not unlike the old days, in the lower right corner.
This might be a little tougher than Putin thought...
- Thread starter Nole Lou
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There are a couple of reasons for that:
1. There is a concept dating back to soviet times of Moscow as "the Center" - the closer you are to the center, the better off your life is. (Voinovich lampooned this concept rather hilariously in Moscow 2024.)
2. The people in the boonies have limited access to external info, and are therefore easier to recruit as cannon fodder.
Prigozhin may well be the person who is the "vector" of "the dead".Pretty amazed the dude hasn't caught the dead...
The head of Russia's Wagner private army has said it is not getting the ammunition it needs from Moscow, as it seeks to gain control of Bakhmut.
Russian troops - from Wagner and regular Russian forces - are trying to seize the eastern city from Ukraine.
But Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has complained of a lack of ammunition, saying it could be "ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal".
Relations between Wagner and Moscow seem increasingly tense.
The Wagner group has tens of thousands of troops in Ukraine - some recruited directly from Russian prisons - and has become a key part of Moscow's invasion.
In a post on Sunday, Mr Prigozhin said documents had been signed on 22 February, with ammunition expected to be sent to Bakhmut the next day.
But most had not been shipped, he said, before suggesting it could be deliberate.
And in a further sign of the rift, on Monday Mr Prigozhin said his representative was unable to access the headquarters of Russia's military command. It is unclear where the headquarters is located.
Mr Prigozhin said it came after he wrote to the chief of Russia's "special military operation", Army General Valery Gerasimov, about the "urgent necessity to give us ammunition".
Separately, in a video uploaded on Saturday - but seemingly filmed in February - Mr Prigozhin said his men feared that they were being "set up" as scapegoats in case Russia lost its war in Ukraine.
"If we step back, we will go down in history as the people who took the main step to lose the war," he said.
"And this is precisely the problem with the shell hunger [ammunition shortage]. This is not my opinion, but that of ordinary fighters...
"What if they [the Russian authorities] want to set us up, saying that we are scoundrels - and that's why they are not giving us ammunition, not giving us weapons, and not letting us replenish our personnel, including [recruiting] prisoners?"
In Saturday's video, Mr Prigozhin said Russia's front line would collapse without his troops.
"If Wagner PMC [private military company] were to now retreat from Bakhmut, then the entire front - which PMC Wagner today is cementing - would crumble."
He suggested Wagner fighters were taking on the "entire Ukrainian army ... destroying it" and depriving it of the chance to concentrate on other parts of the front.
While the private army was "moving forward", the Russian military was being forced to "catch up in order to save face", he implied.
Last month, Mr Prigozhin complained that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov were withholding supplies of munitions to his troops.
Ukraine war: Russia's Wagner boss suggests 'betrayal' in Bakhmut battle
"What if they [the Russian authorities] want to set us up?" the Russian mercenary boss asks.www.bbc.com
My understanding is that there are a lot of different ethnicities of people that make up Russia. The Slavic ones in the western part of the country including Moscow pretty much run the country while the people in the sparsely populated eastern part of the country are pretty much locked out of power and have entirely different culture and often language from the western part of the country.
Way more than a couple. And yes, the slavophilism goes back to Stalin, notwithstanding the irony of him being Georgian.
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That's exactly it. And Russian leadership couldn't care less about losing troops.Does a t-62 require an anti-tank weapon to destroy it? Yes. Will you die inside a t-62 if hit by an anti-tank weapon. Yes.
Russia's Ancient Tanks Being Used in Ukraine Vulnerable to Attack—U.K.
Putin's decision to deploy old T-62 tanks on the battlefield highlights "Russia's shortage of modern, combat-ready equipment," British intelligence said.www.newsweek.com
I shared the video already but this explains why Russia is doing this.
4 March 2023: the extensive damage caused by the Ukrainian attack on 28/02 with drones on the refinery of the oil giant #Rosneft at the port of #Tuapse (on the coast of #BlackSea , #Krasnodar , #Russia , ~ 440Km from the territory #Ukraine ). Note: Russian media reported minor damage.
4 March 2023: the extensive damage caused by the Ukrainian attack on 28/02 with drones on the refinery of the oil giant #Rosneft at the port of #Tuapse (on the coast of #BlackSea , #Krasnodar , #Russia , ~ 440Km from the territory #Ukraine ). Note: Russian media reported minor damage.
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This is all over Twitter today. This captured Ukraine soldier refused to remove his shoulder patch and was executed, per one tweet. There are already a number of memes in tribute to this man who was said to have said Glory to Ukraine as he was shot.
Looks like Ukraine is gonna try to break the Russians at Bahkmut....this wars Stalingrad.
Operations to defend the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut will go on, and are backed by senior generals, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Western analysts suggested at the weekend that Ukraine was probably withdrawing some of its troops, as Russian forces close in on the city.
Moscow has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, as both sides suffer heavy losses in a grinding war of attrition.
A local official says there has been street fighting in recent days.
But Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko said at the weekend that Russia had not yet gained control of the city.
Meanwhile Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private army involved in the Russian campaign, has complained of a lack of ammunition amid apparent friction between his fighters and regular Russian forces.
He also says his representative had been barred from a Russian military headquarters.
Analysts say Bakhmut has little strategic value but has become a focal point for Russian commanders who have struggled to deliver any positive news to the Kremlin.
Capture of the city would bring Russia slightly closer to its goal of controlling the whole of Donetsk region, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine it annexed last September after referendums widely condemned outside Russia as a sham.
Mr Zelensky said in a statement he had discussed Bakhmut with Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine's armed forces, and Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the country's ground forces.
"They spoke in favour of continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut," the statement said.
The comments followed a report by the German newspaper Bild quoting Ukrainian government sources that Gen Zaluzhny had disagreed with Mr Zelensky about the operation several weeks ago, recommending a retreat from the city.
Most defenders shared Gen Zaluzhny's view, the paper added.
And at the weekend the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian troops were probably conducting a "limited fighting withdrawal" while "continuing to inflict high casualties" on the Russians.
Gen Syrsky, quoted on a visit to the front line on Sunday by Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, said the fighting in Bakhmut had reached the "highest level of tension".
"The enemy has been throwing extra Wagner forces into the battle," he said. "Our troops have been courageously defending our positions in the north of Bakhmut, trying to prevent the encirclement of the city."
www.bbc.com
Operations to defend the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut will go on, and are backed by senior generals, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Western analysts suggested at the weekend that Ukraine was probably withdrawing some of its troops, as Russian forces close in on the city.
Moscow has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, as both sides suffer heavy losses in a grinding war of attrition.
A local official says there has been street fighting in recent days.
But Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko said at the weekend that Russia had not yet gained control of the city.
Meanwhile Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private army involved in the Russian campaign, has complained of a lack of ammunition amid apparent friction between his fighters and regular Russian forces.
He also says his representative had been barred from a Russian military headquarters.
Analysts say Bakhmut has little strategic value but has become a focal point for Russian commanders who have struggled to deliver any positive news to the Kremlin.
Capture of the city would bring Russia slightly closer to its goal of controlling the whole of Donetsk region, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine it annexed last September after referendums widely condemned outside Russia as a sham.
Mr Zelensky said in a statement he had discussed Bakhmut with Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine's armed forces, and Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the country's ground forces.
"They spoke in favour of continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut," the statement said.
The comments followed a report by the German newspaper Bild quoting Ukrainian government sources that Gen Zaluzhny had disagreed with Mr Zelensky about the operation several weeks ago, recommending a retreat from the city.
Most defenders shared Gen Zaluzhny's view, the paper added.
And at the weekend the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian troops were probably conducting a "limited fighting withdrawal" while "continuing to inflict high casualties" on the Russians.
Gen Syrsky, quoted on a visit to the front line on Sunday by Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, said the fighting in Bakhmut had reached the "highest level of tension".
"The enemy has been throwing extra Wagner forces into the battle," he said. "Our troops have been courageously defending our positions in the north of Bakhmut, trying to prevent the encirclement of the city."
Ukraine war: Bakhmut defenders double down - Zelensky
The president says the embattled eastern city's defence goes on, and that senior generals back the move.
www.bbc.com
As my dad used to say, wish in one had and s#|T in the other and see which one fills up first.
Yeah, I saw the video. Poor bastard but that dude was one tough and brave son of a bitch.
Pussy ass Russian gangsters. Hope they all ****ing die
"Ukrainian and Russian forces both have used such weapons since Russia first seized Ukrainian territory in 2014, according to news reports and human rights groups.
The U.S. Army is spending more than $6 million a year to decommission 155 mm cluster artillery shells and other older munitions, according to budget documents
Providing DCIPMs would ease shortages of other kinds of 155 mm shells that Washington has been shipping to Kyiv in massive quantities, the congressional aide said.
Crow said he opposed providing the DCIPMs to Ukraine because of the high failure rate of the bomblets, which would worsen Ukraine’s already massive unexploded ordnance problem."
It is probably only a matter of time until he is proven correct 
This makes me nervous. Ukraine's most valuable asset is their troops, while Russia can keep throwing bodies after bodies into the grinder. I'd let them have the city and take on an offensive somewhere else. Hope they pull it out though.Looks like Ukraine is gonna try to break the Russians at Bahkmut....this wars Stalingrad.
Operations to defend the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut will go on, and are backed by senior generals, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Western analysts suggested at the weekend that Ukraine was probably withdrawing some of its troops, as Russian forces close in on the city.
Moscow has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, as both sides suffer heavy losses in a grinding war of attrition.
A local official says there has been street fighting in recent days.
But Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Marchenko said at the weekend that Russia had not yet gained control of the city.
Meanwhile Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private army involved in the Russian campaign, has complained of a lack of ammunition amid apparent friction between his fighters and regular Russian forces.
He also says his representative had been barred from a Russian military headquarters.
Analysts say Bakhmut has little strategic value but has become a focal point for Russian commanders who have struggled to deliver any positive news to the Kremlin.
Capture of the city would bring Russia slightly closer to its goal of controlling the whole of Donetsk region, one of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine it annexed last September after referendums widely condemned outside Russia as a sham.
Mr Zelensky said in a statement he had discussed Bakhmut with Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine's armed forces, and Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the country's ground forces.
"They spoke in favour of continuing the defensive operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut," the statement said.
The comments followed a report by the German newspaper Bild quoting Ukrainian government sources that Gen Zaluzhny had disagreed with Mr Zelensky about the operation several weeks ago, recommending a retreat from the city.
Most defenders shared Gen Zaluzhny's view, the paper added.
And at the weekend the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian troops were probably conducting a "limited fighting withdrawal" while "continuing to inflict high casualties" on the Russians.
Gen Syrsky, quoted on a visit to the front line on Sunday by Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, said the fighting in Bakhmut had reached the "highest level of tension".
"The enemy has been throwing extra Wagner forces into the battle," he said. "Our troops have been courageously defending our positions in the north of Bakhmut, trying to prevent the encirclement of the city."
Ukraine war: Bakhmut defenders double down - Zelensky
The president says the embattled eastern city's defence goes on, and that senior generals back the move.
"Almost every night in Russia, something goes up in flames. This time in the Bryansk region, shops and hotels were set ablaze. And the area of fire is 1.6 thousand square meters."
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Who would have thought fighting a war with a mercenary group headed by a gangster and staffed by the dregs from a country's prisons would not be effective?
As I have stated before, defeating a well armed, motivated soldier is harder than slaughtering women and children in Syria or at some diamond mine in Africa.Who would have thought fighting a war with a mercenary group headed by a gangster and staffed by the dregs from a country's prisons would not be effective?
Big numbers across the board, and a bad day to be an invading artillery man. I don’t know how they keep taking these haymakers.
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To put 154,830 smoldering Russian orcs / sunflowers in perspective, the combined US death tolls of the Vietnam War, Korean War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican American War, Iraq War, Philippine American War, Spanish American War and Afghanistan War are 157,320….
Ukraine's efforts to resupply its troops defending the beleaguered eastern town of Bakhmut are being hampered by mud caused by an early spring thaw, British military intelligence believes.
In its daily intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence said: "Muddy conditions are likely hampering Ukrainian resupply efforts as they increasingly resort to using unpaved tracks."
Reports have suggested that Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut are running seriously low on ammunition as they battle to hold back Russia's advance.
"The Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut continues to degrade forces on both sides," the ministry said. "Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces likely stabilised their defensive perimeter following previous Russian advances into the north of the town."
www.telegraph.co.uk
In its daily intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence said: "Muddy conditions are likely hampering Ukrainian resupply efforts as they increasingly resort to using unpaved tracks."
Reports have suggested that Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut are running seriously low on ammunition as they battle to hold back Russia's advance.
"The Ukrainian defence of Bakhmut continues to degrade forces on both sides," the ministry said. "Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces likely stabilised their defensive perimeter following previous Russian advances into the north of the town."
Ukraine-Russia war: Early spring mud prevents Ukraine from supplying defensive lines
Ukraine's efforts to resupply its troops defending the beleaguered eastern town of Bakhmut are being hampered by mud caused by an early spring thaw, British military intelligence believes.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Poland has been huge in this. I’m not going to pretend it is altruistic, as they are on the list for the revenge tour, but they have been huge.
I agree and wonder what secret things Poland has also done to help. And maybe what promises were made if Ukraine had started to falter.
