Ukraine War. 2022-

I wouldn't be surprised to see a night time raid on it to make POWs. They claim they sank two Raptor patrol boats with a drone.

I also came across a torn page of Little Vlad's war diary.

"Day 66. The German Green party, with solid roots in pacifism and an anti-NATO history, today voted overwhelmingly to continue to arm Ukraine and invest heavily in re-arming the Bundeswehr. My commanding general set off the security gate because of a piece of metal he brought from Ukraine.

I remain a master of strategy unsurpassed."

All the best

Andreas

 

The UA has (re)coined a term for Russian attacks: Zerg Rush

It comes from an old video game (Star Craft) and is explained as follows:
In a Rush, you attack with lots of Tier 1 units to destroy the enemy early in the game. Investing in units early instead of strengthening the economy or technology can have negative effects if the rush fails.

Ukraine War fully summarised in two words - Chapeau!

 

Lawrence Freedman on Russia as a "diminished power" and the paths that the warring countries war may take... good article!
Escalators and Quagmires

 

Old enough to remember Zerg rushes.

Hated that game.

All the best

Andreas

 

I can't understand that at all: If you operated cleverly, neither Protoss nor Zerg were insurmountable opponents.... I really enjoyed playing it

And now for something completely different:
After various threats with nuclear weapons, the invention of completely nonsensical reasons for war and the denial of obvious war crimes, an increase in the insanity of Russian foreign policy could hardly be expected. Vladimir Putin's foreign minister, however, has now succeeded almost masterfully:

Sergei Lavrov on why Moscow is waging a "denazification war" against Ukraine and its Jewish president: "So what, Selenskyj is a Jew. That is irrelevant to the fact that there are Nazi elements in Ukraine." And: "I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood. Some of the worst anti-Semites were Jews."

If it was Lavrov's intention to really screw up relations with Tel Aviv: Mission accomplished

 

Today, the 68th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, confirmed Russian MBT losses have just reached the 600 mark.
After a long period with an average of 10 tanks lost daily, there has been a short surge during and right after the withdrawal from the Kiev region, but then recorded losses have slowed down to a daily average of 5 tanks.
Reasons for this decrease by half might include better spotting of double counts, less publicity about kills, and less actual kills because the nature of the fight has changed.
It remains that 600 represents between one third and one fourth of the total number of tanks initially engaged (1800 to 2400 depending on sources) in the Ukraine invasion by the RF.

 

It is mainly the last part of the remarks.
The terrain is dominated by wide open spaces that offer less opportunity for hit & run ambushes.
Hence the Ukrainian preference for artillery.
However, the loss of manpower is crucial for the current battles. It is hardly possible to sustain territorial gains with mechanised forces alone.
With the Donbas already fished dry, reinforcements from Siberia falling short of expectations and the Kadyrovites busy with the removal of their booty, this may become a critical factor for the RA.

 

Isn' t that equipment Claas green ? If you're in any way involved in politics, perhaps best not to Google it. Certainly not the 'Dominator' combine...NSFW apparently.

 

Also removing some of Ukraine's most efficient anti tank weapons (on the left), and pressing civilian trucks into military use (on the right, plus another in vP's post #988):

 

A curious American analyst's article on how Beijing, China views the conflict: Beijing’s Ukrainian Battle Lab - War on the Rocks

China was a major investor in the Ukraine, notably in oil exploration - spotted long ago and in the Black Sea / Sea of Azov. That appears not to have led China to urge restraint, although it has stood on the sidelines.

 

Military and Foreign Affairs Network

Defense Politics Asia

War in Ukraine

Armchair Warlord

 

Russian troops stole $5M worth of farm vehicles from a John Deere dealership, which remotely locked the thieves out of the equipment

 

On Twitter good footage of artillery fire on Ukr defensive position and discussion, with more photos. See: Rob Lee @RALee85 Back to trench warfare almost. Note the position is not clearly located, nor the date.

Frank Ledwidge's latest article opens with:

It is a short article, which ends with and with my bold:

Link: Ukraine: Nato and the US aim to destroy the Russian military – it looks as if they may have the means to do it

There is a far longer analysis (59 mins on YouTube) by Perun and the summary states:

Link (not viewed today and is from 22nd April:

 

Pretty interesting analysis by Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Zelensky (from Twitter)


https://twitter.com/mdmitri91

That might be the method in the current Russian madness or they might just be under orders to get a big victory before 9th May.

 

Self-explanatory article: Why False Flags are Normally False

 

Another Russian warship hit - Another Russian Warship Is Burning In The Black Sea (forbes.com)

 

Just breaks my heart.

 

Every time a journalist writes warship instead of battleship a dead fairy comes back to life.