War in Ukraine

Russian army concedes Ukraine advances in Kursk offensive

Unusual for the Kremlin to publicly admit these kinds of problems. Makes me think the situation might be even worse than they say. The suggestion that Ukrainian aircraft are flying operations that deep in Russia (according to Russians) was particularly noteworthy.

 

Hey chem, forget the ski apologists on this board they are full of sh*t.
So here we are 2-1/2 years later for what the Kremlin suggested would be a 1 month operation, 2 weeks to take Kiev and 2 weeks to "clean things up".

I understand that if Russia goes "All-Out"/ Total war and sacrifices a couple million dead and wounded that, yeah they could win. But what a gigantic miscalculation.
Kinda makes Rumsfeld and the Vietnam fiasco look smart at this point.

 

No matter how powerful you are or how YUGELY you’re winning, a fanatical opponent can always find a way to hurt you …

 

Neither Ukraine nor Russia could be described as fanatical. Neither country is suicidal. Neither country is all that powerful, as it turns out. Russia is larger and more militaristic, and run by barbarians, but is inefficient and clumsy, and the soldiers are poorly motivated to win this non-existential war. Ukraine is able neutralize Russia's advantages because of superior leadership, (western) technology, and motivation to win this existential war (for them).

 

Chem -

Might want to check this out.

 

Based on what I'm seeing, the UAF have gained an additional 90-100 sq km in the Kursk region of Russia in the past 24 hours. However, Russia have gained a similar amount of ground in the Donbas in the past 24 hours and Ukraine has been losing routinely on that front for weeks. There are almost no successful operations right now for the UAF on the Donbas front line. Taking bias out of the equation and regarding your comment about it being "unusual" for the Kremlin to publicly admit things, if I was a Russian general, the thought would have at least crossed my mind two or three times that it pays off to bait Ukraine in the Kursk region. Convincing Ukraine to deploy more resources there on that front, so as to drain their resources in the Donbas. Whether or not that is true, the Russians are undoubtedly gaining just as much ground (if not more) in the Donbas each day as Ukraine is gaining in the Kursk.

If Russia are able to draw another one or two brigades from the UAF into Kursk, it further weakens an already struggling UAF front line in Donbas. Perhaps Russia waits this out a couple of weeks and takes advantage of a weakened line in the Donbas, then they lay the hammer down in Kursk. I'm still surprised at the lack of Russian Air Force activity in Kursk given that any SAM or air superiority whatsoever would have been very difficult for the UAF to establish this early on.

Just asking you to remove the blinders and bias for a few minutes to digest that. At the very least, you have to admit any incremental gains Ukraine are making in Kursk are being offset by ground gains by the Russians in the southeast, which is why I still regard this move by Ukraine as desperation. Robbing Peter to pay Paul...

 

Would Russia use tactical nukes on their own soil to stop the incursion?

 

Never say never, but unless a foreign army was about to sack Moscow I don't see them being that stupid. That said, I wouldn't put it past Pootie Pie to cause some kind of radiological incident and blame Ukraine for it.

 

Of course. Because you.

 

Looking dire for Ukraine in any language …

https://archive.ph/DWAsX

 

From April, 2024:

Russian Economy Growing Faster Than All the Worl's Advanced Economies Says IMF
Russia to grow faster than all advanced economies says IMF

 

Another point that bears mentioning is if the stated goal was to dissuade the Russian public from supporting the war, invading their land isn't the way. Now any doubt that Ukraine was an existential threat is gone among Russian citizens.

 

I love how you can never admit ANYTHING positive that Ukraine is doing. Ever. There is always some excuse how it is good for Russia, Russia is allowing it on purpose, or some other line of bullshit.

Institute for the Study of War

Notes -
Russia has been trying to advance and take Chasiv Yar for MONTHS and has basically only moved a few meters in the past several weeks.
Similarly, but for less time, they have been trying to take Toretsk and are only making tiny advances at great cost.
The big place that could be a strategic victory for Russia in the east is at Pokrovsk, but they are still 16-20 km away, and at the rate they are moving, it could take them several weeks, if not months, to get there.

Further - please send me a link that Russia has gained 100 square miles in the past 24 hours - because i'm not seeing any maps showing that.

 

You mean Vlad isn't trying to bait Ukraine into marching on Moscow? All part of the plan, right russophiles?

 

It may seem that way to you, but I would be happy to give Ukraine some credit. The problem is you all break out the pom poms and start cheering way too early and you've been doing it for over 2 years. For example, if Ukraine was holding serve on the Donbas front, I would be more receptive to this Kursk move, but they are not. They are trading land for land and there are many pitfalls in what they're doing in Kursk. What may have been a somewhat apathetic Russian military now all of the sudden has to protect the fatherland. A people who were merely tolerating the war effort may find it imperative now to support the effort.

Let's give it a few weeks before acting like Ukraine accomplished anything here. Anybody can make a sneak attack across a border. Can they hold it though? It'll take time to see that play out. And if you don't think the Russians have some tricks up their sleeve, then you're doing exactly what you're accusing us of doing. And in fact, I've witnessed it quite a bit in this thread. Downplaying anything Russia does on the battlefield and overhyping anything Ukraine does on the battlefield. Let's give it a couple more weeks and see how the Kursk front looks.

 

And the Russians are paying for the growth which is primarily the result of military spending with a 9% plus rate of inflation and an 18% interest rate.
Russia's GDP growth slowed in Q2 while inflation continued to soar on the back of heavy state spending: report

 

It’s like WWII all over again.

 

Are you the same @duggers_dad who provided links to articles by so called experts predicting imminent demise of Ukraine in 2022 and 2023? While I believe that Ukraine will be forced to capitulate if Trump is elected given Russia's superior size and resources as well as Putin's willingness to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of young Russians as cannon fodder if Harris is elected Vlad will most likely agree to some type of armistice in which Russia retreats to its defacto border prior to its invasion of February 2022.

 

downplaying what? What am I downplaying? Or overhyping? Russia has been trading men for land at great cost for months now. It’s not new news. Ukraine has a manpower crisis and Russia is inching their way towards control of Donetsk with human wave tactics and we all know there is nothing Ukraine can do about it but buy time, and delay. Now they’ve opened up would could maybe be an opportunity to change the war, note I said maybe, either way a solid expertly carried out surprise attack that no one saw coming, and all you can say is “oh this is a simple thing anyone could have done that and it’s a waste of time”

moving the goal posts much? Yes of course because you are actively rooting for Russia and so you only ever focus on what is going “well” for them and literally downplay anything Ukraine does in response.