Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-25

[PDH]

Well, they don't seem to be too good at healing soldiers given the apparent WIA to KIA ratios...

[Zoupa]

I must have seen dozens of videos of russians lying dead in a field with a shitty rubber tourniquet on a limb. These things were made in the 70s.

The apathy of the average russian, even to the possibility of their own death, is truly amazing.

[mongers]

The reports of Anti-Putin Russian partisans operations nr Bryansk is rather interesting, I wonder if the group is real or a good bit of Ukrainian black propaganda?

[The Larch]

The reports of Anti-Putin Russian partisans operations nr Bryansk is rather interesting, I wonder if the group is real or a good bit of Ukrainian black propaganda?

It seems to be real but it's a really bizarre story. The group seems to be a completely rogue operation headed by a Russian neo-nazi that operates from Ukraine.

[Jacob]

Sigh.

Why does he have to be a neo-Nazi?

... or wait. How much of the "neo-Nazi" characterization is Russian? Because according to Putin's clique, anyone who's against Russian imperialism is a neo-Nazi.

[viper37]

Sigh.

Why does he have to be a neo-Nazi?

... or wait. How much of the "neo-Nazi" characterization is Russian? Because according to Putin's clique, anyone who's against Russian imperialism is a neo-Nazi.

It's hard to tell.  There are neo-nazis fighting against Russia and for Russia.

[The Larch]

Sigh.

Why does he have to be a neo-Nazi?

... or wait. How much of the "neo-Nazi" characterization is Russian? Because according to Putin's clique, anyone who's against Russian imperialism is a neo-Nazi.

Seems to be the real deal.

Russia on alert after reconnaissance group crosses over from Ukraine
Vladimir Putin convenes security council and cancels planned trip in response to border incident


A reconnaissance group claiming to work for the Ukrainian military crossed into Russia and allegedly launched an attack on Thursday, prompting President Vladimir Putin to convene his security council and delay a planned trip out of Moscow.

Russian authorities said on Thursday that the group had entered a village in Bryansk region near Russia's border with Ukraine and shot two civilians but did not provide evidence of an attack.

In a planned address on Thursday, Putin claimed that a "terrorist attack has been committed today".

"They infiltrated the territory close to the border and opened fire at civilians," he said. "They saw the car [they have attacked] was civilian, they saw the kids inside — but they opened fire."

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the move was "a classic provocation" from Russia.

But a Ukraine-based group of Russian nationals calling itself the Russian Volunteer Corps posted a video on its Telegram channel showing two men carrying assault rifles, dressed in white winter camouflage and holding a flag adorned with the group's symbol — a sword and shield.



One of the men says: "Friends, this has happened . . . We have crossed the state border. We are not fighting the civilians, we do not kill unarmed people. It is time for the Russian citizens to understand that they are not slaves. Fight!"

In the Telegram post, the group, which was founded in August, said it "came to Bryansk region to show their compatriots that there is hope, that free Russian people with weapons in their hands can fight the regime".

One of the men in the video is Denis Nikitin, 38, who is the head of the corps. Nikitin — a prominent far-right, Russia-born football hooligan and mixed martial arts fighter — founded the white nationalist clothing label White Rex.

Nikitin, a polyglot who sometimes also uses the surname Kapustin, was born in Moscow, studied in Europe and lived for years in Germany before moving to Ukraine in 2017. He has garnered a large following among rightwing nationalists across the west, including the US.

His group claims to be a "Russian volunteer formation that is part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine". Ukraine's military has not confirmed that connection.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson at Ukraine's military intelligence, told the Financial Times the incident on Thursday was "an internal Russian stand-off". He said the armed Russian men were an "independent formation" fighting to liberate their country and "were not" trained or part of Ukraine's armed forces.

Groups from Ukraine have breached Russia's border and entered Bryansk region in the past. In December, a Ukrainian sabotage team of four men, found with weapons and explosives, was killed.

But Ukraine's armed forces have recently claimed that Russia was preparing "provocations" in the border area where the incident on Thursday allegedly occurred.

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a security council meeting would be held on Friday and that the president had cancelled a planned trip to the southern Stavropol region for "obvious reasons".

Putin has justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine by falsely claiming that the country, run by a Jewish president, is controlled by Nazis. In his de facto declaration of war delivered on February 24 2022, he said he had ordered a "special military operation" to "denazify" Ukraine". But neo-Nazis have been found fighting on the Russian side, including among the Wagner mercenary group.

Experts are concerned that the response from Putin could be harsh because he takes incidents that fall under the authority of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the national security agency, extremely seriously.

Putin trusted the FSB more than the defence ministry and the response tactics would be different, said Tatyana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in her Telegram channel. "Something serious is being prepared — they will answer."

From a Twitter thread on the attack:

The RDK or Russian Volunteer Corps is not part of the Ukrainian military or part of the UKR Russian Legion (which is former Russian POWs fighting for Ukraine)

The Russian Legion is not affiliated with the Russian Imperial Legion (RIM) or the RUS BARS-13 Russia Legion

Denis "WhiteRex" Kapustin is an accelerationist, MMA fighter, and Neo-Nazi, who lost his residency permit in Germany in 2019 due to his activities, is (or was) wanted by the United States FBI, wanted in Russia, and was investigated for drug trafficking in Ukraine

According to Anti-Fascist Europe, the RDK has about 50 members

The flag they are holding is a design by World War II Nazi collaborator and Russian Liberation Army (ROA) officer Viktor Larionov



The anti-Putin position of the RDK aligns with the Russia Imperial Movement (RIM), which wants to see Russia return to an ethnostate ruled not by Putin but by those with bloodlines to the Czars and the rules of the Russian Orthodox Church

Denis Kapustin's Telegram page is one wild rabbit hole where he simultaneously praises and condemns Igor Mangushev after he was executed

Agreeing with Neo-Nazi values but condemning him for fighting for Russia

Conclusion/Hot Take

The claims of raids in Bryansk seem somewhat legit

This appears to be some bizarre accelerationist attack. unaffiliated with Ukraine's government

The RDK is the brainchild of Kapustin and has approx 50 members

The same number of attackers in Bryansk

[Legbiter]

The reports of Anti-Putin Russian partisans operations nr Bryansk is rather interesting, I wonder if the group is real or a good bit of Ukrainian black propaganda?

Totally spontaneous outpouring of genuine local support for the People's Republic of Bryansk.  

[Jacob]

Looks like Germany is providing a bunch of good equipment in recent times - good show Germany

[viper37]

Ukrainian commander says there are more Russians attacking the city of Bakhmut than there is ammo to kill them

A Ukrainian commander said the situation in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, is "critical" and that there are more Russian troops surrounding the city than there is ammunition to kill them all.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio that the fighting is currently going on "round the clock" as Russians relentlessly push to capture the city, according to a translation from Reuters.

"They take no account of their losses in trying to take the city by assault," Nazarenko said, adding that Ukrainian troops are trying to "inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible."

But it may not be enough. Reuters reported that Nazarenko told the radio station that Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut have less ammo than there are Russian troops attacking the city.

"We need as much ammunition as possible," he said, according to Reuters' translation. "There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them."

On Friday morning, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization, appeared in a video telling Kyiv that Bakhmut was "basically surrounded," the Wall Street Journal reported.

"The pincers are tightening," Prigozhin said, urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to pull his forces from the area.
There's currently only one road left out of the city, CNN reported, and the Russian bombing of a vital supply bridge to Bakhmut has cut Ukrainian forces from critical resources. 

The Wagner Group pushed much of the offensive into Bakhmut this past weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Bakhmut has been the site of some of the deadliest combat in the war, with Ukraine and Russia experiencing high losses.
Insider previously reported that Bakhmut was being referred to as "the meat grinder" by soldiers. A retired US Marine fighting alongside Ukrainian forces said a fighter's life expectancy on the front lines in Bakhmut was around 4 hours.

[Josquius]

Really hope Ukraine aren't making a huge mistake in trying to hold Bakmut.
Im not a military leader and working from very incomplete info but it really does seem time to get the hell out.

Also, does strike me as potentially interesting to give wagner the victory they desperately want. Would help feed the fires of discord in the Russian leadership.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

The uaf is probably conducting a controlled withdrawal, but the only ones who know are the Ukrainians of course.

[mongers]

Heard Anthony Beevor on a bbc radio programme (also a podcast for you hipsters) about the history of Russia, he said the brutalisation of Russian lower ranks within the Russian army is a feature and not a fault.
He said this consitent historical feature means those brutalised have a disreggard for life, those around them, civilians and even their own lives.

So hence events like Bucha/Irpin, Red Army german rapes in 1945 and the often fanatical fighting of russian conscripts, be that in 1941-45 or some of what may be happening around Bakhmut now.

Podcast episode 1 here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gx4h

[Josquius]

Rinds a similar bell to the elan school thing im reading at the moment.

[frunk]

This sounds similar to the announcements we were getting out of Kherson just prior to the Kharkiv counter offensive.  Hopefully that is what is happening, and hopefully it works.