Russian invasion of Ukraine

[west didsblue]

there are reports that the new Russian general in charge has sent down the order that all soldiers should be clean shaven.

there are 2 trains of thought doing the rounds.

1) He wants the military to look professional to try to combat the "rag tag" looking mess they are in. In a 1st step to trying to build cohesion etc.

2) they are getting ready to use Gas as you need to be clean shaven for gas masks to work.

Using gas will undoubtedly backfire on the Russians from a military perspective. Ukrainian forces will have access to plenty of western supplied NBC equipment unlike when they used it in Syria. The concern is its effect on civilians in areas where they use it.

 

[SPIDERBOY]

Looks like the Russians have gained some ground at Klishchiivka,about 7km South West of Bakhmut.
They are gaining small amounts of ground in various places,but with enormous losses.
There has been complaints from Russian troops regards trained artillery units being sent in as infantry.
This would suggest 1 of 3 thing to me.
They are short of feet on the ground,artillery or ammo.
Maybe all 3?

Slava Ukraini.

 

[SPIDERBOY]

Russian drone attack now....i'm expecting missiles at some point today.

Slava Ukraini.

 

[AlgarveBlu]

Looks like the Russians have gained some ground at Klishchiivka,about 7km South West of Bakhmut.
They are gaining small amounts of ground in various places,but with enormous losses.
There has been complaints from Russian troops regards trained artillery units being sent in as infantry.
This would suggest 1 of 3 thing to me.
They are short of feet on the ground,artillery or ammo.
Maybe all 3?

Slava Ukraini.

Have read in a couple of places that some military minded people believe there is a tactical merit in a deliberate organised withdrawal of a location to suck in a higher concentration of the enemy into a pre-designated kill zone that has just been vacated - sounds plausible to me as a strategy. Although I suspect I may be reading what I want to hear rather than they are making some advances on the battlefield.

 

[domalino]

there are reports that the new Russian general in charge has sent down the order that all soldiers should be clean shaven.

there are 2 trains of thought doing the rounds.

1) He wants the military to look professional to try to combat the "rag tag" looking mess they are in. In a 1st step to trying to build cohesion etc.

2) they are getting ready to use Gas as you need to be clean shaven for gas masks to work.

The gas idea doesn't really hold weight for me. If you were going to give that order, you'd do it just before, probably on a unit by unit basis. It would be an already established protocol as part of sending chemical munitions to the front line, not a special order from the top general.

I'm almost certain this is more Russian war theatre trying to convince the world they'll use chemical or biological or nuclear weapons if the rest of us don't give up soon.

It's just like the thing they did with the weapons inspectors/ukrainian bioweapons thing way back in May or the scaremongering with Zaporiznha. Or Medvedev saying losing a conventional war would make a nuclear power start a nuclear war.

They always want people to think they're on the edge of doing something crazy, meanwhile they're actually just sending 1000 men a day to die in the Bakhmut meat grinder.

 

[SPIDERBOY]

Have read in a couple of places that some military minded people believe there is a tactical merit in a deliberate organised withdrawal of a location to suck in a higher concentration of the enemy into a pre-designated kill zone that has just been vacated - sounds plausible to me as a strategy. Although I suspect I may be reading what I want to hear rather than they are making some advances on the battlefield.

Ukainian force have done that on a few occasions mate,but,unfortunately,the Russians will gain ground in places,at a heavy price.

Slava Ukraini.

 

[domalino]

Have read in a couple of places that some military minded people believe there is a tactical merit in a deliberate organised withdrawal of a location to suck in a higher concentration of the enemy into a pre-designated kill zone that has just been vacated - sounds plausible to me as a strategy. Although I suspect I may be reading what I want to hear rather than they are making some advances on the battlefield.

Ukainian force have done that on a few occasions mate,but,unfortunately,the Russians will gain ground in places,at a heavy price.

Slava Ukraini.

This guy has been spot on about near enough everything in this war and he's been saying this for months.







(You can continue the thread and he points out phase 2 are Kharkiv, Kherson, and people should be focused on where Ukraine are going to counter attack with all the APCs and Tanks that are being delivered but not appearing on the battlefield yet)

 

[Uptop]

Have read in a couple of places that some military minded people believe there is a tactical merit in a deliberate organised withdrawal of a location to suck in a higher concentration of the enemy into a pre-designated kill zone that has just been vacated - sounds plausible to me as a strategy. Although I suspect I may be reading what I want to hear rather than they are making some advances on the battlefield.

Im pretty sure I read it is a real thing and is/was a NATO strategy for dealing with assumed overwhelming numbers advantage on the Soviets side in the beginning of any war in Europe, even if it does sound a bit like cope when you lose territory.

Even the huge soviet stockpiles will run dry eventually with this method and russia isnt producing shit in any quantity to replace even a fraction of their loses. It is a hard balancing act to know when to hold and when to back out to minimise loses, hopefully Ukraine are managing that. If done right Ukraine will be trading huge numbers advantages at the cost of land, land that can be retaken as long as russia exhausts its equipment before they run out of land to trade with.

 

[CTID1977]

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

This guy has been spot on about near enough everything in this war and he's been saying this for months.







(You can continue the thread and he points out phase 2 are Kharkiv, Kherson, and people should be focused on where Ukraine are going to counter attack with all the APCs and Tanks that are being delivered but not appearing on the battlefield yet)

There has always been a strategic advantage in ground wars where it is easier to be the aggressor and concentrate force on a point in a defensive line. But a defensive line can do more damage with less men on the ground. And with modern weapons concentrations of troops is even more of a problem.

Russia are gaining some ground but how much and at what cost. And then once you take ground you have to hold it and your forces become spread out and need constant supply. North Africa in ww2 is the classic example of this problem. Easy to gain but hard to hold. In Vietnam the US gave up holding ground, they would fight for days over a hill and lose hundreds of men then just fly everyone out once it was 'cleared'.

No definitive answer but Russia are clearly making all the same old mistakes.