When Ukrainian forces rolled into Kursk on Aug. 6, the first Russian troops they encountered weren’t the Russian military’s best professional troops. Instead, they were lightly equipped, ambivalently led conscripts.
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The 488th Motor Rifle Regiment was in a difficult position as Ukrainian brigades closed in. Outgunned by the Ukrainian army’s 88th Mechanized Brigade, parts of the 488th Motor Rifle Regiment tried retreating on or before Wednesday. According to the Center for Defense Strategies, the fleeing Russians got turned back by Chechen “blocking units” working for the Kremlin.
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In Soviet and Russian tradition, a blocking unit forces poorly motivated troops to fight—by threatening to arrest them ... or even shoot them. Compared to well-trained professional troops, undertrained conscripts are more likely to try fleeing after coming under fire. In that sense, conscripts and blocking units go hand-in-hand in the Russian military.
But forcing the 488th Motor Rifle Regiment to turn around and fight didn’t improve the regiment’s odds against the 88th Mechanized Brigade.
Some of the Russian regiment’s 2,000 or so troops were able to retreat from Sudzha on Wednesday when an adjacent Russian unit gained control over at least one route out of the town, CDS reported. But parts of the 488th Motor Rifle Regiment got left behind—and grabbed by the special forces at the vanguard of the Ukrainian advance.
Ya gotta love the Kadyrovites. They're always taking selfies while on their way to the fighting without ever getting there, and are far more likely to be shooting at retreating Russians than advancing Ukrainians.
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
The Ukrainian military destroyed a bridge inside Russia that had been critically important for carrying Russian supplies, marking the second such bridge destroyed within days, the Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday.
29/ Not surprisingly, morale was low even before the attack. One mother says: "At first the boys had an adventure. Then there was the expectation that they would be relieved, they were promised. And now there is devastation. They feel betrayed and abandoned."
Interesting view into the mindset of the population. (translations acknowledged)
"At first the boys had an adventure"
Meanwhile, I imagine every young soldier in Ukraine starts by understanding what's at stake.
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Aug 13, 2024 9:16 pmI see no map
Yes geolocation coordinates for Russian artillery to target or it don’t happen.
I suspect that he's talking about the website that Pyperkub linked to earlier that day, rather than doubting any particular news from the Kursk offensive. I didn't see the map either when I checked it out, probably because I'm running a script blocker and couldn't be arsed to turn it off for a site that I'm not familiar with.
Max Peck wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:47 am
I haven't seen anything about whatever is happening currently, but there have been some small scale drone attacks on Moscow in the past.
I think they were carried out by partisans rather than launched from Ukraine.
Funner fact: Today is National Flag Day in Ukraine, and tomorrow will be their Independence Day (which I understand to be a much more popular holiday lately than it used to be).
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
Jaymann wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2024 5:34 pm
Fun Facts: Population of Ukraine = 36.7 million. Population of California = 39 M.
Tokyo = 37M
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General "No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton MYT
I watch a cute Ukrainian streamer girl. She lives on the east side of Ukraine. She was out fishing yesterday. Didn't see a bit of war around. Seemed strange.
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When in doubt, skewer it out...I don't know.
Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2024 9:56 pm
I watch a cute Ukrainian streamer girl. She lives on the east side of Ukraine. She was out fishing yesterday. Didn't see a bit of war around. Seemed strange.
The war is happening in major population centers (subject to missile attacks and bombing) and on the front line (subject to armored and mechanized action).
A French girl in 1943 (given the technology) could have made a bucolic fishing video around the Loire to the same effect.
Looks like Ukrainians are now engaging in Hot Tuah (sorry, I had to):
Videos have begun to circulate on Telegram and X this week from Ukrainian units showing their new weapon. (You can see three of them below.) The videos each show a drone moving deliberately along a trench line as it releases a continuous stream of incendiary material, which often starts fires on the ground below (and ignites nearby ammunition).
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This drone type is allegedly called "Dragon" and is said to feature thermite, a mixture of metal powder (usually aluminum) and metal oxide (in this case, said to be iron). When a thermite mixture is ignited, it undergoes a redox reaction that releases an enormous amount of heat energy and can burn anywhere. It can get really, really hot.
It's pretty terrifying considering that it can be used anywhere, not just treelines hiding Russian soldiers.
Over a block of residential buildings or say maybe a sporting event?
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General "No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton MYT
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 4:04 pm
Geeze, Ars - don';t give people the recipe for thermite. If people start realizing how easy it is to make, it'll start showing up everywhere.
Is Russia launching 'counterattacks' when they are the agrressor? And I suppose it's an incursion over there in Kirsk, but I mean - this whole thing is to stop the actual incursion - so - the language just sounds so Russian it's glaring to me.
If you are holding something, lose it, and try to get it back, it's going to be described as a counterattack. And Kursk was Russian before any of the invasions from what I can tell, so it's definitely a counterattack to a Ukranian incursion. I don't see anything wrong in the article.
stessier wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 12:23 pm
If you are holding something, lose it, and try to get it back, it's going to be described as a counterattack. And Kursk was Russian before any of the invasions from what I can tell, so it's definitely a counterattack to a Ukranian incursion. I don't see anything wrong in the article.
That's because you live in SC.
(kidding)
Yeah, I know I'm being a little sensitive to the language.
Let me phrase it accurately but with a Ukrainian spin...
As gains from the Ukranian counterattack into Russia begin to slow, Russia scrambles to re-take lost ground.
I don't know that I would ever have described it as a Ukrainian counterattack - it's not countering a previous attack in that area. A Ukrainian push or offensive that slowed, maybe.
But yes, I see what you are saying. I still don't think MSN is being pro-Russian.
Turkey is not a member of the International Criminal Court, but as a NATO member, wouldn't a visit by Putin put them in a sticky spot regarding his arrest warrant?
Since last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed several official visits to Turkey.
A multitude of reasons have been offered by officials. Some have said Putin has been avoiding any countries that were not part of the Soviet Union since the Ukraine war began. Others have put it down to the Russian elections earlier this year.
