My God, but this was something else!!! Even for Putins propaganda factory!!!.. I was half expecting the sleeves to be rolled up. Might have happened too only the referee stepped in. They're losing the plot, and not too slowly either.
Anton thinks there's trouble in paradise.
Anton is a mixed bag though, he's wrong as often as he is right.
✔️East
Our troops are active in the Bakhmut direction. Fighting continues.
In some places, the enemy tries to go on the offensive, but without success.
In the Kupyansk, Shakhtarsk directions - the enemy carries out airstrikes and shelling.
On the Avdiyiv and Lyman directions, the enemy made attempts to advance, but without success.
Fighting continues on Marinsky. Our defenders repelled numerous enemy attacks in the area of the city of Maryinka, inflicting significant losses on him.
✔️ South
Battles continue for Velika Novosilka in the Novopalivsk direction.
In the Zaporozhye direction in the Orichova area, the enemy is actively on the defensive.
First time I've seen someone in the Ukrainian government acknowledge the offensive operation that's going on in the south.
This is well known, but the problem is that Putin needs a situation like that to justify his very existence as the "Saviour and Protector" of Russia. And so the myth about a Russia being constantly under attack has to be perpetuated. And of course, it does not stop him from attacking whoever he wants, or for what ever reason. It will all come under the banner one way or another as protection for Mother Russia.
Attacking civilian infrastructure was already terrorism but this is somehow even worse because the water has already destroyed any potential targets. All they are doing is hardening the resolve of Ukrainians. It's utterly counter-productive as a tactic.
I would not blame them either, unless and until they get cast iron Guarantees from the Russians, and Russians do not have a good history of guaranteeing anything. It would not be the first time in this war that they attacked people even under an arranged flag of truce.
A member of one brigade taking part in the offensive in the southeast described “continuous heavy fighting.”
“It is very difficult on the field,” he said Thursday morning. “Our artillery and aviation are working, but the Russians’ are working, as well. It is difficult for us and for them. The armed forces are advancing. But not as fast as we wanted.”
Sounds about right based on what we've seen so far.
I think it will be a bit longer than a few weeks as Russia has had time to dig in. Still I expect Russia to be giving up/ retreating back to their own border by late summer as another good will gesture. I don't think we will see a civil war in Russia , perhaps some type of coup against Putin. This is what the US might encourage covertly. The last thing they or the world will want to risk is a Libyan style castatrophe in a nuclear armed state.
A lot bloodier perhaps you mean? A lot of Russians who won't be going home..
In the past that was definately the case but I wonder if that is still firmly the case. ? My reasoning for saying this as follows :-
(1) the internet/mobile phones have increased peoples knowledge as to what is really happening and see that there are more Bennie/ better systems of governance out there
( 2) there is increasing contact/ networking, etc,as the population becomes more educated and may come to the conclusion that Ru does not need to be ina constant skirmish/war
(3) because of advances in technology what was not possible to do ‘last year’ may be possible to do this year. Eg do things by remote controll
(4) the more the population find out what is really happening out there- and especially the carry on of Ru in UKr , the numbers of Russiansoldiers being killed ,maimed, KIA ,etc the more they will resist mobilisation so Putin might not be able to round up enough to defend an entity that has not been attacked since 1944
It's pretty pathetic how well the Russian disinformation works on some people. Because they see what they want to see.
Russia has lost thousands of tanks -> There are huge tank divisions just waiting to be sent to the front line, no big deal.
Blurred pictures that might show a Leopard 2 being hit -> That's it lads, the counteroffensive has failed. Ukraine has lost.
Sad all the thanks you got for this and it not true at all.
That's pretty much it.
Remember again. The offensive on the Eastern bank of Kherson was a failure for weeks and weeks and weeks. And people were doubting if Ukraine were capable of anything more than losing slowly. Then all of a sudden Russia were running across the bridge with their tails between their legs.
We're now at what? Day 1½ of this offensive? If it even has started in earnest. Nobody here knows. And the usual suspects who'd love to see nothing more than this offensive get bogged down are posting worried messages about Ukraine losing units. "Oh no isn't it terrible that this is all falling apart like i thought it would??" 🙄
There's going to be loss of life. Western tanks ARE going to be damaged/destroyed. Some attacks are going to unsuccessful. This is war. War is unpredictable. I have some faith based on past results that the UAF have accounted for this and know how to cut their losses or make the best of a bad situation. Unlike Russia who prefer to just fling thousands of bodies and armor at the wall until it cracks, or doesn't.
I won't be paying attention to any half baked blurry images, reports from a single soldier or russian telegram shite going forward until harder details come forward.
WTF sort of question is that? Are you asking, is it OK to blow up dams in peace time just because you may not like the people who will be, er, discommoded as a consequence? Hell no.
Is it OK in peacetime to load up a field gun with high explosive and fire it at an area of a city whose inhabitants you don't like? Hell no.
Shooting somebody in peace time is a crime; shooting the same person in war time is not. Assuming they are wearing the uniform of your enemy.
Is there anybody in any moral doubt about these scenarios?
My point about the Dnieper Dam being blown up was that it is apparently a "WAR Crime" ie, something that is not permissible even in war time. Up there with massacring prisoners and murdering civilians. I genuinely did not know that bombing dams was a war crime until I read the lip-quivering condemnation of this recent action from many British and American politicians.
This is because Dam busting has a heroic place in British miitary history. RAF 617 Squadron is still known colloquially as the Dambusters and their motto is still "Apres moi le deluge" (Because their predecessors in 1943 did indeed cause an almighty deluge). Should we look at them differently now?
The only moral dilemma exercising many in Britain concerning the original Dambusters is that their commanding officer on the raid had a black Labrador dog with a name that is unpalatable to 21st century ears. It's one of the reasons the film made about the raid in the 1950s is rarely shown on TV now and when it is, much of the dialogue is bleeped. Because of course the dog, who was killed by a car the morning of the raid and whose name was the code word to be radioed back to base when the first dam was destroyed, is one of the main characters in the movie. You know how the British just LOOOVE their animals.
Special attention needed by all the naysayers and gloommongers to point 4 and 5!
"4/ The initial #counteroffensive operations may be the most difficult and slowest, as they involve penetrating prepared defensive positions. Initial setbacks are to be expected. This phase may also see the highest Ukrainian losses.
5/ Militaries have long identified the penetration phase of a mechanized offensive as the most dangerous and costly. The success or failure of this phase may not be apparent for some time."
Not really no,
But they don't have an unlimited supply of western tanks especially not lepoard 2s ,they have more older leopard 1 tanks the leopard 2s ,but they are always going to lose armor crossing open ground without air over or heavy artillery cover and Anti aircraft systems
Losses were certain to happen going up against those defensive lines. Suppose is hoped the Russian line would collapse easily.
First Leopard destroyed.
Tucker ran like a little baby when faced with court, Fox settled, why....fiction belongs on tv and twitter, but facts rule in a court. It's about time someone sued Tucker personally for all he has, that might stop him spewing vile.
Yup Oryx have flagged it (and that radar too). First time both had been destroyed in this conflict:
TOS-1 destroyed.
???
Makes total sense, melitopol is major keystone in breaking the Russian lines ,take melitopol you can cut supplies to Kherson and Crimea and then north to Mariupol,
If anyone wanted a classical example of a bit of whataboutary, a dose of deflection , then one need go no further than Mad Finn’s take on the blowing up of the dam and that it IS NOT A WAR CRIME - it ‘s just so insignificant that at worst the perpretators at most may be given a one month suspended sentence. That is if it is not thrown out of court because it is so insignificant
Mariupol is to the East, not North.
It's on the northern coast of the sea of Azoz
CNN report on new push into the lines
smooth landing there, Mariupol isn't even due north of easternmost Crimea.
Geography hey 😄
I mean hey im being assisted by google.
So they seem to have taken Orikhiv...
Split the difference, East North East?
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