Infiltrated by the west as in CIA has compromised the Russian High Command? Highly doubt it, i assume corruption is the main problem for this
The War in the Ukraine
- Thread starter SampanViking
- Start date
I think Prigozhin sees the writing on the wall and is positioning himself/getting ready for the blame game when it hits fan/Ukraine begins its offensive. He doesn't speak ill of Putin just his underlings however going public like this is pretty much going rogue and against the Kremlin.
Prigozhin still has thousands of men under arms how loyal are they to him? I reckon we're going to see the coming days and weeks how much power Prigozhin has.
Prigozhin still has thousands of men under arms how loyal are they to him? I reckon we're going to see the coming days and weeks how much power Prigozhin has.
Mizintsev was head of logistics during the months Prigozhyn was complaining about the lack of ammo, yet Prigozhyn appoints him as deputy commander, meaning second in command, of the Wagner PMC. Mizintsev, who has the nickname Butcher of Mariupol, ran that campaign in a fairly bloody, delayed, and messy manner which is in stark contrast to the swift takeover of the Soledar salt mines and Azov steel plants in northern Bakhmut.
Surovikin's tenure was accepted as temporary, he is the head of the VKS or Air Force despite being a former army general, commanding the Russian Army isn't his job. Gerasimov taking over the campaign isn't Surovikin being demoted, but the entire SMO being promoted to the responsibility of the entire Russian Armed Forces, making it an escalation.
And this is better so, because Surovikin is one that commands units in detail, leaving the upper strategic work to Gerasimov. This is when things began to happen, namely the bold breakout in Soledar.
As for Soledar, it should rightly be called a Russian armed forces victory because the VDV was involved. I recalled correctly from the YouTube mappers that VDV forces landed helicopters both north and south in a very risky operation less than 500 meters from the lines as flanking maneuvers while Wagner has the center trust. This caught the Ukrainian forces completely by surprise. All during this time the DPR was providing artillery support.
It was also around this time that Teplinsky was dismissed as commanding general of Russian Airborne for reasons I have not put together. The guy was a soldier's general and a hardcore one who led the Airborne in the defense of Kherson back in October. But by April he is back leading the VDV again. This also makes me wonder what he was doing in the last three months? Did he had issues with Prigozhyn and Surovikin's handling of the VDV? Did he moonlight in Wagner during the time period? Wagner is known to have many ex-VDV personnel.
Another question I have is what is this 72nd Brigade? It's not in both the VDV and the DPR's roster, which are the two forces in Bakhmut.
I am going to add that bloggers who have connections to Wagner on the ground have mentioned that Wagnerians are opposed to leaving Bakhmut and want to see things through. So Prigozhyn wanting to leave Bakhmut wasn't in alignment with the Wagner soldiers themselves. The on ground description given by these connections point to massive artillery barrages on both sides that do not suggest both sides lacking any ammunition or that Wagner is not given enough artillery and firepower support.
Maybe Prigozhyn wants a couple of TOS which has yet to be given to Wagner, even though the VDV received their first units and the Kadyrovites had them since last year.
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Parades in other cities. Equipment shown mostly for Eastern military district but no, they're not out of tanks and artillery.
Mizintsev took Surovikin's entire period and was only fired in April 2023, after the Russian command received a lot of criticism regarding the ammunition supplied to PMC Wagner. Prigozhin only complained when Surovikin was not in charge of SMO. Mizintsev couldn't do anything about it because he was a subordinate of Gerasimov just like Surovikin since January 2023, even if he wanted to.
The funny thing about this is the reason Gerasimov didn't take the lead for the SMO in October, especially after the explosion of the Crimean bridge, it would have been the right time for Gerasimov to have taken over, a huge escalation on the part of Ukraine, don't you think? Why didn't he do this?
Ask Gerasimov that. Rob Lee declares that his resignation may be associated with Gerasimov taking over SMO motivated by internal decisions (ego????).
What I particularly notice about Gerasimov is that he likes to fire the competent, his ego seems to be bigger than Putin's.
Perhaps the biggest danger to Russia right now is not Ukraine, but its own military high command. The military high command fires competent generals and blames its own failures.
Gerasimov,
There was an IS-3 somewhere in thr parade.
D
Deleted member 23272
Guest
Rome, Greece, and China are rife with examples of militarily talented men who weren't particularly good at, or had no use for court intrigues, much to their own detriment and ultimately the detriment of their respective empire's interests.
As for the parade, its quite astonishing. Whatever excuse one may come up with, Victory Day is the most important Russian holiday after New Years. And Russia is a country that inherited thousands of stockpiles from the Soviet Union.
What can be said about how stripped down the parade was, other than what a lot of people have said about the Russian military is in fact not propaganda but true. That its stockpiles really is just smoke and mirrors, since only a portion of it is functioning due to neglect or being stripped down for the black market. (Granted, even if only a fraction of what Russia has on paper actually works it would still be bigger than the majority of the world's militaries.) That most, if not all, of its professional forces are in Ukraine, otherwise why are most of the participants for this one cadets?
There is no "holding back" or "devoting a tiny fraction of its elite units to support Donbass freedom fighters," everything that Russia held up to the world to preserve its superpower image has now been thrown in over a struggle to control the southeastern part of Europe's poorest country. Only thing that hasn't stepped into the ring yet is the T-14 Armata. (But first they actually have to get the engine on that thing working)
As for the parade, its quite astonishing. Whatever excuse one may come up with, Victory Day is the most important Russian holiday after New Years. And Russia is a country that inherited thousands of stockpiles from the Soviet Union.
What can be said about how stripped down the parade was, other than what a lot of people have said about the Russian military is in fact not propaganda but true. That its stockpiles really is just smoke and mirrors, since only a portion of it is functioning due to neglect or being stripped down for the black market. (Granted, even if only a fraction of what Russia has on paper actually works it would still be bigger than the majority of the world's militaries.) That most, if not all, of its professional forces are in Ukraine, otherwise why are most of the participants for this one cadets?
There is no "holding back" or "devoting a tiny fraction of its elite units to support Donbass freedom fighters," everything that Russia held up to the world to preserve its superpower image has now been thrown in over a struggle to control the southeastern part of Europe's poorest country. Only thing that hasn't stepped into the ring yet is the T-14 Armata. (But first they actually have to get the engine on that thing working)
solarz
Brigadier
Corruption is part of the infiltration. Who do you think is doing the bribing? There have also been incidences of high level leaks from the Russian side.
A successful S-300 kill by a Lancet. This one hit straight to the standing canisters. Based on the terrain I would say this is February or March but was only cleared for viewing recently.
Lancet managed to hit a camouflaged 2S1 Gvozdika SPG.
Successful ATGM hit against a Ukrainian vehicle from the Kalmius brigade of the DPR.
Glide bombing at Avdiivka. More and more frequent. In addition to the FAB-500 the FAB-250 will soon get their glide kits. While half the weight of the FAB-500, it allows the bomber to engage twice more targets at a greater range.
Lancet managed to hit a camouflaged 2S1 Gvozdika SPG.
Successful ATGM hit against a Ukrainian vehicle from the Kalmius brigade of the DPR.
Glide bombing at Avdiivka. More and more frequent. In addition to the FAB-500 the FAB-250 will soon get their glide kits. While half the weight of the FAB-500, it allows the bomber to engage twice more targets at a greater range.