War in Ukraine

The total casualties (killed plus wounded) for both sides of the war is currently estimated at about 500,000, with Russia losing 300,000 and Ukraine losing 200,000, according to U.S. officials. Russia has 120,000 dead and 180,000 injured.

Also interesting: 54% of Russia's wounded are amputees, with 20% of the amputees losing part or all of an arm. That means a third of the wounded have lost a leg and are immobile, and not likely to consider returning to the battlefield. This high rate of amputation may be amplified by the fact that Russians often leave their comrades on the battlefield to die, and make little effort to rescue them. Russia is now experiencing a severe shortage of wheelchairs as well as other equipment as services for amputees.

Russia says it has a 'glaring issue:' More than half of its wounded soldiers are amputees

 

Kill all who come, and they’ll stop coming.

 

two underseas cables and a subsurface gas line, all in the Baltic Sea, have been damaged. None of them appear to be an accident. Someone is targeting these facilities. Oligarch or Putin? When does this become an act of war against a NATO country?

Sweden Says Second Undersea Cable Damaged in Baltic Sea (msn.com)
The mystery surrounding suspected sabotage of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea deepened after Sweden said that a second underwater telecommunications cable was damaged without explanation.

Last week, Finland and Estonia, two North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states, said disruptions to a gas pipeline and telecommunications cable were likely caused by sabotage, resurrecting worries about the security of Europe’s vital infrastructure.

On Tuesday, Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said that authorities have yet to determine what has caused the disruption of the cable linking the country with Estonia, which continued to function. The cable is located in Estonian territorial waters. He said that the disruption happened around the same time as the incident on the pipeline and cable linking Finland and Estonia.

The damage came days after the first anniversary of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines linking Germany and Russia, an attack that authorities in multiple countries say was deliberate but are still investigating. U.S. suspicions have increasingly centered on a group of Ukrainians.

 

“Russia has 120,000* dead and 180,000 injured.

*Note this is down from an estimate of nearly 200,000 dead, last Fall. Possible conclusions: dead Russians are rising from the grave, en masse, or Ukraine is somehow killing and wounding more Russian troops that have ever entered theatre, at least until recently, and Russia is pressing forward with babushkas with brooms.

 

40% more women serving in Ukraine military now than in 2021. To top it all off, Ukrainian commentators continue conditioning the public that this is the terminal Hitler Youth phase, and all children will be mobilized.

 

for your viewing pleasure


Slaughter of Russians at Avdiivka. This fortress city became their grave (essanews.com)

The Russians decided on a mass assault from the south and north on October 10th, with the aim of cutting off the main supply routes for Ukrainian defenders stationed in Avdiivka.

The attack from the south was quickly halted, and in the north, the Russians made some progress, but did not reach the key railway line for the city, nor did they capture the mining heap dominating the city despite multiple attempts.

The Russians have achieved these small advances at the cost of enormous losses. It is enough to mention that at least 77 vehicles were identified in the northern sector, and not all cases are documented in recordings or photos. Therefore, the Russians' real losses are probably even greater.
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The losses mostly include infantry fighting vehicles from the BMP-1/2/3 family, and APCs from the BTR or MT-LB families, offering symbolic protection to the ten transported soldiers. It is worth mentioning that it was in this region that the first loss of a BTR-50 transporter from the Stalin era was recorded.

In addition, the Russians have also lost dozens of tanks, starting from older T-64 and T-72B models, and ending with the latest but relatively few T-72B3M and T-90M. The last two are rare and their losses are extremely painful for the Russians because the newly manufactured models do not have modern thermal imaging cameras from France, but instead use inferior substitutes.

 

hmmm...this happens the week that Estonia announces major deal to purchase armored personnel carriers from Turkey..

Russia's neighbor made the decision. New battle forces are coming to Europe (msn.com)

The Estonian authorities have made their final decision and signed contracts for the delivery of armored carriers for their army. Over the next two years, the Baltic country is to strengthen itself with as many as 230 machines. We know exactly what armored carriers are involved.

 

You are right. That was a delicious read. Thank you. Note how when Ukraine makes claims about Russian casualties they are able to show us documentation. Meanwhile, Russia has destroyed thousands of the hundreds of Western tanks sent to Ukraine, and they can’t show us even a single captured or destroyed hull of a tank. Does Russia not understand the intelligence and/or informational value of parading a captured Leopard hull or are they just too drunk with their string of unending tactical victories to consider such things?

 

Russia loses a "heavy flamethrower" to enemy fire. The POS-1A, or thermobaric rocket launcher, was destroyed by a kamikaze drone in a spectacular explosion, allegedly near Avdiivka. At least ten of these rocket launchers have been destroyed since the war started.

Russian TOS-1A Thermobaric Rocket Launcher Absolutely Detonates When Hit By Drone

 

As if Russian soldiers don't have enough problems to deal with as they lose this war, here is one more: drug use is rampant in the trenches. One soldier described the scene as being like Las Vegas, but I don't know that I've ever seen a serious drug problem in the trenches of Las Vegas.

Russian soldiers are getting hard drugs delivered to their trenches in Ukraine to escape boredom, report says

 

The U.S. is planning on diverting tens of thousands of artillery shells from Ukraine to Israel. I don't agree with this. Israel is dealing with a terrorist organization, while Ukraine is dealing with one of the largest armies on earth. I would force Israel to be more selective in its use of artillery against this opponent, and maximize the heavy weapon ammo we send to Ukraine. Artillery shells sent to Israel should be counted in the hundreds, not the thousands.

Pentagon denies report that thousands of artillery shells meant for Ukraine will be sent to Israel, straining the ammo stockpile

 

Thermobaric rocket launcher go booom

 

Wow. That went boom

 

Ruck fussia

 

Honestly surprised that little drone was able to trigger that explosion. Great to see though!

 

I don't think the POS was designed as a defensive system. It is only designed to haul around dangerous missiles and fire them.

 

Chinese, Russian vessels in vicinity of Baltic Sea links damage -vessel tracking data (msn.com)

A Chinese container vessel and a Russian-flagged ship investigated over damage to a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland were also present at the sites, and at around the time two telecoms cables sustained damage, vessel tracking data showed.

Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia were broken, in what Finnish investigators say may have been deliberate sabotage.

On Tuesday, Sweden said a third link, connecting Stockholm to Tallinn, had been damaged at roughly the same time as the other two.

The incidents have stoked concerns about the security of energy supply in the wider Nordic region, prompted NATO to ramp up patrols in the Baltic Sea and Helsinki to contact Moscow and Beijing via diplomatic channels about the incidents.

 

LOL. You used Ukraine and documentation in the same sentence.

 

Would you prefer the term “evidence?” I’ve seen the photos and videos of Ukrainian kills. I’ve even touched destroyed/captured Russian hulks with my own hands. I don’t doubt that Ukrainian claims of enemy casualties are exaggerated only because all such claims are exaggerated going back to the beginning of warfare. But Ukraine backs up its claims with a lot more evidence than Russia does. Again, I ask, of the thousands of Leopards Russia has destroyed, why can’t Russia produce even one of them? Should be easy. Maybe we’ll see one when that glorious Russia counteroffensive starts (Avdiivka was just, like, a feint). Any day now.