the push back is now moving upo the chain with entire batallions refusing to senselessly send me to the slaughter in Vuldehar.. glad tosee this, hopefully it spreads and they decide they want ut. If the Chechens avenge the poisoning of their leader and pull out, it could break the damn and others do the same or at least pull back to Russian borders. not sure that Ukraine can, or wants to, continue to exchange casualties at that ration but it seems that there may be a mindset that so many have died there already defending it, how could they give it up and think those people died in vain? Senior Russian Officers Are Refusing To Fight After Facing Such Intense Losses, Ukraine Claims (msn.com) The Ukrainian military told the Kyiv Post: “The leaders of the brigade and senior officers are refusing to proceed with a new senseless attack as demanded by their unskilled commanders – to storm well-defended Ukrainian positions with little protection or preparation.” Two units – the Steppe and Tiger Cossack Battalion – have also reportedly refused to take part, adding to the ongoing idea that Russian troops are demoralised and struggling. It all comes after Russia allegedly lost around 130 tanks and armoured vehicles in the ongoing conflict around Vuhledar. .................. Nato has also claimed that Russian losses are much higher than Ukraine’s in Bakhmut, a self-mining town slightly north to Vuhledar. Russia is particularly keen to claim it because it would be able to mount further offensive operations into Ukraine. According to a Nato source who spoke to CNN on Monday, there is a five to one death ratio for Russian to Ukrainian soldiers in this area.
Just consider what Modi is doing in India for perspective. He may like the economic benefits of a free market republic but he certainly acts far more like a totalitarian leader. Same as Netanyahu and certainly like Trump would have had Trump pulled off his little soiree in Washington.
That’s fine. Freedom is great. But it cuts both ways. If they want to exercise their economic rights to enable Russia’s war of conquest, then we should exercise our economic rights to make them feel pain for enabling Russia’s war of conquest.
Putin summoned Chechen leader's son for personal meeting while his father lies dying of renal and liver failure from being poisoned, presumably by the FSB. While in Moscow, the 17 year old did not meet with his father but his statement praised Putin. Can you imagine the conversation? Support me and you can be the ruler of Chechnya, don't and you can drink some of your father's tea. If Chechnyan troops pull out of Ukraine that would be a big blow to Putin and they loved their leader... Putin summons Chechen warlord’s son to Kremlin (msn.com) Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s North Caucasus region of Chechnya, is reportedly ‘seriously ill’ with kidney problems and has summoned a UAE doctor as he ‘doesn't trust’ Moscow doctors. There is speculation that he has been poisoned, which has increased after his son was summoned to meet with Vladimir Putin alone Akhmat, 17, met with the Russian president last week supposedly to discuss ‘youth services’, as he oversees youth policy in the republic. The meeting took place in the Kremlin but wasn't reported by the president’s press service. Akhmat then flew back home and got married! This is the first time in 20 years that another person has met with Putin on behalf of Chechnya. There are rumours that Akhmet could take over his dad’s post, who has long been one of the president’s main allies. The head of the Chechnya has been an outspoken ally of Russia in Ukraine A statement was put out in Ramzan Kadyrov’s name after the meeting with Putin. It read: ‘I do not know other details of this interesting meeting, since I did not talk to Akhmat about this due to our customs and tradition of strict relations between dad and son.’ The statement ended with an effusive expression of loyalty to Putin despite all the recent criticisms of his strategy on the frontlines in Ukraine. Bizarre!
I've been meaning to get back to you on this. I'll answer the question you asked, amplify my answer, then answer the question I think you're really asking. No, I'm not "good" with general war with Russia, especially since I'm one of the ones who would likely have to go fight it, along with my son. I am similarly not good with limited war with Russia. I am not good with spending billions on lethal military aid for Ukraine. I am not good with exercising economic warfare against Russia. I am not good with guaranteeing the security of most of Europe. But as long as we’re at it, I’m also not good with Russia launching wars of conquest against sovereign nations just because it thinks the land and the people are theirs to do with as they please or that it’s so unfair that the rest of the world has long moved on from the glorious days of the Russian Empire. I’m not good with the human and environmental disaster this war has been and will continue to be. I’m not good with the refugee crisis that has precipitated. I’m not good with the resulting food and fuel crisis. I’m not good with the normalization of such conquest or the consequential covetous eyes that China lays on Taiwan, another case where one country thinks it owns another today just because a previous regime of its country used to long ago. So while I might not desire general war, or even limited war, I am willing to risk it. And that makes me part of an overwhelming majority of Americans who are similarly willing to risk it. The only question is degree. We are already risking war with our sanctions and provision of weapons that have resulted in many (but not enough) dead Russians. Moscow has threatened us now so many times that it does not even register as a threat and would make for a decent drinking game. If it were my decision, I would absolutely crank up that military pressure even further with methods I have written about in this thread. And I am willing to risk that Russia would do nothing more than throw more of the empty histrionics we have seen to this point. We now know that we can hit them with near impunity in conventional battles, and I would think they know it, too (at least at the top). The war they inflicted has revealed the capability gap to us. Since it’s a fair question to ask how far one would be willing to go at the risk of general war, it is also fair to ask how far one would go to avoid such risk with Russia. Cut off weapons shipments? Cut off other forms of material aid, such as food, medicine, and raw materials? End the economic sanctions against Russia? Place an embargo on Ukraine to speed along an inevitable Russian victory? Eject the Eastern European nations from NATO and place them at Russian mercy? These are all things Russian wants and things they are willing to threaten us to get. So why risk it?
Shoigu announced that Wagner, by itself, ‘liquidated’ 6,500 Nazis in January and 11,000 Nazis in February. He didn’t actually say Nazis. That’s just me and the trolling part.
A NATO official is estimating that Russians in Bahkmut are getting killed at a rate of 5:1 to Ukrainians. Cost of Bakhmut ‘meat grinder’ battle on Russian army revealed (yahoo.com) What would our local Kremlin supporters say to that?
They will say it's a lie, that the kill ratio is in reverse. And for all we know they might be right. I don't think they are. Our government has lots of evidence that Russia is deliberately minimizing casualty data to deceive its own population. We have, I think, less evidence that Ukraine is deliberately inflating its kills, but the motivation to do so is self-evident. I'm afraid there is much we won't know about the progress of this war for a while. The only somewhat objective way to measure how things are going is by how much ground is changing hands. And that ain't much.
Sounds like some pros but where do you get 1000 lb of military grade explosives without someone knowing? Interesting that there may be russians in the gang. I suspect it is much easier to buy explosives there. That's a lot of boats with no transponders.
We can also see which side is more afraid to engage with the enemy. If the death rate is too high for one side, they will be more likely to be unwilling to fight. Of course, Ukraine is fighting for their freedom, so they may be less risk-averse than their invading marauder neighbors. If the kill ratio favored Russia, I would expect less fear from Russian soldiers than we are seeing. They are risking possible death by not fighting. That tells me that fighting is a scarier prospect to them.
Yes, but Bahkmut is the fight where things are supposedly going well for the Russians. In other places like Vuhledar, the kill ratio may be 10:1 or higher. And this is before the first western tanks show up to ostensibly change the course of the war. Putin (and our special little trolls) may find out that there are less than 10x as many Russians willing to put on a uniform as there are Ukrainians willing to suit up. Putin can only have so many conscription drives before the revolts begin.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/06/bakhmut-wagner-mercenaries-russia-ukraine/ This was just brutal. DNIPRO, Ukraine — It takes Ukrainian troops little more than a glance to tell if Russian fighters advancing on their positions near the fiercely embattled city of Bakhmut are seasoned soldiers or recent recruits. The men enlisted to fight for Russia’s Wagner mercenary force — many of them convicted criminals recruited behind bars and sent to fight in Ukraine in exchange for their freedom — are “dirtier and they don’t have the same military uniforms or flak jackets like regular Russian soldiers,” said Dmytro Vatagin, 48, a Ukrainian soldier stationed in the neighboring village of Ivanivske with the volunteer 24th Battalion. The mercenary fighters typically move on Ukrainian positions early in the morning, he said, attempting attacks in irregular and unpredictable patterns, seemingly without any clear strategy, which makes them seem “unprepared” for battle. It is only later in the day that better-trained Russian forces often enter the fray, seeking to make a real advance. “Wagner and the mobilized are being just thrown like meat”.
As the expression goes, “The smell of blood carries a long way.” If there’s truth to this, then the stories are spreading back to Russia by word of mouth. And no amount of information suppression domestically will be able to stifle it.
A British expert claims that Russia has had as many as 20,000 soldiers killed trying to capture Bahkmut, and the kill ratio there may be as high as 7:1. A Russian victory in Bakhmut would be a costly strategic defeat for Putin (yahoo.com)
