Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 #7

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  • #641
The military heads at NATO have been thinking and leaning this way since Feb 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea just after Sochi Olympics. I can say that we sat at work pending the end of this Winter Olympics .... waiting (we pulled our Canadian troops out on 14 Feb). I guess we're only surprised by how the Russians have failed at respecting the Principles of War as I can list a bunch they've utterly failed at heeding (Failed element of surprise, failed morale, failed to select and maintain an aim, really zero thought to their sustainment, zero economy of effort, or concentration of force etc etc etc). HUGE fails. War crimes against civilians and non-combatants don't surprise me; it's how they've always done it.

It's why Canada has had troops in Ukraine on a training mission for years now (pulled out mid-February).
How training by Canada helped give Ukrainian army a fighting chance against Russia | National Post

‘Excruciating’: War in Ukraine hits close to home for Canadian military trainers - National | Globalnews.ca

Canada deploys special forces to Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia - National | Globalnews.ca

Canada extends its military training mission in Ukraine until March 2022 | Embassy of Ukraine to Canada (mfa.gov.ua)

It's why many NATO partners ramped up their presence within the countries on the eastern front.

Stay Strong Ukraine

The plan of a 5-day war, devised by Shoigu, a non-military apparatchik originally educated in construction, who grew through the ranks solely by some political acumen, goes in history.

Morally, such wars are bound to fail. To the regular invaders’ issues, you have to add the same language, economy and looks - really, young conscripted invaders were looking at own mothers. But after that many days, the war has entered another, very brutal, stage. The time to stop it, to limit the casualties, is way past due.
 
  • #642
Lengthy article but well worth the read, IMO.

MAR 26, 2022
Ukraine reaches breaking point in Russia’s war (kyivindependent.com)
[...]

The “operational pause,” as dubbed by the Ukrainian defense community, unfolded throughout the country after March 8-11.

It was believed that Russia took this short breathing spell to possibly regroup its forces and improve its logistics which had caused massive troubles in terms of food and fuel supplies.

[...]

Numerous and fierce attempts to advance have resulted in little to no progress in almost each of the principal axes. West or east of Kyiv, there have been almost no territorial gains for nearly two weeks, be it the Irpin-Hostomel-Bucha triangle or the vast areas east of Brovary.

In Mykolaiv, numerous frontal attacks from occupied Kherson also resulted in nothing but severe Russian casualties. By March 22-23, Russians effectively halted their attempts to advance toward the city. Attempts to bypass Mykolaiv and toward the city of Voznesensk or threaten Kryvyi Rih have also not proven successful.

As a result, in the south, Russia is not even close to threatening Odesa by land, despite enjoying full supremacy at sea. It is not even attempting to attack Odesa by way of the beach with an amphibious landing force, since it would be a guaranteed failure given the circumstances.

[...]

The northern Russian group in this theater is not even close to being ready to advance further south. It has been stuck in extremely hard fighting in the city of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast for weeks and still faces numerous obstacles in its way.

In Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, there also have been no major territorial gains since mid-March.

[...]

Poor results amid severe casualties stir resentment among many Russian observers, even such as Igor Girkin, the infamous warlord of the early days of the Donbas campaign in 2014. In his numerous interviews with pro-Kremlin media outlets, the former high-ranking terrorist says at such a pace the Donbas militants, much of the Russian force in the region, will shortly run out of manpower for any further offensive operations.

[...]

The city’s [Maripoul] garrison, despite the full blockade and relentless Russian bombardment, has continued waging block-by-block warfare for over 20 days, making Russian advances extremely slow, hard, and costly.

Even if Russia, having paid a high price, finally seizes the city in the coming weeks, it will effectively end up conquering nothing but barely habitable heaps of ruins, similar to Volnovakha, which was also razed to the ground.

[...]

According to the Kyiv-based Center for Defense Initiatives, between one-third and a half of Russia’s over 120 battalion tactical groups deployed against Ukraine could be rendered ineffective in combat.

Fierce and highly-organized Ukrainian resistance, in addition to poor Russian logistics, communications, morale, and inadequate leadership, have precipitated such a casualty rate of nearly 1,000 service members a day, which Russia has not seen since World War II.

Very telling is the fact that a cohort of Russian senior officers, even generals, have been killed in combat or reportedly assassinated by Ukrainian special operations forces. Some of the hits have been confirmed on the Russian side.

In many instances, high-ranking Russian officers were killed solving organizational issues on the ground or while trying to prove themselves to superiors in combat operations. And their deaths wreak even more havoc in the ranks of Russia’s military forces.

After the initial early rush, the Russian military exhausted its grand offensive capability for all five key axes.

[...]

Very obvious also is the fact that Russia has already used its full manpower stock prepared against Ukraine. And, as numerous indications suggest, it has no serious reserves ready.

It is also struggling to collect low-quality and low-readiness reserves, particularly from Russian military bases in Armenia and the unrecognized breakaway South Ossetia, as well as from unprepared units from the Far East.

[...]

Nonetheless, even despite the dire situation, Putin has stopped short of declaring an all-out or at least a partial mobilization in Russia for his “special operation,” most likely due to the severe political costs such a step could entail.

When it comes to the possible direct involvement of the Belarusian military in western Ukraine, the momentum of shock and awe is also gone.

[...]

Having neither any combat experience nor motivation, the Belarusian military would have to fight against a prepared Ukrainian western military group in complicated woodland terrain supported by local paramilitaries.

According to many observers, including the ISW, the possible direct Belarusian intervention to support Russia is unlikely to happen or be successful.

In other words, what was deemed a short lull to regroup and fix supply shortages turned quickly into Russia having to switch to stationary warfare due to the defeat of the initial offensive campaign and a lack of manpower.

[...]

Meanwhile, Ukraine enters this new stage in better shape than many expected.

Ukraine had to yield some territory in the initial days. But it has managed to preserve the overwhelming majority of its Armed Forces, including its air fleet, through the initial crushing Russian attacks, and effectively stop all of their axes of advancement.

The stubborn resistance of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kherson, has bought a lot of time for the rest of the country to wake up, launch the mobilization of Ukraine’s abundant combat-experienced reserves, and get cities and regions prepared for multilayered defense.

[...]

The Ukrainian military has also been careful and savvy in urban combat, inviting Russian mechanized forces into close quarters rather than confronting them in the open, when Russian close air support is still strong.

[...]

In general, the new phase of war sees Russia forced into halting its exhausted advancements and Ukraine saving and expanding its full combat potential.

The key factor now is Ukraine’s ability to keep exhausting the Russian military for as long as possible. As such, Western suffocation of the Russian economy is vital.

[...]

In achieving victory, the next big mission is to eliminate the Russian presence in the air.
Ukraine needs more planes, lots of planes with maintenance parts and fuel. Also more ground to air missiles. If NATO-EU can keep that going, Putin may just withdraw back to Crimea (Mariupol cannot be sacrificed, IMO) and the so-declared-by-Putin Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics"...unless he's feeling so humiliated that he decides he needs to unleash bio agents or nuclear death dirty bombs on that which he leaves behind.

AJMO
 
  • #643
The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
54 railroad workers killed since start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin said via Telegram on March 26 that an additional 64 have been injured, and three held captive by Russian forces.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Displaying the Russian "Z" now criminal offense in German state of Bavaria. Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich said the “Bavarian Public Prosecutor’s Office is taking consistent action against persons who publicly approve the war of aggression that violates international law.”

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
#Yemeni Houthis rebels attacked a petroleum distribution station in #SaudiArabia. Two tanks caught fire. No one was injured. #Saudi authorities declared that the attacks "will reduce the kingdom's production capacity and its ability to meet its obligations to world markets".

NEXTA on Twitter
A #Moscow City Duma deputy suggested that six more countries - #Kazakhstan, #Moldova, #Poland, #Lithuania, #Latvia, and #Estonia - should be "denazified".
FOvwksaWYAkIaxe
FOvwmvYX0AMBvNj


Euromaidan Press on Twitter
If Putin’s nuclear blackmail succeeds this time, he will use it every time,
@Kasparov63 writes. Moreover, the argument that “we cannot allow a third world war to start” sounds absolutely meaningless when the war is already underway. If Putin's nuclear blackmail works against Ukraine, Poland or Estonia will be next | Euromaidan Press

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 20 min ago
A shipment of 1,500 “Strela” anti-aircraft missiles and 100 MG3 machine guns from Germany arrived in Ukraine on March 25, according to the German Press Agency, citing the Ukrainian government.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Additionally, 350,000 food packs, 50 medical transport vehicles, and medical supplies were delivered.
Snipped by me for focus...

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Displaying the Russian "Z" now criminal offense in German state of Bavaria. Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich said the “Bavarian Public Prosecutor’s Office is taking consistent action against persons who publicly approve the war of aggression that violates international law.”

And so it seems the madness spreads...beautiful Bavaria with such fools. I'm glad it's being smacked down.

AJMO
 
  • #644
The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - Video, 6 hrs ago
Belarusian Volunteer Battalion officially joins Ukraine’s military. The members of the battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski, Belarusian 19th century writer and revolutionary, took oath and became part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
The video shows the battalion taking oath to Belarus, in the Belarusian language. The Belarusian language is endangered as the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko favors Russian and discriminates against Belarusian speakers, who are already a minority.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
10 humanitarian corridors to open on March 26. Civilians will be evacuating from 4 cities in Kyiv Oblast and 6 cities in Luhansk Oblast. Those in besieged Mariupol must head out, to Zaporizhzhia, on their own. Russians don’t let buses pass. Source: Deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Russian forces damage Holocaust memorial outside Kharkiv. The Ministry of Defense said that the Russian troops hit the memorial in Drobytsky Yar, a ravine where, according to different estimates, from 16,000-20,000 people, mostly Jews, were massacred by Nazi troops in 1941.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 25 min ago
Biden: Putin is a butcher. U.S. President Joe Biden called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “a butcher” when answering a reporter’s question during his visit to Poland.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - Video, 6 min ago
Lviv Mayor: Lviv attacked. Andriy Sadovyi said that Lviv was hit following reports about explosions. Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said that 3 loud explosions were heard near Lviv, from the east. Sadovyi warned that more strikes may be coming. Video: tplviv/Telegram
 
  • #645
The plan of a 5-day war, devised by Shoigu, a non-military apparatchik originally educated in construction, who grew through the ranks solely by some political acumen, goes in history.

Morally, such wars are bound to fail. To the regular invaders’ issues, you have to add the same language, economy and looks - really, young conscripted invaders were looking at own mothers. But after that many days, the war has entered another, very brutal, stage. The time to stop it, to limit the casualties, is way past due.
I think that's why Putin brought in the outsiders, mercenaries from Chechnya and Sudan. He saw his mainly conscripted and ill-prepared army faltering at the savagery they were being asked to commit to women and children especially. In light of a decade of military funds being embezzled and not used for modernizing the armed forces, a full scale invasion was a very bad plan...but still such a deadly one for Ukraine </3
 
  • #646
Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Men in Russian-occupied Crimea are receiving summons to be mobilized for war. Many to leave the peninsula through Russia to third countries, UA Representative for Crimea informed https://t.me/ppuark/769 This goes along with Russian mobilization efforts in Dagestan & other regions

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Happening tomorrow - global charity concert to #SaveUkraine & #StopWar. Will be broadcast across 20 countries via Polish TV channel TVP on 18:30, includes world-famous artists including, Imagine Dragons, Nothing But Thieves, Fatboy Slim, Craig David Manchester to be a host city for an international charity concert – Save Ukraine #stopwar – this weekend | Manchester City Council
FOyBVcSWUAQ_aia


Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Russian troops destroyed bridge connecting Chernihiv with Kyiv, footbridge is under constant crossfire; city cannot organize humanitarian corridors or evacuate the wounded - Mayor Atroshenko "City is blown to smithereens, more than 200 civilians killed" Telegram: Contact @UkraineMediaCenterKyiv

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
No permanent electricity in Chernihiv; yet, authorities remain in place, water is delivered, repairs are made, volunteers play great role. "No one is going to surrender the city. If we have withstood the fascists, we are not going to surrender to the Russians either" - mayor

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Chernihiv mayor asks German media to "talk some sense" to German leadership re Russian energy purchases. "Our city is being wiped off the map, only fascists did that. We have cemetery of Germans who died in WWII...Russia, which you continue to support, is bombing graves of your grandfathers”

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
"This is a war of tyranny against the free world. President Biden said that what is happening in Ukraine will change the history of the 21st century. We will work together to ensure this change is in our favor," - Ukrainian MFA Kuleba said

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
As for weapons, there was a conversation about items and numbers, developments will follow, Ukrainian MFA Kuleba said after meeting Biden, adding that not all help appears in media. "We thank all the countries that help us, but no one has done as much as the US."

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
After meeting, @DmytroKuleba
hints Ukraine can receive anti-missile defense systems from US, announces agreement on "concrete steps" to reduce the number of Russian missiles hitting targets in Ukraine PHOTO CREDIT: DM Reznikov presents Russian missile fragment that hit Yavoriv military field
FOyQBVMXEAU6rcQ


BBM - That is good to hear!
 
  • #647
NEXTA on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
Andriy #Hlyvnyuk, lead singer of the band "#BoomBox", who had previously joined the territorial defense forces, was hit by mortar fire and wounded. He reported this on his #Instagram page.
FOxJKrhXIAAKCeA
FOxJMPkWYAIxPFD


NEXTA on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of #Ukraine reports the suicide of the commander of the 13th Tank Regiment of the 4th Tank Division of #Russia
FOxRflKXoAg0cTw


NEXTA on Twitter
Since the beginning of the war, shelling in #Ukraine has affected at least 59 buildings of religious significance in at least eight regions. Most of the destroyed churches are Orthodox, said the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.
FOxZh7MXsAQpJqZ


NEXTA on Twitter - Video, 2 hrs ago
It turns out that the slogan “No to war” now in #Russia is #Nazi Another bottom of the #Russian propaganda has been broken

NEXTA on Twitter - Video (buses & military vehicles) 1 hr ago
Soldiers from South Ossetia will arrive in #Ukraine to fight on the side of #Russia This was announced by the "president" of the occupied region of #Georgia Anatoly Bibilov.

For reference: South Ossetia - Wikipedia

NEXTA on Twitter - Video
Military equipment with the flag of South Ossetia in the occupied #Melitopol.

NEXTA on Twitter
#Russia will hold military exercises in the #Kuril Islands The exercises are planned to involve up to 3,000 military personnel and hundreds military equipments.
FOySWuqXwAofrxx


For reference: Kuril Islands - Wikipedia

NEXTA on Twitter
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that due to #Japanese sanctions, the #Russian side does not intend to continue negotiations with #Tokyo on the conclusion of a peace treaty that was not signed after World War II.
 
  • #648
  • #649
  • #650
Russia-Ukraine war latest: US offers Ukraine further military support as Lviv hit by missile strikes – live | World news | The Guardian

1h ago 11:08
Lviv has been hit by multiple missile strikes, Daniel Boffey writes from the western Ukrainian city. Smoke is bellowing across the city’s horizon. It appears that there were three missiles, with one landing close to the city’s communications tower. A spokesman for the military administration of Lviv region said:

There were three powerful explosions near Lviv on the side of Kryvchytsy, now there is an air alarm, so keep calm and be in shelter.

It appears that one of the targets may have been an oil refinery around a mile east of Lviv’s city centre. Igor Zinkevych, an official from Lviv’s city council, said:

[...]

1h ago 11:16
The US president, Joe Biden, was in the region just over the Polish border to meet US troops shortly before the strikes.

The west of Ukraine has, until now, been lightly touched by the war, with attacks limited to strikes on a military base and an aircraft work shop.

Russia’s strike on Lviv during a presidential visit will be taken as a message to the US president, who called Putin a “butcher” during his visit to Poland. The Kremlin suggested it was focusing its efforts on eastern Ukraine on Friday but the attacks will raise fresh fears that Moscow has ambitions across the country.

[...]

54m ago 11:48
The advance of Russian troops means large-scale evacuations from the war-scarred town of Chernihiv are no longer possible, its mayor has said.

[...]

Agence France-Presse reports that the local mayor, Vladislav Atroshenko, has said: “City officials can no longer arrange humanitarian corridors or evacuate the wounded,” adding that a pedestrian crossing leaving the city was under “constant” attack from Russian troops.

“We are deciding on how to get the seriously injured out by any means. We can’t operate on them locally,” he said, saying some 44 people, both military and civilians were in need of medical attention.

[...]

5616.jpg

People shelter underground following explosions in Lviv, western Ukraine.
Photograph: Nariman El-Mofty/AP

@sunshineray, that video ...
t23136.gif
 
  • #651
  • #652
President Biden is speaking live now, from Warsaw, Poland. He is actually stepping up and doing a great job. Lots of strength in what he is saying.

Of course, many commentators are putting down the speech for not being specific. Hey, at least the President of the United States is in Poland. That is huge, in and of itself. He isn't off golfing.
 
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  • #653
  • #654
President Biden is speaking live now, from Warsaw, Poland. He is actually stepping up and doing a great job. Lots of strength in what he is saying.

Of course, many commentators are putting down the speech for not being specific. Hey, at least the President of the United States is in Poland. That is huge, in and of itself. He isn't off golfing.

No kidding. Or weekending in Delaware. He cannot mess this up.
 
  • #655
President Biden is speaking live now, from Warsaw, Poland. He is actually stepping up and doing a great job. Lots of strength in what he is saying.

Of course, many commentators are putting down the speech for not being specific. Hey, at least the President of the United States is in Poland. That is huge, in and of itself. He isn't off golfing.

I would have liked to hear more of an emphasis on de-escalation and the importance of the ongoing negotiations.

I am glad he appealed to the Russian people and noted that this is not about the Russian people, but the government of the Russian Federation.
 
  • #656
I just got done listening to my President's speech in Warsaw. Upon conclusion I just had to listen to this. I hope it's not against posting rules, it's a great song and so in the spirit of what Biden said <3 My apologies if it's not allowed.

 
  • #657
  • #658
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  • #659

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  • #660
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine
''US President Joe Biden, standing along NATO’s eastern edge in Poland, issued a stern warning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday: “Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory.”

Biden delivered the notice during a speech in Warsaw. He said the US was committed to the collective protection obligations laid out in NATO’s charter “with the full force of our collective power.”
 
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