Russian special military operation in Ukraine #23

ATLASCUB wrote:Or a third option, both the political and top brass military leadership of Russia is filled with way too many idiots (incompetents) and accidental traitors (to put it mildly). Including obviously apparatchik Putin - a shell of his 90s self.

But again, Russia is such a rich country.... you can get it wrong multiple times and still have more lives than a cat. Plenty of time for course correction and escalation.

walle83 wrote:Russia buys millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea

Russia is purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to re-energise its offensive in Ukraine, according to recently declassified US intelligence, as western sanctions begin to choke Moscow’s supply of weapons.

The Russian ministry of defence was “in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use on the battlefield in Ukraine”, a US official said, citing intelligence recently cleared for public dissemination.

“This purchase indicates that the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions,” the official added.

Moscow’s military dealings with North Korea come after recent disclosures that it is also relying on another pariah nation, Iran, to support its war in Ukraine. Russia received its first shipment of Iranian combat drones last week and was likely to receive more, US officials said.

Iran and North Korea are widely seen as relatively unreliable providers of military equipment. US officials said some of the drones purchased by Russia from Iran had experienced mechanical failures.

Those officials pointed to Russia’s decision to purchase weapons from the two countries as evidence that export controls and sanctions were significantly hindering Moscow’s ability to meet its weapons supply needs.

https://www.ft.com/content/f614c922-b8ec-4f2b-bf74-a5b22b3fecc5
https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-is-buying-artillery-ammunition-nkorea-report-2022-09-06/

ATLASCUB wrote:"Quantity has a quality of its own" - wise leader once said.

Effectiveness varies... see the Chinese in the Korean campaign or the Vietnamese but it does provide results. A huge front line with such limited force employment by the defense..... well... holes (weakness) will be found if probed enough. Now it's a game of whack-a-mole.... sometimes the moles have some success. It's foremost a stress test. The bigger questions still remain... why allow top regime leadership to live? why allow reinforcements to pour from Poland almost unimpeded? why continue to allow "provocations"/shelling on a nuclear power plant? why push for "talks"? why recognize the regime in 2014? why allow the coup to take place in the first place - aka what did you know, when did you know and what did you do about it?.... we're never gonna get the real answers to that and many more pertinent question....political career defining questions for "illustrious leaders".... you'll be lucky to get a false one.

The crystal ball users... aka Medvevev and Luka seem to agree on a military coup happening in Ukraine (more like old wishful thinking/goading/encouraging for a hero in shining armour to appear.....lets not pretend they know when they didn't see shit for the last 8 years and counting). The odds are at the same level as a broken clock being right twice a day. Signaling is cheap however so I can't fault for trying.

And Putin's public speaking dog is talking the dirty word (that is, detente). That word shouldn't exist in the Russian political lexicon after its disastrous result but somehow it still does...hard to say if it's wishful desperation - aka a signal, or simply the words of an idiot. Seems all the Kremlin boys and those connected are fine tuned to the crystal ball. Just wondering if they upgraded from the one they've had until yesterday.

Regular wrote:Or all of this could be just doomerism and nothing much is going on

PapaDragon wrote:
Any updates on number of dead Ukrainians?

PhSt wrote:any improvements in the Kharkov front? I don't know why NATO Nazis are allowed to claim victories, Russia needs to increase its firepower to impose more Pain on NATzO and Exterminate the Ukro Nazi simpletons

SeigSoloyvov wrote:

PhSt wrote:any improvements in the Kharkov front? I don't know why NATO Nazis are allowed to claim victories, Russia needs to increase its firepower to impose more Pain on NATzO and Exterminate the Ukro Nazi simpletons

Quite simple, Russia doesn't have enough troops deployed, Said this long long ago but the fanboys here defended the lack of troops.

Putin doesn't wanna mobilize.

Ukraine might have caused enough damage that the limited Russian forces there trying to hold that huge frontline simply do not have the manpower to hold against the horde coming their way, in one day Ukraine made some gains that threaten a russian grouping.

This from a military perspective should not have been allowed to occur, So with such lack of troops Ukraine will get a W here and there, no way to stop it.

caveat emptor wrote:There are, obviously, illogical things in the thinking of military and political structures.
First of all, i don't understand why Ukrainian SBU and GUR are still not declared terrorist organizations.
Their operatives and people that they hire should be treated as such.

Second thing is that the leadership is trying to behave like everything is normal. For example, tank biathlon was completely
unneeded and it was just a PR bullshit. More regular Russian soldiers are needed on the front, instead of LDPR reservists.
Parts of the front which Ukrainians always attack first are manned by republics reservists. Happened first in Kherson and then now in
Balakleya. Also, defensive lines are understaffed with infantry. That is still a problem.

I don't even want to mention still standing bridges and other operating infrastructure that is used by Ukrainian military, throughout the country.

flamming_python wrote:
Wouldn't judge so quickly
Salo is first of all, the national dish, secondly - a delicacy, and thirdly - a high-calorie compact meal that will keep you going
When I served we had a guy in my squad from Kursk oblast, with the obligatory Ukro accent as in Kursk they talk more or less with the Ukro pronunciation as well; despite the fact they're largely Russians. He was always boasting about the salo from back home. And every time he received a package from there it was celebrations for us in the psychological relaxation room with a feast of salo, raw smoked kolbasa, bird's milk and other chocolaty treats.

caveat emptor wrote:There are, obviously, illogical things in the thinking of military and political structures.
First of all, i don't understand why Ukrainian SBU and GUR are still not declared terrorist organizations.
Their operatives and people that they hire should be treated as such.

Second thing is that the leadership is trying to behave like everything is normal. For example, tank biathlon was completely
unneeded and it was just a PR bullshit. More regular Russian soldiers are needed on the front, instead of LDPR reservists.
Parts of the front which Ukrainians always attack first are manned by republics reservists. Happened first in Kherson and then now in
Balakleya. Also, defensive lines are understaffed with infantry. That is still a problem.

I don't even want to mention still standing bridges and other operating infrastructure that is used by Ukrainian military, throughout the country.

Backman wrote:According to some , Russian spies are so infiltrated through the ranks of the SBU ect that they can't just take them out. Yet.

And there is evidence to support this. The accuracy of Russian intel on arms movements.

Russia still just wants to fight this war on the cheap probably for economic reasons. But i think that excuse is long over. The economy is fine.

Some say that Russia does not want to expose it's real military to Nato. Because then NATO would train to counter it better. And they supposedly have to save the real military for in case nato jumps in. NATO has jumped in , in a proxy way so i don't get that line of thinking.

flamming_python wrote:
So North Korea has a self-sufficient ammunition industry but Russia doesn't?

Regular wrote:Iranian drones, North Korean shells, Syrian volunteers… whats next? Chinese robots?

ucmvulcan wrote:[
In Ukraine, if there is a regime change and the nationalists and nazis are gone and the public loses its heart for war, they may very well end up deciding that neutrality and demilitarization is in their best interest.  This SMO is not just a battle at the front, its one of public opinion (people have to see that by fighting America's proxy wars they get to go hungry and freeze in the winter), its one of information (CNN and BBC are able to continue to lie and distort but even in America people are beginning to question this thing), its one of economics as well.  The longer it goes and the more Ukraine's most fanatical hang themselves on their own petards as do their allies the stronger Russia's position is.

How many troops do you need?

Firebird wrote:August and before was a slow affair. Banderascum troops dug into fortifications.
What Russia wanted was for those vermin to show their heads and come out in the open.
And now they are doing that.
What would Russia want to do? Beckon the filth out... and kill them.
And all the propaganda of "Ukrainian successes" beckons the garbage out even more.
And means more Bandera deaths.

I wouldn't panic at some British/American/Banderastani news sources or some 5th columnist cretin. Hohol troops out in the open means Hohol deaths.
Russia amassed aviation and much more before this. I don't see the point in attacking leaders whilst this is going on.

My suspicion is that things ARE going according to plan. Yes in a war there tragically ARE deaths of decent people. But I suspect the more Bandera-filth storm forward, the better it will be for Russia in overall terms.

And I also think its high time Russia took the proxy war to the puppet masters. With 780 foreign bases (often despised by the locals) America is a sitting duck. THat would gather their minds a bit.

limb wrote:

Firebird wrote:August and before was a slow affair. Banderascum troops dug into fortifications.
What Russia wanted was for those vermin to show their heads and come out in the open.
And now they are doing that.
What would Russia want to do? Beckon the filth out... and kill them.
And all the propaganda of "Ukrainian successes" beckons the garbage out even more.
And means more Bandera deaths.

I wouldn't panic at some British/American/Banderastani news sources or some 5th columnist cretin. Hohol troops out in the open means Hohol deaths.
Russia amassed aviation and much more before this. I don't see the point in attacking leaders whilst this is going on.

My suspicion is that things ARE going according to plan. Yes in a war there tragically ARE deaths of decent people. But I suspect the more Bandera-filth storm forward, the better it will be for Russia in overall terms.

And I also think its high time Russia took the proxy war to the puppet masters. With 780 foreign bases (often despised by the locals) America is a sitting duck. THat would gather their minds a bit.

If the ukrainians capture balakleya or even izyum, do you believe the russians can drive them out?