The British Ministry of Defence have advised that Russia is now attempting to limit their losses by flying at night.
The Ministry of Defence tweeted:
Latest Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/1Ynzlps2dY
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 1, 2022
What’s the latest?
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Gomel, Belarus, ended without a breakthrough.
The current state of the Russian advance into #Ukraine, it appears to be slowing. pic.twitter.com/e1jokl6zkk
— George Allison (@geoallison) March 1, 2022
Russia increased strikes on Ukrainian airfields and logistics centers, particularly in the west, in an apparent attempt to ground the Ukrainian air force and disrupt resupply from nations to the west. In the north, ISW called the decision to use heavy artillery in Kharkiv “a dangerous inflection.”
Additional Russian forces and logistics columns in southern Belarus appeared to be maneuvering to support a Kyiv assault. An analyst with the Royal United Services Institute stated that the Ukrainian regular army is no longer functioning in formations but in largely fixed defenses, and was increasingly integrated with Territorial Defense Forces and armed volunteers.
Today
More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed during Russian shelling of a military base in Okhtyrka, according to Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy Oblast. A Russian missile later hit the regional administration building on Freedom Square during a bombardment of Kharkiv, killing 10 people and injuring another 20.
In southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson was reported to be under attack by Russian forces.
The Ukrainian government announced it would sell war bonds to pay its armed forces.
Are the UAF still actually flying from bases in Ukraine?
It is unclear what the position is with the Ukraine airforce.
This war is not going as anyone expected, but equally we are yet to really see any heavy Russian gear involved. If large numbers of MBT / APC got destroyed it would be all over the news, but all i have seen is a single tank and a few light APCs.
Really odd so far.
There a lot of tanks destroyed but fraction of Russia stock. More strange is where are the several hundred top end fighters they have? Unless he is hiding something
I haven’t seen any evidence of that though. The media has a bad habit of calling anything with armour a tank. I have been looking at the pictures and so far only seen one of a burning tank. Considering there are battlefield journalists embedded, i would have expected to see lots of pictures of them, espeically considering tanks don’t normally operate in solos.
Same with the airforce, Russia has thousands of front line planes, really odd that they havent’ managed to dominate the skies, by sheer numbers alone.
I’m wondering if Russia are trying to avoid too much damage to the cities and that is why they haven’t really used their full strength. Although if the lighter approach fails, I’m sure that won’t last.
I doubt that is the case given that they are using rocket salvos on urban populations…
More likely is that either they are worried about sending tanks in (they tend to be sitting ducks in a large city when the enemy has anti-tank weapons) or they got bogged down outside the cities in both battles with Ukrainian forces or running low on supplies and fuel due to logistics issues.
Maybe for all Russia’s vaulted high performance jets very few are actually airworthy ( lack of spare parts, lack of fuel, lack of pilots willing to fight, lack of precision munitions) and hence not flying over Ukraine. If Putin is holding back that doesnt make any sense as to go into another country half-hearted will only result in casualties and eventual embarrasing defeat.
May I introduce you to Oryx, a guy with a very specific set of skills: namely, to be able to sit in front of a computer for very long periods of time and trawl through open source media to catalogue military losses as accurately as possible. You’ll notice that the Ukrainian forces seem to be concentrating on hitting the logistics rather than the armour specifically- which may account for Russia’s painfully slow progress. They’ve hit 3 times as many supply trucks as they have tanks, for example. I know that logistics vehicles make for easier targets too, and I’m sure… Read more »
Let’s hope their efforts work. Would me a major game changer to how countries see defense if it does.
Agree Steve may end up being a strategic and tactical masterclass.
Thanks
a few days a go a couple of hundred russian vehicles had been destroyed – presumably includes tanks, APCs, trucks etc, nearly 30 FW aircraft and nearly 30 helicopters. As usual, nothing is substantiated. But this is just with skirmishes
Just feels like a very low number considering the tens of thousands that were lined up at the border a week or so ago.
If Russia is not holding back, their global power has been seriously found wanting.
Steve, go to r/combatfootage, there are a ton of destroyed and captured Russian vehicles on there. Russia have lost far more than a single tank. I must have seen about at least 20 including the newer T90’s getting destroyed
Russia has less than 900 top line fighters that are less than 16 years old. Ukraine’s newest fighter is 12 years old. The UAF has gone to ground, or to a third country.
I am wondering where many of the shoulder launched ordinance is on the UA side. They have been given circa 10k anti-armour and around 500+ anti-air (Stingers) in the last few months. That should have at least seen some results in Russian rotary wing casualties.
Check out Instagram ukraine_defence…
Numerous equipment destroyed. Interviews with pow’s etc
They were practicing dispersal tactics using motorways and so on (advised by the Swedes) before the war began. Might explain how they avoided destruction on day 1.
Surely there must be somebody in Russia who could take this deviant lunatic Putin out. He should be tried for war crimes.
I honestly think if Putin tried to order a nuclear strike on either Ukraine or NATO one of the following would happen to him:
Perhaps all three: he catches Covid and in his delirium fell down the stairs onto some bullets!
I’d agree with that. Looking at his defence ministers face when Putin was talking about putting the nuclear forces on stand-by he didn’t seem too impressed.
Ain’t that the truth, ashen faced doesn’t come close. I thought he looked absolutely sick…
It actually gave me a glimmer of hope that all his top brass aren’t deranged hard line nationalists like little big man Putin…
Hopefully his inner circle would deal with him before it went too far!
You never can tell with Russia. Has putin really been keeping everyone 50feet away as seen in every meeting for past few years. Or is it just stages to look like that.
If it’s true and he’s kept himself away from everyone maybe he can be toppled from the inside. But the look of fear some have while dealing with him speaks volumes. Unless this is also all a big act. So hard to know what’s true and what’s staged with putin
Can’t remember where I read it but, there are rumor’s of a cell within the FSB working against the Russian government. This could go some way to explaining some of the issues they’re having on the ground if orders are being purposefully put out incorrectly.
The OSS (forerunner to CIA) wrote a 1,000 page analysis of Hitler’s state of mind, initial work being done in 1938-1940.
Have the Americans, or us, done similar work on Putin some years ago. if not, they should have done!
Those assessments are done on every person with influence or of command position. They get updated every six months or so, especially when dealing with HUMIT during events.
You have very priviledged information. How then did no-one see that Putin had the mind-set to launch a full invasion of Ukraine (not just a limited operation in Donbass).
I was watching a video about the surprising lack of success of the Russian forces- particularly after the much publicised moves to reform after Georgia in 2008. Apparently, the previous defence minister went in guns blazing, really shaking up the old crony system, putting arms companies on their toes, etc. etc. Obviously made very few friends. He got replaced in 2012 by this current guy, who is apparently the only senior officer/minister to have served in every government since the cold war ended- he’s a political animal rather than one who feels duty-bound to actually fulfil his role. All the… Read more »
Have you seen the videos of Putin sitting at a very long table with his chiefs all crowded at the other end? If it is a Covid thing then it shows just how much disinterest Putin has in the health of his subordinates. If it is not a health thing then perhaps we can speculate on why everyone is kept a good distance away.
Yes, a typical paranoid, worried his own subordinates might get to him.
Actually DM, I’m wondering if the Russian Military leadership are up for this. I cant see Russian parents supporting their 19 year old sons being killed for this.
Very left field, but I wonder if a coup d’etat might be on the cards as the body bags fill up.
My thoughts exactly Klonk. There are professionals in the Russki mil and if enough of them get together there may be changes mate.
Fingers crossed Mate!
It’s literally the only way to get rid of Putin without starting WW3
They supported him during the war in Chechnya.
You are off course correct Dan. Just can help feeling this is a very different scenario though.
and the attacks in Georgia – until Bush got involved, and the annexation of Crimea.
They believe Ukraine is theirs , there are lots of ethnic Russians in the south east – why wouldnt they belive that, easy to manipulate.
How much they are prepared to lose to get it back physically and economically is another matter.
However the man on the street won’t have a say in that though.
Its interesting that Rusdian conscripts are entering a war zone and not being told. Then surprised the Ukranians are resisting, standing in front of their tanks, willing to die for their freedom and democracy and calling the Russians fascists.
Rusdian army is i guess not comfortable fighting an unjustified, unpopular war of conquest.
My hope too.
There are already a number of reports of young Russian troops who have been captured and are being looked after by Ukraine forces. They are even given phones, so that they can contact their families. The reports say that they feel let down and abandoned by their own side. What the truth is about this, we may never know, but at face value it looks genuine.
Thanks Chuck
He is said to be paranoid about COVID and is still not vaccinated. That the reason for the tables. Xi is much the same. Very dangerous world we now live in.
Well Xi would know wouldn’t he….
Some commentators have looked at the shape of his face and said he could be on steroids, which explains his aggressiveness and why he keeps people well away. Steroids supposedly make you more susceptible to Covid.
Wrong. Steroids if adrenacortico steroids can make you more prone to irrational behaviour and steroid “rage”.
If you contract covid and become clinically unwell then steroids are useful to prevent secondary inflammatory changes in the lungs and lung lining that cause death and long term disability.
If he is on steroids now. Without being ill then yes could be suffering from steroid rage. Or he is just a psychopathic megalomaniac ex KGB assassin with a chipthe size of his country on his shoulder.
There is plenty of evidence out there that anabolic steroids can increase the risk of severe disease with Covid.
Anyway doesn’t matter, what we can agree on is that the guy is a nut job that’s needs stopping once and for all.
I have noticed, that the last 2 times I have seen him walk into a room on the news. He swings his left arm but his right arm hangs down his side and doesn’t move. I think it is possible he has had sone kind of cerebral event. Check it out next time you see him walking, see what you think..
interesting I’ll look out for that. There were rumours about Parkinsons last year too. Definitely something going on.
Just like Hitler.
Putin in apparently extremely paranoid about catching Corvid, he’s virtually isolated himself for most of the pandemic. It’s not helped his mental stability.
Sounds like what Biden did during the pandemic. lol
Biden didn’t spend it planning to invade a democracy and kill countless people in the process.
Paranoid about a virus that can kill you
V
‘Just drink some detergent !
Get over it Dan….your man lost fair and square to the lesser problem of two bad choices.
PS the pandemic isn’t over. @1000 still dying in the US every day.
Falls from his balcony, seems to be the most common cause of death in Russia
I thought ice pick ‘accidents’ we’re common.
Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?
Ask the Stranglers
or maybe forgetting to wipe the door handle properly… dangerous place Russia. Many health & safety issues…😂
My choice would be a very= special cup of tea. 😁
…or some nice perfume from Salisbury?
A yes sir, the Salisbury blend. It is one of the best sellers in our hit Collectione Di Kremlin. It is blended for us by our specialist perfumer Vlad The Mad: in fact we think that it has affected him a bit like mercury to the hatters. But I digress. When the Novichok came out it was criticised for its oily nature and being so hard to wash off. Some even said it had no smell. That was really unfair: it was unique. Since then Vlad has perfected the blend and make it the choice of despots the world over.… Read more »
A little gem 😂
You have to read it in David Jason’s voice, who used to do Weekending to get the full effect.
Brilliant. Well done. Enjoyed that.
Or an umbrella with a hidden spike in it???
I like your guys thinking 😀
Twinings Russian Caravan – laced.🤔
Now with added Chernobyl. 😁
From what I’ve read the Russia strategic nuclear forces don’t have all the safeguards that the American one has so it seems that it would be easier for a crazy man like Putin to launch at least a limited strike. Also Putin has installed over the decades many of his personal friends in high ranking positions in the military that are loyal to him. It’s anyone’s guess if they would obey him or not if he ordered a nuke strike.
Well thankfully that Colonel in the Soviet rocket forces back in ‘86 disobeyed a standing order to launch upon detection of an American launch.
You would hope so Steve but guys like Putin like to surround themselves with ‘yes men’. Look at Trump, how many advisors etc did he get through and he only had 4 years as the King of America. Putin has had over 20 as the King of Russia…..
You just have to hope that there are some ‘high heidyins’ that have a backbone to be able to say ‘no-ski’ to him.
Rampant TDS (Sigh) All US Presidents appoint their own team. It’s a republic and none of them are serving politicians, (though a few are retired i.e. Clinton and Biden appointed under Obama) they are political supporters (fully like-minded) and financial backers.
Massively missing the point Derek. The point being they surround themselves with people who will do what they’re told and when these people don’t they’re quickly replaced relying on peoples personal ambition to keep them in line.
Oh and what’s “TDS”, genuine question.
Best outcome, otherwise this wil be long guerilla like conflict vs an occupying force and i don’t see Putin pulling out in the next decade
People in power rarely take risk with their personal safety. How many German generals claimed to have tried an killed hitler, over 250 “failed attempts”.
He’s ready for that, no one is allowed within 100 feet of him apparently
I keep thinking how much we could do with just a single squadron of 8 or so F-35s; fly them covertly on sorties to shoot down Russian aircraft, maybe bomb some of the armoured convoys approaching Kyiv.
I know, I know, if caught it would mean NATO and Russia going to war. Just makes my blood boil even more as Russia starts indiscriminate bombing and shelling.
If I were a single man I’d be sorely tempted to hop on over to the Ukrainian Embassy and volunteer.
Would u be flying them
I feel the same. Utter rage seeing what these animals are doing. I have kids and couldn’t bring myself to leave them, if I didn’t though all bets would be off.
Cool your jets guys. Whilst what is going on in Ukraine is horrendous, the UK media is whipping up this ‘rage’ so to speak. Best to keep cool heads. A lot of people, myself included, have large gaps on their knowledge around Ukraine, it’s politics and general way of life. I’ve had a think and I believe that the media are whipping people up so that when the effects of sanctions on Russia bounce back and adversely affect the UK population, people will be less inclined to care, or more inclined to think it’s ‘worth it’. In no way am… Read more »
It’s just hideous… and the more I see brave unarmed civilians of Ukraine blocking roads, confronting armed troops; the more angry I get at the injustice of it all.
The Ukrainian people are really showing the world their fortitude and how much they value their right to self determination.
From Day 1 i have thought how effective the F35B could be equipped with Meteor Patrolling Romanian or Polish Airspace – don’t forget the Russians know all about ‘Plausible Deniability’ from 2014.
Send in the drones, unmarked, plausible deniability.
“If I were a single man I’d be sorely tempted to hop on over to the Ukrainian Embassy and volunteer.”
Have a word with your missus mate, if she’s anything like mine she might be fine with it. 😉
My kid is 29 so I couldn’t use that excuse, I’ve had to get a note from my mum so I can justify not going across to ‘do my bit’. 😂
Are Ukrainian aircraft still flying? Do they have any ground attack aircraft they can use against that convoy? There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of any information on the air war?????
I’d guess with a convoy as large as this one there is a decent amount of air defence assets included in it?
I was hoping to see at least some sort of aerial attack on it from Ukraine but nothing so far.
If I was Ukrainian, I’d be waiting for the convoy to pass through the forest of the Zalissia National Park and then let them have it with the NLAW, Javlins & artillery.
I think the Ukrainian Turkish BAYRAKTAR TB2 Drones are doing pretty effective strikes against these Russian Convoys. Looks like they can move up and down the convoy at will and take their pick of targets. Talk of 40 mile long convoys on the BBC make me smile… they are are in single file; they dare not move off the surfaced road for fear of the mud; The Ukrainian’s know where to find them and they have these things flying up and down picking them off in the dark. Must be pretty terrifying and anyone who’s been stuck in a 40… Read more »
Effective but very, very limited. Especially when u consider the number of tanks, APCs, mobile rocket launchers, ect Russia is throwing at Ukraine. They need something that carries a lot more weapons to be effective at stopping that giant convoy. The only thing capable of that is manned attack fighters and hvy bombers.
Agreed in principle, but I’ve got an inkling the Ukrainian lads know their business well enough. We shall see – Drones (4 missiles each?) pick-off the mobile SAM launchers first – high value, dangerous and difficult to replace (get 2 with one shot – job’s a good ‘un). Then the logistics – a slow moving convoy consumes a lot of fuel. Then move in the NLAW teams in at night-time when they’re all catching some shut eye. And start taking out the heavy stuff. The impact on morale with vehicles just exploding around you on these inexperienced young guys must… Read more »
You are correct, however there is another aspect to this. Most of the Russian forces do not appear to really know what on earth is going on. The majority are conscripts and young and were told they are on a training exercise and suddenly find themselves under attack from a country where many of them have family ties! Some seem to be running out of food too. Small but constant drone strikes could push some of these over the edge. There have already been reports of small numbers of surrenders.
They are, yes. They seem to be using their aircraft quite sparingly, same as their tanks etc. My guess is that Ukrainian top brass know that if they just throw their planes and tanks at Russia they’ll be wiped out, so they’ve dispersed them and are using them when they know it will make a difference. Russia’s invasion is laughable really. If NATO invaded Ukraine we would wipe out their air force within 48 hours and then launch a precision bombing campaign for weeks to soften their military up. I guess the “precision” part of that is too much an… Read more »
I remember the original Iraq war and the allies had over a million troops deployed and it still took time, and that was with big deserts to deploy across. Still too early to write off Russia, but I do agree it doesn’t look like a super power Vs a mino that you would expect.
Let’s hope they get some additional Mig 29s from Poland etc…. As for that convoy, its moving slowly, but still moving…..I think the world is hoping and praying the Ukrainians will somehow burn it…..pity the US can’t supply them with A10s…
Where would they take off from? Poland? Probably be seen as a NATO attack by the Kremlin.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/us-considers-sending-f-16s-to-poland-if-warsaw-gives-its-mig-29-to-ukraine/
Apparently the Russians have advised that they will attack the 72nd CIPSO (Pysops & Cyber Warfare) centre in Brovary shortly…warning civilians to keep well clear…jolly decent of them I thought. The woman ‘casualty’ with the head bandage that appeared on front pages all round the world has just been exposed as an operative of this unit.
Nope.
They’ve never been concerned about collateral damage, but that means they’re not as good at precision munitions as the west.
Not a fan of Putin or Russia, but I don’t think the Russian Campaign has been “laughable”. Its had its problems: probably western intelligence giving the Ukrainians a heads up thereby allowing them to stop initial Russian lightning commando attacks designed to decapitate the government; the RuAF inability to get Air Superiority over the Ukraine is another surprising thing – again I suspect Western Intelligence is helping there too. I do think the Russians have been trying to minimize civilian casualties (so far anyway) as if they had really opened up on civilian areas with their heavy artillery the world… Read more »
Russia has used negligible air power so far he has 150 4.5gen multi role that can use precision weapons. Yes the pilots get less stick time but they ain’t fighting nato so where are they? Few cruise missles no heavy bombers. Maybe he saving them for nato incase or maybe Syria used all stocks?
That’s an interesting question. Apparently they had over 330 fighters in theatre prior to the attack, but so far have used only around 80 of them. They could be holding them in reserve just incase NATO interferes. That’s a risky strategy though.
Yes the UAF are still Flying,obviously as the days go by their Sortie rate will reduce.They have Mig 29,SU24 + SU25 Fighters, Bayraktar TB2 Drones and Mil24 Helicopters that can perform Ground Attack.
if this video is for real, then it looks like a fair few of their MIg-29s were taken out a couple of days ago.
https://twitter.com/danda_kala/status/1497881437894168576
Hi Douglas,
I’m not convinced that is for real as I doubt the Ukrainians would have serveable Mig-29s partked in such a manner. More likely they were unserveable – just my guess…
Cheers CR
Those were my thoughts as well, they had a number of non flying MIG 29’s before the start of the conflict; I’m sure the Ukrainians would have dispersed combat ready craft from the outset
My guess too. To not have your fighters in any HAS when you have had a hostile nation building up on your borders for the past few months appears a touch careless. One would assume they had a war warning and moved them in time.
Old footage, Indian link and thread.
so where do you think its from – the MiG 29s look like they have the same pattern of camo as the Ukranians. The locale looks similar to what Ukraine looks like at the moment.
Could be from 2014, don’t know but links on the internet involving India generally isn’t correct at best, sad make believe at worst!
As someone who is uneducated in these matters, just from looking at their forces on paper, I don’t understand how Russia doesn’t have air superiority by now. Their airforce is way bigger, and more modern.
I can understand why things aren’t going their way on the ground, but I am surprised they haven’t taken out all of the Ukraines airforce by now.
I can only imagine how badly Russian forces would do if they ever went up against a better equipped/trained country.
Hello Jack, Most of the Ukraine infrastructure was built in the Soviet days the main roads were build to be used as alternative runways with overhead flyovers used to shelter the aircraft, but the fact that it was built and designed by the soviets means that Mr Putin will be aware of them but I would think that there is quite a number of them and as the Ukraine is a big place then it would be hard to put then all out of order. It is a shame we could not Lend/lease some A10’s as I’m pretty convinced that… Read more »
Just a single squadron of A-10s, Harriers or Apaches would clean up.
It’d be like watching sharks going after a colony of baby seals!
Yeap, that convoy is a sitting duck. Most of those trucks are stuffed with ammunition too. If not air attack then a couple of Batteries of GMLRS.
Let’s hope it stays that way and can get completely strafed or at least blocked, bombed up the front, back, middle. What a target…one big long duck shoot. Hope the 🇺🇦 can knock it out irvrough it up begire it gets any closer.
Except that the Russian Flankers would get the A10s, Harriers and Apaches.
I’d guess our supply lines in Iraq would have looked inviting to Russian Hind and Su-25 pilots. If they ignored the F15 and F16s flying top cover for us.
Except that the Russian Flankers would be facing F22 and F35?
And the nukes would be flying soon, so that’s why it ain’t gonna happen.
The only reason the Russkies are parking the damn things like that is because they know they don’t face a credible air threat.
I totally agree DN
Air threat or not tactically speaking that convoy is a joke!
Anybody with a Molotov cocktail could take out one truck and the chain reaction would go from there. They are in an occupied country where the threat could come from anywhere!
But where are all the Russian top end planes no where if they can’t swat what’s left of Ukraine airforce they being held back or we are missing something
That’s a good question. it does seem odd. :o)
I do wonder if that convoy has been left as a tempting target to draw the UkAF out and Russkies are waiting to strike
You are sounding Russian stroll with every post .
LOL Dude are you such a sheep that anyone questioning the Western media’s spin on the news, must be a Russian troll. Please .. tell me where I have shown any support for Putin or where i am “trolling” everyone.
Its emerging that Russian missiles are even less accurate than thought. Zhytomyr airbase before the war and five days later. Barely any strikes and none near important infrastructure or parked aircraft.
Before the war
https://twitter.com/Cen4infoRes/status/1498363094703259649/photo/1
After
https://twitter.com/Cen4infoRes/status/1498363094703259649/photo/2
(The two smudges in the top left are cloud shadows)
Hi Jack Defence analysts like Justin Bronk (RUSI) report that the Russian Air Force (VKS) has not been greatly deployed so far. Russia is using SAMs for battlefield air-defence and cruise/ballistic missiles for strike. This reflects concerns during the initial phase of operations about potential losses to “friendly-fire” – and a political calculation to minimise civilian casualties. The fast-jets of the VKS are mainly armed with dumb bombs and rockets. It has only limited stocks of precision guided munitions (PGM); it lacks modern guidance pods, largely using TV tracking to guide “precision” ordinance. The Ukrainian air-force is relatively small, with… Read more »
A point I totally agree with Jack.
Hi jack, I’ve read a bit up on this and analysts are generally scraping their heads. The conclusion they have come to is that it was a strategic error by Russia
(NB added my surname as too many John’s!)
Exactly he has supposedly 150 modernised 4.5 gen and 300 older fighters and f bombers he could destroy Ukraine forces??
I can’t help but think if this is how the modern Russian forces fight in 2022, against a numerically inferior opponent on the ground and in the air, then NATO has far less to worry about that perhaps we once thought. Russia’s painfully slow advance overland, failure to obtain air superiority and shocking casualty numbers (men and vehicles) betrays the once widely accepted belief (perhaps more so in the public perception) that the Russian war machine would steam roll through Ukraine, and possibly even Europe, if it ever came to that. If they can’t convincingly fight and win ‘in their… Read more »
Can someone confirm that the Ukrainian airforce is receiving ex soviet planes gifted by NATO members was is in the Daily express.
Hi folks hope all is well. As many on this site, and indeed the general public have over many years been led to believe that Russia has a formidable military, although noted that much of the equipment and training is a lot to be desired. However, I’m surprised that the slow progress and text book errors that have been made in this campaign so far. I’m glad that the Russian military have to date been stuck and woeful. Where’s all the new hi-tech weapons? One thing supporting Assad indiscriminately bombing civilians, another in taking on a functional well supplied military.… Read more »
I think the key missing word is they haven’t gained air superiority ‘yet’. Don’t get me wrong, the bravery, skill and tenacity of the Ukrainian resistance to this brutal invasion is amazing and an example for the ages. But having said that it’s widely viewed that Putin has deliberately held back a lot of air power, heavy artillery and other nasty stuff partly out of his delusion that the invasion would be a walkover with them welcomed as liberators and partly because even he know’s the Russian forces ill discipline and scant regard for civilian casualties will result in horrific… Read more »
This level of propaganda is quite ridiculous.
Ukraine unfortunately does not have tools to interfere with Russian missions at any significant scale.
I also point that the 2 most populous countries in the world, China and India are not doing any sanctions against Russia.
That doesn`t mean they are right though, does it ?
I did not say they are right, i am just showing the forces level.
West is not anymore dominant and behaves as it not seem to be aware of that. This will be a big struggle.
Sorry but NATO is the dominant force in the world today. The only reason its not in Ukraine embarrassing Russia is because they don’t want a nuclear war started by an egotist. Russia and China would get battered in a conventional war. Russia is yesterday’s power using what is left of the old Soviet to grab as much as it can. NATO countries collectively also massively outgun China economically. That’s without Japan and the others added in to boot.
Correct mate.
Countries that do not support sanctions against Russia:
China, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia, most Islamic countries, most African countries, most Asian countries. most S.American countries.
You know here are more than half of the world population?
Off topic again my trolling friend! WTF has any of that got to do with the subject?
Good question mate, I’m sure Alexs will answer in his broken English!!!!!
Bottom line AlexS, you’re losing. Be sure to check out UTUBE to see this on mass, no balls for a fight. “Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. Some entire Russian units have laid down their arms without a fight after confronting a surprisingly stiff Ukrainian defense, the official said. A significant number of the Russian troops are young conscripts who are poorly trained and ill-prepared for the all-out assault. And in some cases, Russian troops have deliberately punched holes in their vehicles’ gas tanks, presumably to… Read more »
Alex good morning. At the bottom of this post are the countries who criticised Russia at the UN for its invasion of Ukraine.. yes you are correct regards countries which do not condemn Moscow. But let’s look at them again India has a coal shortage and has done for a while.last Oct it signed a deal with Moscow for 4 millions tonnes of the Stuff. these past few months iran has had the Houthi up the ante against the UAE. The other day Moscow supported a UAE motion at the UN to place an arms embargo on the Houthi and… Read more »
The map:
Didn’t come out, tries again
oh forgot to mention Brazil voted against Russia.
UAE needs a serious talking to. Tell them, that if they keep siding with Russia, then Emirates/Etihad, will be banned from UK/EU/US airspace.
“You know here are more than half of the world population?”
Yes.
What is their combined average GDP, their total defence spending, or even your point?
The problem with that is that a substantial proportion of those cost you more to do business than you gain from it or indeed offer little to be gained from such trade considering the type of goods concerned to Russia. You only have to follow the scale and tactics of China in this regard in trade with these countries to see how and why their trading relationships work. They have the assets and wealth to maintain that relationship well beyond any present or likely profit taking. At best it is a long term policy of control over both the countries… Read more »
Well put Dragonwight
The bit that has always worried me is political will and homogeneity. As long as the west has the Political and social will as well as unity it can ensure liberal democracies can still lead the world. I’m hoping this will and unity is hardening, under a real threat.
Forces level? Sorry where have you been “showning” that or even referenced it? Did I miss something old trolly?😀
BTW word of advice use of the term “West” (i.e missing the definite article) is a bit of a giveaway Alex. Reminds me of the joke about the Russian FSB agent Petrov, who speaks five languages flawlessly, instantly blew his cover abroad when someone trod on his toe in the subway…
I was always suspicious about AlexS comments in the past but this war has all bought out the trolls and silenced some on UKDJ.
Agreed mate, always a bit suspect but on overdrive when their boss is going full Nazi on the world.
👍
I think “going full Nazi“ pretty much sums it up so well.
By any definition Russia indeed is a National Socialist state even if many of the old apologists simply can’t bring theirselves to acknowledge the fact. To be honest despite their use of ‘Communist Party’ and retaining many of those visual and cultural attachments they too run the economy on classic Nat. Soc. lines. If you are Nationalist, Racist and Capitalist but with strong central control over it what else can you be called whatever destructing name you might apply to it.
Yes indeed, both Russia and China are following that template of corporatism and National Socialism.
I think there are to many people who a pining hopes on blaming one individual “Putin or “Jinping”. But failing to recognise that these individuals take advantage of the movement of these states to that National Socialism model, but they do not create the conditions, that’s a broader population move. Yes there will be many individuals in a society who don’t like it and a few who will fight against it, but there still needs a ground swell of a population who support the move.
Hitler hated Capitalism because he was convinced it was Jewish. He hated Marxism for exactly the same reason. If you think he was a Capitalist then you think he didn’t hate the Jews. If you think he hated the Jews then you can’t think he was a Capitalist.
Marxist Socialism=Class
Fascist Socialism=Nationality
National Socialism=Race
Putin is a Fascist
Hi David, one of the key elements of fascism is corporatism ( it was a key design of the early 20C facist state) It’s the fascist warped version of capitalism in which capital is still owned by a rich elite ( of a favoured race or ethnic grouping) make money and personal capital is still important and used to make money and stimulate industries, but the output is entirely linked to a national socialist ideal. Hitler did not hate capitalism, just as long as the capitalists were Arian and worked for the good of the state. It’s One of the… Read more »
It’s a barely readable, repetetive tedious hate filled rant but if you want to know what Hitler thought you need to read Mein Kampf. In it he states everything that he subsequently did after taking power. If the whole thing can be summarised it is that the Jews control Capitalism and Marxism with the intention of destroying or enslaving the Aryan race. He thought the Aryan race could only be saved through the elimination of the Jews. Corporatism was a 19th century Socialist/Anarchist philosophy first implemented in Fascist Italy by Mussolini a self confessed lifelong socialist. I repeat if you… Read more »
To be honest David, I generally try and read most texted related to Geopolitical thinking from as many sources as I can. But I have made a special point to never read Mein Kampf, it seems a bit silly I know, but it feels wrong to validate that man in any way, even by just reading the book. So my study has more been around classic fascism and as you are aware it’s roots are in the the think of Mussolini and Italian pro war fascia . Many people don’t really know that 20c Fascism was developed by a socialist… Read more »
No problem. We’ll agree to disagree on some parts but we can agree on most. 👍
Indeed we are all allowed to disagree and complex stuff like Geopolitics can have many answers ( although there are some that don’t think that and you get a my way or a nasty dose of your an evil idiot…) . And Especially when your talking about the motivations of hitler and the Leaders of the Third Reich anything beyond “they were evil fuckers beyond the comprehension of normal decent people” is academic scull work anyway. I do wish I could read Mein Kampf as I love pulling apart history, but I just cannot do it, so if you have… Read more »
Agreed evil or nazi seem to be insults for anyone with a different opinion. 👍
They have the ability to send thousands of Russian soldiers back home in body bags (or to their mobile crematoriums) which they are already doing so.
They seem to be interfering with Russian missions at the moment, in that Ukraine has failed to take any major objectives.
Whatever the reason for the slow advance it has shown that the modern Russkie Army is just as shite as the 80s version in the cold War. Full of conscripts who are no ponger conscripts having done their 12months and stay on for another 12! That doesn’t make them professional. It seems that command at the tactical level and upwards to possibly divisional level is run by a command element who are afraid to make their own descisons, for fear of being removed, and therefore follow doctrine, as before in the cold War, from the boss! Irrelevant if he hasn’t… Read more »
Seen a video clip of Ukraine soldiers inspecting a Rus BMP2 I think, they then start laughing commenting that Russian equipment is in worser state than ours.
Seen a lot of the footage dave, crap tactics, crap quality soldiers, crap logistics and crap doctrine! Crap kit mostly as well no matter what chuff the Russkies come out with.
Hi Airborne. Out of interest, are these conscripts true “volunteers” , or are they press ganged into a second year? I can’t see these kids having much of an appetite for this. It’s not like the great patriotic war were there was a true threat to unite against. I also cant see the average Russian parent supporting their 19 year old son being sent to die over this. I’m thinking Putin has seriously misread the mood in the room. Not just the West’s response, but also within Russia. On your point re the Soviet army in the ’80s, it’s nice… Read more »
They have sucked at logistics for decade’s mate. As for the conscripts, some have volunteered for other year, and become “professionals” lol (as its 150 roubles a month) and others have been forced to re-sign on whilst being on the previous “exercise” and others have been retained past their 12 months due to the “ongoing emergency”. All a load of shit mate and I’m pretty sure the vast majority of lads in Russkie mil don’t want to go to war with what was a very close neighbour and previous friend.
Yeah read a report this afternoon of an amphibious assult on Odessa where Russian Marines (from Crimea) refused to participate as the assult ships approached and the ships had to turn back. No idea if true, if so I think it could be word is starting to leak out.
I did wonder what had happened at Odessa as day 1 it was supposedly an amphib assault without any return fire at the Russian skips.
I hadn’t seen any news on it since them but could see all the maps showing it still Ukrainian held
Now that is interesting.
If it’s true mate another nail in the coffin of Russkie mil remaining respect and ability!
Don’t Russian officer’s have to do a lot of tasks that would be done by NCO in western army’s ? The first wave seem to be Paras and special forces and they did very poorly
Correct mate as in most conscript Army’s the quality and experience is so low that the NCOs and JNCOs cannot be relied on to make correct choices when needed. In fact in a lot of these rabbles you become a SNCO either because you know someone and paid, or you are staying on for another year or more. End result is the same, limited ability to man manage, limited experience of soldiering and leading. Limited experience and ability to manage the tactical picture and make the combat appreciation etc and even more etc. Cheers mate.
Great answer Airborne -thanks for that .I’ve been thinking along similar lines watching this thing play out
👍!
Don’t forget a lot of older Russians still get their news from Russian tv not social media so a lot of them believe his spin
Too true Andy. Perhaps their kids will be the influencers for changing the mood. Social media and mounting protests in Moscow et al.
China and India are irrelevant when it comes to economic sanctions. The world economy is built on the foundation of the dollar and the mechanisms that control international financial transactions are all controlled by the US and the EU. The Yuan and the Rupee are not universally convertible currencies and are virtually useless, especially the rupee, in those transactions. Indeed, one of the main victims of the Russia sanctions will be India. It relies on Russia for 60-70% of its arms and will have a formidable task in paying for those weapons from Russia. They will have no ability to… Read more »
Unfortunately Russia still earns $1bn a day from gas and oil exports. Stop those, and the economy crashes very quickly. Would make the Weimar Republic look stable.
I appologise if, as seems likely, English, is not your first language but what in particular is “ridiculous” and how are you actually measuring the realative “level”? If you choose to believe something is factually incorrect that is your affair but using pegorative terms such as “ridiculous” is unhelpful, impolite and frankly verging on the offensive. Call innacuracies out and counter them with the facts as you see them by all means. But just denying things are so to an informed audience does not really add much value or enrich the debate. From what you have said and the way… Read more »
Correct and agreed, trollskis everywhere mate!
Speaking of which, where is JohninMK?
On a coffee break at the moment, recovering from the stink of Sadolin Classic on the walls/ceiling of the cloakroom upgrade.
Edit spelling
Same repeated child like no depth post! Sad sad sad Nazi fetish troll who has used far to much tissue looking at his Putin calendar! March’s Putin, topless, pale, bit flabby and obviously taking crack while wearing female panties….whatever turns you on troll boy! Now have a word with your controller as you need a new avatar and email address to ensure you continue trolling with another account…but you probably have quite a few anyway as it’s the bot trolls way!
I only have an avatar on facebook and have had the same email address for 20 years, in both cases only one.
Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor? Your pursuit of my posts, delusions about my status and strange responses are possibly indicative of some kind of psychological problem.
Still no condemnation of Putin and his invasion of Ukraine? You now totally ignore the subject matter in Ukraine as everything you have previously stated has shown to be chuff! More effort required, not even very covert trolls. Garbage in fact, very much like your Russkie conscripts getting thrashed on a daily basis.
And in keeping with the subject matter, would you like to reiterate your many many previous posts that Putin has no intentions to invade Ukraine? It’s all western propaganda? Azov Bde rounding up people? NATO propaganda? It’s only Exercises? Blah blah and yes more blah. Everything you have trolled about has been seen to be completely chuff, and it’s ever so sad to see the internet infested with pathetic trolls.
He turns up now and then but not often as his trolling has become obvious. Aware that everything he has posted over the last month is there for all to see as utter shite….
Very well said
Richard
You were doing real well till your last sentence. Intelligent, well worded, well thought out. Everybody’s estimation of your IQ went up by 5 points. Why did you have to spoil it.
Maybe that’s because China has plans to invade Taiwan in the near future and Russia will support them on the world scene .India may need Russia’s support also in the future if it plans to take over Kashmir. They are both watching the World’s reaction to the present war in Ukraine and the resultant sanctions.
There have been several suggestions that Putin’s actions will lead to increases in western defence spending (Germany has already made some commitments). I’m not so sure though. I can imagine members of the Treasury teams looking at the poor progress made by Russian forces and asking why exactly so much needs to be spent on defence against Russia when they are struggling to make meaningful progress against Ukrainian forces with less high end equipment than we already have.
Because we have to worry about Russia, China, and maybe in the distant future Argentina again, and the black swan that nobody expects.
Latest. Ukraine conflict: Russia introduces Su-34 into fray 01 MARCH 2022 “Russian Sukhoi Su-34 ‘Fullback’ strike aircraft were seen operating over Ukraine for the first time on 28 February. Footage of at least one of the jets overflying the Kharkiv region was posted online, with the person taking the footage noting that at least seven such aircraft had already flown overhead by the time he began filming.” https://www.janes.com/defence-news/defence/latest/ukraine-conflict-russia-introduces-su-34-into-fray Ukraine conflict: Scandinavian countries contribute to Ukrainian defence “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland have all increased their support for the defence of Ukraine, with Finland being the latest to announce the donation… Read more »
Do we know how many aircraft both sides have lost?
Ask AlexS – he knows!😂
Hi Rob, sorry for the late reply.
2 days ago
“Deputy defense minister claims Ukrainian army has so far destroyed 29 Russian warplanes, 29 helicopters, 191 tanks, 816 armored combat vehicles.
“According to the Flight International 2022 World Air Forces database, Ukraine’s Air Force has 210 military aircraft including 98 combat aircraft. These consist of Soviet-made MiG-29s and three types of Sukhoi jets.”
As for Ukraine, I’m unsure apart from one that I know of.
Thanks Nigel.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1498712543870791682
Part of an Su-34 found lying on the ground near Kharkiv, no other debris so might have survived (though thats the centre of the wing!) or debris might have been scattered over a wide area.
Good to hear and thank you for the update!
What is absolutely clear is The Russian armed forces are as bad as they were in 1939, When they tried to invade Finland!. Ironically the two conflicts are very similar. Putin has now shot his bolt! and everyone can see how bad the Russian armed forces are.
Bit early to draw any conclusions. Info is incomplete and/or unreliable so hard to really know what either side has lost.
One thing is clear; Russia is slowly gaining ground and urban combat will be brutal.
The million dollar question is who can outlast the other. It looks like this will be a long protracted conflict.
Without taking anything from the Ukrainian forces and the outstanding show
of capabilities with much outdated kit NATO must be thinking how Russia would fare up against a NATO force with the capabilities at their disposal,I doubt there
would be a thirty mile convoy sitting in the open for very long,I’m astounded the
Russian Generals have not learned the hard lessons we learned in Iraq and
Afghanistan as we see their forward units decimated in their lightly armoured
Recce vehicles.
This is the kind of reason Russian SAM’s have been unable to establish air superiority. Their latest system just abandoned in the field, it costs $25m!
https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1498634962123345923
Run out of fuel? Or food for the crew?
More likely ran out of moral.
or Vodka. Fred Karno’s Army! This may not be verrified but it was reported earlier the Russians were to launch an amphibious assult against Odessa. The ships approached the shore and the UA prepared to repel. But then the ships turned away. Apparently the Russian Marines / Naval Infantry (from Crimea) refused to go against Odessa. Maybe we are starting to see signs of laying down of weapons once the objectives become known? Many Russian POWs i’ve seen seem to have smart phones perhaps word is strating to spread… (that’s the “truth” AlexS, not Kremlin propaganda as previously fed to… Read more »
Again mate agreed and your on the ball with your assessment methinks!
That column stalled outside Kyiv. They are obviously regrouping and sorting their logistics out BUT how much of that is down to low level military mutiny and sabotage? Just saying because your average Russian conscript has been living in a tent through the Russian winter, cabbage soup is the only thing on the menu and now they know they are being committed to a very bloody urban battle against their fellow Slavs. If I was a Russian conscript my truck might develop a flat tire.
Got to wonder if now that they know the effectiveness of NLAW and Javelin they aren’t moving with a dismounted infantry screen 800m out on either side. Would certainly slow them down.
Looking at the route there seem to be plenty of pinch points for the convoy to be chopped into packets and then taken out at leisure
Good point Paul, you may well be right. However if the Ukrainians can top and tail that column somehow Ivan will be in BIG trouble.
And that’s another dimension to it mate, the unwillingness to continue with a war which many probably weren’t aware of and being treated like shite month in month out. The cabbage soup came hot every other day, only the best for the sad unfortunate cannon fodder mate….just ask JohninMK 👍
All those commie vehicles on those roads… 40 miles of them! Just begging to be destroyed!
Reported the Russian troops dont even have digital radios, they are using unencrypted analog radios which can be easily eavesdropped. Interview with a Russian soldier:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMvNuE-aMAAszkl?format=png&name=900×900
Very interesting Watcher. Remember these troops have been camped out in tents through the winter on the Steppe and now they’ve been made to take part in an invasion without enough food or fuel. Moral could snap at some stage?
RAF Rivet Joint will be all over this!
Russians are paranoid . This might explain why the most modern aircraft seem to be held back. A) fear of loses, they lack overall money to replace especially with tech sanctions B) they have massively long borders to watch and may have felt/feel that they needed to wave the stick on the Baltics, hence they can’t spread the jam too thinly. Or D) genuinely fear leaving the back door open to China. E) they have also deployed considerable resources to Syria and used up a lot of precision munitions. F) They know Nato Is hoovering up ELINT on their systems… Read more »
Maybe that is why there are now Russian forces in Belarus…
The EU won’t give membership to Ukraine until the conflict is over. The defence clauses of Lisbon mean that EU members would have to deploy their militaries to defend Ukraine from Russia.
On top of that who do you give EU membership to? we have no idea who will govern Ukraine in a year, what territory it will control or not.
That’s no bad thing, I was helping Latvians working for the Ministry of Transport with a project to modernise UKR railways – now the LVs have filched €6Bn from the EU for Railbaltica but mentioned UKR do corruption on a different scale.
I’ve no issue with UKR fleecing the naive EU for cash, the CAP is a huge source of corruption that France and Italy will never allow to be reformed. But even the UKR are amateurs compared to the Russians when it comes to corruption. Seems that corruption was the only way to prosper during the communism era and capitalism just provides more opportunity.
To be fair, the UK is also Required to protect Ukraine… As is the US and ironically Russia…
Yes the Budapest Memorandum… doesn’t exactly encourage other nations to follow Ukraine’s example and give-up their nuclear weapons does it…
I would suggest it is option F. They know NATO & others are watching. It’s not so much what’s being passed to Ukraine, it’s the more they are forced to use their best, the more their best is known. This is not the deserts of Iraq. Every fault, every chink is being examined in detail. If your third best is good enough, imagine what your best could achieve. If your second best is struggling, well you do have another cog. If that struggles, well? NATO & others are supplying weapons, but in the main, these are fairly standard weapons in… Read more »
That leaves those nice long satellite tracked logistical columns potentially unprotected during the day….
Send in the drones.
Or a nice raid by Ukrainian SF to lob a few javelins etc at them.
Well the Ukrainian Alpha Group (SF) kicked the backsides of the Chechen Spetsnaz at the town of Hostomel outside Kyiv a couple of days ago. Apparently wiping out a large contingent of these vicious Chechen special forces ordered to assassinate Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. This included a column of 56 tanks and killing the top Chechen general Magomed Tushayev, head of the 141 motorized regiment of the Chechnya National Guard.
There was a report every soldier in the Chechen force was given a deck of cards displaying pictures of Ukrainian officials the Kremlin had deemed high valuable targets.
.
I’m sure they’re on the way 😈🍿
You have to ask why they haven’t done that already. Range possibly, but you’d have thought they would have tried to hit the convoy already if they could. I fear for them if that convoy reaches Kiev intact.
Apparently it not one long convoy, and while it has some armour it’s mainly logistics trucks. It’s also being held up because some of the vehicles are breaking down.
It’s destruction though could deprive the forces around Kyiv of essential supplies.
The Ukrainians do not seem to have many larger combat formations left, they seem to have split into small groupings mixed with the volunteer formations.
Such a pity as the western flank of that convoy seems wide open ( at least on the maps we see )
I hope they are hitting it and we are unaware.
Mostly logistical supplies and some tanks with regular breakdowns slowing the convoy to a snail’s pace!
The interesting thing here is Ukraine purchased a load of Polish warmate suicide drones, and I’ve not heard of them been used yet.they also claim to have produced their own , but from what I have seen they are Heath Robinson affairs, with an RPG warhead . But if they work, who cares.
The Ukraine suicide drone. Check out the wing tips
Would be useful against the line of supply trucks outside Kyiv?
I thought I would send my thoughts to a few people. I wonder what response I will get: Dear Prime Minister, Secretaries of state, Chair of the defence committee, Members of the Opposition and my Constituency MP. I’m writing to you in regards to my concern over both the plight of Ukraine as a sovereign nation, the solders and civilians defending it; as well as the now increasingly perilous Geopolitical position of liberal democracies, including our own nation. First I would like to say that, I think in general the Government and Opposition have both shown a general… Read more »
You’re too harsh on Russia.
It’s Putin and his cabal that are doing this this, he wasn’t democratically elected. Russia is not like 1930’s Germany enthralled by a popular leader and with an ideological political party backing him up. If free and open elections were held tomorrow, Putin would be out, and criminal investigations would commence.
Hi Sean I cannot agree with you I’m afraid, Putin is not separate from Russia, he is a creation of Russia in the same way as Hitler was a product of Germany. Every brutal totalitarian has a large body of people behind them. If it was only Putin almost a quarter of a million soldiers would not be invading Ukraine. Nations are responsible for their actions not just a single Individual. To think it’s just Putin is miss understanding, geopolitics is driven by a nations gestalt and the Russia Gestalt ( and Chinese ) has been sculpted in such a… Read more »
I have to disagree. I don’t hold French people who lived in Vichy France accountable for that governments war crimes. I don’t hold ordinary Germans, who were non-party members and who did not vote for the Nazi’s responsible for the Holocaust. I don’t hold the average Chinese citizen responsible for the current Uighur genocide. And I don’t hold the many/majority of Russians who don’t/never wanted Putin, to be responsible for the invasion. It’s as ridiculous as holding you or I accountable for British atrocities during the Boer War. There are plenty of situations where totalitarian leaders do not have the… Read more »
Sean Have I mentioned punishment, did I demonise the Russian nation…no. But you cannot just assume what a nation did is down to a few individuals. It is I’m afraid a factual point of historic record that the majority of Germans did know what was happening in their names and supported their nations war efforts. It’s very easy to just blame a few individuals for the actions of a nation, but it’s never the case I’m afraid, Putin is a populist leader, who has created a dialogue that the west is the enemy of Russia, this has been supported by… Read more »
No it is NOT a factual point that the majority of Germans supported the Holocaust. On the contrary in fact. Knew, yes absolutely, supported, no that was a minority. Putin is not a populist leader, because by definition such a leader has to be popular. If he were, he wouldn’t have to keep rigging his elections. He is NOT supported by the majority of Russians. Ergo your pompous getstalt theory falls apart. What you need to do, instead of stereotyping entire populations as idiots who believe everything they are told by state media, is to actual get to know some… Read more »
arrogant idiot, maybe you would like to read what I have said. I did not say holocaust, I never mentioned genocide, I never demonised there russian people so stop putting words in my mouth and stop be personal and insulting. I was discussing the German war efforts and the vast majority of Germans did feel that their nation had been oppressed and was correct in its actions to re-unify the German people. And what is you evidence that Putin is not supported by the majorly of Russian citizenship, his approval ratings are alway generally above 50% even when he’s invaded… Read more »
You insulted every Russian I know, and up to 100 million others I don’t, so I have no qualms about calling out your arrogant stupidity.
So the sovereign nation of Russia has not invaded Ukraine. It’s all one man ?
and again I did not insult every Russian, I said Putin has widespread support in Russia.
can’t you actually please see what I’m saying and stop trying to put words into my mouth. I’m taking geopolitical movement not individuals. Why the hate.
I tend to agree Sean. The Russian population is very interesting. Increasingly there is a generational factor in play many younger people – possibly equivalent to Gen “X” here – have been significantly influenced by western culture in recent years, they tend to travel a lot both within Russia and abroad; many are well educated and have ambitions their parents never dreamt of; they are tech savvy and have networks of friends across Russia and beyond; most speak English and like many in this country don’t get their information from mainstream media. They understand exactly what’s going on and are… Read more »
Unfortunately, that does remove the fact there is still a ground swell of support in Russia for the actions of the Russian state. Maybe in 20 years that could change, but actually a lot of the older Russians were those who celebrated the fall of the communist party. We cannot make an assumption that this is all Putin and if he was removed Russian would re-engage with the western world. We can only react to what is happening, that has been 15 years of invasions and testing the west. I would love to see a different Russia as I think… Read more »
No there isn’t.
You’re wrong.
Nobody is forcing them into an alliance with China.
um is it just disagree with everything i say. It’s actual a concern of a large number of nations that Russia will be forced into a tighter alliance with China as China will be the only real markets for its food and raw materials. The increase in markets between China and Russia has increase considerably. This is reported a lot in far Easter media as the smaller Far Eastern nations that are not aligned with the us and have defensive treaties are very worried indeed over this move to a bipolar state. You may not like what I say, but… Read more »
No it’s just I can’t abide public displays of stupidity. Nothing personal, the anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers get far worse from me – oh I hope you don’t fall into those group too…
It’s not public stupidity Sean, my argument and thoughts are backed up by evidence. You may have come to a different conclusion, but that does not make you right and me wrong, neither does it make me right and you wrong. The simple fact is around 50% of Russians support Putin and his World view and around 50% don’t like it, but of that groups most keep their head down. A nations actions and directions are undertaken because of forces at work in these nations population, they are not created by single individuals ( even absolutist monarchs, had to follow… Read more »
China was quick to say it was a partner of Russia, not an ally.
Absolutely 100% correct.
Those over 50 who harken back to the security of the Soviet Union and communism still blindly believe everything they are told by Putin’s media in Russia.
But younger generations, without a live for the comfort that authoritarians provides, are more outward looking, and access western media and social media. This is why Putin has cracked down on social media since the war started, because it disproves his war propaganda.
We will see a different Russia emerge, essentially once Putin’s generation dies off. Hopefully in his case, sooner rather than later.
I disagree.
I don’t thnk we will see a different Russia…at all.
The time for that (early 2000’s) has now passed.
Maybe we had a part to play in that , or maybe Putin had this plan all along.
Any new king will be crowned by , and just be a clone of, the old one.
Able to control using his new clothes.
It depends on how Putin is replaced. If the military overthrow him, it will probably just be another hard man. Though militaries actual prefer to strut and swagger and not risk getting blown up in actual wars. So the replacement may bark as much, but bite far less. If the oligarchs move against him then we may see a more western style leader. At the moment they hold their companies like feudal lords that can be dispossessed of them at anytime. They want to really own their companies like businessmen do in the west. If it’s in response to the… Read more »
I too wrote to them once, but nowhere near that level of detail. I got the bog standard “thanks for letter so and so will reflect on it blah blah blah”
That great piece needs to be broadcast on the TV news and reproduced in newspapers, not sent into the bowls of government never to be seen again!
Wish I had not put it up now Daniele, it’s seem I insulted the Russian people and it’s not Russia that’s invading Ukraine but Putin and a few of his mates. Apparently pointing out that even totalitarian popularists actual have to have a ground swell of popular support makes me an arrogant idiot.
Ref the so called 30km column of Russian vehicles approaching Kiev, why hasn’t the Ukrainian air force hit it?
Maybe just waiting for it to get just a bit closer…. so they can decimate it all, end to end. Hope they do it soon. 💪 to 🇺🇦 and its people.
Just because Russia does not have air superiority does not mean Ukraine does either. It’s very possible that Ukraine May no longer have organised air power, but their ground to air defences may be such that Russia is not willing to loss anymore aircraft.
The Ukrainians presumably know its there. Its in single column it can’t go forward its a 40 mile tailback consuming precious fuel (its cold so pressumably running their engines) and food for the lads. Can’t go off road or presumably would have done – mud you see very thick, very sticky this time of year. In fact weather, terrain and war in eastern Europe are so tightly interwoven that the concept has a dedicated Russian word. Rasputitsa, literally “time without roads”, refers to the heavy rain in autumn and the melting snow and ice in spring, both of which turn streets… Read more »
Yep, we covered the Rasputitsa previously but excellent description. I think they expected them to cave in rapidly. Big error.
Read this article the other day on what units the RuAF had in the area, as usual it will delete after 7 days:
https://i.postimg.cc/SQW0Dt8J/img225.jpg
2
https://i.postimg.cc/L6TcMYxS/img228.jpg
3
https://i.postimg.cc/FzvBMNc1/img226.jpg
4
https://i.postimg.cc/CLF2JMSQ/img227.jpg
I think I’ve seen pictures of wreckage of everything, except a Backfire, on the ground in Ukraine…
Good Evening,
Perhaps I have missed some topics, comments etc I am on the way to Poland!
However my question is are the British Government going to increase the Defence spending like the Germans ( 100 billion Euros in one go) as well as reintroduce national service?
Furthermore a BAOR’ (100,000) with 1000 + Tanks and suitable air defences mainland and mobile + 15 submarines and 30 escorts all anti air and sub would be most welcome!
Nick Germany
Nick, Good evening, have a nice time in Poland, I’ve been and had a lovely time. Anyway regards your questions: “Are the British Government going to increase the Defence spending like the Germans ( 100 billion Euros in one go)” Well to be fair the Gov increased Defence spending to the tune of £16 billion in Nov 2020 (16 months ago), so they were ahead of the game there, and hopefully in light of what is currently transpiring across the Ukraine, we will see an additional increase. But lets not forget the Germans are playing catch up, their Typhoons aren’t… Read more »
Good Evening Farouk,
Many thanks your comments!
I believe that the UK armed forces haven been under financed for far too many years.
The Defence spending should be fixed without different parties chopping and changing it when they are in power!
This would fix long term Programmes! ( Longer than the parliamentary term).
Furthermore why do we often read about the equipment in the Navy, Air Force , Army etc
being fitted for but not actually equipped!
we are under gunned and under manned as well as under equipped !
Nick
Nick, Thank you for the reply, I agree with you regards Defence, but I see it also from a different angle. A larger miltary entails more civilian engineers required to keep that equipment in working order, meaning an increase in apprentises, some who over time will leave for the civil sector, thus benefiting the nation. Unfortunatly iver the past few years we have pushed out more graduates in the arts: Social media studies, Journalism, Eco studies etc than we have the sciences. Its a field which doesnt nothing for the country as a whole other than promote the sick ,… Read more »
Putin’s great achievement is just being Putin; he has achieved more for N.A.T.O. than any General Secretary or U.S. President has done in thirty years. When the German Red Green alliance government splashes the cash on defence – well! What can one say? The trouble is most of the advanced military equipment in development is years away, lots of it possibly less advanced than expensive and no one can rebuild our lost tank, aircraft or ship building capacity overnight. What we have now is what we will have for some years ahead. Re-activate bases and get the Americans and Canadians… Read more »
Who says studying ancient history doesn’t get you anything? Why did Rome so often fall into chaos? it was often at the hands of the Praetorian guard, who were a very well trained, disciplined and motivated force. Now I am not comparing Russia to ancient Rome – ancient Rome was a FAR more sophisticated society than modern Russia; but a lot of despots look to Rome, and in modern times the lesson they have taken is to not trust their armed forces.; hence why Russia finds itself with the VERY lowest of the low in the ranks of the military;… Read more »
Interesting point mate and my thoughts exactly. Your average Russkie mil, from tom to head shed is still as crap, and fearfull of failure as they were in the 80s! They may have a thin line of modern kit, but there still 90% depth of shit, old kit, operated by 90% shit blokes!
When I was in Jordan, I had to stop at a check point near the Airport. anyway the blokes there asked us, if we wanted to share a cup of tea with them, we refused (I had taken 2 Rock Apes with me to get them out of the desert for the day) at that we heard rifles been cocked and pointed at our swedes, who were we to refuse. Anyway over tea, the leader informed us he was special forces and he had carried out 1 jump. Tell you what it was really hard not to laugh at that… Read more »
Mickey Mouse muppets everywhere mate!!!!!
That is the problem everywhere: cardboard cutout SF. Nice bit of black kit and a swagger…..few suspect stories…..IRL less use that most of our guys who have done Basic Training. On here, we do sometimes underestimate just how well our general service personnel actually are trained compared to other nations. And also how well equipped they actually are compared to anyone they might actually fight on a battle field. Yes, we need better kit and more of it. Keeping Chally2 etc as we can now see it is better than the Russian carp and yes we need Chally3 but for… Read more »
Exactly what happened in Soviet Russia just before Germany invaded. Stalin probably did more damage to the command and control of his own military that Germany did.
The Russian column is curiously stationary and has been for 24 hrs. It is very extended and like Varus’ Roman legions in the Teutoberg forest in 9AD, the Ukrainians may be quietly chopping it up. Here is a clip of Ukraine civvies throwing Molotov cocktail at Russian armoured vehicles as they drive by
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-molotov-cocktails-russia-tanks-b2025849.html
The good ole Beeb has been showing a clip all evening of a column of burned out vehicles that looked like the Road to Basra in Iraq in 1991
In the first one he set himself on fire!
Apparently it’s being snarled up by vehicles in it breaking down.
And long may the break downs continue. Hope the Ukrainian forces can pick it off big by bit as it would make quite a road blockage! Pity they can’t drop some bright red flame retardant over it all to clog up all these vehicles even more!
Varus! What a disaster he was!
All the photos of that convoy show forests each side and I wonder what ambush positions there must be in there.
Those NLAW’s would be handy in that environment
Of course, that’s assuming they do have multiple ambushes between the convoys location and Kyiv, what a massively wasted opportunity to inflict significant casualties that would be if they didn’t.
Wonder if there are any Dams up there!?
An excellent comparison DL. Might I suggest a simpler parallel from the Battle of Carrhae under Crassus in 53BC? A total Roman failure to dwarf Teutoberg.
So as others I’m most interested on the tactics, equipment used in this current bun fight between Moscow and kiev. Now I’ve noticed that the Russians have placed extra bags of what I can only presume are ERA over the sides of their T72B3Ms. Anybody here able to shine a light on the above?
Further to my last, the Ukraine uses the older type of ERA on their armour, but here is a picture of one of their T64s with a hole (APFSDS???) bang right through the middle of one such brick. Now from what I have seen in the past (shrivenham) the Russians use Stainless steel APFSDS, if that is what punched a hole through the ERA brick and then through the tank, what does that say about our DU rounds. (which the left hate so much)
Ok so dug up my old happy snaps from Shrivenham: this one shows 2 NATO (DU rounds on the left with Soviet APFSDS rounds on the right)
The NATO rounds are really heavy, in comparrsion to the Soviet ones
Another view with the Sabot (glove) which encases the NATO rounds before getting ditiched after firing hence the term Discarding Sabot
And what an Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot can do to block armour when it hits it:
Fascinating pics, thank you!
Love these farouk, your own snaps too.
I do not see why we can’t preprogram some cruise missiles. Tow the launcher across the border into Ukraine . Tell a Ukraine soldier to give them ten minutes to get across the border and press that button.
Probably for the same reason poland bulgaria and hungary bottled out of sending their old migs to ukraine.
Which is?
No jets to Ukr after all. EU stuff up it seems from the Foreign minister whose had to retract his statement…..
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-promise-to-supply-fighter-jets-to-ukraine-gets-grounded/
You cannot blame the individual nations though. It would have left them bereft of fast jets without new ones for some time with a war on next door.
Maybe. But have a look at the French generals comments on here. Oh they are so poor they cant afford to send 2000 machine guns! What amiserable @#$&!
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220226-too-little-too-late-west-finally-coughs-up-arms-for-ukraine
What did anyone expect- seriously.
Lets hope enough is done to end up getting rid of Putin, but somehow I doubt it.
Good old blighty well ahead as usual, supplying AT weapons before the main invasion began. As so often I suspect because UKUSA had a better idea than the EU at what was coming. Still, the EU Parliament were all clapping Zelensky on a screen yesterday so their well pleased with themselves.. and our Parliament was at it today. The EU nations are stepping up now and the supply routes remain open. If Russia occupies ( which I cannot see how it can given the forces it would need to commit and the current attrition rate ) the ATs will be… Read more »
It’s not really like any western nation has fast jets just hanging around just incase of a major attritional war ( they should but, that’s a very expensive break glass incase of war type resource).
For those who like to start the day with a bang, twitter has a compilation of drone attacks on the Russian column N of Kiev and elsewhere
https://mobile.twitter.com/ralee85/status/1498576165723910145
Seen these before, not sure if any are from that convoy. I hope strikes are hitting it though. Talk about a target rich environment, it would be impossible to miss!
Even a company or two of men armed with NLAWs and Javelins could wreak havoc. I hope Ukraine is doing something like that.
Yes but sadly the very things that would be most useful – massed fires or airstrikes are exactly the things the Ukranians lack most. Ambushes with NLAW are good. But the sheer numbers of targets mske this difficult to destroy with such pinprick methods. Guys doing ambushes can only carry a small number of such AT munitions as they need other gear and will need to escape after.
There are Turkish A400s stranded in Kiev. Delivered TB2s allegedly.
Interesting to know. I was thinking yesterday about the big convoy and wished Ukraine had more TB2s. Also wishrd UK had some – I mean how expensive could they be – not very compared to how useful they are. We dont need everything gold plated.
58 Watchkeeper for around 1 billion?
The British Army might by now have a deployable battery! I’m unsure if the other batteries are deployable yet.
Yes, I’d wondered about an OTS purchase. Cheap and works.
There was also a Turk Atlas in Poland.
Thanks David.
Questions on here about lack of UKR fast air. Seems they lost one of their best to Russian SAMs which if now up and running might be giving pause for thought to younger pilots.
RIP Col Oksanchenko
A very useful interim piece of kit for RAF Typhoons. Range: Well beyond 100 km “The firing also showed Marte ER’s turbojet engine behaviour was excellent for both “in-flight start time” and thrust level. This firing was the last one in the development path of Marte ER, which will enter into operation early next year. MARTE ER represents the 3rd generation within the MARTE family of missile systems and is derived from MARTE MK2/S which is already in service with the Italian Navy on its NFH90 and AW101 helicopters. MARTE ER missile is going to be integrated on Eurofighter TYPHOON and… Read more »
Thats very interesting and initially i was confused by the name as I was reading an article the other day on the Teseo M2/E the so called latest anti ship missile developed by MBDA for Italy. On going back I find its a totally different missile so italy has two in the pipeline.
https://militaryleak.com/2021/09/28/mbda-unveils-teseo-mk2-e-medium-range-anti-ship-system-at-seafuture2021/
Would it be possible to near enough immediately introduce them to RAF service if Italy already integrated Marte onto their Typhoons or is there differences between nations that means it’s not as easily done?
In a hurry, at a guess, two to three months to train pilots and software upgrades possibly quicker than that as Warton will be familiar with fitting the missile to Typhoon. Equally, RAF pilots may have been flying this type of scenario in a simulated environment already. The Royal Air Force received its final Tranche 3A Typhoon (ZK439, BS155) from the BAE Systems Warton production line on September 27, the last of 159 aircraft delivered to the Royal Air Force. The Warton final assembly line will also be responsible for the 24 Typhoons ordered by Qatar, and there are still… Read more »
I am genuinely surprised about Russias tactics so far. They seem to have tried a precision surgical strike option but failed to deliver enough firepower or precision (despite some 400+ airstrikes and cruise missiles being used) to have crippled the Ukranian air defence network or air force interceptors. Russia has a much much larger airforce so should have gained air superiority within 48 hours. 2nd failure has been their commitment of penny packet formations of special forces. MRAP vehicles and small numbers of light tanks in small formations that have entered towns and cities and given the Ukranians a chance… Read more »
It does seem like a sitting duck, most if not all of the western air forces could burn it from end to end with stand off weapons. As you say rerun of highway to hell.
If the Ukrainians have air superiority over their own country they should be able to attack the large column of tanks coming towards their capital before it can do any damage then
Television reports seem to indicate that the UAF now has major problems – more than likely relating to fuel shortages, which is severely limiting operations. Also, there may not be sufficient serviceable aircraft located in the north of the country that can quickly get airborne and attack the tank columns before being intercepted by the Russians.
I hope the West starts developing a medium range AA vehicle soon. Russia has had them for years but all the West has is short range AA vehicles.
A picture showed quite a large vehicle with tracks like a tank, captured by the Ukrainians; said it was anti-aircraft, guns and missiles. If they get a few of those and learn how to use them, that should help. And some tanks. Lots of speculation about why we don’t see more Russian planes. Maybe the “Ghost of Kyiv” the Ukrainian fighter ace that shot down several Russians in one day, may not be just a myth – and those planes are expensive, and Russia does not have an unlimited supply of them; and it is embarrassing for Russia getting their… Read more »
A dozen F 35 would completely destroy Russian planes in Ukraine .
Has Russia accidentally revealed real weakness? Isn’t that weakness another reason for NATO to avoid war with Russia? Wouldn’t they be tempted to go nuclear much more quickly? But, while NATO hangs back, what about Communist China? Might they not be tempted to take the eastern third of Russia? Why buy lots of raw materials from Russia when they can just take them?
Of course, it’s just as likely we’re seeing Russia’s hesitance and reluctance because of a deep connection to Ukraine, imperfect and confounding as their reluctance has been. They certainly had no qualms destroying Syrian territory.