Kiev Is Burning

[jaro]

btw, if there are Wagner contractors used by Russians... why don't just Ukraine hire Blackwater??? (or whatever they are named today)

Edited February 28, 2022 by jaro

[Frisky]

Sorry if posted already

 

 

[jaro]

btw, that BUK they taken out today with Bayraktars, it was near Ivankiv, deep inside Russian controlled area.

[Josh]

It seemed odd that two launchers were so closely spaced together. They looked neither deployed nor on the march; like they were just parked waiting for something.

[crazyinsane105]

11 minutes ago, jaro said:

btw, if there are Wagner contractors used by Russians... why don't just Ukraine hire Blackwater??? (or whatever they are named today)

Why even hire contractors when you have loads of volunteers willing to fight for free on the side of the Ukrainians? Money is something that Ukrainians have even less of than the Russians

[jaro]

Just now, Josh said:

It seemed odd that two launchers were so closely spaced together. They looked neither deployed nor on the march; like they were just parked waiting for something.

probably fuel? or their command vehicle got stuck somewhere? who knows..

[Red Ant]

13 minutes ago, jaro said:

btw, if there are Wagner contractors used by Russians... why don't just Ukraine hire Blackwater??? (or whatever they are named today)

I could imagine that Blackwater have no particularly great desire to get annihilated. As hopeful as some of the news appear to be, let's not be too optimistic about the chances of Ukraine to hold things together in the face of a renewed Russian assault.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Red Ant

[jaro]

1 minute ago, crazyinsane105 said:

Why even hire contractors when you have loads of volunteers willing to fight for free on the side of the Ukrainians? Money is something that Ukrainians have even less of than the Russians

I mean, US could hire them for Ukraine.. just speculating..

[Red Ant]

2 minutes ago, crazyinsane105 said:

Why even hire contractors when you have loads of volunteers willing to fight for free on the side of the Ukrainians? Money is something that Ukrainians have even less of than the Russians

I really don't think money is a bottleneck for Ukraine right now. Wouldn't be surprised if the west will foot the bill for much of Ukraine's defense efforts, if it isn't already doing so.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Red Ant

[X-Files]

24 minutes ago, jaro said:

Ok, now this is actually quite interesting:

WHY would they blow up a port??? if they want to keep the land, i would guess they would want to use the infrastructure for themselves... unless something is happening we dont know yet?

 

 

Outside of the Greater Crimean footprint they intend to keep would be my guess - so denial to anyone else's naval units.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Josh]

2 minutes ago, Red Ant said:

I could imagine that Blackwater have no particularly great desire to get annihilated. As hopeful as some of the news appear to be, let's not be too optimistic about the chances of Ukraine to hold things together in the face of a renewed Russian assault.

Indeed, I think it is only a matter of days before Mauripol and Kharkiv are the last pockets of resistance on the east bank. it seems likely that the forces around Donbas are already effectively cut off. Russian equipment casualties seem higher than I would have thought based on all of the pictures we're seeing (I can't believe how many pictures of bridging units have been posted) but progress is steady and a UA collapse I think is inevitable at some point.

[Red Ant]

14 hours ago, Perun said:

They were newer allies, they only signed non-agression pact and that is only becouse UK and France didnt want to be allies with Soviet Union

Must have been great consolation to the Poles, I'm sure.

[Yama]

8 minutes ago, Josh said:

It seemed odd that two launchers were so closely spaced together. They looked neither deployed nor on the march; like they were just parked waiting for something.

It's not a launcher but a loading vehicle. One next to it might be a launcher, or it might be another load vehicle which has only 4 missiles remaining.

[Dark_Falcon]

7 minutes ago, Red Ant said:

I could imagine that Blackwater have no particularly great desire to get annihilated. As hopeful as some of the news appear to be, let's not be too optimistic about the chances of Ukraine to hold things together in the face of a renewed Russian assault.

Also bringing in substantial numbers of Westerners runs an unacceptable risk of a wider war.

[jaro]

 

[Frisky]

 

[Dark_Falcon]

Small contributions still add up:

 

 

[jaro]

 

[ex2cav]

1 hour ago, BansheeOne said:

It aligns with my earlier thought that Russian formations usually forming one battlegroup of mostly professionals and two with a share of conscripts would explain why only a third of the arrayed BTGs appears to have been deployed so far.

I can see the reasoning for this approach on the part of the Russians. I think they believed a little too much of their propaganda that the Ukies would just fold and no other forces would be needed. It's only been a few days and the Russians have advanced dramatically. However, they didn't count on the twitter brigade to drum up sympathy and support and that overwhelms most gains they have made in the eyes of the world. Ukraine is not isolated.

The Russians should go desert storm to finish their objectives. Waiting only compounds the Russians problems. If Kiev falls in the next several days, Nato/Eu will push for the Ukies to move their capital, likely Lviv. As has been posted here, arms are flowing in, refugees out. 

The Ukies will be pressed by the Nato/Eu to continue the fight. It will be mostly up to them to decide how far they want to. The Russians are in a corner and can only escalate. To not escalate would require extraordinary presence of mind and diplomacy that is rarely found throughout history and  not likely in the Russian (and also the Ukrainian) sphere.

[Yama]

33 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

 

It's a very symbolic effort: small number of assault rifles and LAWs. MoD has protested sending any lethal aid by "We can't afford to give anything away".

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://twitter.com/BLSchmitt/status/1498335712835510273?s=19

 

[Yama]

13 minutes ago, jaro said:

 

Doesn't look like cluster munitions, but a one-vehicle Grad strike. But sure thing, it looks very brutal.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Dark_Falcon]

"Let's just take the prototype out and be legends, man!"

The full story;

Ukraine's Prototype Kevlar-E Armored Fighting Vehicle Has Joined The Fight Against Russia