Russians snitching on each other, as in the old Soviet days. Ukraine war: The Russians snitching on colleagues and strangers https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67427422
That is brutal, like really nightmare fuel. We need to keep support for Ukraine. Russia still have a lot of cards under the sleeve. I hate that the west takes ages for some system deliveries when the need for them was seen a year ago. For example ATACMS, Taurus, planes etc.
Russia has found an interesting way to keep their sanctioned civil aviation fleet flying. The Bank of China's aircraft leasing arm BOC Aviation had 17 of its aircraft seized by Russia. BOC Aviation has already stopped trying to get 8 of them back and it is unlikely to get the others.. There's no use - they are in pieces, stripped to keep Aeroflot airplanes going. Even if they get them back, they will have had maintenance done on them that wasn't properly recorded, thus losing their licenses to keep flying and making them worthless. This may be a backhanded way of supplying Russia. China isn't trying very hard to get the airplanes or get appropriate compensation.
These look impressive, but they don't do a lot on the battlefield. They work best against soft targets someplace flat that are bunched together, like aircraft on a tarmac, a SAM site, or a truck park. But they don't do much against dug in troops or armored vehicles or substantial structures. There's a reason the US shifted away from these towards guided weapons. Russia may simply be using these because that's what they have in abundance. The oldest ATACMS are basically this, although more accurate and much longer range. But those are similarly only good against a few targets. We really should be giving them the newer models, which are just starting to be replaced in US inventory by a whole new missile.
Bulgaria has quietly become a major source of war materiel for Ukraine, especially shells for Soviet caliber canons. The Russians have reportedly decided to target this industry with sabotage, and even attempted assassination of one of the company owners. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/24390
Independent investigators think they have found two more yachts belonging to Putin. That brings his total to 9. https://kyivindependent.com/media-2-more-yachts-allegedly-belonging-to-putin-discovered/ Your occasional reminder that Putin is probably the world's richest man.
Kaliningrad Oblast is an enclave of Russia between Poland and Lithuania. Situated in the middle of NATO nations and a NATO sea, Russia has saw fit to install a whopping 10 S400 SAM systems to render a vast area inhospitable to Western aircraft in case of conflict. Well, the last two months has seen a drastic increase in cargo flights to and from this region. It seems likely that two of the systems have been moved out to... more useful places. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/202...defence-systems-disappear/?utm_source=twitter
Night-time hunting. 3rd Assault Brigade raided positions of the Russian 72nd Brigade and 10th Spetsnaz Brigade in Andriivka. Came up close to throw in explosives while under the cover of a sniper.Exact timing is unknown.https://t.co/WOLs9rSNNo pic.twitter.com/ByaJGRAElw— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) November 21, 2023
Russia actually did that with a number of airplanes. It's been awhile and I don't feel like looking up a link, but, from what I understand, when Airbus and Boeing told Russia they would not be providing parts for their airplanes, Russian airlines informed Boeing, Airbus, and their aircraft leasers that they were stopping payments and not returning the planes. As long as the airplanes remain in Russia, there is nothing that they can do about getting the planes back. You can also see that things are different for Russia with how they are handling emergency landings. There have been several Russian airplanes that were forced to make emergency landings in open fields in rural Russia. In the past, Russian airlines would have just scrapped the airplane in place. However, with these ones, they actually built temporary runways for the airplanes and flew them to a repair center.
Could Ukraine be on the verge of losing another European ally? Slovakia recently switched to a pro-Putin government that announced they would cut off aid to Ukraine as soon as they formed a government (that happened today, btw), but now Romania may be join Slovakia as well. The far-right Aur party is gaining in popularity and is now in second in polls for next year's parliamentary elections. They are ahead of the current ruling part (PNL) by 1%, but 10% behind the other part of the government (PSD). PNL and PSD are likely to win the plurality of seats (and possibly a majority as Romania has a redistribution process), but AUR has been increasing in popularity and has been moderating their positions to appeal to more Romania's population. https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/romania/ Why this is important is that while AUR are anti-Russia, they are also anti-Ukraine, anti-EU, and anti-NATO. A key part of their position in recent months has been that they want to cut-off aid to Ukraine and "discuss" changes to their relationship with the EU and NATO and address internal issues. Romania is an important pathway for military and humanitarian aid into Ukraine and, in recent months, have position anti-air defenses across the Danube from Ukraine to stop Russian drones from using Romanian air space to hit one of Ukraine's major grain ports. Romania has also allowed Ukraine to use its territorial waters to transit ships to/from their ports. An uncooperative Romania may force cargo ships heading towards Ukraine to avoid Romanian waters, which forces them out in the middle of the Black Sea where they would be unprotected and closer to Russian anti-ship missles and ships. It is always possible that Romania could be persuaded to allow the ships to keep using their waters for humanitarian purposes, but AUR is really, really anti-Ukrainian.
Yes, this was with European leasing firms right at the start of the invasion, notably ones based in Ireland. This is complicated because some of those firms were actually owned by Russian companies. (And it seems even BOC Aviation is leasing their aircraft to Russia through an Ireland subsidiary. I guess there's something about Ireland that makes them kings of this industry.) The Chinese issue is much newer. Per the article above BOC Aviation agreed to a $200 million settlement for that first batch, but that is a fraction of what they are worth.
True, but since an attacker normally needs a 3-1 superiority in men and materiel, the greater strain on the attacker's logistics in a narrow area makes it favour the defenders/disfavour the attackers more. Doubly so if the defender has already built up sufficient supplies and dug in better. The snag is medevac of the wounded - which is where the latter is most important: the better the defenders are dug in, the more shells & rockets the enemy has to to expend to cause casualties. '
Express claims Putin ready to end the war. I'll believe it when I see it https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1837895/putin-ready-to-end-war-ukraine-zelensky
Putin has often said he is ready to end war but Ukraine would have to agree to the cession of Luhansk and Donetsk even the parts of them that Russia is not currently occupying.
He's been saying that for months. He'll keep what he's gained then try again in a few years. Maybe in the meantime he'll have a goat the Baltic States.
Russian families are finding it difficult to get reparations for soldiers KIA. Russian MOD has a firm policy of “no body, no death” and are listing soldiers as MIA even if they know for a fact that the person is dead. Families and commanders are having to file lawsuits to get a soldier declared dead because of the number of troops that are vaporized, abandoned in the field, or retrieved by Ukrainians. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1727248667143483489.html As an example, the tanks we see where the turrets pop? The crew’s bodies are generally reduced to a fine mist in the explosion and even tho their fellow soldiers saw the tank explode with them in it, the MOD is forcing commanders to mark them as MIA.
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law forming a government insurance and reinsurance program to protect newly formed ventures against war damage. This is an important step to get Western companies to invest in the nation when Ukraine needs it, which is as soon as possible. https://nitter.poast.org/Svyrydenko_Y/status/1727351037324136632#m
As you all know, defenses in this war are usually placed in the treelines around farms. They provide cover from the air and the ground while offering a unobstructed view of the vast flat area in front of them. But if heavy fighting takes place somewhere lines don't move a lot, those treelines start looking like this: https://nitter.poast.org/TheDeadDistrict/status/1727336825784778771#m Very 1918.
It does seem bizarre that 105 years after the end of World War I we still have infantry fighting hand to hand for days to gain a field.