What's going on in Ukraine?

[_Os_]

This rage out is quite interesting, he lets slip the Kremlin/Moscow is loaded with experts and officials who think the war is unwinnable.

Just the average Russian morning news broadcast "and now for the weather".

[Hellraiser]

[Plim]

This rage out is quite interesting, he lets slip the Kremlin/Moscow is loaded with experts and officials who think the war is unwinnable.

Just the average Russian morning news broadcast "and now for the weather".

Well, looky here! A pro-war, pro-destruction of Ukraine cheerleader wearing a retro CCCP top…

Bloody right-wingers!

[Calculon]

Soviet symbols have seen a resurgence amongst Russian nationalist since the “special military operation. No prizes for guessing why

[average joe]

There's a clip doing the rounds with Prigozhin saying he is alive and well somewhere in Africa.

[_Os_]

Soviet symbols have seen a resurgence amongst Russian nationalist since the “special military operation. No prizes for guessing why

That's the one liner but it's a bit more complicated. Russians are obsessed by WW2 and it has fucked their politics. They describe any opponents as Nazis/fascists and the good guys are always the ethnic Russians who are interchangeable with the Soviet identity (because that identity was dominated by the Russians and about subordinating other groups to the Russians), even when those ethnic Russians are obviously Nazis like Wagner PMC.

They'll describe Ukrainians as "Ukrainian nationalists" for wanting to remain an independent country, but will never talk about "Russian nationalists" because from their perspective being Russian is the default, "nationalist" is only used to describe people that aren't ethnic Russian. This is why they say stuff like the Ukrainian identity doesn't exist or Ukrainians are actually Russians. This is how the "Ukrainian Nazis" thing came about, it's not unusual in Eastern Europe for a country to have a small far right Nazi type element, the Russians exploited that in the propaganda they pumped into the West (Western Europe is very different to Eastern Europe in this, because their WW2 and post-WW2 experience was different, it's shocking to a Western to see full on tattooed up Nazis). Russian propaganda played on Western ignorance in other ways, the units they singled out like Azov were/are mostly ethnic Russian/Russian speaking (the clue is in the name, Azov isn't an ethnic Ukrainian area). This propaganda worked less well in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile in Russian internal propaganda when they say "Ukrainian nationalists" or "Ukrainian fascists" or "Ukrainian Nazis", they literally mean every Ukrainian man woman and child, and their solution is always genocide.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

Another Ka-52 lost today.

[Flockwitt]

AMRAAMs for Ukraine
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/09/1/7417962/

And the US is releasing depleted uranium tank ammo for the first time. One might suspect they'll be for the Abrams.

[_Os_]

Some minor gains around Verbove today. The amount of Russian units there now means most are broken, the space is too small to fit them in if they were full strength. Some reports of these broken Russian units refusing to go to the frontline. Seeing a lot of quite graphic drone videos from that front, FPV kamikaze munitions are being used on clumps of Russian troops in trenches and in the open. Steady stream of vids showing Russians becoming POWs.

This is the first vid I've seen that shows from the ground that Ukraine likely control part of the first Surovikin line. The knocked out Russian tanks are new upgrades, T-72B3 Obr 2016. Russia is trying to plug the hole with the best they have available.

[Flockwitt]

Yep. Push has come to shove. Probably why the Ukrainians are claiming such high artillery kills in August. The Russians have to show their full hand at this point.

Did you see the vid of the Ukrainian drones that have cluster munitions? Nasty.

[Hellraiser]

That's an entire tank brigade.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[tabascoboy]

More information about the Ukrainian strike on the Russian strategic airfield in Pskov on 30 August became available. Previously, the complete destruction of 2 aircraft and possible damage to 2 more were confirmed, but further evaluation was complicated due to the cloudy weather. However, today, it was reported that those 5 previously invisible aircraft highly likely received some damage as well, increasing the number of damaged aircraft from 4 to 9.

Very interesting article worth reading, more at: https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/09/02/ ... territory/

[Flockwitt]

Positive signs that things are reaching a critical point in the south. Having deployed their strategic reserve Airborne units Russia's now cycled in a scratch unit into the northern front to free up troops to send south to Zaporizhzhia.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgr ... ber-1-2023

[Ymx]

Its horrible to think the huge number of young men who’ve died over this Russian vermin leader.

[lemonhead]

On both sides, and woman and children.

Never get that f#cker to the Hague but if uninterrupted hopefully he eventually does a Stalin, leeches and all.

[_Os_]

Yep. Push has come to shove. Probably why the Ukrainians are claiming such high artillery kills in August. The Russians have to show their full hand at this point.

Did you see the vid of the Ukrainian drones that have cluster munitions? Nasty.

Just a lot of FVP kamikaze drone strikes, corpses, prisoners being taken.

Russia's 76th Guards Air Assault (VDV) Division is now confirmed to be in the Verbove area, they were a unit that was in Bucha when the massacres happened. Another VDV unit redeployed there (cannot remember which) is infamous for raping indiscriminately (men, women, the elderly and the children) in the areas they've operated in.

Ukrainian forces will know they're going up against hardened war criminals. Can't imagine the drone operators feel much when they kamikaze into one of them and rip them in half.

[fishfoodie]

Yep. Push has come to shove. Probably why the Ukrainians are claiming such high artillery kills in August. The Russians have to show their full hand at this point.

Did you see the vid of the Ukrainian drones that have cluster munitions? Nasty.

Just a lot of FVP kamikaze drone strikes, corpses, prisoners being taken.

Russia's 76th Guards Air Assault (VDV) Division is now confirmed to be in the Verbove area, they were a unit that was in Bucha when the massacres happened. Another VDV unit redeployed there (cannot remember which) is infamous for raping indiscriminately (men, women, the elderly and the children) in the areas they've operated in.

Ukrainian forces will know they're going up against hardened war criminals. Can't imagine the drone operators feel much when they kamikaze into one of them and rip them in half.

And that's why centuries of combat has showed that war crimes are unbelievably counterproductive, & any command that doesn't line the perpetrators against a wall & shoot them themselves, are morons !

All you do is make your opponent fight harder, & make them taking you prisoner less likely, & once you commit war crimes against civilians, you unite them too, & they'll endure any sacrifice & cheer on their fighters.

[_Os_]

And that's why centuries of combat has showed that war crimes are unbelievably counterproductive, & any command that doesn't line the perpetrators against a wall & shoot them themselves, are morons !

All you do is make your opponent fight harder, & make them taking you prisoner less likely, & once you commit war crimes against civilians, you unite them too, & they'll endure any sacrifice & cheer on their fighters.

There's that and also the Russian officers controlling these units committing war crimes should've thought about their future's more (too late now). Ukraine's SBU clearly have a lot of capacity inside Russia, they're launching drone attacks from inside Russia, the truck bombing of the Kerch bridge was all done inside Russia, there's one definite case of Ukraine killing a Russian officer inside Russia he was gunned down on his morning run in a normal civilian setting.

If you look up all the original leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk Russian backed forces from 2014/2015. They've all been assassinated other than Girkin. They're not subtle, Givi was killed using a RPG thermobaric round, he was incinerated alive.

It would not be surprising at all, if 10 years from now a lot of the Russian officers commanding units that committed war crimes have mysteriously decided to commit suicide via some unusually violent method. The lucky ones get kidnapped taken to Ukraine for trial. The Russian officers that think this isn't happening are placing a lot of faith in a well functioning Russian state existing in 10+ years time and that state caring about them and being able to protect them, they're also placing a lot of faith in Ukraine forgetting all this.

[tabascoboy]

Defence Intelligence
INTELLIGENCE UPDATE
UPDATE ON UKRAINE 3 September 2023
As of late June 2023, Russia has been appealing to citizens of neighbouring countries with recruitment adverts for individuals to fight in Ukraine. Online adverts have been observed in Armenia and Kazakhstan offering 495,000 roubles ($5,140 USD) in initial payments and salaries from 190,000 roubles ($1,973 USD). There have been recruitment efforts in Kazakhstan's northern Qostanai region, appealing to the ethnic Russian population.
Since at least May 2023, Russia has approached central Asian migrants to fight in Ukraine with promises of fast-track citizenship and salaries of up to $4,160 USD. Uzbek migrant builders in Mariupol have reportedly had their passports confiscated upon arrival and been coerced to join the Russian military. There are at least six million migrants from Central Asia in Russia, which the Kremlin likely sees as potential recruits.
Russia likely wishes to avoid further unpopular domestic mobilisation measures in the run up to the 2024 Presidential elections. Exploiting foreign nationals allows the Kremlin to acquire additional personnel for its war effort in the face of mounting casualties.

[_Os_]

And that's why centuries of combat has showed that war crimes are unbelievably counterproductive, & any command that doesn't line the perpetrators against a wall & shoot them themselves, are morons !

All you do is make your opponent fight harder, & make them taking you prisoner less likely, & once you commit war crimes against civilians, you unite them too, & they'll endure any sacrifice & cheer on their fighters.

There's that and also the Russian officers controlling these units committing war crimes should've thought about their future's more (too late now). Ukraine's SBU clearly have a lot of capacity inside Russia, they're launching drone attacks from inside Russia, the truck bombing of the Kerch bridge was all done inside Russia, there's one definite case of Ukraine killing a Russian officer inside Russia he was gunned down on his morning run in a normal civilian setting.

If you look up all the original leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk Russian backed forces from 2014/2015. They've all been assassinated other than Girkin. They're not subtle, Givi was killed using a RPG thermobaric round, he was incinerated alive.

It would not be surprising at all, if 10 years from now a lot of the Russian officers commanding units that committed war crimes have mysteriously decided to commit suicide via some unusually violent method. The lucky ones get kidnapped taken to Ukraine for trial. The Russian officers that think this isn't happening are placing a lot of faith in a well functioning Russian state existing in 10+ years time and that state caring about them and being able to protect them, they're also placing a lot of faith in Ukraine forgetting all this.

By coincidence the SBU have now identified a Russian officer responsible for Bucha war crimes and some of the subordinates that carried out the orders. This will be a lot of the SBU's work over the next decade or two, if there's no way to bring them to trial they're just going to kill them.

Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians.

The SBU announced in a statement on Thursday that it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.

“The Security Service has established the identity of another Russian occupier who is involved in mass murders of civilians during the occupation of Kyiv region. The perpetrator is Senior Lieutenant Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 37th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation,” the SBU said in the statement.

The SBU alleges Ovchinnikov “took direct part in the capture of the villages of Severynivka, Motyzhyn, and Kopyliv of the Bucha district,” and rode around the territory in armored vehicles “in order to intimidate local residents” accompanied by his subordinates.

The SBU alleges that during a raid in early March 2022, Ovchinnikov ordered his subordinates to open fire on two cars carrying civilians that were moving towards the Russian infantry fighting vehicle.

“A Ukrainian family was in the car, and they were trying to leave Severynivka for Uman in Cherkasy region,” the statement said, adding that “a man, his wife and their 15-year-old daughter were killed on the spot” and only the youngest daughter, who was 9 years old, survived.

According to the investigation, “the criminal order to shoot local residents” was carried out by five of Ovchinnikov’s subordinates, whose names the SBU has included in the statement.

Ovchinnikov and his accomplices were investigated for “the violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder, committed by a group of persons according to a prior conspiracy,” according to the statement.

The SBU didn’t report any information about the whereabouts of the suspects, only noting that “comprehensive measures are being taken to fairly punish Russian war criminals, regardless of where they are.”

Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, the Russian army committed thousands of war crimes in the Bucha district, and hundreds of people were killed in the town of Bucha alone before it was liberated in March 2022.

[tabascoboy]

Brace yourselves, because russians have once again showcased unparalleled innovation. What you are looking at is a satellite image featuring a TU-95 strategic bomber covered with car tires. According to them, this should protect strategic bombers from drones

This doesn't seem to be just a single occurrence. In this satellite imagery, it seems the russians are still in the process of fitting tires onto the bomber – a fresh, budget-friendly version of ERA substitute for the russian air force?

[fishfoodie]

Will they be surprised if the next time they take off, the wings fall off ?

[Blake]

That cannot be good for those airframes

And just the manpower needed to load them up and then take them down again...Russia never ceases to amaze.

[dkm57]

Will burn all the better, loads of black smoke.

[_Os_]

Looks like the TB2s aren't only doing recon and are back in a strike role now.

[_Os_]

Drone dropped AT mine with a grenade fuse, there's nothing this will not be able to destroy. In Ukraine the mine finds you!

[Hellraiser]

[Niegs]

Never expected to hear about a volunteer group with this branding...

[Blake]

Drone dropped AT mine with a grenade fuse, there's nothing this will not be able to destroy. In Ukraine the mine finds you!

Any videos yet of that bad boy in action?

I'm curious to see if the timed fuse gives the drone enough time to get clear. The operator is going to have to descend, drop the payload, and start climbing fast. Should make for some cracking footage.

[_Os_]

Any videos yet of that bad boy in action?

I'm curious to see if the timed fuse gives the drone enough time to get clear. The operator is going to have to descend, drop the payload, and start climbing fast. Should make for some cracking footage.

Haven't seen it used yet. I guess they've tested it and it's all good. I know that at least one unit has plans to use commercial type drones to drop artillery shells too, but haven't seen those yet.

Being able to drop AT mines is some force multiplier, puts massive pressure on anything static within 5km of that unit. Wouldn't take many of those to do a lot of damage to the trench networks we're seeing.

[tabascoboy]

Russia is planning to launch an active mobilization process in occupied Crimea after the illegal elections, which will take place from September 12, according to partisan movement Atesh. Particular emphasis will be placed on retired police officers and other security officials.

ATES
Crimean banks transmit information about their clients to the draft board for mobilization!
According to our sources in the military registration and enlistment office, the invaders plan to launch an active mobilization process in Crimea after the illegal and fictitious elections from September 12. Particular emphasis will be placed on retired police officers and other security officials.
It is also reported that persons hiding from mobilization will be identified through banks. Bank operators were tasked with calling customers with passports, allegedly to verify and update data, and if persons of interest to the occupation system appear, then report their location, in extreme cases, directly call the police.
The occupiers make life on the peninsula impossible. They will look for new methods to mobilize the inhabitants of the occupied Ukrainian regions. If nothing is done, the tragedy of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions will be repeated. This cannot be allowed!
Join "ATESH" - take part in the fight against rashism! @atesh_fire

[tabascoboy]

Another Ka-52 lost today.

This one? Fell on 1st Sept

[_Os_]

As per your posts Russia are rumoured to be preparing for a mobilisation of the parts of Kherson they control too and migrant workers in Russia who are eligible for Russian citizenship.

It undermines the claim they have a bottomless supply of men for their military. When they tried a stealth mobilisation, over 1 million young Russian men left Russia, if they don't return then Russia's population number goes into some more long term decline.

They're clearly struggling to replace losses, and are now trying to use men they know are potentially disloyal. They're going to pressgang former security personnel of the state they're fighting into joining them. Potentially they end up with 1000s of spies on the loose all sending coordinates of potential targets to the Ukraine side.

A large proportion of Donetsk's and Luhansk's pre-2022 male populations are now dead, the supply of men from there is fully exhausted. Anyone following the war somewhat closely knows whole formations that have existed since 2014 have been fully wiped out, replaced and fully wiped out again, then replaced again usually with some locals and some Russian conscripts. Russia has essentially committed a genocide against ethnic Russians in Ukraine under the pretext of saving them. Next up Crimean ethnic Russians.

If/when Ukraine gets these regions back they're going to be more politically stable than people imagined. Most potential trouble makers will have died as cannon fodder.

[fishfoodie]

As per your posts Russia are rumoured to be preparing for a mobilisation of the parts of Kherson they control too and migrant workers in Russia who are eligible for Russian citizenship.

It undermines the claim they have a bottomless supply of men for their military. When they tried a stealth mobilisation, over 1 million young Russian men left Russia, if they don't return then Russia's population number goes into some more long term decline.

They're clearly struggling to replace losses, and are now trying to use men they know are potentially disloyal. They're going to pressgang former security personnel of the state they're fighting into joining them. Potentially they end up with 1000s of spies on the loose all sending coordinates of potential targets to the Ukraine side.

A large proportion of Donetsk's and Luhansk's pre-2022 male populations are now dead, the supply of men from there is fully exhausted. Anyone following the war somewhat closely knows whole formations that have existed since 2014 have been fully wiped out, replaced and fully wiped out again, then replaced again usually with some locals and some Russian conscripts. Russia has essentially committed a genocide against ethnic Russians in Ukraine under the pretext of saving them. Next up Crimean ethnic Russians.

If/when Ukraine gets these regions back they're going to be more politically stable than people imagined. Most potential trouble makers will have died as cannon fodder.

It became necessary to destroy the town to save it

60 years later the Orcs are using the same warped logic

[_Os_]

Never expected to hear about a volunteer group with this branding...

There's been anarchist, socialist, and liberal volunteer groups since 2014. they're smaller than the nationalist groups and get much less Western attention. When you get an existential war like this, politics is a way people are going to want to organise. There were Ukrainian anarchist groups on the Maidan in 2014, those guys volunteered together afterwards. I know of two anarchist volunteer groups, "Black Flag" and "Resistance Committee", plus some foreign anarchist volunteers likely mostly with Resistance Committee (probably mostly Westerners who fought for the YPG in Syria, which is also anarchist in outlook and includes ideological training as part of it's basic training/orientation that those Westerners would've gone through). I'm guessing this footage is actually from Resistance Committee because it was a formal TDF unit and would be attached to Ukrainian regulars now. I'm guessing there's about 100 to 500 anarchists in the fight, it's not below 100.

Ukraine has a long anarchist history. The Black Banner terror group, and Makhno's Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine that setup an anarchist territory after the 1917 revolution.

Anyway .. that guy that gets shot and keeps himself useful is a hard bastard. Here's a translation of what they're saying:

"Verbove - Novoprokopivka front.
8th Special Purpose Regiment 'Hertz', reportedly ambush RuAF 40m away. They fire off a ton of ammo, VOGs, hand grenades and RPGs. One UAF is perhaps lightly WIA (left arm?) but stays in the fight.
0:20 Are you alive? - Yes
0:32 (to radio) We have a contact! d40
1:23 (other man) close to us, 40m
1:47 fuuuuck eardrum
1:55 what happened to Bulldog? - give me the VOGs!
2:00 (other man to radio) point 40! point 40! quicker!
2:42 those are the last VOGs - give me the RPG!
2:58 (other man) I'm out of ammo
3:04 Fuck the RPG is stuck
3:25 (other man) watch the 'pidor'!
There is a drone herd close by at 03:35.
The filmaker is from eco/anarchist group reportedly serving with the 78th."

Shot so much his rifle barrel started smoking.

[_Os_]

Verbove. Ukraine has made further inroads into the first Surovikin line they're now at its main trench line. Which means as things stand the first Surovikin line is fully penetrated by Ukrainian infantry. No video of Ukrainian vehicles operating that deep yet though. This is a rapid advance considering the mine density. Either Russian defenders are broken and don't have any answer to Ukraine's pushes, or Russia is letting them push.

Deepstate's maps are usually very accurate.