"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (90 Viewers)

[Greg Boeser]

re . . . 'Putin ally 'falls off boat into sea'

"At least eight Russian businessmen have died in apparent suicide or accidents in just six months"

and

"Another Russian energy boss dies mysteriously, as Putin ally 'falls off boat'"

makes 9.

I am thinking that Putin is going to have to sit at a long table and look over his shoulders (more than before the war) for the rest of his life.

Accidents are the leading cause of death in this demographic. Any speculation is just tinfoil hat conspiracy theories.

 

[vikingBerserker]

 

[WARSPITER]

I wonder how accurate this is vs. propaganda. But 100 tanks does not replace the two thousand lost.

It may well be a case of drive 100 tanks in one end, clean them up, then drive them out the other end and say they are new.

 

[buffnut453]

That's fake news. Those chickens don't have their heads cut off, so they're nothing like the Russian military.

 

[Dimlee]

Nothing is better than a combat report presented with a German(Austrian) accent. It cool down my nerves. I'll play it again instead of a soothing music at night.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Nothing is better than a combat report presented with a German(Austrian) accent.

Putin, "Steiner's assault will bring it under control."

 

[GrauGeist]

Putin, "Steiner's assault will bring it under control."

 

[RogerdeLluria]

It may well be a case of drive 100 tanks in one end, clean them up, then drive them out the other end and say they are new.

As far as I know, all existing T-90 variants were planned to be modernized to T-90M from 2020 to 2025. Deliveries and orders of modernized T-90M continue through 2022 despite economic sanctions. Probably most, if not all, of those 100 tanks are older T90 versions updated to T-90M standard.

 

[J_P_C]

I buy some of this, I doubt both engines would flame out though. If he did not have structural failure, it's apparent he over banked and spun in. Even if he got into the lead's wake turbulence, it should have not tossed him around to an extent where he couldn't control the aircraft (Su25 T/O weight should be about 40,000 pounds so we're not talking small aircraft here).

There does seem to be something coming off the left wing. The Su25 does have speedbrakes at the wing tip IIRC. I'm wondering if that's the point of failure

The only other thing to took at is if he shelled an engine (compressor or turbine blew) and that resulted in taking out flight controls. I know these aircraft have a lot of armor around the engines to prevent this, but you can always have that one piece of engine shrapnel that got lucky.

i tend to agree with you - assymetrical deployment of airbrake is most probable cause of this. During development of Su25 they have tested such thing for boosting aircraft control. Test has been conducted on high celling but response was so violent that test pilot refused to do it once more time and the test have been never repeated again.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

Then .... and now ...

Exclusive: As war began, Putin rejected a Ukraine peace deal recommended by aide

Putin's chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia's demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign, according to three people close to the...

www.reuters.com

Amid Ukraine’s effective counter-offensive, Russia’s FM Lavrov proposes negotiations with Kyiv

Moscow is not against negotiations with Kyiv, amid the broad Ukrainian counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the propagandist TV channel Russia-1 on Sept. 11.

news.yahoo.com

 

[buffnut453]

Interesting "talking head" clip from Russian television. Clearly some soul-searching going on about how to proceed:



I particularly like the dig at the Andrey Turchak's comments while visiting Kharkiv that Russia will be there "forever."

I also note the guy, who steadfastly refuses to be interrupted, talks of mass mobilization pulling people out of factories to go to "war," not to "the special military operation."

 

[buffnut453]

Then .... and now ...

Exclusive: As war began, Putin rejected a Ukraine peace deal recommended by aide

Putin's chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia's demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign, according to three people close to the...

www.reuters.com

Amid Ukraine’s effective counter-offensive, Russia’s FM Lavrov proposes negotiations with Kyiv

Moscow is not against negotiations with Kyiv, amid the broad Ukrainian counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the propagandist TV channel Russia-1 on Sept. 11.

news.yahoo.com

The comments about peace negotiations by Lavrov are interesting. Putting on my "eternal optimist" hat, I'm wondering if renewed negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow might give Russia a way out of this debacle. If Russia can secure political assurances from Kyiv to improve the way in which Russian-leaning people in eastern Ukraine are being treated, then Moscow can claim to have achieved its goals. There might just be the vaguest glimmer of hope for a political situation right now.

Think about it...the Azov Battalion was destroyed at Mariupol so Moscow can claim to have "de-nazified" Ukraine's military. Assurances about better treatment of pro-Russian people in the east will address causal factors for the fighting there. Such agreements could enable a ceasefire to be brokered and for Russian forces to withdraw.

Now....removing the "eternal optimist" hat, I'm not naiive enough to think this will happen quickly. Such agreements would still leave Russia in control of Crimea which Ukraine won't want. Also, any negotiated withdrawal by Russia, despite whatever positive spin Moscow puts on it, will be seen as a humiliating defeat, with the big, bad bear backing down in the face of a much smaller adversary.

However, Ukrainian offensive successes have changed the context of the war and Moscow is under increasing pressure to either win decisively or find a way out. They can't order a general mobilization because they simply lack the resources to train and equip such a large force....plus it would take months before any decent forces could be sent into Ukraine. Other than nukes, there aren't many other good options on the table to bring about a Russian victory...and if you can't win, the best you can hope for is some sort of negotiated settlement that at least allows you to save face. At worst, it will be an all-out defeat which could cause Russia itself to implode, much as it did after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Interesting "talking head" clip from Russian television. Clearly some soul-searching going on about how to proceed:



I particularly like the dig at the Andrey Turchak's comments while visiting Kharkiv that Russia will be there "forever."

I also note the guy, who steadfastly refuses to be interrupted, talks of mass mobilization pulling people out of factories to go to "war," not to "the special military operation."

If Rusia lacks the resources to train and equip a large force (it must have some true if they are telling that in TV prime time), maybe the western sanctions are biting harder than is acknowedged publicly. Just saying.

 

[Greg Boeser]

We are not retreating! We are pushing forward in a different direction.

 

[buffnut453]

Here's another awesome argument from Russian TV. The cracks are starting to appear in the Russian information monolith despite Moscow owning the news cycle:

 

[Denniss]

Any peace negotiation with Russia under the current regime is useless because anything signed by them is not worth the paper its written on. They cannot be trusted and have proven this many times.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

At worst, it will be an all-out defeat which could cause Russia itself to implode, much as it did after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Even without calamitous defeat, I suspect Putin's days are numbered.

Not that his replacement will be any better, in all likelihood. But even if the Russians win militarily, which I highly doubt, they will still be stuck in the trap and Putin's stature will still be sliding. I think a palace coup would be very likely under those circumstances, and that he might be better off biting the bullet now.

Of course, the Ukrainians are wanting to give him many more bullets to bite now that they're moving forward, so I'm unsure whether an agreement can be reached.

 

[Dimlee]

Just 7 months ago I could not imagine that the "spineless" EU bureaucracy will speak like that:

2022 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen

President von der Leyen delivered her third State of the Union Address in the European Parliament.

ec.europa.eu

 

[buffnut453]

Looks like things are getting even more complicated within the Russian "sphere of influence":

Armenia says 105 troops killed in Azerbaijan border clashes

World leaders are intensifying diplomatic efforts to stop a full-blown war.

www.bbc.com