Russia/Ukraine conflict

[wdolson]

Is this satire?

Ukraine has been decimating Russian forces as effectively as anyone could have ever dreamed; there are more relevant ways to measure progress than hectares of land taken.

In what parallel universes is there an entity Ukraine could make an effective treaty with as long as Russia is intact?

As the saying goes, when someone tells you who they are, believe them. Putin has repeatedly broken every treaty when he found it convenient. Any treaty with him will be broken.

Any settlement of the war at this point would just allow Russia to rebuild and come back.

The Russian losses are massive, though not on the scale of the Russian/Soviet military losses during WW2. I think it's equally important not to overstate the weakness of the Russian military as it's strength. Realism is the best approach, imo. For the domestic consumption within Ukraine, a bit of optimism is probably good for morale.

Russian Losses in Ukraine 'Enormous,’ German General Says

www-voanews-com.cdn.ampproject.org

You also have to look at the scale of the troops involved. In WW II, about 34 million people served in the forces of the USSR. 6.3 million were KIA. It's tough to find numbers on exactly the number Russia has committed to Ukraine, but it's probably in the ballpark of 1 million or less, and they have lost 360K dead with possibly another 100K or more who are maimed for life.

For the size of the forces committed, Russia's losses are worse than WW II.

 

[DanCar]

Drone rescues Ukrainian prisoner.

 

[madodel]

Russian Friendly Fire Deaths Surge Because They’re ‘Scared and Shoot Everything That Moves’

Is their communication system so poor that they can't tell who is friend or foe? I just heard in Denys' latest video about Ruzzian paratroopers on a training jump who were fired on by their own AA batteries. Accidents happen but this seems to happen a lot in Russia.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Is the UKR army using shotguns to target FPV drones. If they don't, then why not?

Thinking about something like this for example:

Atchisson AA-12 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Is the UKR army using shotguns to target FPV drones. If they don't, then why not?

Thinking about something like this for example:

Atchisson AA-12 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've seen a few video clips where shotguns have been used, but how to deploy them? You can't expect everyone to carry their rifle & mags plus a multi-shot shotgun. That AA-12 is relatively light, but still an additonal 6-7Kg to carry, and hauling 2 long guns and additonal ammo around is not ideal.
Yes, if I spotted a kamikazi drone coming at me I'd favour my chances more if I had 32 rounds of #4 birdshot available, but it would have to be closer than 50 yards and that wouldn't leave me much time to get a kill.
If a unit is confined to one position or trench though, it would make sense to have a few shotguns lying around I'd say.

 

[SmokyPeat]

I've seen a few video clips where shotguns have been used, but how to deploy them? You can't expect everyone to carry their rifle & mags plus a multi-shot shotgun. That AA-12 is relatively light, but still an additonal 6-7Kg to carry, and hauling 2 long guns and additonal ammo around is not ideal.
Yes, if I spotted a kamikazi drone coming at me I'd favour my chances more if I had 32 rounds of #4 birdshot available, but it would have to be closer than 50 yards and that wouldn't leave me much time to get a kill.
If a unit is confined to one position or trench though, it would make sense to have a few shotguns lying around I'd say.

Not every soldier would need to carry one, just like not every infantry soldier in a WW2 unit carried a BAR.

 

[navguy12]

Anyone know why the Reddit feed stopped about 24 hours ago:

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Allegedly:

The Ukrainian group Kiborg hacked the largest bank of the Russian terrorist state, Alfa-Bank, and obtained 115,217,571 records of customers dating back to 2004.

Alfa-Bank isn't sanctioned from SWIFT and continues to finance Russia's war of aggression.

twitter.com/mhmck/status/1744448468796494311

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744448468796494311

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Allegedly:

The GUR said it obtained 100 Gigabytes of classified Russian data worth up to $1.5 billion from the Russian company Special Technology Center which produces military equipment for the Russian army, in particular Orlan UAVs and a wide range of EW-equipment [...

twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1744399484535046314

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744399484535046314

 

[wdolson]

Not every soldier would need to carry one, just like not every infantry soldier in a WW2 unit carried a BAR.

At least in the US Army and Marines. A typical squad had one BAR carrier. Usually the biggest guy in the squad, the BAR had quite a kick.

Ukrainian squads now usually carry some ATGMs, so adding a shotgun or two would not be a huge burden. The question would be the effectiveness. Shotguns have relatively short effective ranges and I think a lot of the drones operate at higher altitudes than the shotguns can reach effectively.

This would take some development, but something like a grenade launcher that fired a small rocket propelled proximity shell that could be fired in the direction of a drone would be the most effective, but that's probably a couple of years from being ready.

Allegedly:

The Ukrainian group Kiborg hacked the largest bank of the Russian terrorist state, Alfa-Bank, and obtained 115,217,571 records of customers dating back to 2004.

Alfa-Bank isn't sanctioned from SWIFT and continues to finance Russia's war of aggression.

twitter.com/mhmck/status/1744448468796494311

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744448468796494311

I wonder if they are going to turn over any data they find on westerners using Alfa Bank to hide illegal transactions? There have been a lot of suspicion Alfa Bank has been a favorite bank for westerners to use for money laundering. Evidence like that could bring down a number of people living large on ill gotten gains in the west.

 

[EVCollies]

Here is a round that will take them down.

US Air Force Orders Anti-Drone Net-Filled Shotgun Shells

Rather than training and looking after eagles, US military personnel will use modified shotguns and nets.

www.pcmag.com

 

[navguy12]

“…Or was it? As his battalion prepared to go into Russian captivity, Ivantsov came up with an extraordinary plan. “I decided to hide,” he said. Instead of surrendering he would disappear, and take his chances, in the hope he could somehow make it back to Ukrainian-controlled territory, many miles away. “I put the probability of success at 1 in 1,000,” the 29-year-old admitted. “Everyone thought I was mad.”…”

Escape from Mariupol: how one Ukrainian soldier gambled on a stakeout and fugitive

The odyssey of Oleksandr Ivantsov who fought with the Azov brigade

www.theguardian.com

 

[Buckminster]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744744557907226736

 

[Quagmire2]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1744744557907226736

I am glad Russia is getting ready to give back all the land they took and leave Ukraine......

 

[DanCar]

Congress Speaker Johnson backs Kyiv, but questions White House strategy on Ukraine support

Republican voters do not understand the exact purpose of Biden's policy regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Congress Speaker Johnson told CBS

news.liga.net

Quote:
At the same time, when asked by a journalist whether Congress will be able to ensure the allocation of aid to Ukraine by February, Johnson replied that "we must secure the U.S. border before we secure anyone else's."

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

...] "Hackers from the Blackjack group, who are likely related to the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine], hacked the Moscow-based internet service provider M9com and destroyed its servers," the source said.

According to the source, the hackers deleted about 20 terabytes of data: the company's official website, websites of the company's branches, mail server, cyber protection services, etc. As a result, part of the residents of Moscow remained without internet and television access.

In addition, cyber warriors downloaded more than 10 gigabytes of data from the company's mail server and client databases and made them available for research by anyone (open via TOR). [...

Ukrainian hackers leave part of Moscow without internet access - source

Ukrainian hackers have attacked a Moscow-based internet service provider. â Ukrinform.

www.ukrinform.net

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

A lot of Russians [...] seem to love totalitarian dictatorships [...

Based on what?

What would you say if the police could come and throw you into jail at any time for saying the 'wrong' thing?... They could probably get your children thrown out of university as well – and/or mobilize them and send them to the meet grinder in occupied Ukraine... [...

I was living working in Russia back when this song came out, a little over 20 years ago. The name of the song, if translated, would be "someone like Putin." See below for links. Obviously pure propaganda as far as I was concerned but damned if it didn't become a hit and top the Russian music charts in 2002. It probably didn't hurt that there were two extremely attractive women singing but considering the number of extremely attractive women in Russia, it wasn't really out of the ordinary. [...

1. Since when is it unusual that crappy pop songs are fronted by X amount of extremely attractive women?(!)... That has been standard MO all over the planet since at least the end av the 1980s...

2. 2002... Ok... Did something happen in Russia in the summer of 2000?... Let's see...

...] In the summer of 2000, Putin met in the Kremlin with about two dozen of the men regarded as the top oligarchs. The meeting was closed, but reports later said he made them a sternly clear deal: Stay out of politics and your wealth won’t be touched. [...

Under Putin, the uber-wealthy Russians known as 'oligarchs' are still rich but far less powerful

When Putin came to power, the outside world viewed “oligarchs” as men who whose vast wealth made them almost shadow rulers.

apnews.com

Before that there were satire featuring in the Russian Dictator in Russian media. See for example:

So according to you – In what way is it surprising that Putin ordered the entire Russian media to plug this crappy pop song that was just like you also write 'most likely' 'manufactured' by the Kremlin?... Of course it 'became' 'a hit'(!)...

3. Finally... That blatant propaganda 'pop song' was some 21 years ago(!)... I would argue that quite a lot has happened since...

And no offense and with all due respect, but the rest of what you're writing here is anecdotal.

What I saw over the 40+ years from the first time I was in Russia until the last time, it never ceased to amaze me how many people do actually support a strong man type leader. Most of them wouldn't know what to do with democracy if they had the option tomorrow. They know he's a bastard but he is their bastard and the world fears/respects him. You've probably seen the photos of Putin riding a bear. They would post photos of Putin and Obama in his typical mom jeans. Basically portraying Putin as a real man and Obama as a pussy.

I've traveled to probably over 90 countries in the world. I almost always had a backpack with me. I had velcro where I could swap put patches. I had a Russian flag and an American one. I quickly learned that if I had the Russian one, almost nobody messed with me. Not the ideal one to have on my backpack in Europe as some definite Russian animosity but nobody messed with me. The US one didn't engender as much negative emotion but I heard a lot more negative comments than the Russian one. Anywhere in the Middle East, Africa, a lot of Asia, the Russian flag was much better to be displayed on my backpack than a US one.

A lot of that I believe goes back to the strong man persona that most Russian leaders portray. Don't F with Russia or Russians. Granted, there are some places where there is not a lot of love for Russians, but even if they weren't liked, rarely were they hassled.

I'll admit that I haven't travelled much abroad. But why put any flag on your backpack? I wouldn't. Not even decades before Swedish nationals became the preferred targets of Islamofacist terrorists...

Belgian police shoot dead 'lone wolf' who killed Swedish fans

Belgian police on Tuesday shot and fatally wounded an apparent Islamist accused of gunning down two Swedish football fans visiting Brussels, as Sweden faces what its premier said is an unprecedented…

www.france24.com

2023 Brussels shooting - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Takovo kak Putin

Russmus: Поющие Вместе - Такого как Путин / Takogo kak Putin / One like Putin lyrics and translations

Online resource for Russian Music (modern and traditional). Russian Cyrillic lyrics, English translations, music videos, guitar tabs and chords, podcasts, useful links and information and a great community of Russophiles!

russmus.net

Contrasting what you are writing here I would still put for instance:

Also: What was this?...

2011–2013 Russian protests - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And also this:

Assassination of Boris Nemtsov - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Allegedly from Zelensky's evening speech:

The world’s sanctions are definitely working. And they are working well. There is clear evidence of a slowdown in the Russian defense industry. But for the sanctions to be one hundred percent effective, the schemes for circumventing the sanctions must also be one hundred percent blocked. New global steps are also needed against those who continue to help Russia. Everyone in the world knows this small list of terrorist accomplices.

 

[DanCar]

Previously Anduril industries was asked if they could send their drones to Ukraine. The response was that the government controls that. I wonder if below changes things.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/white-house-huddles-with-industry-tech-innovation-ukraine-2024-01-08/

 

[navguy12]

• Hungary indicated that it might lift its veto over EU aid to Ukraine if the funding is reviewed each year, Politico reported. Three EU diplomatic sources said Budapest indicated it might withdraw its opposition if the European Council unanimously approves the funding on a yearly basis, meaning Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, could extract concessions from the bloc.

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 686

Fuel depot far inside Russia burns in drone strike; US and allies censure North Korean supply of missiles to Putin; Ukraine short of air defence missiles

www.theguardian.com