Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-26

[Jacob]

Saw video of ground based remote control drones taking on Russian infantry in Ukraine.

[Razgovory]

Sea of Azov - but I guess it also holds a message for the Strait of Hormuz. Or the waters around Taiwan. Drone attack against the bridge seems impossible to defend against.

How do you figure they are impossible to defend against?

[Josquius]

From what I've read with the bridge is Ukraine and Russia have a sort of agreement with it where Ukraine is allowing it to stay open under the promise it won't be used to transport oil.
It's half wrecked so it's only allowing one car at a time with tight security.
Ukrainian reasoning is they have to give the civilians somewhere to try to escape and they don't want to see starvation.


Not mentioned here but.... Russia has an election in September.
Obviously. Russian election. Not real.
But not totally fake either.
I've seen theories Putin holding off on a mass conscription until that is done.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Saw video of ground based remote control drones taking on Russian infantry in Ukraine.

One did an amphibious landing yesterday on the kinburn spit too

[Syt]

Looks like something from Command & Conquer.




Per Google AI:

The Text: The poster translates to "Russian Unmanned Systems Troops" (at the top) and "Contract service in the most technological troops" (at the bottom). The small box on the right reads "Training for no less than three months."

The Branch: The unmanned systems forces were officially integrated as a new branch of the Russian Armed Forces, focusing on programming and piloting drones.

The Campaign: The phone number "117" is the official Russian unified hotline for military service questions, with "#4" directing the caller specifically to drone operator recruitment

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like they ran out of ships in the sea of Azov and have moved on to the Black Sea

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:v7762wvbhnna4t4gptkbjogc/post/3mqoci5cyr22l?ref_src=embed

Black Sea: Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces opened the Black Sea campaign on July 15.

During the first night, USF drones hunted down 20 Russian vessels: 17 oil tankers, 2 gas carriers and 1 tug.

[Tamas]

Looks like something from Command & Conquer.




Per Google AI:

The Text: The poster translates to "Russian Unmanned Systems Troops" (at the top) and "Contract service in the most technological troops" (at the bottom). The small box on the right reads "Training for no less than three months."

The Branch: The unmanned systems forces were officially integrated as a new branch of the Russian Armed Forces, focusing on programming and piloting drones.

The Campaign: The phone number "117" is the official Russian unified hotline for military service questions, with "#4" directing the caller specifically to drone operator recruitment

I would absolutely trust the Russian army to keep me as a drone operator and not shove me in a trench with a WW2-era Kalasnikov.

Not.

[DGuller]

I would absolutely trust the Russian army to keep me as a drone operator and not shove me in a trench with a WW2-era Kalasnikov.

Not.

Actually, the first Kalashnikov was made in 1947. 

[mongers]

Looks like something from Command & Conquer.


Per Google AI:

The Text: The poster translates to "Russian Unmanned Systems Troops" (at the top) and "Contract service in the most technological troops" (at the bottom). The small box on the right reads "Training for no less than three months."

The Branch: The unmanned systems forces were officially integrated as a new branch of the Russian Armed Forces, focusing on programming and piloting drones.

The Campaign: The phone number "117" is the official Russian unified hotline for military service questions, with "#4" directing the caller specifically to drone operator recruitment

I would absolutely trust the Russian army to keep me as a drone operator and not shove me in a trench with a WW2-era Kalasnikov.

Not.

No surprise that's exactly what happened to some of these soldiers*, it's like the Russian/Soviet military bureaucracy takes perverse delight in screwing over everyone on their own side.

* BBC news item about it last week.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Fedorov got fired as minister of defence. That might be an own-goal

[DGuller]

Fedorov got fired as minister of defence. That might be an own-goal

Unfortunately Ukraine is still a country with an oligarchic form of government.  Competence can often be a far bigger threat than incompetence in such forms of government, because competence leads to formation of a power base.  Even Stalin forgave people for being competent when USSR was fighting an existential war, but that was always a temporary state of things, and bound to be revised once the existential threat passed.

[The Minsky Moment]

The independent and staunchly anti-corruption Defence Minister was unceremoniously replaced by the chief bagman for the state gas company.  Why would anyone suspect corruption?  It makes total sense that in the middle of a war for survival you would want to make sure that your top civilian defense official had the essential skills for that position: making commodities trades and managing retail gas stations.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

As we know here in the United States of Trump America, gas prices drive everything.  It makes perfect sense then to have a Defense Minister who is skilled at keeping these low.  Ukraine should spread this knowledge out to their remaining portfolios.  Then they can bury the Russians under a flood of cheap retail gasoline.

[Sheilbh]

I admire Zelensky a lot but there is a pattern of tall poppies getting chopped - especially in the Defence Ministry. I'd add that I read a few articles under the Biden administration of some pretty strong disquiet about the people around Zelensky (I think particularly the Chief of Staff) basically building an alternative oligarchic network with a lot of palace intrigue.

Again I admire him a lot and to an extent a little light corruption may be necessary to have things moving. But this is the sort of thing why I think Ukraine will have a long journey into Europe and I'm not sure that's been well communicated/understood. There's a lot of work to do on the acquis - Macron to his credit has flagged this a few times.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

And advantage is that a sufficiently large section of the citizenry no longer accepts such nonsense and is willing to take to streets. Even during wartime.
Like with the anti-corruption case.
But yeah, it is worrying all the same