UKRAINE WAR - 1 YEAR AND GOING.

[Ralin]

So yeah, I think it would actually be good if a mod would weigh in on whether board policy allows calling Russians debased monster men who exist only to serve the will of evil.

[KraytKing]

Touches on an important issue, I think. Lots of similar sentiment on other platforms. There is a shocking amount of anti-Russian textbook racism finding upvotes on Reddit and retweets on Twitter. What the hell happened? It's hideous. There was a video on Reddit the other day of allegedly Russian blocking troops shooting their own men as they retreated--nobody was wearing armbands, so I couldn't say myself at a glance whether they were even on the same team. But the comments! Pseudo-historians who cracked a book once or twice were parroting half-remembered lines about the NKVD and the Tsar and blasting it all as evidence that the Russians were horrible by nature. I couldn't help but laugh at one poor cunt, who spoke of the Russian expansion eastward and the annihilation of the tribes as they went as evidence of their monstrous nature--forgetting, perhaps, that annihilation of the tribes by the city dwellers has occurred in every nation of city dwellers on the planet. Famously including the United States, from which he hailed.

I think it stems from news coverage, honestly. A lot of the major outlets are casting this as a battle of good and evil, not just two nations fighting. It's a dramatic war, with the feared leviathan of Russia being held off by the plucky underdog Ukraine, or the leviathan NATO and the desperate savior Russia if you prefer lies. So it becomes weirdly excusable, for some reason, to just be racist! So people say racist things, and other people see those things and thing "Surely it can't be racist if it's against the bad guys, right?" and the racism is boosted. And then people see racism, and precedent is set, and more racism follows. And we get dumb fucking shit like Highlord using the terms "orcs" or "Ruzzians" to refer to human beings, who are either barely monstrous, or monstrous entirely of their own accord without help from their racial predispositions.

What a shitty time.

[wautd]

Short version, a Russian Orthodox Priest is getting defrocked for preaching peace. The bolded section is a particularly galling section.
I wonder how they preach on the New Testament? "Love your Russian neighbor"

Sadly I can't say I'm even surprised at this point. A couple of months ago I saw a video of a Russian chaplain preaching to soldiers that they have to shoot every Ukrainian civilian on sight, including old women or children, because they're all "satanists" or some bullshit like that.
It basically looked like the Russian orthodox version of ISIS

[LadyTevar]

How are you able to type with orcish cock that far down your throat?

Are we doing racial epithets for Russians here now?

It's okay. Vatniks don't know they're scum.

And obviously neither do you, Highlord.
I do not know what's crawled up your asshole, but unless you have something intelligent to add to this discussion, I suggest you take a vacation.
Do I make my meaning clear?

We are not Reddit, we are not Racists, we are SDNet, and we have STANDARDS.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

There was a video on Reddit the other day of allegedly Russian blocking troops shooting their own men as they retreated--nobody was wearing armbands, so I couldn't say myself at a glance whether they were even on the same team.

That was the 2001 movie Enemy at the Gates.

[Ralin]

So it becomes weirdly excusable, for some reason, to just be racist! So people say racist things, and other people see those things and thing "Surely it can't be racist if it's against the bad guys, right?" and the racism is boosted. And then people see racism, and precedent is set, and more racism follows. And we get dumb fucking shit like Highlord using the terms "orcs" or "Ruzzians" to refer to human beings, who are either barely monstrous, or monstrous entirely of their own accord without help from their racial predispositions.

What a shitty time.

I've been telling people for years this is what the whole "Racism is about power! It's not racism if they're privileged!" thing leads to. No one listens because it makes for such a great excuse to be a hateful MF-er.

[wautd]

As I understand it, I can see how Orc can be seen as a racist remark against Russians in general, but Vatnik is a political slur to describe Russian jingoists and warmongers (a term created and used by Russian pacificists themselves).

[madd0c0t0r2]

Grinding advance in the Ukrainian side.
200m won, significant casualties,main russian defence line not reached yet.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... se-ukraine

It does not feel like a collapse and roll up of Russian lines is likely.

[KraytKing]

Racism is heavily contextual. A political term vatnik may be, but its usage in American internet spaces is frequently a red flag.

Still too early to say anything regarding Ukrainian advances, I think. There appear to be offensives in multiple areas, so we're likely still just seeing the waters tested. There's a lot of different tactics Ukraine could be attempting currently, and just because there hasn't been a Kharkiv-like breakthrough doesn't mean that the tactics aren't working, nor does it mean a breakthrough isn't going to come.

It doesn't look rosy, to be sure. It isn't an almost-effortless (in image) victory like Kharkiv. But the battle is still young, and there is still a lot to see. The obvious reminder is that while it appears expensive and slow, this is still greater progress than the Russians have made all year, and it shouldn't be attriting any of the brigades Ukraine used defensively over the last season. Worst case scenario, Ukraine is capable of a slightly more effective grinding war than Russia is.

[Captain Seafort]

Grinding advance in the Ukrainian side.
200m won, significant casualties,main russian defence line not reached yet.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... se-ukraine

It does not feel like a collapse and roll up of Russian lines is likely.

Operation Lightfoot was ten full days of bloody slogging, with such heavy losses for such little ground that even Churchill, who knew what was happening in far greater detail than we know about what's happening in Ukraine, was getting badly worried. That slogging was necessary to set the conditions for Supercharge.

[Solauren]

The problem with any advance against Russia is the sheer # of bodies they have to put in the way.

With defense, they just have to truck people there to soak up bullets. (vs Offense where the need soldiers for actual gains)

I'm not expecting Russia to break anytime soon, but I think it will break in time.

[Lord Revan]

The problem with any advance against Russia is the sheer # of bodies they have to put in the way.

With defense, they just have to truck people there to soak up bullets. (vs Offense where the need soldiers for actual gains)

I'm not expecting Russia to break anytime soon, but I think it will break in time.

Honestly I don't expect Russia to break due to lack of warm bodies, but material and willingness to fight on the other hand. We've already seen that Russian won't just charge into enemy ranks mindlessly, they're told to do so sure but we've seen units surrender or defect instead of just adding to the body count.

That said I suspect the collapse might not be due Ukrainian actions well at least not directly, if there's enough conflict within Russia itself they might need to pull back troops to handle that.

[PainRack]

The problem with any advance against Russia is the sheer # of bodies they have to put in the way.

With defense, they just have to truck people there to soak up bullets. (vs Offense where the need soldiers for actual gains)

I'm not expecting Russia to break anytime soon, but I think it will break in time.

Honestly I don't expect Russia to break due to lack of warm bodies, but material and willingness to fight on the other hand. We've already seen that Russian won't just charge into enemy ranks mindlessly, they're told to do so sure but we've seen units surrender or defect instead of just adding to the body count.

That said I suspect the collapse might not be due Ukrainian actions well at least not directly, if there's enough conflict within Russia itself they might need to pull back troops to handle that.

For all the attrition they took over Bakhmut, it seems the Russian army is doing "ok" so far, having been able to fire lots of artillery and tacair to support their defense in Southern Ukraine as per Ukraine MOD.

Its possible to recast Bakhmut now with Wagner CEO being correct, in that Russia was shorting the Wagner offensive of shells and supplies. While Wagner batters down Bakhmut, RA prepares for the counter offensive. They tried to steal the credit by being in there for the kill, with some political plays between the two groups, support and etc. Wagner won by getting to claim the glory of seizing Bakhmut, even if victory is pyrhic while RA gets to use the time to build the defensive lines it started post Kharkhiv.

.with better tactical use of long range fires, the Ukrainian army are now facing the actual problems of assaulting a competent combined arms defence for the first time in the war and well , the new units they have aren't ready for that.


Its akin to the New Army deploying in France, however, the outcome is not likely to be similar because Ukraine isn't being attrited away to nothing yet.

The real test will be maybe.... Two weeks down the road when. Both sides has exhausted the Frontline troops and begun replacing battered units....

If Ukraine can slot in units faster and better than Russia can, then they should see progress by 2 weeks time. If not.......

[wautd]

The problem with any advance against Russia is the sheer # of bodies they have to put in the way.

With defense, they just have to truck people there to soak up bullets. (vs Offense where the need soldiers for actual gains)

I'm not expecting Russia to break anytime soon, but I think it will break in time.

Honestly I don't expect Russia to break due to lack of warm bodies, but material and willingness to fight on the other hand. We've already seen that Russian won't just charge into enemy ranks mindlessly, they're told to do so sure but we've seen units surrender or defect instead of just adding to the body count.

That said I suspect the collapse might not be due Ukrainian actions well at least not directly, if there's enough conflict within Russia itself they might need to pull back troops to handle that.

For all the attrition they took over Bakhmut, it seems the Russian army is doing "ok" so far, having been able to fire lots of artillery and tacair to support their defense in Southern Ukraine as per Ukraine MOD.

They also had months the time to put god knows how many anti tank and anti personnel mines in the area. If Ukraine lacks specialized anti-mining vehicles then that'll be more than a big speed bump

[madd0c0t0r2]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... challenges

Makes the point that the same factors, especially javelins, that allowed Ukraine to soak up Russia's offensive are in play on return direction too.

Ww1 trench warfare arose when defense tech hugely outweighed offensive, and lasted in stalemate until the tank was invented.

Now the tank is struggling against trenches with javeliniers replacing grenadiers. What may emerge from the new stalemate?

[EnterpriseSovereign]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... challenges

Makes the point that the same factors, especially javelins, that allowed Ukraine to soak up Russia's offensive are in play on return direction too.

Ww1 trench warfare arose when defense tech hugely outweighed offensive, and lasted in stalemate until the tank was invented.

Now the tank is struggling against trenches with javeliniers replacing grenadiers. What may emerge from the new stalemate?

A lot of destroyed helicopters

[Lord Revan]

It should be notice that reason tanks broke the stalemate in WWI was that they had better degree of armor protection (while early WWI tanks were far from indestructible juggernauts) in the role they were meant over that they replaced (aka the horse cavalry) the role they played (and tanks still play) is actually quite ancient and not something invented in WWI.

That's why I think that is more likely to change is doctrine then technology, we've yet to develop anything that works better in the role the tank is suppose to play in the battlefield.

Also the Javelin AT-missile isn't exact a new weapon having been developed in the mid-1990s.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Dozens of Russian troops killed in missile strike after gathering for commander's pep talk

Dozens of Russian troops were sitting ducks for a devastating Ukrainian HIMARS missile strike this week. The death toll from the single strike is estimated to be as high as 100, making it one of the more deadly strikes by Ukraine in the course of the war. The Russian forces had gathered together close to the city of to wait for a top general's motivational speech.

The forces had been waiting for two hours when the deadly strike took place.

They had amassed at a site close to the front and within range of Ukraine's artillery.

Kreminna lies in the Russian-occupied eastern region of Luhansk, which has been the subject of intense fighting amid Ukraine's recent counter-offensive.

While the exact death toll has not been verified, the strike was later confirmed by an unnamed Ukrainian official.

The death toll and humiliating context around the strike sparked outrage in Russia.

Several pro-war Russian nationalist bloggers turned on the country's military commanders after the reports emerged.

One blogger, Sergey Kolyasnikov, wrote on the popular messaging platform Telegram that the commanders in charge of the devastated unit should be shot.

He posted: "If by the middle of the second year of the war, there are commanders that carry columns to the front and build personnel in one big pile, and then wait for the enemy artillery to strike, then such commanders must be shot before the formation, even if they are colonels or even generals.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine have no merit in this war. We are at war with our own stupidity and sloppiness."

Another blogger Rybar claimed that the casualties in the one strike were higher than in some recent battles.

Rob Lee, an expert on the Russian military with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, shared the news of the strike and furious backlash, tweeting: "Russian Telegram channels are saying that a Russian unit was struck by HIMARS this morning on the Kreminna front with ~100 KIA and ~100 WIA.

"They were reportedly waiting near the front for a speech from a commander for hours."

Confirming the strike, an unnamed Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Post: "It's a really funny situation there. They stood in the open air for two hours listening to the speech.

"That is enough time to fix them, transport the HIMARS, enter the coordinates, and hit them."

The HIMARS, which are long-range, high-precision rocket launchers, were given to Ukraine by the US, and can hit targets up to 50 miles away.

One expert told Business Insider last year that the HIMARS was a perfect weapon for Ukraine, as Russia's logistics mean senior commanders often move close to the front.

[PainRack]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... challenges

Makes the point that the same factors, especially javelins, that allowed Ukraine to soak up Russia's offensive are in play on return direction too.

Ww1 trench warfare arose when defense tech hugely outweighed offensive, and lasted in stalemate until the tank was invented.

Now the tank is struggling against trenches with javeliniers replacing grenadiers. What may emerge from the new stalemate?

Its not so much tanks against javelins that's the only issue. Minefields and FASCAM exists on the Russian side. Add in new stuff like drones short-circuiting the artillery fire rates or loitering munitions and the battlefield is very different....


The Russians side is more illustrative though. For years, we been hoping that SHORAD will be able to neutralize the air threat from drones, thus in conjunction with surveillance, you can protect the flanks of an armoured thrust from enemy fires.


The Russian Pantsir system failed to do so, although this seems to be a mixture of both ineptness and inability...

This just means however the cult of the offensive has become even more important because the only way existing now to protect your assets is to kill the enemy first ...


And that's where Ukraine falls short. Be it aerial supremacy or long range fires, Ukraine is at an disadvantage compared to Russia.

[GrosseAdmiralFox]

Welp, Russia has been moving TacNukes into Belarus.

Putin, do you really want to be remembered as the RL version of a fictional character from an old mockumentary?

[LadyTevar]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG0IzGHYdB8[youtube]
Welp, Russia has been moving TacNukes into Belarus.

Putin, do you really want to be remembered as the RL version of a fictional character from an old mockumentary?

He wants to be the new Russian Tsar. He wants to be remembered as the Father of the New USSR. He wants to be remembered as the one who made Russia Proud Again.

And, I'm gonna lay money that he's going to try to absorb Belarus, as a consolation prize for not getting Ukraine.

[Lord Revan]

Oh I suspect absorbing Belarussia was on the table even if somehow Russia got everything they wanted in Ukraine, Putin wants to be the God Emperor of Mankind and isn't willing to accept "we won't want you to be that" from most of the rest of the world.

[Broomstick]

I sometimes wonder if Putin is hoping to arrange an "accidental" nuclear oops from Belarus in hopes NATO will attack Belarus and not Russia, basically having Belarus do his dirty work and take the heat.

Putin is a bully and a user. Belarus is fucked.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I honestly have no idea what Putin would possibly gain from that- a nuke going off anywhere near Belarus is going to produce nuclear fallout which given the prevailing winds blow East will carry radiation across large parts of Russia and possibly as far as Kazakhstan.

[Broomstick]

Putin will be elsewhere if that happens.