The War in the Ukraine

Russian SDB is always a welcome change. Now if they can put 16 of those for Su-34 it can strike more targets than Tu-95 or 160.

Lancet strike from the VDV. Not exactly sure what the destroyed target is.


TOS-1A "Sunshine" used on Ukrainian trench lines in Ugledar.


Glide bombs used on Ukrainian positions on Avdiivka.


FAB-500M62 with glide kit to strike a 5 story building. This one the accuracy needs some fine tuning.


Interception of a Russian drone by Ukrainian SAM.


Lancet takes out British supplied Stormer HVM.

Sinnavuuty said:

Some believe that this disinformation operation by Prigozhin and the Russian command was intended to give Ukraine that they could be exposed in Bakhmut with the AFU being able to concentrate their counter-offensive on that front, but I would very much doubt that.

But this confusion apparently proved that there is a division between PMC Wagner and the Russian command, with alleged proof of Wagner coming under the direct command of Surovikin.

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It's been clear from day one that the Russian military command had major issues. This directly led to the present situation where the most combat effective Russian military factions are a PMC and a local warlord (Kadyrov). As history has shown time and again, cultivating a private military may be a quick band-aid solution, but can ultimately create a bigger threat in the long run.

solarz said:

It's been clear from day one that the Russian military command had major issues. This directly led to the present situation where the most combat effective Russian military factions are a PMC and a local warlord (Kadyrov).

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Most combat effective or most media exposure ?

Stealthflanker said:

Most combat effective or most media exposure ?

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Well certainly the most high profile.

tankphobia said:

Russia's goal has been massively scaled back since start of invasion, I think in the beginning it would've been Eastern Ukraine + a chunk of territory and Russian friendly puppet government, now it would end at Donbass in best case scenario. I don't think toppling the Ukranian government is actually possible as long as the West continue to back it.

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And that is why Russia isn’t particularly desperate to win this war on the battlefield. Why should they throw hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions away only to turn all of Ukraine into a massive field of rubble that they would then need to rebuild; when instead then can focus on bleeding the west in Ukraine until they cannot bare the burden any more and then the entire Ukraine regime and resistance will simply melt away like the much vaunted Iraqi and Afghanistan armies NATO spent decades and billions building.

Time is on Russia’s side. All they need to do is not loose while maintaining current levels of combat intensity and the west will be forced to ditch Ukraine or else collapse themselves under the unbearable economic burden of funding the war and being the effective welfare state for millions of Ukrainians who cannot work to feed themselves due to the war. This is why all the talk of a great spring summer offensive is coming out of Kiev and Washington instead of Moscow.

The Russians are not scaling back their ambitions, if anything, they can scaling them up because the heavy losses they have taken in this war is just one giant, painfully current lesson in the dangers and longer term costs of not pressing home their advantage to win completely and decisively when they have the chance and kicking the can down the road instead. They would have to be supremely foolish to make the same mistake immediately.

Ukrainians are replacing T-62 cannon with with a turret of a BMP-2
the bmp turret has a V on it that means it was captured

plawolf said:

And that is why Russia isn’t particularly desperate to win this war on the battlefield. Why should they throw hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions away only to turn all of Ukraine into a massive field of rubble that they would then need to rebuild; when instead then can focus on bleeding the west in Ukraine until they cannot bare the burden any more and then the entire Ukraine regime and resistance will simply melt away like the much vaunted Iraqi and Afghanistan armies NATO spent decades and billions building.

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Betting on the West on losing interest is a dangerous game. The US stayed in Afghanistan for 20 years and bled $2 trillion doing it. If this is Russia's plan they're literally doing the military equivalent of thinking they can stay solvent longer than the market stays irrational.

Also while Ukraine is weaker than Russia, they are not helpless. Even if Western help stopped this second the majority of pledged military equipment has already arrived, just the equipment currently in country can make any occupation attempt extremely expensive for Russia.

Seems there was a barrage of UMPKs over Kherson

It looks like Wagner now has a large enough reputation to open a dedicated memorial