Russian special military operation in Ukraine #11

mavaff wrote:

ALAMO wrote:An interesting story from the ground.

Having friends who are Ukrainians, and whose families live on both sides of the border, I can give you some first eye observations.

Well, to begin with ... all the "Russian propaganda" is actually true.
The first wave of refugees that passed through the Polish border in Bieszczady used to be visible wealthy people. Caravans of Lexus, BMW, Mercedes and Bentleys passed the Krościenko border

I can say something here.

In my neighbourhood a few weeks ago some Ukr refugees arrived, big Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus, they seem wealthy. I can see them from my window, they just spent their day doing nothing in the garden, they are hosted by an Italian family (actually I saw the very moment of their arrival, they were very warmly welcomed, maybe they are relatives, siblings, I do not know...but for sure not really unknown to the host family).

Where my sister lives (big city in Northern Italy) also they have got some refugees, again they came with high-end cars, not really cheap skodas or zavas.

You sometimes have to pay to get out of Ukraine, so it should be no surprise that some have high end vehicles.

The poor leave by trains, while the rich leave by high end vehicles.

Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.

Russian artillery units hit 6 strong points of units of 24th Ukrainian Separate Mechanized Brigade near Popasnaya, Lugansk Region. As a result of strikes, more than 120 military personnel of the formation, 11 armoured vehicles and 14 vehicles of various purposes were destroyed.

Operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 38 military assets of Ukraine. Among them: 1 ammunition depot in Toshkivka, Lugansk Region, as well as 8 areas of concentration of Ukrainian weapons and military equipment in Glazunovka, Pyatigorskoe and Prishib, Kharkov Region.

Russian Air Defence means shot down 2 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the air over Ochakov and Nikolaev.

In total, 130 aircfaft and 99 helicopters, 244 anti-aircraft missile systems S-300, Buk-M1, Osa AKM, 445 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,153 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 241 multiple launch rocket systems, 924 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,063 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed during the operation.

kvs wrote:The Flight Global numbers mean jack shit.   Take the Bayraktar drones for example.   The official numbers were grossly understated.
Ukraine has been getting all sorts of former Warsaw Pact equipment since 2014.   These transfers were not public.  

I took from a few sites, although drones are one thing aircraft different ball game. And Turkey has been supplying TB2 throughout the war.

According to the IISS 2022 World Military Balance the Ukrainian Armed Forces had the following aircraft:

36 Mig-29
34 Su-27
23 Su-24
31 Su-25
31 L-39 trainers
34 various transport aircraft
35 Mil-24
69 various transport helicopters mostly Mil-8
9 naval helicopters

SAM:
250 S-300 PS/PT/V
72 BUK M-1
~75 SA-13's and SA-8b's

Dr.Snufflebug wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

Regular wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

Regular wrote:Strategic bombers were used in both Chechen wars, I don't see why not to use them now?

And hit what exactly?

Enemy concentrations, fortifications. Much cheaper than cruise missile strikes. Tactical level targets too. Or you are saying that there are only targets of opportunity now?

I'm saying it isn't much cheaper and more likely to kill civilian population. Otherwise, they are dropping munitions from planes as is.

Sometimes I wonder if they're just holding back for image reasons.

Multiple western officials have accused Russia of "bombing indiscriminately" etc, when in fact they have hardly done any bombing at all, and as for their strikes in general, nothing has been "indiscriminate"..

Russia seems to be determined to prove them wrong, but it doesn't really matter except morally, and if karma exists. Westerners will believe the BS fed to them about this even 10-15 years from now, and any objective assessments will fall on deaf ears, so in practice won't matter either.

The South Ossetian conflict really showed this. Media and politicians to this day bring it up, using a form of rhetoric that  can only mean that they're either lying or that they are completely unaware of why it went down and how it went down (in which case they shouldn't open their mouths at all).

Deliberate, bald-faced lies make up most of it. It's frightening, really.

The big fortified concentration of the Ukrainian forces directly to the west of Donbas should be carpet bombed.

Could be that there are Ukrainian sympathizers within the Russian armed forces, who do not want the Ukrainian combatants hurt "too much"? So-called "Russians" who have at least one/two/three/four ethnic Ukrainian grandparent(s).


Carpet bombing was used to great effect by the U.S. Air Force in its earliest stages of the war against the Taliban in 2001, and the Taliban at that time was a relatively conventional force, since as of September of 2001 it controlled around 90% or even 95% of Afghanistan and it had an arsenal of heavy weapons (like tanks and even combat jets) at its disposal. Only later it switched to partisan warfare.


About the Ukrainian involvement in South Ossetia:

http://asaland.proboards.com/thread/302/ukraine-participated-invasion-south-ossetia



Apparently recently there was a railway bridge blown up near Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine.

Does anyone know any details about it?

Ukrainian diversionists infiltrated from across the border and/or "local" ethnic Ukrainians?


To "Franco":

The Ukrainian Navy had also at least a few planes, as part of its naval aviation component, albeit I do not know if they are included in your list or not.

Odin of Ossetia wrote:


Apparently recently there was a railway bridge blown up near Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine.

Does anyone know any details about it?

Ukrainian diversionists infiltrated from across the border and/or "local" ethnic Ukrainians?

Photo of it in previous page.

Slavyangrad@NuestraIraSLG

#MARIUPOL Breakout Attempt (details, as reported by @wargonzoo)

1—Attempt came from #Ilyich Factory. At the time of the breakout, there were approx. 1.5k #Ukraine|ian military & #Azov fighters.
2—Out of the 1.5k, 800 were supposed to clear the path; the rest were to follow.
3—The breakout convoy was comprised of about 120 military, armoured, and civilian vehicles. It was headed up by a tank, 2 2S1 #Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, 10 IFVs, as well as a MT-LB, armoured personnel carriers, and other transport.
4—Over 100 #Ukrainian naval infantry, including deputy commander of the 36th Brigade naval infantry surrendered and were taken #POW.
5—Over 1/2 of the breakout group retreated back to the #Ilyich Factory. Several dozen killed by #DNR artillery.
6—Up to 10 groups of 3-4 men were scattered and tried to slip through the encirclement. The mop-up operation to find them continues.
7—The reports of a 2nd smaller breakout attempt resulted from #6. These scattered groups are pursued by #Spetsnaz.
8—#Spetsnaz and soldiers at checkpoint are engaging the scattered groups. As a result, filtration procedures on the #Volnovakha-#Mariupol highway have been intensified.

Odin of Ossetia wrote:
To "Franco":

The Ukrainian Navy had also at least a few planes, as part of its naval aviation component, albeit I do not know if they are included in your list or not.

Yes, 9 helicopters and 2 transports for the Navy plus the 35 Mil-24 and 23 Mil-8's assigned to the Army.

Geo_monitor @colonelhomsi

The Nazi drowning operation is said to begin today in Mariupol.. At least ten fire engines to be either on the road or already at the factory to start pumping water from the river or sea and pumping water to above-ground ventilation shafts that carry fresh air to the cavernous network of tunnels below the Azovstal metallurgical complex..

Does anyone know how to differentiate Soviet / Russian tanks?
The truth is that the T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90 are quite similar.

We need to free this guy

Eugenio Argentina wrote:Does anyone know how to differentiate Soviet / Russian tanks?
The truth is that the T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90 are quite similar.

Not sure if trolling or serious but for others that may not have much interest in main battle tanks and might be struggeling at the moment:

Quick ID guide

I would not bother with reading the information at the link above, but the pictures should give you a good idea and get you up to speed quickly (sort of).  

It also never hurts to read a book once in a while.

JohninMK wrote:

Odin of Ossetia wrote:


Apparently recently there was a railway bridge blown up near Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine.

Does anyone know any details about it?

Ukrainian diversionists infiltrated from across the border and/or "local" ethnic Ukrainians?

Photo of it in previous page.

Looks like the bridge itself was not destroyed, but a portion of the railway tracks on the bridge were?

What I can see from photographs is not very clear.


Russia should dispatch additional reinforcements of the Railway Police (or are they called as the Railway Troops?), to the Belgorod area.

They have thousands of them in Russia.

A few points the Russian President made

https://thesaker.is/sitrep-operation-z-8/
With links to a few nice videos

Eugenio Argentina wrote:Does anyone know how to differentiate Soviet / Russian tanks?
The truth is that the T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90 are quite similar.

There are a great many variants and sub variants but the easiest way to recognize what you're looking is the following >>

T-64 has very distinct road wheels


T-72 (and T-90) exhaust on the rear left


T-80 turbine engine exhaust (mostly) at the rear


T-90 (basic version)

I apologize for deviating from the topic again, but I have new news from Serbia, which I do not like. The two most respected newspaper editions in Serbia (Политика and Вечерње Новости) announced today that Serbia is interested in buying 12 used Eurofighter planes from Great Britain.

0nillie0 wrote:

Eugenio Argentina wrote:Does anyone know how to differentiate Soviet / Russian tanks?
The truth is that the T-64, T-72, T-80, T-90 are quite similar.

Not sure if trolling or serious but for others that may not have much interest in main battle tanks and might be struggeling at the moment:

Quick ID guide

I would not bother with reading the information at the link above, but the pictures should give you a good idea and get you up to speed quickly (sort of).  

It also never hurts to read a book once in a while.

I ask seriously, because sometimes they show you a tank from the front and you can't see what model it is. Unless they specifically say so. And the publication is trustworthy.

On paper I have some Osprey books, War Machines, the balances of Soviet Military Power, and a few other books on Soviet weaponry. But it's all from the 80s. From the 90s only from Osprey and the only one about the T-72.
So there is nothing to compare with.

In general my forte is airplanes, ICBMs and ships.
In that order.

But thanks for the link.
I will check it.

Odin of Ossetia wrote:

JohninMK wrote:

Odin of Ossetia wrote:


Apparently recently there was a railway bridge blown up near Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine.

Does anyone know any details about it?

Ukrainian diversionists infiltrated from across the border and/or "local" ethnic Ukrainians?

Photo of it in previous page.

Looks like the bridge itself was not destroyed, but a portion of the railway tracks on the bridge were?

What I can see from photographs is not very clear.


Russia should dispatch additional reinforcements of the Railway Police (or are they called as the Railway Troops?), to the Belgorod area.

They have thousands of them in Russia.

In that attack they only bent some rails of the tracks.
Some in the networks are making this a super successful sabotage on the part of the Ukrainians.