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

[Admiral Beez]

Useful daily progress map here.

Interactive Map: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

This interactive map complements the static control-of-terrain maps that ISW daily produces with high-fidelity.

storymaps.arcgis.com

 

[GrauGeist]

The threat of attack by their Satan II (RS-28) missiles are, indeed a thinly veiled threat of nuclear attack.

The Satan II is an ICBM carrying up to 15 warheads.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The threat of attack by their Satan II (RS-28) missiles are, indeed a thinly veiled threat of nuclear attack.

I don't want to see it tested, but I wonder in the post-CW era's institutional theft and corruption if Russia's ICBM force is truely operational?

Do any of Russia's Nuclear Weapons Actually Work?

I know, the title is crazy, right? We all know that Russia is the big #2 nuclear power in the world. They have thousands of warheads — actually, according to Wiki, about 1,500 actively deployed and 4,500 in standby reserve. That’s a whole lot of...

www.dailykos.com

Russia's Strategic Nuclear Weapons are Complete Duds

The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction remains a prominent part of America’s nuclear deterrence strategy for the Soviet Union’s successor, the Russian government.

nationalinterest.org

Putin humiliated as ‘60 percent’ of Russia’s missiles ‘don’t work’

VLADIMIR PUTIN's arsenal of missiles may not be as threatening as many feared after US officials claimed the majority of Russia's warheads do not work.

www.express.co.uk

 

[buffnut453]

Ah. And what did he predict the British and NATO response would be?

Britain doesn't have like weapons with which to reply in kind. So it'll be at minimum conventional TLAMs into Moscow - and we've seen how inept Russian air defences are.

Well...there's a difference between forward-deployed air defences and those protecting the motherland, particularly Moscow. I think NATO's response would be to take to the field, en masse, to destroy the Russian army in Ukraine and roll it back to the pre-2014 borders....and then stop and demand peace terms from Moscow.

Of course, all this is hypothetical because we've no idea whether Russia even has the number of hypersonic missiles to conduct the attack as outlined by the nut-job Gurulev. When they're throwing ancient SS-21 SCARABs at Ukraine, with only a few confirmed instances of hypersonic missile use, I have to wonder how big the arsenal of the latter is, particularly as it will be hard to replenish given current sanctions.

 

[buffnut453]

That guy, Andrey Gurulev "declared war" on Britain earlier, in June - when there were tensions around Kaliningrad. At that time his plan was three stages:
1. 100% of all US and UK satellites are destroyed.
2. 100% of the air and missile defence of the UK is destroyed.
3. London gets the first blow.
Timing not mentioned, but probably 3 days, as the capture of Kyiv.

One has to question his grasp of geography with his statement that Britain is the "closest target."

You'd think, given that their level of GPS development is non-existent, that Russian military personnel would know how to read a map.

 

[buffnut453]

The threat of attack by their Satan II (RS-28) missiles are, indeed a thinly veiled threat of nuclear attack.

The Satan II is an ICBM carrying up to 15 warheads.

Where were Satan II missiles mentioned in the article? Gurulev specifically mentioned Zircon hypersonic missiles in the linked article. Is there another, more comprehensive version of the story that mentions Satan II?

 

[GrauGeist]

Where were Satan II missiles mentioned in the article? Gurulev specifically mentioned Zircon hypersonic missiles in the linked article. Is there another, more comprehensive version of the story that mentions Satan II?

This goes back to May, but it's been mentioned several times since then, both by Kremlin mouth-pieces and by that Olga female on their pet TV station.

Russia makes new threats over use of Satan-2 hypersonic nuclear missile on Britain

Kremlin official also says it is ‘absolutely legitimate’ for Russia to question existence of Finland

www.independent.co.uk

 

[buffnut453]

This goes back to May, but it's been mentioned several times since then, both by Kremlin mouth-pieces and by that Olga female on their pet TV station.

Russia makes new threats over use of Satan-2 hypersonic nuclear missile on Britain

Kremlin official also says it is ‘absolutely legitimate’ for Russia to question existence of Finland

www.independent.co.uk

Ahhhh...gotcha. Thanks for the pointer. Still, pick a fight with little old Blighty and NATO will respond full-force. And if nukes are used, it'll be endex for Moscow unless Russia also tries to take out the US at the same time.

 

[GrauGeist]

I don't want to see it tested, but I wonder in the post-CW era's institutional theft and corruption if Russia's ICBM force is truely operational?

Do any of Russia's Nuclear Weapons Actually Work?

I know, the title is crazy, right? We all know that Russia is the big #2 nuclear power in the world. They have thousands of warheads — actually, according to Wiki, about 1,500 actively deployed and 4,500 in standby reserve. That’s a whole lot of...

www.dailykos.com

Russia's Strategic Nuclear Weapons are Complete Duds

The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction remains a prominent part of America’s nuclear deterrence strategy for the Soviet Union’s successor, the Russian government.

nationalinterest.org

Putin humiliated as ‘60 percent’ of Russia’s missiles ‘don’t work’

VLADIMIR PUTIN's arsenal of missiles may not be as threatening as many feared after US officials claimed the majority of Russia's warheads do not work.

www.express.co.uk

I honestly think their nuclear arsenal is not in very good shape.
The reasons you mentioned, plus apathy in the ranks (which effects upkeep of hardware) makes it very likely that a portion of the missiles are not fit to be used.

 

[buffnut453]

The other observation about the Satan II is that it was only tested back in April 2022 so I question the number they actually have in service.

 

[GrauGeist]

The other observation about the Satan II is that it was only tested back in April 2022 so I question the number they actually have in service.

Russia has been going on about it's fearsome hypersonic missiles, but I don't recall any word of it being tested.
The same can be said of China's hypersonic missile, too.

The only test that I'm aware of, was the U.S. test back in late June (or early July), which failed. The failure was caused by an "anomaly" due to the "complexity of it's design".

So if the U.S. is having issues with it, I'm thinking that Russia is waving a piece of paper at everyone and expecting them to be frightened.

 

[buffnut453]

Russia has been going on about it's fearsome hypersonic missiles, but I don't recall any word of it being tested.
The same can be said of China's hypersonic missile, too.

The only test that I'm aware of, was the U.S. test back in late June (or early July), which failed. The failure was caused by an "anomaly" due to the "complexity of it's design".

So if the U.S. is having issues with it, I'm thinking that Russia is waving a piece of paper at everyone and expecting them to be frightened.

Here's some fact-checking by Reuters on Satan II:

Fact Check-Russia’s ‘Satan 2’ long-range missile has been in development for years

Russia did not unveil a new missile in 2022 which can destroy all living things in one strike, contrary to suggestions made online.

www.reuters.com

Regarding the test, here's some info on the test and current status. It's from Wiki but given the lies the emanate from Moscow, it's probably as accurate as any other info on the missile that's available on the interwebbythingy:

On 20 April 2022, according to the Russian Defense Ministry:

"At 15:12 Moscow time at the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, a Sarmat fixed-based intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from a silo launcher."— Russian Defense Ministry

The first contract for the production of the missiles was signed in August 2022.


Note that if the first production contract was only signed this month (yes, we're still in August....just), then there's NO WAY they'll have an operational force for many months to come.

 

[Greg Boeser]

Did western intelligence agencies confirm the launch?

 

[GrauGeist]

Did western intelligence agencies confirm the launch?

That's just it, I haven't seen any commentary from intellegence sources discussing their "test".

Russia claimed their prototype's test was successful and aparently, from that one test, they'll have 'em rolling off the assembly line like pancakes at Denny's...

 

[buffnut453]

That's just it, I haven't seen any commentary from intellegence sources discussing their "test".

Russia claimed their prototype's test was successful and aparently, from that one test, they'll have 'em rolling off the assembly line like pancakes at Denny's...

Oh...and they're struggling to build new tanks so what chance of building a new, high-tech missile that allegedly has performance that no other country's missile programme has yet achieved.

I'm not ready to start quaking in my boots just yet.

 

[GrauGeist]

I'm not ready to start quaking in my boots just yet.

Oh but you should!

His Imperial Majesty, Czar Putin the Great has spoken - so it must be true.

Of course, he said he was going to "clean up" those pesky Ukrainians, too.

However, it appears that Ukraine somehow missed the memo...

 

[buffnut453]

Oh but you should!

His Imperial Majesty, Czar Putin the Great has spoken - so it must be true.

Of course, he said he was going to "clean up" those pesky Ukrainians, too.

Unfortunately, Ukraine somehow missed the memo...

But...but...it's all going to plan. Dmitri Peskov said so, as recently as yesterday!

 

[GrauGeist]

Olga Skabeyeva has been saying that NATO is the reason why the Ukraine has been naughty and the west should be nuked punished for encouraging Ukrainians to look away from their masters.

 

[buffnut453]

Olga Skabeyeva has been saying that NATO is the reason why the Ukraine has been naughty and the west should be nuked punished for encouraging Ukrainians to look away from their masters.

Those Russian vox-boxes certainly dislike it when the proletariat get ideas above their station. It's a long-running thread through the nation's history.

 

[GrauGeist]

I've mentioned before, the opinion of my Fianceé's father (former Bulgarian Army vet) about Russians:
"they are all villagers. They need to be told what to do. They cannot think for themselves".

And this was one of his nicer opinions...