"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (4 Viewers)

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Hey, another "ammunition" fire.
 
When even your infrastructure is creaking and groaning under the pressure, you're screwed.
And yet the Russians have taken over much of eastern Ukraine. We all enjoy snickering at the paper tiger that has become the Russian military, but shite kit or not, they're getting results, and will soon hold the near entirety of the Donbas and the land bridge to Crimea. While I don't think the Russians have much ability to advance any further, I also think the Ukrainians lack the ability to push back the Russians…. Meaning that this will stalemate until a ceasefire is called, and Ukraine loses the peace.
 
And yet the Russians have taken over much of eastern Ukraine. We all enjoy snickering at the paper tiger that has become the Russian military, but shite kit or not, they're getting results, and will soon hold the near entirety of the Donbas and the land bridge to Crimea. While I don't think the Russians have much ability to advance any further, I also think the Ukrainians lack the ability to push back the Russians…. Meaning that this will stalemate until a ceasefire is called, and Ukraine loses the peace.

Very early in this thread I opined that the Ukrainians would be quickly crushed, and it's one instance where I was truly happy to be wrong. I fear your reading is correct, and I hope to be shown wrong again.
 
Let us look back to day 15 of the "special operation" and compare it to the map posted a little bit ago.

Ukraine_Day-15.jpg


What we see is that the Ukraine has refused Russia's initial offensive and contained them to the eastern/south-eastern region.
The Donbas and Crimea regions were already a "red shaded area" on the map and Russia has not really gained much territory in nearly two months.

What the Ukraine has done, is exposed Russian Military weaknesses, drained them of resources and now has them contained in a zone.

This war is not yet two months old, the Ukraine has volunteers streaming in to bolster their ranks, they have weapons and supplies streaming in, they have a leader that leads them from the trenches and they have a will to save their homeland at all costs.

Russia cannot sustain their "defensive offensive" much longer, the Ukrainians are bleeding them out.
 
Hey GTX,

re "South Korea and Japan aren't really sending Military aid beyond helmets and vests."

Japan is also sending commercial drones. Note the term "commercial drones". The drones Japan is sending to Ukraine run the gamut - from small types that can fit in the palm of your hand, with automated locating systems and high definition thermal imaging cameras - to larger types like the ones used by the Public Security Intelligence Agency and police agencies for things like fisheries patrols and anti-terrorism activities, where only the fact that they are not shipped with weapons capability and use different communications protocols differentiate them from other nations military drones of similar sizes. These drones are some of the most advanced in the world, and include things like automatic tracking (ie once you lock on to the target signature it will follow the target/stay on station until it runs out of power or is told to stop) and secure low probability of detection communications. The larger ones are all required by Japanese law to have radar signature enhancing, but if one is not law abiding they can be rendered no more detectable than most military drones, with very little effort.
 
Hey SparrowRob,

Sorry, I missed your post.

The only info I have on the Admiral Essen is that it was hit by something Ukrainian (not a gun, and probably not a Neptune anti-ship missile) on 3 April, something that caused enough damage the ship lost all power for an unspecified period of time. It was originally taken under tow to one of the nearby harbors controlled by the RF, where it underwent repairs with the aid of one of the RF Navy repair ships, and was back in action by 12 April when it was reported it managed to shoot down a Bayraktar drone.
 
Hey GTX,

re "South Korea and Japan aren't really sending Military aid beyond helmets and vests."

Japan is also sending commercial drones. Note the term "commercial drones". The drones Japan is sending to Ukraine run the gamut - from small types that can fit in the palm of your hand, with automated locating systems and high definition thermal imaging cameras - to larger types like the ones used by the Public Security Intelligence Agency and police agencies for things like fisheries patrols and anti-terrorism activities, where only the fact that they are not shipped with weapons capability and use different communications protocols differentiate them from other nations military drones of similar sizes. These drones are some of the most advanced in the world, and include things like automatic tracking (ie once you lock on to the target signature it will follow the target/stay on station until it runs out of power or is told to stop) and secure low probability of detection communications. The larger ones are all required by Japanese law to have radar signature enhancing, but if one is not law abiding they can be rendered no more detectable than most military drones, with very little effort.
The very fact that nations on the other side of the world are actively sending what aid their laws allow, is a statement in itself.
Japan, for example, cannot supply lethal aid, so their sending helmets, body armor and such, is an indication of how the world at large, views the situation.
 
Russian Navy is sending a 110 years old vessel to salvage the Moskva.

A 110 y.o. vessel.


The US Navy is planning to retire the 22 Ticonderoga clases cruisers in 5 years, with 35 years use in their hulls.

 
And yet the Russians have taken over much of eastern Ukraine. We all enjoy snickering at the paper tiger that has become the Russian military, but shite kit or not, they're getting results, and will soon hold the near entirety of the Donbas and the land bridge to Crimea. While I don't think the Russians have much ability to advance any further, I also think the Ukrainians lack the ability to push back the Russians…. Meaning that this will stalemate until a ceasefire is called, and Ukraine loses the peace.

Not sure I agree with your assessment. Who would broker any peace agreement? Certainly no western country would seek a peaceful agreement that rewarded Russian aggression. China won't be acceptable to western nations, or to Ukraine either, because of Beijing's refusal to condemn the Russian attack.

I also don't see Ukraine simply giving up and accepting a bad deal. I do see the war bogging down into some sort of stalemate, where Russia can't advance any further and Ukraine can't push back Russian forces. However, it doesn't necessarily follow that there would be a ceasefire. I think Ukraine wants to do what the Taliban did...simply wear down the Russian forces until they eventually give up (or Putin is replaced).
 
The Russians are using garbage weaponry, tactics, training, planning and logistics, but they've still managed to take much of eastern Ukraine. With their superior weapons, tactics, training and motivation the Ukrainians have not yet found a counter to the mass of the Russian effort. They may be useless, but the Russians are winning so far.

View attachment 665462

If I was the Ukrainian CNC I'd be worried about that salient in the east. If the Russians can find the tanks and the gas they can drive south and north (once Mariupol is dealt with) and cut off a large portion of Ukraine's army. Lots of ifs there I admit.

View attachment 665463
A pirric victory so far.

Huge losses, not achieving a regimen change in Ukrainia, almost total isolation from the outside world, a united western front, Sweden and Finland bound to NATO arms, EU determined to end dependence on russian oil&gas.

The eastern ukrainian gains for RF are to be temporal, Zelensky said. And frankly, so far Zelensky seems a much more reliable source than Uncle Vlad & Co.
 

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