"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (5 Viewers)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules


Love this excerpt (told you so):

News of the pledges came amid Russian media reports that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had decorated pilots involved in an incident earlier this week .
 
I have to admit that Ukraine have made a mistake with this action by dismissing such a highly respected commander who revealed Bakhmut battle death toll
I'm confident that after a year of success the AFU's officer pool is more than capable of filling this rogue commander's shoes. Commanders come and go, the people's elected government calls the shots.
 
Lt. Col. Kupol was demoted and removed from that particular command. I'm sure he'll be reassigned elsewhere.

Aside from the physical war with Russia, Ukraine has been fighting a war of media with Russia. The less information that Ukraine provides, the less that Russia knows - in other words, Kupol's statement provides Russia with an accurate assessment of the situation and could be encouraging.
If Russia thought the Ukrainian casualty ratio were lower, it could have caused them to reassess the objective.
 
In my (admittedly totally unqualified) opinion, I think this is a pretty concise piece of analysis - those certainly seem like the 2 most likely options facing the Ukrainian General Staff. The 'hold em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass' approach at Bakhmut could potentially reduce Wagner to impotence (perversely, The Russian Army might be quite OK with this....) and deliver a solid victory (though its PR value might exceed its strategic impact). A drive to the coast would probably be simpler, and would give the Ukr forces options once they got there - i.e. go north? go south?

IF they are tracking the Wagner boss and could close off Bakhmut with him inside that would be a really good result. Unfortunately probably not doable.
 
I'm sure that we'll soon see Ukraine's new hardware in action about the same time as the Russians do.
Yep. I'm looking forward to seeing Leopard 2s, Challenger 2s, Bradleys, Marders, Spartans, CV90s, AMX-10s, PzH 2000s, Archers and the whole host of NATO-designed vehicles supplied to Ukraine rolling over the Russians.
 
Last edited:
Shades of Twilight 2000 ... ;)
I was more thinking the NATO counteroffensive in Red Storm Rising. The only way the Russians will stop this nearly unprecedented concentration of Western tech from smashing its way into Melitipol and onto Crimea is if all of Russian-held Kherson and Zaporizhzhia is an antitank minefield.
 
Last edited:
It's the calm before the storm, really.

Alot has been going in in the media: Ukraine is getting this, Ukraine is not getting this.
Ukraine wants this, Ukraine doesn't want this.
etc., etc...

What has been real quiet, is that Ukrainian pilots have been sent to the U.S. for training. What types they've been training on goes back and forth - but that fact that they've been training on something, is notable.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians have been training abroad in other aspects: armor, infantry, artillery (and less glamorous but essential: mechanical support) and so on has to be taken into account.

It was recently noted about the absence of the total manpower of the Ukraine armed forces at the front. Just enough boots on the ground to keep pressure on Russian elements, which is a fraction of their total headcount.

If Bakhmut is Stalingrad V2.0, then I am willing to bet that the coming Ukrainian offensive (and you KNOW it's coming) will be Desert Storm V2.0.

And three guesses (two don't count) as to who will be playing the role of the Iraqi Army this time...
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back