"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (8 Viewers)

[Thumpalumpacus]

This is getting interesting ... fetching popcorn ...

"We are Russians just like you. We are people just like you. We want our children to grow up in piece and be free people, so that they can travel, study and just be happy in a free country. But this has no place in today's Putin's Russia, rotten from corruption, lies, censorship, restrictions on freedoms, repressions. In that Russia where a person's life means less than an official's wallet. In that Russia where a separate railway is being laid to the residence of the bunker grandfather instead of repairing roads in the regions. In a dictatorial country where children are separated from their parents for calling for peace, and teenagers are given life sentences. It's time to put an end to the Kremlin's dictatorship. Thanks to all those who support us. To everyone who sends us donations and smokes where necessary. Your support is what every day reminds us of our final goal on Red Square [in Moscow]. Be brave and don't be afraid, because we are coming home. Russia will be free!"


View: https://twitter.com/legion_svoboda/status/1660554769121812480

Can anyone more proficent in Russian confirm translation?

Also on their telegram channel they wrote:
"Residents of the border regions!
Stay at home, don't resist and don't be afraid: we are not your enemies. Unlike Putin's zombies, we don't touch civilians and don't use them for our own purposes. Freedom is near!

To everyone who follows us: soon all the details, stay in touch.

"L"
For Russia! For freedom!"

"[...] and smokes where necessary."

You gotta love this line.

 

[GTX]

Russia-Ukraine war: Australia must give more military, humanitarian support to Ukraine

amp-smh-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[buffnut453]

Meanwhile, in Bakhmut, Prigozhin is planning his retreat so he can blame the Russian military when Ukraine re-takes the town:

Ukraine war: Wagner chief vows to hand Bakhmut to Russian army by June

The chief of the mercenary group made the claim but Ukraine says it still controls parts of the city.

www.bbc.com

 

[syscom3]

The F-16 was designed in the same era.

As for facing threats, the F-16 has one advantage -- speed, but you can't outrun a missile. It also has one (as opposed to two) engines, slung under (rather than over) the fuselage.

I grant that 400 kts is not a lot of get-away, but that's more about enemy fighters than missiles.

Like I said earlier, I get the problems with survivability going low and slow over the battlefield, but those problems are going to affect any non-stealthy platform doing CAS/BAI with loitering being something of a requirement.

I'm talking about the A10.

 

[RogerdeLluria]

Ukraine-backed sabotage group ‘invades Russia and seizes villages’

Troops entered Russia from Ukraine on Monday, striking checkpoints on the border with tank fire and pushing 8 km past the frontier into three villages.Ukrainian military intelligence, the GUR, said that the “Freedom of Russia Legion”, a group of Ukraine-backed Russian partisans, were conducting an o

www.thetimes.co.uk

"Ukraine is watching the events in the Belgorod region of Russia with interest and studying the situation, but it has nothing to do with it," the presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted. "As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens."

Lol, that's high level trolling.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm talking about the A10.

Yes, and we're talking about it in the context of the proposed training and presumably equipping UAF with F-16s, which is what prompted my original post about the Warthog in this current discussion.

The UAF seems fine with their Su-25s in the role, which is cool. I get that they'd rather have a platform which can do air superiority as well as ground attack, and it makes sense that they wouldn't want to burn through aid money doubling a capability they already have, albeit with a less-capable platform. I'm just saying that the objections you raise to the A-10 can also be leveled against the F-16. Do you oppose donating those as well?

 

[GTX]

Here come the jets. Can Western air power shift Ukraine's battlefield balance?

The destructive power and global availability of F-16 jets is expected to help break the land warfare slog and shift the balance Ukraine's way, but it's unlikely that will happen anytime soon.

www.abc.net.au

 

[GTX]

Ukraine's secret ingredient in war with Russia isn't weapons

Western nations have stepped up the provision of weapons to Ukraine: while this will be key to helping Ukraine confront the Russians, there are two other aspects of combat power which are even more vital, writes Mick Ryan.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Frog]

This might get spicy (Source: BBC):

The governor of Russian Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, says a group of Ukrainian soldiers has crossed the border into his region, which lies just north of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv.
"A reconnaissance and subversive group of the Ukrainian armed forces has entered Gayvoron district. The Russian armed forces together with the border force, National Guard and FSB are taking steps necessary to liquidate the enemy," he said on Telegram.
Videos circulating online appear to show military vehicles - including a US-made Humvee of the type used by Ukraine - entering Russia's Gayvoron checkpoint on the border with Ukraine.
The BBC has confirmed the location shown in the videos by comparing the distinctive buildings shown in them to those in publicly available satellite imagery showing the checkpoint. We have also confirmed they were uploaded earlier today by using software which checks them against existing videos on the internet - it found nothing posted before today matched them.
Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) has confirmed that an operation was under way in Belgorod region, and said that it only involved units comprised of Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine.
"The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, which comprise Russian citizens, have today started an operation to liberate these parts of Belgorod region from the so-called Putin regime and push the enemy back to create a certain security strip to protect Ukrainian civilians," GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov told Suspilne TV.
In the past, Ukraine has generally neither confirmed or denied operations that appeared to target Russian territory.

Embarrassing for the Russians is that Gayvoron is a location where nuclear ammunitions are said to be stockpiled.

 

[Glider]

View: https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1660663196191956992

On a slightly more serious note, this sort of event is going to blow a huge hole in Putins attempt to control the story. Many thousands of people are going to start reacting to the fighting at Belgorod. They in turn are going to tell thousands of their family and friends about what is happening.
Its one thing when the fighting isn't going well in a distant country, but when its close to home, the fantasy that the war is going well and to plan, is lot more difficult to sell.

I am reminded of the Russian Ambassador to Germany before Russia was attacked. The RAF were bombing and he was in the bomb shelter with a German politician who was telling him how well the war was going. Probably pissed off with the whole thing he simply asked the German. 'If things are going so well, why am I in a bomb shelter and its the RAF flying overhead?'

 

[Frog]

Just seen a video of the Belgorod governor urging the population to evacuate.

 

[Glider]

Just seen a video of the Belgorod governor urging the population to evacuate.

If true that might easily turn to a panic

 

[Greg Boeser]

This is a very serious escalation.

 

[Frog]

If true that might easily turn to a panic

About 1.5 million people in this region...

 

[GTX]

three-scenarios-for-the-next-phase-of-the-ukraine-war-and-what-each-means-for-china-204930

 

[GTX]

Will Russia Control the Skies over Ukraine?

Shrinking air defense missile inventories mean that Ukraine may be able to protect its military forces, but not its cities or infrastructure. Further damage to electrical infrastructure will cause great civilian suffering, making the situation increasingly dire.

www.csis.org

 

[GTX]

New Report: Ukraine Drone Losses Are ‘10,000 Per Month’

A report by a defense thinktank RUSI claims Ukraine is losing an incredible 10,000 drones a month, mainly due to Russian jamming. Does this show the failure or the success of such drones as modern battlefield tools?

www.forbes.com

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

On a slightly more serious note, this sort of event is going to blow a huge hole in Putins attempt to control the story. Many thousands of people are going to start reacting to the fighting at Belgorod. They in turn are going to tell thousands of their family and friends about what is happening.
Its one thing when the fighting isn't going well in a distant country, but when its close to home, the fantasy that the war is going well and to plan, is lot more difficult to sell.

As much as I'd like to agree, I think the Russian government's control of the internal narrative can handle this -- let's face it -- pinprick attack. Yes, there will be word of mouth, but I'm pretty sure that's been going along for the last sixteen months anyway, with little to show for it. The autumn offensive didn't move the public-opinion dial in Russia much at all, even though it required an additional conscription affecting 300,000 families directly. Why would this get more headway? Recall too the traffic jams in Crimea last year after Ukrainian attacks ... didn't move public opinion.

Greg Boeser , I'm not sure this is any escalation at all. Maybe Russia might issue more "dire threats", but that and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It could have the benefit of redirecting rear echelons away from threatened areas, though -- that's a good thing.

 

[buffnut453]

As much as I'd like to agree, I think the Russian government's control of the internal narrative can handle this -- let's face it -- pinprick attack. Yes, there will be word of mouth, but I'm pretty sure that's been going along for the last sixteen months anyway, with little to show for it. The autumn offensive didn't move the public-opinion dial in Russia much at all, even though it required an additional conscription affecting 300,000 families directly. Why would this get more headway? Recall too the traffic jams in Crimea last year after Ukrainian attacks ... didn't move public opinion.

Greg Boeser , I'm not sure this is any escalation at all. Maybe Russia might issue more "dire threats", but that and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It could have the benefit of redirecting rear echelons away from threatened areas, though -- that's a good thing.

In real terms, it may be a pinprick…but in propaganda terms, Putin can easily spin this to say "See? I told you the US and NATO wanted to attack us."

The situation in Belgorod will complicate Moscow's decision calculus. They have to respond to prove they can defend the Father oops, I mean Motherland….but where will those forces come from and what impact will that have on the fighting within Ukraine?

 

[buffnut453]

The funny thing about the Belgorod situation is that it's basically the same tactic Russia used to invade eastern Ukraine in the first place. Send in the "little green men" to cause havoc and mayhem, all the time denying any association between the "little green men" and the nation's military force (even though the nation manned, trained and equipped the "little green men")