Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[mongers]

Germany delivered 18 Leo 2A6 main battle tanks and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles now. However there seems to be no initiatives to actually build more to deliver. Not sure why not. Germany alone could probably outproduce Russia if it really wanted to...

Study the data from Ukraine to inform the design of leopard 3?

Is there one of those long German compound words that means something like 'takes great distances with ease and still remains formidable' ?

In English it might be something like Steppe-strider.

Or maybe just name it after an aggressive animal common to the Eurasian steppe? 

[The Larch]

Some old habits don't ever go away...

Russian soldiers say commanders used 'barrier troops' to stop them retreating
Assault unit members claim in video that superiors 'want to execute us' after 'huge' losses in eastern Ukraine

Members of a recently formed Russian assault unit say their commanders deployed troops to stop them from retreating and threatened them with death after they suffered "huge" losses in eastern Ukraine.

In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.

"We sat under open mortar fire and artillery for 14 days," Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard saying in the appeal, which first appeared on Friday on Russian Telegram channels. "We took huge losses. Thirty-four people were injured and 22 died, including our commander."

Another soldier said the unit initially comprised 161 men at the start of the operations.

Gorin said his men made the decision to head back to the Russian army headquarters but were denied evacuation by their superiors: "They placed barrier troops behind us and weren't letting us leave our position ... They are threatening to destroy us one by one and as a unit. They want to execute us as witnesses of a completely negligent criminal leadership."

Barrier troops or anti-retreat forces are military units positioned behind frontline forces to maintain discipline and prevent soldiers from fleeing.

"Our commanders are a criminal organisation. There is no other way to put it," said another Russian soldier, who identified himself as Sergei Moldanov.

The Guardian identified eight men in the video. When contacted, three of them confirmed they were members of the Storm unit and verified the account given in the clip.

The men, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had since been evacuated from the frontlines.

The Storm unit was set up by the defence ministry in January to take part in Moscow's grinding winter offensive in eastern Ukraine. At the time of its formation, the ministry said the unit was "specifically designed to break through the most complex and echeloned defence sectors of the armed forces of Ukraine".

According to reports in Russian media, as well as photographs published on the social media accounts of several of the fighters, the unit is made up largely of Russian veterans who took part in Russia's first offensive in Ukraine in 2014.

The Storm soldiers in the video alleged they were being forced to give money to their commanders and those who refused were sent to the frontline.

Their appeal is the latest in a steady stream of similar videos that have surfaced since January, in which Russian soldiers have complained about their poor treatment.

It coincides with Moscow's winter offensive in eastern Ukraine and indicates Russia's troops continue to be plagued by low morale and mismanagement. The clips also serve as a testament to Moscow's willingness to send its soldiers to positions where they face certain death in an effort to break through Ukrainian defences.

Last November, the British defence ministry said Russian forces had probably started deploying barrier troops or "blocking units". "The tactic of shooting deserters likely attests to the low quality, low morale and indiscipline of Russian forces," the ministry said in a statement.

The Kremlin has largely dismissed reports that the Russian army had suffered desertions in Ukraine fuelled by poor conditions and low morale.

"Are there guys who deserted their combat posts? Yes, it happened ... less and less now," Putin said at the end of last year. "I repeat once again that no cases of such nature [desertions] have a mass character.

The Russian president has also claimed Ukraine was using its own barrier troops, "shooting their own soldiers in the back".

The Russian army, aided by the paramilitary Wagner group, has been throwing tens of thousands of soldiers into battle for more than two months in its attempt to gain ground in the Donbas region. But Moscow's offensive across a 160-mile arc in eastern Ukraine has brought minimal gains at staggering costs. Western officials estimate up to 200,000 have been killed or injured on the Russian side.

In a further sign that Moscow was unhappy with the state of the fighting, Russian media on Sunday reported the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had sacked the commander of its eastern military district, Lt Gen Rustam Muradov.

His dismissal represents the latest reshuffle of top brass amid a string of battlefield setbacks. Pro-war bloggers close to the Kremlin linked Muradov's dismissal with his unsuccessful attempts to capture the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk.

Under Muradov's command, Russia is believed to have lost more than 100 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in a three-week battle in Vuhledar last month.

[grumbler]

In addition to the V missiles the Germans used remotely piloted flying bombs to attack Allied shipping off Italy.

Those were just glider bombs, not drones.  The US used glide bombs in the Pacific War.

[Zanza]

Germany delivered 18 Leo 2A6 main battle tanks and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles now. However there seems to be no initiatives to actually build more to deliver. Not sure why not. Germany alone could probably outproduce Russia if it really wanted to...

Study the data from Ukraine to inform the design of leopard 3?

Is there one of those long German compound words that means something like 'takes great distances with ease and still remains formidable' ?

In English it might be something like Steppe-strider.

Or maybe just name it after an aggressive animal common to the Eurasian steppe? 

Rheinmetall already presented a Prototypen for a new tank and called it "Panther"...

[The Larch]

In Zaporizhzia they made an "Iron Throne" with what they had lying around...

[Zanza]

Germany will increase its budget for Ukraine military support by 12 billion Euro - either direct procurement for Ukraine or replacement of Bundeswehr equipment that is handed over.

[Jacob]

Seems like Germany got some momentum going a while ago, and is keeping it

[Sheilbh]

FFS. Don't generally support banning TikTok but I'd make an exception here (also wonder if choices around which large energy consuming industries get priority feels like they may be necessary in energy transition):

Christopher Miller
@ChristopherJM
One of Europe's largest ammo makers can't expand to meet rise in demand due to Russia's war in Ukraine because a TikTok data center's using all spare power in the area, @rmilneNordic writes. "[ O]ur future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos."

https://www.ft.com/content/f85aa254-d453-4542-a50e-fa1171971ab0?shareType=nongift

[celedhring]

FFS. Don't generally support banning TikTok but I'd make an exception here (also wonder if choices around which large energy consuming industries get priority feels like they may be necessary in energy transition):

Christopher Miller
@ChristopherJM
One of Europe's largest ammo makers can't expand to meet rise in demand due to Russia's war in Ukraine because a TikTok data center's using all spare power in the area, @rmilneNordic writes. "[ O]ur future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos."

https://www.ft.com/content/f85aa254-d453-4542-a50e-fa1171971ab0?shareType=nongift

Damn, China is even more devious than I thought 

Next up: massive Aliexpress logistics center next to BAE Systems.

[viper37]

Probably the next two people to suffer from an accident near one of those supper dangerous Russian windows:
Moscow Elite in a Panic Over Tape Blasting Putin as 'Satan'

Two prominent supporters of Vladimir Putin have been accused of calling the Russian president "Satan" and a "dwarf" in a leaked phone conversation that has erupted into a full-blown scandal.

The 35-minute phone call, shared by Ukraine's Channel Five, allegedly features Russian oligarch and former senator Farkhad Akhmedov and prominent Moscow music producer Iosif Prigozhin delving into a profanity-laced tirade against Putin and his inner circle.

The Russian government has "fucked us, our children, their future, their destiny," Akhmedov allegedly said in the leaked call, referring to the Kremlin's handling of the war in Ukraine, according to Meduza. "He's Satan," he goes on to say of Putin in the phone call, which reportedly took place on Jan. 24.
[...]

[Legbiter]

Apparently this was just spotted heading to the front in Ukraine.



That's an IS-3...

I'm no tank nerd but according to Wikipedia this tank missed WW II itself but managed to see use in the Berlin victory parade. 

[Zanza]

It weighs almost 50 tons, so it should be useful to explode at least one Ukrainian tank mine. Based on some recent videos from Vuhledar that seems to be a standard Russian tactic. 

[Legbiter]

Just getting it to run after sitting outdoors in Siberia for 70 years will be a minor miracle. 

[mongers]

Just getting it to run after sitting outdoors in Siberia for 70 years will be a minor miracle. 

Well they got those convicted criminals from there to run very successfully once they were in the donbass.

[Admiral Yi]

I've noticed that they've stopped bothering with the anti-Javelin cages.