3rd Assault Brigade, rested and refitted, are among those leading this surge. The Ukrans are still out-numbered, usually 5-1 and 8-1 in some places. Yes, the Ukrans are suffering losses. Defenders always hold the advantage to those attacking, usually across open ground, through minefields. Yet, despite these advantages the Russians have been routed out of their defensive works and the Ukrans are liberating territory.
In the big strategic picture, let's take a look at the situation. Three years ago Putin launched his evil invasion with the thought of winning in 3 weeks, all of Ukraine. Then after suffering setbacks he reset his eyes on the seven eastern oblasts, including Crimea. Today he "holds" Crimea but it is now an empty place. ALL of Russia's military assets have either been destroyed or withdrawn and half the Russian civilian population have evacuated. Crimea is a ghost province. Ukraine sees no need to continue to attack Crimea because that battle has been won.
So, we look at the other eastern provinces. Russians are holding a total of about 40% of those oblasts, concentrated in three of them. Putin had hoped to take two more oblasts, Luhansk and Donetsk. But as we are seeing Putin is failing there too. And to add insult to injury, Ukraine is holding a part of Russia, the Kursk salient.
Yet! we keep hearing people say "Ukraine can't win this war." Really? Russia is sure as hell not winning.
President Erdogan, Turkey, is saying he might commit troops into Ukraine to help finish off the Russians. With the US effectively out of NATO now, Turkey has the largest NATO army. Poland and the Baltic States are also pledging to support Turkey's efforts, should the Turks actually follow through. Poland has quietly built a powerful military, with a standing army of 300,000 well-equipped, trained, and supplied troops. Official numbers place Turkey's army at 340,000. But sources say there are at least another 100,000+ reservists that can be called up. Turkey also has a modern army, with some of the very latest equipment. The Russian "army" in Ukraine is said to number 400,000, but most of it is a joke. Old men, cripples, riding mules and golf carts into battle. Putin has nothing left to send, and IF, a big IF, Turkey and Poland, and few other nations, are serious about deploying troops, they will crush the pathetic Russian bunch in Ukraine.
Now, will that cause Putin to resort to the use of nukes? Doubtful, not in Ukraine. He might use tactical nukes should Turkey, Poland, et al follow up with an invasion into Russia. But Putin has not used nukes against the Ukrans in Kursk.
In addition to these nations, if others, like Germany, France, the UK also deploy troops in Ukraine and actually engage in battle with the Russians, then the rout will take a few days. Heck, the Ukrans are advancing right now totally on their own. We shall see.
Watched interviews with Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. They were asked about the mess that occurred between Z and Trump. They all shrugged saying they will fight on. A member of the 3rd Assault (Azoz) Brigade pointed to weapons inside of his bunker, saying, these are all from America. We thank America and the great American people for their support. We know we have no chance without the support of our friends, especially America. It will be hard, very hard, but we will fight on.
More good news from eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of Russians now trapped in pockets in Toretsk. No escape for them and no hope for relief. They should surrender now and save their own pathetic lives. Among the units winning at Toretsk is the 3rd Assault (Azoz) Brigade. In this war they have won every tactical fight they have been in. And now that brigade is coming off a couple of months of R&R and refitting. They are lean and mean and will take the fight to the evil invaders.
And on the opposite side of this bulge created as the Russians advanced last fall, the Ukrans have retaken two villages, the latest Synkiva which is the site of bridge across a river. Ukraine is winning everywhere right now. Will it, can it, last? We know that all wars have their "ups and downs"/"back and forths," with each side gaining, then losing, and then gaining again. But for now Ukraine is winning where it matters most: on the ground.
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