Sanctions against Russia

[willedoo]

Usually when Ukraine has a bit of a win, putler responds by bombing hospitals, schools and other civilian targets. It seems to be his MO.

[willedoo]

There's been a fire in a cooling tower at the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The Russians are saying it was struck by a Ukrainian drone attack. The Ukrainian Nikopol regional military administration reported that the Russians set fire to a large number of car tyres at the plant. I took this screen grab of a video of the fire. Drone attack or burning tyres? My money is on the tyres. Looks like a tyre fire to me. Plus it's exactly the sort of dumb thing the Russians would do.

 

[willedoo]

Apologies for the crude graphic. I took a screen grab from Google Maps and outlined the Kursk Oblast in blue and the Belgorod Oblast in yellow. The point being is that it illustrates how desirable it is to incorporate both oblasts into the Ukrainian state. Not only for the historical claims of both regions belonging to Ukraine, but also as a much needed security buffer zone against future Russian aggression. Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv will never be safe as long as Belgorod is under Russian control. If the Ukrainians get control over the two regions, they are not going to want to ever give them back. In the second graphic downloaded from the net, it's a similar view but without Belgorod region highlighted.

 

[onetrack]

Russian military incompetence continues. One of their advanced Ka52M attack helicopters laid into a supposedly Ukrainian column of military equipment.

 

However, the equipment wasn't Ukrainian, it was a Russian column of equipment, and the Ka-52M destroyed two advanced and powerful Russian self-propelled 2S19M2 Msta-S howitzers.

 

The Russians crowed about their military "success", but quickly deleted the news when they realised they'd clobbered their own troops and equipment. But the Ukrainians picked up on it quickly.

 

https://www.dagens.com/war/russian-helicopter-mistakenly-targets-own-troops

 

In other good news for the Ukrainians, they have captured and destroyed a small number of advanced Russian T-80BWM 'Flying' Tanks in their push into Russian territory.

These are amongst the most advanced of the Russian tanks, due to sophisticated fire control systems, improved armour, and being powered by a huge gas turbine, which gives them increased road speed, thus leading to their nickname.

 

It appears several of these T-80BWM's have been destroyed, and at least one was captured in full working condition, when the Russian crews simply fled in fear and abandoned them.

 

 

 

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

and being powered by a huge gas turbine

That got me thinking about the Abrams which is also gas turbine powered, so I had a look at the Abrams Wiki page. One bit of trivia there is that Abrams track wear is the second biggest consumable expense for the U.S. Army, only topped by MRE's.

[onetrack]

Nothing new there, Willie. In 1943, it was reported that there was great concern over having to "road" the General Grant (M3) tanks extensively within Australia, as the rail network was so poor, and it was often incapable of carrying the weight of the General Grants.

Rail axle loadings of WW2 were often only 5 tons per axle, especially on the narrow-gauge lines. Many of the bridges were largely only relatively light timber bridges, and the frames of the railway wagons were also not designed to carry huge loads. The Grant tank weighed 26 tons and most rail wagons were only 4 wheeled, 2-axle units with a weight capacity of 10 tons.

 

The concern was that the Grant M3 tracks were wearing out in about 1000 miles of roading work at full speed (which is 26mph or 42kmh), and this was leading to a substantial unexpected cost and considerable labour requirements.

 

In 1943, a shipment of Grants destined for Western Australia, caused a major derailment on W.A.'s narrow-gauge line between Kalgoorlie and Perth, and I believe they were then roaded the remaining distance to Perth.

 

Edited August 13 by onetrack

[willedoo]

The Lee/Grant tanks had a few faults. High visible profile, limited movement of the 75mm gun sponson and riveted construction making them prone to spalling if hit were some of the problems. I think the U.S. variant had a taller turret than the British one. Apart from the original Continental radial, they experimented with a few different engines. One was a radial diesel, another coupled two 671 GMs, and another one had five Chrysler car engines mated together (photo below).

 

[onetrack]

In another kick in the nuts for Pootin, it's reported that one of his highly-vaunted Tupolev strategic nuclear bombers (a Tu-22M3) has crashed not long after takeoff. The 4 man crew all ejected, and have all survived.

The Russians are reporting the crash was the result of a "technical problem". I'm surprised they haven't claimed it was Ukrainian sabotage, and already have the perpetrator identified, arrested, and in jail.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13747809/Fresh-humiliation-Putin-one-prized-228m-supersonic-nuclear-bombers-crashes-explodes-huge-fireball-shortly-off.html

[facthunter]

Putin has managed to show who cares to know that his forces are in chronic need of revision. Nev

[onetrack]

The weakness of Pootin's strategies and the paucity of Russian military leadership is starting to show. As we all know, every military leader in Russia is picked only for his total allegiance to Pootin, not because of their military leadership skills, or outstanding strategic planning skills. The Ukrainians are overwhelming and capturing Russian conscripts, who are not supposed to be sent to the front, or into combat zones.

 

I suspect the Ukrainians knew they would only encounter token resistance, or even no resistance, on their deep push into Russian territory - because they were aware that the defences in the areas they chose to attack, were manned by conscripts with little training, and even less desire to fight.

 

The end result is the conscripts mothers are complaining to Pootin and this is not something he wants to have to deal with. Mothers in Russia have quite a bit of sway, and if the complaints from conscripts mothers grow into a din, Pootin is going to feel quite a degree of discomfort.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/16/europe/russia-putin-war-ukraine-intl-latam/index.html

[Jerry_Atrick]

Apparently, British tanks are being used in the incursion into Russia, and there is a lot of debate abot whether that should be the case.. Many people that call into talk back radio are concerned about poking the bear and its consequences. Apart from the fact we would normally shoot a rabid maniac bear, very few of the population here seem to have cottoned onto the fact that the Russian military has shown to be in disarray and  under resourced, an under-maintained both in people and hardware/tech.

 

 

[red750]

According to tonight's news, Ukraine has destroyed another strategic Russian bridge in the Kursk region.

[willedoo]

20 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Many people that call into talk back radio are concerned about poking the bear and its consequences.

The Bear gets away with what they're doing because of that fear. Every one of putler's so called red lines carried veiled threats that included the N word. All those red lines have been crossed to a large degree with no response other than bombing a few hospitals and schools. The reality is if you poke the bear, it releases hot air.

[Marty_d]

25 minutes ago, willedoo said:

Every one of putler's so called red lines carried veiled threats that included the N word.

He's going to racially vilify Black people?

[Litespeed]

4 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

He's going to racially vilify Black people?

The fabled Black Russian.

The ruski bear 🐻 is all growl and very little bite.

 

At this rate a Drop bear would shred them.

[red750]

Russia panics and starts building trenches on its own territory

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/russia-panics-and-starts-building-trenches-on-its-own-territory/ar-AA1oXp70?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=242c2b5c6735411ec212b67b983c1998&ei=4

[red750]

Russian Authorities Claim Ukrainian Drone Attack Endangered Nuclear Plant Staff

 

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/russian-authorities-claim-ukrainian-drone-attack-endangered-nuclear-plant-staff/ar-AA1oXQ4Y?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=d1bdc55eeb734b3fc1ebf6906de80ef5&ei=17

[red750]

Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained

 

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/mapped-ukraine-s-incursion-into-the-russian-kursk-region-explained/ar-AA1oRlvY?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=edb2dc735b5a4f84b7c5c0467a1bbe82&ei=11

[red750]

Captured Russian Recruits Say They Weren't Prepared: "We Didn’t Want to Fight"

 

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/captured-russian-recruits-say-they-weren-t-prepared-we-didn-t-want-to-fight/ar-AA1oXSqm?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=3b63b1cefb484fbbc590921925a250f7&ei=10

[willedoo]

The buffoon head of Chechnya's TikTok warriors has received his Cybertruck and has invited Comrade Musk to come to Russia.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I hope he tests the bulletproofing.

[facthunter]

100. of them Charging at the same time would strike fear into the  enemy. Nev

[willedoo]

The Kursk incursion has been a big political slap in the face for putler. It's the first time since WW2 that a foreign power has captured and held Russian territory, and to make it worse for the Kremlin dwarf, it's in Kursk. That region is embedded in the Russian narrative of military success after the battles with the Germans and the Soviet Union's eventual victory. Now, German and American military equipment is on Russian soil destroying Russians. Another red line crossed (one of many) and still no nuclear Armageddon.

 

In seven days, Ukraine has captured more Russian ground than the Russians have taken from Ukraine in the last twelve months. Added to that, the cost to Russia of those small Russian gains was huge in manpower and equipment. putler and his mob are not good with strategy. So far their only strategy has been bluff. They squander their military to try to show the West they can sustain this forever, and they constantly talk of red lines so the timid West fears escalation and limits support. The problem is that the Russian resources are weakening and albeit slowly, the Western supporters are slowly getting it through their thick heads that putler has been jerking their chains.

 

putler has been hoping his bluff strategy would bring about a cease fire and an agreement whereby Ukraine basically gives up and surrenders land to the little peanut. Now that the front line is on Russian territory, the option of freezing the conflict is not one putin could entertain. All the pro-Russian media and journalists calling for a freeze and negotiated settlement have suddenly gone silent now that the front line is in Russia and Russia would lose Russian land with a freezing of lines.

 

The Kursk incursion has shown how vulnerable any lightly defended part of the border is. The Kursk region border had border posts manned by conscripts and was an easy task for the Ukrainians. For the Russians to heavily defend their entire (1991) border with Ukraine, they would have to weaken front line forces fighting in Ukraine. If the Ukrainians decide to stay and hold part of the Kursk region, it won't be easy for the Russians to dislodge them and would take a major operation to do it. If the Ukrainians retreat, it still leaves the orcs with the dilemma of trying to find the forces to prevent it happening again. The Ukrainians have had a lot of losses in Kursk but so far it's been a big win for them and nothing but loss for putler's crew.

[facthunter]

Putin as  a Military Strategist? He's DEMONSTRATED THAT convincingly as well as militarising agreements and master of deception. . Good Effort Vlad, NOT!.   Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

There may be method to the Russian madness of not resisting in a meaningful way the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region and it comes to prioritising gains v losses: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/18/zelenskiy-ukraine-shock-russia-offensive-incursion