Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[mongers]

They lost 15,000 in 10 years in Afghanistan, if they lost 4000 in a week it's a disaster even relative to how poor Russia is.

4,000 US soldiers died during the entirety of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.  (31,000 injured).

Absolutely a disaster.

Iraq isn't compareable to Ukraine, as the US/allies probably took less than 200 deaths before Saddam's regime toppled and most of regular Iraqi military gave up or stayed away from the fighting; remember the scenes of US armour driving into Baghdad amongst the civilian traffic and hardly any resistance, save from fedayeen and militia,that will not happen in Kyiv.

Putin's Russia is invading with a sizeable force, but they're up against an army that has rock steady morale and is fighting for the very existence of their state/country; casualties are bound to be much higher, especially as upwards of 250,000 soldiers from both sides are engage in fighting all along the borders.

[Jacob]

Iraq isn't compareable to Ukraine, as the US/allies probably took less than 200 deaths before Saddam's regime toppled and most of regular Iraqi military gave up or stayed away from the fighting; remember the scenes of US armour driving into Baghdad amongst the civilian traffic and hardly any resistance, save from fedayeen and militia,that will not happen in Kyiv.

Putin's Russia is invading with a sizeable force, but they're up against an army that has rock steady morale and is fighting for the very existence of their state/country; casualties are bound to be much higher, especially as upwards of 250,000 soldiers from both sides are engage in fighting all along the borders.

... and that's why it's a disaster for them, yes.

[The Brain]

But Putin fanbois on YouTube claim that Russia is simply cleverly doing something. Are they wrong?

[FunkMonk]

But Putin fanbois on YouTube claim that Russia is simply cleverly doing something. Are they wrong?

True. Russian army is so awesome I've heard in fact Russia has had negative casualties. Soldiers are literally splitting themselves into two soldiers when they are hit by bullets and bombs.

[mongers]

Iraq isn't compareable to Ukraine, as the US/allies probably took less than 200 deaths before Saddam's regime toppled and most of regular Iraqi military gave up or stayed away from the fighting; remember the scenes of US armour driving into Baghdad amongst the civilian traffic and hardly any resistance, save from fedayeen and militia,that will not happen in Kyiv.

Putin's Russia is invading with a sizeable force, but they're up against an army that has rock steady morale and is fighting for the very existence of their state/country; casualties are bound to be much higher, especially as upwards of 250,000 soldiers from both sides are engage in fighting all along the borders.

... and that's why it's a disaster for them, yes.

Not really, as these kind of casualties levels might be expected in this toe-to-toe fighting; I think from Putin and Russia's perspective they don't matter a great deal.

However when the war is into it's 2nd, 3rd or 4th month and the Ukrainians still haven't buckled then lots of the active Russian combat forces will be spent or have ground to a halt. I'd suggest that is what will be seen as a disaster.

[viper37]

doesn't what you call "heat pump" also work for summer to cool off the house?

Heat pumps move heat--this is bidirectional, so they can make a home cooler in the summer.

Heat pumps here are typically not used to directly heat or cool air, but to heat water that then circulates through the house and gives off heat via radiators or under-floor heating. That will not allow cooling.

totally different thing than what I had in mind.

[viper37]

I would also wager if Biden is talking in the American press about sending "heat pumps" he means the heat exchange air systems that would be understood by American press, and not whatever system you are referencing.

when think of residential products, this is what I have in mind:
http://mitsubishielectric.ca/en/hvac/home-owners/ductless-solutions

It's compressed air that is either cooled or warmed.

[grumbler]

Not really, as these kind of casualties levels might be expected in this toe-to-toe fighting; I think from Putin and Russia's perspective they don't matter a great deal.

However when the war is into it's 2nd, 3rd or 4th month and the Ukrainians still haven't buckled then lots of the active Russian combat forces will be spent or have ground to a halt. I'd suggest that is what will be seen as a disaster.

I'm not sure from whence you are getting this confidence you are showing in your military analysis skills, but I'm not buying your blithe assurance that 4,000 KIA/DOW in a week is merely what "might be expected."  Four thousand KIA/DOW implies 16,000 non-death casualties which means that roughly 10% of the Russian force is out of action.  In a week.  That's Battle of Stalingrad-level casualty rates.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I would also wager if Biden is talking in the American press about sending "heat pumps" he means the heat exchange air systems that would be understood by American press, and not whatever system you are referencing.

when think of residential products, this is what I have in mind:
http://mitsubishielectric.ca/en/hvac/home-owners/ductless-solutions

It's compressed air that is either cooled or warmed.

That is precisely the type of system I was talking about / expected. In America we use a mixture of systems designed for "ducted" homes that have full size ductwork, and the mini-split type in your link. In Europe since the majority of homes are built without ductwork when a system is installed it will almost always be a mini-split. I know HVAC guys as I mentioned and servicing the systems is a little different. The HVAC guys here normally will know how to work on a ducted system and a mini-split, but will generally not like working on the mini-split because they are less common. In Europe ducted homes are so rare I doubt many technicians could even service a heat pump designed for a ducted system if someone wanted to try and install one.

[viper37]

Ukraine war: 'My city's being shelled, but mum won't believe me'

Oleksandra and her four rescue dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began.
"When I heard the first explosions, I ran out of the house to get my dogs from their enclosures outside. People were panicking, abandoning their cars. I was so scared," she says.
The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos from her heavily bombarded hometown, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother about the danger she is in.
"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says.
"But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who're killing their own people."

[Jacob]

Not really, as these kind of casualties levels might be expected in this toe-to-toe fighting; I think from Putin and Russia's perspective they don't matter a great deal.

However when the war is into it's 2nd, 3rd or 4th month and the Ukrainians still haven't buckled then lots of the active Russian combat forces will be spent or have ground to a halt. I'd suggest that is what will be seen as a disaster.

I dunno... if you're expecting to launch a decapitation strike taking out the opposition government and control its major cities after a few days, then having taken none of the cities and losing 4,000 troops (and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment) in a week does qualify as an operational disaster as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe it's something they can recover from, but it's a disaster nonetheless.

[jimmy olsen]

Super fucked up story here (NSFW): https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t9de02/hero_ukrainian_woman_shows_corpses_russian/

Basically, a commissar(!) with the Russian units orders firing on civilians.  Two Russian soldiers decide to guide Ukrainian civilians to safety instead of firing on them.  A commissar notices it and orders fire on both the civilians and the two Russian soldiers.  A woman and one of the Russian soldiers is killed.  The daughter of the woman saves the other Russian soldier, and I guess eventually he's captured by Ukrainians and interviewed.  What a mix of depravity and heroism in a single story.

Today I learned that Russia reestablished the commissariat in 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-military-politics/in-soviet-echo-putin-gives-russian-army-a-political-wing-idUSKBN1KL1VA

[Valmy]

Ukraine war: 'My city's being shelled, but mum won't believe me'

Oleksandra and her four rescue dogs have been sheltering in the bathroom of her flat in Kharkiv since the shelling began.
"When I heard the first explosions, I ran out of the house to get my dogs from their enclosures outside. People were panicking, abandoning their cars. I was so scared," she says.
The 25-year-old has been speaking regularly to her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in these conversations, and even after sending videos from her heavily bombarded hometown, Oleksandra is unable to convince her mother about the danger she is in.
"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them directly that civilians and children are dying," she says.
"But even though they worry about me, they still say it probably happens only by accident, that the Russian army would never target civilians. That it's Ukrainians who're killing their own people."

Amazing that one would trust propaganda from a government versus people on the ground...and their own damn daughter at that. These are the kind of brainwashed fanatics I was referring to earlier.

I am still kind of amazed that an adult living in 2022 with all the information out there really thinks that armies, even ones as angelic as Russians, can attack a city without targeting any civilians.

[Eddie Teach]

Mini splits don't require air ducts, just a unit in the room(s) requiring heating and cooling. Freon is circulated to these units to heat or cool the coils. Though in very large systems glycol is used .

Air ducted heating and cooling can also be used, but not ideal in retrofits.

Is HVC short for HVAC?

[HVC]

Name predates occupation. But with my misadventures in spelling I can see where that notion could come from