From Interfax (via Firefox Translate add-on): https://www.interfax.ru/russia/892914

Moscow. March 25. INTERFAX.Russia has something to respond to possible supplies of depleted uranium shells to Ukraine: the Russian Federation has hundreds of thousands of such shells, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“I must say that Russia, of course, has something to respond to. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands of such shells. We haven’t used them yet,” Putin said, answering questions from the media in an interview on the Rossiya – 24 TV channel (VGTRK).
He was asked what would happen to the “famous Ukrainian black soil” in this case.
“This is a question waiting for a painstaking researcher in the person of those who initiate such steps that contradict the interests of normal logic and humanitarian law,” Putin said.
He refuted the thesis that depleted uranium shells leave no trace and are harmless.
“This is certainly not the case. The fact is that they, of course, do not belong to the category of weapons of mass destruction, this is true. But the cores of shells with depleted uranium – there can be different materials used – it is used for armor-piercing purposes, it still somehow generates the so-called radiation dust. And in this sense, of course, it belongs to the most dangerous weapons, ” Putin said.
Experts confirm, he continued, that after the use in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq, oncological diseases among local citizens increased many times.
“If we are talking about Ukraine, then those who will apply it should understand: do they consider those people who live in this territory to be their own? How will they use it against people who are actually their own? I mean, the leftovers will get dusty. In particular, they will pollute the sown areas, ” Putin said.
In this sense, the President stressed once again, such weapons can be classified as the most harmful and dangerous for humans.
The Russian leader is convinced that Western countries, pumping Ukraine with weapons, are trying to prolong the conflict.
“From the point of view of the logic of those who provoked this conflict and are trying to save it at any cost, this is probably the right decision (to supply weapons). In my opinion, this will only lead to a greater tragedy, ” the President added.

~~~
https://www.interfax.ru/russia/892915

Moscow. March 25. INTERFAX.Russia intends to produce and modernize a total of more than 1,600 tanks in the next three years, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“The arsonists plan to send 420 or 440 tanks to Ukraine, everything is the same as for ammunition. During this time, we will produce new ones and modernize the existing ones over 1,600, ” Putin said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”, an excerpt from which was broadcast on Saturday on the TV channel “Russia-24 “(VGTRK).
“The total number of tanks of the Russian army will exceed three times the number of tanks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Even more than three times, ” the President added.
“I’m not even talking about aviation. There is a difference of 10 orders of magnitude, ” the Russian president said.
Vladimir Putin also stressed that the Russian authorities are aware of the West’s plans to supply a significant amount of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, but the Russian military-industrial complex is also increasing production.
According to Russian information, about 14-15 thousand shells are currently produced in the United States every month, next year production will reach the level of 42 thousand shells, and in 2025 – 75 thousand.
“I think that if the United States is going to go from 15 thousand (shells) this year to 42 (thousand) next, then for other (countries) this will be even more difficult. There are still some rules there. Each country has its own plans for the development of the armed forces and the so-called national economy, infrastructure, education and healthcare, ” Putin said.
At the same time, he added, the armed forces of Ukraine use up to 5 thousand shells every day.
“The Russian armed Forces spend much more. I don’t want to give an assessment of the rationality of decision – making at different levels of military administration, but now, as you know, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff are even forced to introduce certain limits,” Putin said.
“At the same time, Russian production and the Russian military-industrial complex are developing at a very rapid pace, such as many did not expect. Over the same period of time, the Russian industry will produce three times as much ammunition as we are talking about, even more than three times as much, ” he added.

No worries really, the West does not yet have the aircraft to deliver 10’s of 1,000’s of shells. From 14 years ago: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/case-against-a400m

First, there is uncertainty as to when the A400M would be available. The first aircraft were contractually pledged for delivery to the French Air Force in 2009. This date has been subject to slippage however, and the A400M has not even undergone flight-testing yet. A recent study by the French Senate suggests delays of at least three to four years. For the UK, this would mean the first A400M would only enter into service by 2014/15 – several years after the retirement of the C-130Ks. Even these dates are not guaranteed. EADS has not confirmed when the aircraft would be available, and is requesting time until the end of this year to come up with a new estimate.
Second, schedule uncertainty is coupled with performance uncertainty. There is in fact no guarantee at this point that the A400M’s performance will be that contractually agreed upon. EADS has already announced that it cannot deliver some navigation and low-level flight capabilities. The aircraft is also considerably heavier than anticipated at this stage of development. According to the French Senate’s report, the aircraft weighs twelve tonnes more than projected. This could shorten range, reduce payload and lengthen take off. Thus, the actual performance of the A400M remains uncertain.
Third and finally, the price of the aircraft remains uncertain. The current unit price is estimated at €145 million. But EADS wants to renegotiate this price to reflect much higher than anticipated development costs. Some estimates predict an increase of at least thirty per cent in unit price.
In sum, the fundamental variables of in-service dates, performance and price of the A400M remain shrouded in uncertainty.

A whole lot more can be dug out about the A400M transporter; I will just add that a friend of mine has been closely involved and has made enough overtime to bring forward his anticipated retirement date. Backwards and forwards between Bristol and Spain turned out to be quite lucrative!
Isn’t Western military technological superiority wonderful…

Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 25 2023 21:07 utc | 3

Original Operation Z. Little known expediton by Russia into China and the South Pacific.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Volunteer_Group
Surprising we have not heard about this from the Western Media. Russia kept China in the fight with Japan all through the 1930s by providing Air Superiority over Taiwan and Wuhan.
In October 1937, some 450 Soviet pilots and technicians assembled in Moscow, subsequently traveling to Alma Ata to bring 155 fighter aircraft, 62 bombers, and 8 trainers into China. The Soviets arrived as private citizens and initially wore civilian clothing, the mission remaining a secret even from their closest relatives. They were instructed to avoid using the term comrade, and in the event of their capture they were to claim that they were former members of the White movement permanently residing in China. Prior to each mission, the pilots changed into Chinese uniforms, whilst their planes were marked with Chinese Air Force insignia. By 1941, the Soviet-built aircraft sent to China would amount to 885, including two-engine and four-engine bombers, though the latter were never used in combat. Apart from the aforementioned I-15, I-16 and UT-4, the Soviets also supplied Tupolev TB-3, Tupolev SB, and Ilyushin DB-3 bombers. Over 1,200 aircraft had been sent to China by the end of 1941. At the time of the arrival of the first Soviet volunteers, the Chinese Air Force had been reduced to less than 100 serviceable aircraft. These were machines so outdated that the Soviets described them as a “museum of antiquity”, and were manned by less than 600 men. Morale was low and the improvement of the situation was hampered by corrupt officials who bought outdated foreign equipment in return for bribes. The Japanese outnumbered the Chinese in the air by a 13:1 ratio and were better trained. Moreover, the Japanese aircraft were faster and equipped with such novelties as night vision devices and radios, easily outmaneuvering and overpowering any opposition.

Posted by: Wokechoke | Mar 25 2023 21:32 utc | 5

Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 25 2023 20:35 utc | 2
Today’s Russian Defence Ministry ‘clobber list’:

Despite all the past months’ “clobberings”, the mighty Russian military still only controls the easternmost 1/8th of Ukraine. Pathetic. They should have steamrolled their way at least to Kiev by the end of spring 2022, no matter what gadgets NATO supplied to Kiev’s forces. Every day that this conflict goes on, Moscow looks more and more pathetic.

Posted by: ReinhardVonSiegfried | Mar 25 2023 21:59 utc | 7

They should have steamrolled their way at least to Kiev by the end of spring 2022
It’s not too late for all the Christian Orthodox of Ukraine to realize Russia’s sacrifice for them.

Posted by: Fred777 | Mar 25 2023 22:25 utc | 9

# 6
Russia has won
Pheidippides is five miles away to hand deliver the message

Posted by: Dingo | Mar 25 2023 22:38 utc | 11

So….Zelensky just said no counter offensive without more western weapons?!?!
Well isn’t that a dilly of a pickle? We got this nice war here, but even Zelensky is tired of being led around with little dribbled packets of weapons.
I think he’s feeling guilty about his dead country men. One can’t wonder if maybe everyone could’ve been better off in ukraine if only the state could’ve let it self break apart.
I mean did people in kiev need to oppress people in donetsk? How much worse could it have been of they were peaceful neighbors not bitter enemies?
Yes, something snapped in that guy. I can’t really guess what happens next.
Is a Chinese peace deal really happening this summer? Oh my frickin God.
Vote for Biden 2024!! Lost world leadership to China.
Worst. President. Ever.
TRUMP 2024

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 25 2023 22:49 utc | 13

https://t.me/vysokygovorit/11123

Older than Edda
The isolation of the battlefield as a category has three successive levels: tactical – carried out by means of the regiment (brigade) commander, operational – by means of the division commander and above, up to the front. And strategic, in which we are no longer talking about isolating the battlefield, but about isolating the theater of operations. All three levels require, first of all, continuous reconnaissance and timely target designation.
Today, in fact, we are implementing only the first level – in a number of sectors, the brigade commanders are quite proactive enough to organize control of the battlefield to the entire depth of the range of their fire weapons, and forbid the enemy to move in this depth. Further, all this becomes very sporadic – problems arise with reconnaissance, and with target designation, and with the implementation of this target designation.
The result is that the enemy can freely maneuver in the strategic and operational depths, despite the fact that we have an overwhelming superiority in the appropriate means, and, in theory, the Ukrainian rear along the entire front should be crammed with burnt columns. But the columns are coming to the front. And at the tactical level, the enemy himself knows how to fight.
There is an opinion that this is called “creating problems for ourselves”, which we have been doing for a year now.
Mar 25 at 10:07

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 25 2023 22:51 utc | 15

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 25 2023 22:51 utc | 14
And you’re late on parade today; overslept or something???

Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 25 2023 22:56 utc | 17

RF use of medium & heavy precision guided glide bombs ? Blockquotes translated as required.
FAB-500 & FAB-1500 (& FAB-3000’s) are merely air dropped dumb iron bombs, 500Kg(300kg explosive) & 1500Kg(1000kg explosive). Useful on the battlefield in Ukraine, yet imprecise with limitations. RF has very, very many F_ck-Tons(A huge’em unit of measure larger than a Shit-Ton) of ’em in munitions storage depots, as well as reserve war stocks.
Advantages of conversion by add-on kit to precision guided aerial glide bomb:
Cheap. Huge extant stockpile. Precision guided, so only one or two needed for certainty of strike or accurate/timed ‘double-tap’. Stand-off weapon, low risk for aircraft & pilot, hence can be launched by Fast Movers from ~40km+ away, outside typical effective engagement range of remnant AFU tactical ambush short-medium range Air Defense Systems(ADS) at & beyond FEBA, excluding major urban cities in interior (S-300, ASAM, etc). Huge stocks. Ideal effective substitute for far more expensive & longer range Strategic & Theater conventional missiles. Did I mention, cheap ?
Sep2’22

Today, finally, the Russian air aces were hung up with cast iron(bombs) and given the freedom to fly and bomb. Not from a roll-up, but like in Syria. For some reason, FABs have not been in a hurry to apply since the withdrawal from Kiev. RuAF pilots supporting the counteroffensive of the Russian troops in the Nikolaev-Kherson direction are happy.

Feb20’23
Clip of a FAB-500 unguided dumb iron bomb dropped on Avdiivka from PMC ‘Wagner’ mini-Airforce . FAB-1500 produces a significantly larger, Boom.
Mar8’23
Clip of an unexploded(Dud) FAB-500 unguided dumb iron bomb in Avdiivka
Jazz ’em up a little with some flashy bling tech, for a few rubles, & suddenly they’re a cost effective air-launched short-medium range precision guided substitute stand-off weapon , for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent missile. Merely fit an add-on kit.
Mar13’23
Image ‘Wartime’ kit, precision guided glide bomb Basic model, no spit & polish re aesthetics or presentation nor finish, after all it is going to go boom. First time use.

🇷🇺🇺🇦 The Russian Aerospace Forces began to use new high-precision glide bombs.
In Donetsk, an unexploded FAB-500 aerial bomb was found on one of the streets of the Kuibyshevsky district, which fell due to a technical malfunction from a Russian bomber. However, the most interesting thing is that a control and correction unit was discovered 500 meters from the find, making a planning precision-guided munition out of an ordinary unguided aerial bomb. Most likely, the block fell off the bomb during the fall and hit the ground. The wings are also clearly visible in the photographs of the product.
This is really very important news , which we personally have been waiting for a very long time. The effect of the use of cheap high-precision bombs is already tangible in the Avdiivka direction, where they are used.

Mar24’23
Image AFU says …

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, confirmed the use of new guided bombs by Russian Air Force aircraft.
“They have FABs (high-explosive bombs) in sufficient quantity. They just add wings to them, GPS and that’s it. They are there, they just need to be upgraded. The price of the issue is much less than producing missiles.
We recall that yesterday Russian aviation carried out massive airstrikes on AFU facilities in the Sumy region, using a similar high-precision aviation munition to the American JDAM.

Mar24’23

The Russian Aerospace Forces launched a massive strike on enemy positions in the villages of Viri and Bilopillia, Sumy Region.
Several dozen Ukrainian soldiers were killed and at least two hundred wounded by high-precision air-launched glide bombs.

Mar24’23

🇷🇺🇺🇦 At night, the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out 11 airstrikes on targets in the Sumy region.
“The Sumy region was attacked by guided bombs launched from 11 aircraft. More than 11 of these guided bombs attacked targets in the region. Losses are being specified there…” Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force command, said in a press release.
It is known that objects in the city of Belopolye (pictured) and the village of Viri of the Rechkovo community fell under airstrikes. Targets in the Nikolaev territorial community were also attacked, the distance from which to the Russian border is about 40 kilometers.
This is the largest attack by Russian aircraft on border facilities of the Ukrainian army in recent times. What is also noteworthy is that the Ukrainian military notes the use of precisely guided bombs, and not missiles, which may indicate a gradual buildup of this type of weaponry in the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Mar25’23

At the site of the airstrike on the building of the former school in Belopolye, the remains of a part of the control and correction unit from a new Russian high-precision aerial glide bomb were found.
According to some reports, this product is called UMPC (Unified Planning and Correction Module). For comparison, in the second photo, the remains of the same product from a non-functioning aerial bomb that fell (pictured) in Donetsk due to a technical malfunction.
Thus, the Russian analogue of the American JDAM complex is increasingly seeing expanded application in Ukraine.

There are various designs & kits available, see ROSOBONRONEXPORT(Click Show More as needed), Models, Variants, Specs, PDFs, for arms export, non wartime mass-production displayed. Required to be ‘presentable’ at Arms Expos.
Essentially there are two primary types, Precision Guided(multiple methods) or ‘Set & Forget’, Fab-500 & FAB-1500 derivatives precision guided conventional HE glide bombs & same again but Fuel Air Explosive(FAE) or concrete-piercing penetrator variants for destruction of hardened targets, etc. For example:
1)

KAB-500S-E (CEP 7-12M)
Guided aerial bomb with satellite guidance equipment and a HE warhead
The KAB-500S-E “drop-and-forget” guided aerial bomb with satellite guidance equipment and a HE warhead is a precision-guided weapon and is designed to destroy stationary ground and surface targets such as warehouses, military industrial facilities and ships at anchor.
The KAB-500S-E can engage targets with known coordinates, which are entered before the bomb release envelope.
The KAB-500S-E is part of the armament systems used in frontline aircraft (fighter-bombers and attack aircraft).

2)

KAB-500-OD (CEP 4-7M)
The KAB-500-OD “drop-and-forget” guided bomb with an EO correlation TV seeker refers to the precision-guided weapons and is designed to engage ground targets like weapon emplacements and manpower nestled in the folds of the terrain under normal weather conditions.
The KAB-500-OD is part of the armament systems used in frontline aircraft (fighter-bombers and attack aircraft).

3)

KAB-1500LG-Pr-E (CEP 4-7M).
Guided bomb with a laser gyro-stabilized seeker and a penetrator warhead.
The KAB-1500LG-Pr-E guided bomb with a laser gyro-stabilized seeker and a penetrator warhead refers to the precision-guided weapons and is designed to engage fixed small hardened and buried targets such as reinforced concrete shelters and command posts.
The KAB-1500LG-Pr-E is used singly or in salvo from frontline aircraft (fighter-bombers and attack aircraft) fitted with a laser illumination system or a simple sight to produce pre-targeting data (when a ground designator operator is used).

Peace

Posted by: Outraged | Mar 25 2023 23:11 utc | 19

Putin has said the decision to deploy nuclear missiles inside Belarus was, in part, motivated by UK’s decision to send DU munitions to Ukraine. Nice clean missiles versus little dirty bombs, it seems…
He also said RF has plenty of DU munitions itself, “hundreds of thousands of such shells”, though where and why RF might use them has been deliberately left vague.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 25 2023 23:21 utc | 21

Ukraine is a wheat producing country. The use of uranium bullets in Ukraine would be unfortunate; I do not wish to pass a Geiger counter over every slice of bread I eat.

Posted by: Passerby | Mar 25 2023 23:28 utc | 23

The tempo of recent days is being maintained. Good luck to those contemplating a counter-offensive, it will be needed…
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 25 2023 20:35 utc |
———————————————————
Thank you, Andy.
The MoD ‘Clobber Report’ covers the entire length of the front, good to keep inform the readers that the action is along the entire line.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 25 2023 23:39 utc | 25

Putin has said the decision to deploy nuclear missiles inside Belarus was, in part, motivated by UK’s decision to send DU munitions to Ukraine. Nice clean missiles versus little dirty bombs, it seems…
He also said RF has plenty of DU munitions itself, “hundreds of thousands of such shells”, though where and why RF might use them has been deliberately left vague.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Mar 25 2023 23:21 utc | 20

That was his way of wriggling out of yet another “red line”. The nukes in Belarus were decided on long before the DU shells became an issue, and have in all likelihood already been there for quite some time. But because RU made a big fuss about DU, which would then have meant Putin would have to finally find a pair of balls and actually do something that disrupts his own comfort and that of the oligarch class, he is now looking for ways to backtrack that don’t look too much like losing face.
So his way of doing it is saying that the nukes in Belarus are the response.
But they went there before the DU shells, and they will do absolutely nothing to stop contamination of the Donbass.
Absolutely disgusting…

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 0:01 utc | 27

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 0:01 utc | 26
Calm down, drama queen. We’ve heard your problem with Putin the first time. It’s pointless polluting thread after thread with the same message.

Posted by: Boo | Mar 26 2023 0:11 utc | 29

Oberst-Gruppenführer ReinhardVonSiegfried | Mar 25 2023 21:59 utc | 6
————————————————————————-
The Russian strategy was not to follow American ‘Shock-and-awe’ strategy and tactics. That topic has been well discussed in these pages and you may have missed it.
The Ukrainians are fellow Slavs. Western strategy has been to pit Slav against Slav resulting in the current destruction of people, soldiers, civilian infrastructure in spite of Russian attempts to destroy as little as possible. The Ukies also use their fellow citizens as human shields and do not mind slaughtering some to stage war crimes.
I promoted you to a higher rank, Oberst-Gruppenführer. I was born in occupied territory during WW II.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 26 2023 0:17 utc | 31

@Posted by: Wokechoke | Mar 25 2023 21:32 utc | 4
Thanks for this piece of forgotten history, an extra piece to the overwhelming proof that the Soviet Union was the central player in beating the Axis Powers. The vast majority of the Japanese army and army aviation were in China, unable to be redeployed against the US.

Posted by: Roger | Mar 26 2023 0:22 utc | 33

The Ukrainians are fellow Slavs. Western strategy has been to pit Slav against Slav resulting in the current destruction of people, soldiers, civilian infrastructure in spite of Russian attempts to destroy as little as possible. The Ukies also use their fellow citizens as human shields and do not mind slaughtering some to stage war crimes.
Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 26 2023 0:17 utc | 29
But nevertheless the fighting leaves the cities destroyed anyways and looking just as bad as the ones in Iraq and Syria. Every building and every house ends up pulverized or severely damaged and the fields are all pockmarked from the bombs.

Posted by: MiniMo | Mar 26 2023 0:24 utc | 35

ReinhardVonSuckried | Mar 25 2023 21:59 utc | 6
pathetic is the usa spends so much more each year for war profiters bc russia is so inept!
and so the usa wants to pick a fight with a coastal power 7000 miles from home?
usa ran through iraq [2003] in 40 days to baghdad and 20 years later still stuck to the iraq tarbaby!
and usa still fights isis (whoever is left) in syria 6 years after syria did them in in alleppo.

Posted by: paddy | Mar 26 2023 1:02 utc | 37

Absolutely disgusting…
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 0:01 utc | 26
——————————-
I agree, you really are.

Posted by: Ed | Mar 26 2023 1:05 utc | 39

Oh no! Where did all Ukraine’s soldiers/conscripts, weapons, fuel & ammunition go ? Lost down the back of El Presidente’s sofa, amongst the Kokaine stash, perhaps ? 0/10.
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 26 2023 1:04 utc | 36
Well, it is his job to be the beggar. Just doing his duty. And our job? Pay up.

Posted by: Jmaas | Mar 26 2023 1:16 utc | 41

Not trying to derail things, but had the 2020 ‘selection’ not been stollen by the dems and their Chinese handlers, then there would be no war in Ukraine right now. Imma leave it at that.
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 25 2023 23:22 utc | 21
—————————————————
With Trump we would likely be at war with China and Iran.

Posted by: Ed | Mar 26 2023 1:22 utc | 43

Instead of taking Bakhmut, it should be turned into a deathtrap for Ukrainian army and equipment. Keep them in limbo. Don’t totally frustrate them. That will make them send more and more of their army and weapons to the region where they will be destroyed. That will also limit Russian surveillance of Ukrainian mobilization making it easier to target. Turn Bakhmut into modern day Stalingrad for Ukrainians.

Posted by: Jason | Mar 26 2023 1:28 utc | 45

This is for those who lament about lack of land grabbing by Russians in Ukraine. Winning land and holding them is not easy.
After fighting for 10 years NATO could only have a helipad in Saigon in the Vietnam War.
Despite a 20 year war NATO only had the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
After 10 years of war NATO only had the Green Zone left in Iraq.
In comparison Russia has done very well.

Posted by: Jason | Mar 26 2023 1:33 utc | 47

Thanks Golddiggr, for the support. IFKYK. I have been to almost a dozen Trump rallies over the years and I tell you, there is nothing like it. Just love for country and for fellow Patriots.
To the Fella saying Trump would be at war with China or India by now, remind me again how many wars Trump started?
And they absolutely love him in India. At at rally that he headlined a few years back, he drew about 250k if I remember correctly.
But back to Ukraine, I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that Trump is the one who can bring peace to this world, and so we all need to do what we can to support MAGA/MEGA.

Posted by: LGB! | Mar 26 2023 1:53 utc | 49

@ LGB! | Mar 26 2023 1:53 utc | 47
Take this to the non-Ukraine thread please.

Posted by: natokraine | Mar 26 2023 2:06 utc | 51

I’m basing this on yesterday’s militaryland.net maps. Other sources correlate well with it. Russian forces attacked around twenty cities, and have been steadily moving the line of contact to the West. Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka used to be strategically important cities because they controlled the roads and railroads of the area around them. They were hinge pins in Ukraine’s second defensive line.
Russia just moved past them. Russia has taken the territories that they used to supply. They are no longer strategicly important. They are now tactical targets: speed isn’t as important. Russia can sit back and play whack-a-mole. Every time a Ukrainian soldier sticks his head up, Russia launches artillery at the hole. Eventually, the Ukrainians will run out of ammo and food.
Look at the “caldrons.” They are now horseshoes. As long as Ukraine is adding troops to those caldrons, Ukraine will keep the door open to them. Reports are that there are 60,000 Ukrainian troops in Bukhat area now. Russia will drive them into the caldron, bare its teeth, and close the mouth on them. I’m glad that I’m not there to watch.
Those other formerly strategically important cities will be taken when Russia finds it useful, too. “God created time so that everything wouldn’t have to happen at once.”

Posted by: barstool | Mar 26 2023 2:23 utc | 53

Would you start taking out in-theater opposing leadership top-down until someone takes over, stops taking orders from abroad, and orders an unconditional surrender?

Should have been done on Day 1, they already deserved it at the time by the mere fact of what had been done in the Donbass in previous years and then by making Bandera, Shukhevych, Petliura and the rest national heroes.
But if not then, it did not take much more additional time for them to earn it — certainly when reprisals started in the areas Russia pulled out of, and then when terror bombing intensified, especially when they were given NATO precision weapons.
Putin is in fact deeply in the wrong for not having taken them all out, at this point he is enabling atrocities.

Would you destroy road and rail near western borders?

Absolute no brainer. They have the technical means to do it contrary to the nonsense excuses you see here — there are a few bridges in Western Ukraine that are much smaller and easier to take out than those on the Dnieper, plus a few key railway infrastructure objects, and then if they insist on using roads, the old Soviet heavy, now near-obsolete anti-ship missiles, of which Russia still has a large stockpile, could be used to make sure no viable repairs of the road network can be made by hitting them again and again, and making huge craters that will not be repairable in a day or two.
And, of course, FFS, shut the grid down. They blew through a billion dollar worth of missiles hitting transformers and not generators, and UA barely felt it in terms of military logistics.
Just shut it all down. Again, they have the technical means.

Other?Posted by: natokraine | Mar 26 2023 1:36 utc | 46

Isolate the battlefield deep in the rear, by properly destroying logistics.
If, as it’s rumored, this is blocked by the business interests of oligarchs, and Putin and the oligarchs are unwilling to change their position on this, then both the oligarchs and Putin need to be lined up and shot for high treason, and someone who is truly willing to fight for Russia’s interests should take the reigns.
Make it very clear no more NATO reconnaissance flights will be allowed in the Black Sea. The MQ-9 downing clearly did not send a sufficiently strong message.
Mobilize properly. The economy still isn’t on war footing, and the currently mobilized are pathetically insufficient for the task at hand. It took 3 million men to liberate Ukraine back in the 1940s, it will not take less than at least half that now. But 300,000 is only 20% of what is needed.
Formulate proper war aims — don’t just spew vague nonsense about “multipolarity”, “the goals of the SMO will be achieved, etc.”, say clearly what the objectives are so that society can rally behind it and the troops know what they are fighting for.
Etc. etc.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 2:32 utc | 55

🇺🇦🇺🇲 Dnieper be Mekong Delta ? Calling Colonel Walter E. Kurtz …

A new donation from America is a small patrol boat PB40 Defiant that the 🇺🇸Americans handed over to the Armed Forces of the Navy of 🇺🇦 Ukraine.
It is armed with two 12.7mm M2 Browning machine guns, one 7.62mm M240 machine gun and one Mk19 automatic grenade launcher.
▪️ Patrol Boats were Tanks in the Vietnam War that patrolled the Mekong Delta deep in friendly territory. The question is how will it turn out on the Dnieper?

🇺🇦 AFU is in the process of field testing, prior to introducing, the latest in new advanced and innovative weapons systems to make up for it’s ever diminishing tubes & launchers. Ammunition is plentiful.🤡

Posted by: Outraged | Mar 26 2023 2:37 utc | 57

The despicable UK is sending DU shells for no other reason that to poison the ground and spread cancers, their effect on the battlefield will be irrelevant. What does Russia do in response? Nuke the UK? The world opinion they have been carefully developing would be squandered. Drop a dirty bomb perhaps? Same outcome. It is a conundrum the UK is well aware of, NATO uses every dirty trick in the book, we are not the good guys in any reality.

Posted by: Organic | Mar 26 2023 2:53 utc | 59

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11899089/Britain-need-10-years-notice-Putin-repel-Russian-invasion-warns-General.html
retired (so theres that) the source is dull but every banner runs the same story. so its an interesting is it truth or plain psyops. but 10 years to rebuild UK military is actually plausible, they are reduced to nothing . A military that couldnt successfully hold a raffle at a pub ,

Posted by: hankster | Mar 26 2023 3:04 utc | 61

I don’t usually follow the Ukraine threads, so please forgive any redundancy if this has been discussed. Global South has the full briefing from Russia on the seriousness of deploying depleted uranium (anywhere):
Briefing by Chief of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops of Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov on consequences of West nations’ supplying Kiev-regime with depleted uranium ammunition
It’s pretty grim stuff.
I find myself very ignorant in this matter, and I asked over there, the questions quoted below. I’m copy/pasting here because I would welcome understanding more about this aspect of the conflict:

If DU were to be used, how far from its landing would it spread over time? I don’t have any knowledge in this field, so I would welcome opinion. Going by the historical examples cited here (Yugoslavia, Iraq), the contamination seems to have remained largely where it was first laid down. If true, this is at least containable – or rather, can at least be demarked.
But if vehicles spread it throughout Ukraine, and if it gets into the food chain, does it end up all over the world?
And if the Ukies fire these shells at locations where the Russians are, doesn’t this contaminate territory that Russia intended to hold? Does this force tactical retreats, or at least diversions?
All of these questions seem to indicate to me that Russia may be compelled to do something to prevent this materiel ever being deployed in Ukraine. But what?

I have read this thread so far, and I appreciate the discussion on this aspect of the conflict. I would welcome any thoughts on this matter.

Posted by: Grieved | Mar 26 2023 3:45 utc | 63

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 25 2023 22:49 utc | 12
“TRUMP 2024”
Trump or Biden or whoever. The evil empire is dying. Whichever sociopathic con man –or woman– is hoisted up to the top dog position will be torn apart. The karmic wheel is spinning faster.

Posted by: migueljose | Mar 26 2023 4:17 utc | 65

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 2:32 utc | 53
I think the best way to kill hundreds of thousands of Nazi’s is to lead them into a dead end and let them experience hell on earth, over and over and over until the Nazi soldiers are all gone. Then you March to the capital and demand the rest of the Nazi leadership. Putin is not at war with Ukraine or the Ukrainian people, just Nazis, hence the SMO. After the SMO is over, then I think he will give his terms and if they are refused, then war. I keep going back to his statement though… if by Nazi he meant the leadership of the west. I guess we will find out once the SMO is over in a few months.
I think Putin knows what kind of animals these Ncons are. There’s sadly only one thing to do for a rabid dog…
That’s how I see it…
Comms from AGC, Armchair Generals Central

Posted by: Azscout | Mar 26 2023 4:22 utc | 67

@Grieved | Mar 26 2023 3:45 utc | 60
My #65 comment was a response to #60. Sorry.

Posted by: barstool | Mar 26 2023 4:40 utc | 69

Posted by: ReinhardVonSiegfried | Mar 25 2023 21:59 utc | 6
The trolls even pretend to believe that the key lies in the temporary occupation of land rather than in the resource exchange ratio. Apparently, this is because the ratio is extremely unfavorable for the NATO side. In total, the West has spent over $100 billion, while Russia only has spent about $20 billion for this war.
Since China can act as an economic supporter of Russia, such an exchange ratio clearly makes the leaders of the trolls anxious.
Recently, wsj admitted that the Ukrainian government had to cut the salaries of non-frontline personnel. This shows that even with tens of billions of dollars in U.S. and European aid and tens of billions of dollars in IMF loans, Ukraine’s ineffective neoliberal government is still having trouble keeping its war machine running properly.

Posted by: Colin | Mar 26 2023 4:52 utc | 71

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ War Map and the Situation on the Fronts in the Evening of 25 Mar 2023; pub. 00:05
🇧🇾 Vladimir Putin announced today that #Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in #Belarus without violating its obligations within the START Treaty. A clear signal to the Baltic states, Poland and 404. The very fact of TNW deployment could deter aggressive neighbours.
⚔️ Situation on the Fronts for the past Day
🔹#Svatovo – #Kremennaya Direction:
➖ The Russian army is advancing near #Belogorovka.
➖ Also supported by artillery, ours was advancing in the direction of #Terny, #Nevskoye and #Makeyevka.
🔹#Artyomovsk (#Bakhmut) Sector:
➖ Fighters of the Wagner PMC continue to advance in the direction of #Bogdanovka and Orekhovo-Vasilyevka.
➖ In #Artyomovsk, according to a number of sources, fierce fighting continues in the Central Market area and along Mariupolskaya and Sadovaya streets.
➖ In addition, the “bandwagon” is advancing near #Predtechino.
➖ Fighting continues on the outskirts of #Krasnoye.
🔹#Donetsk & #SouthDonetsk Directions:
➖ The RF Armed Forces are advancing near #Berdychi and #Novobakhmutovka (note: another one, close to the recently taken 1st one), continuing to cover #Avdeyevka.
➖ From the #Peski side, the assault on #Pervomayskoye continues.
➖ Fighting also continues for #Maryinka.
💥 In #Kramatorsk, according to reports from the field, a Russian missile hit the location of militants in the building of “Kramatorsk Economic and Humanitarian Institute”.

https://t.me/sitreports/6287

Posted by: Down South | Mar 26 2023 5:53 utc | 73

Only a year of war has passed, and already the fatigue in the EU from sanctions and, in general, from the Ukrainian crisis is going through the roof.
Each time it becomes more and more difficult to promote a new package of sanctions and financial and military assistance to Kyiv.
We have been writing about this since 2022, pointing out that this will happen soon, “Maidans” are expected in the EU, the beginning of a new military conflict, and then a “sad fate” awaits Ukraine. Everyone can forget about her.
Now even Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has begun to say that the European Union is already tired of sanctions. The only trump card to convince everyone to raise rates is the message about the historical time. But we can assume that it will soon stop working.
We have insided that the Ukrainian crisis may repeat the Afghan scenario. Especially after Biden’s secret visit to Kyiv.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15021

Posted by: Down South | Mar 26 2023 5:56 utc | 75

The authorities continue to clamp down on the information field. We have already reached the point where it is forbidden to discuss the future offensive, write about plans and speak out about the situation in the military and weapons case.
The construction of a dictatorial country is taking place by leaps and bounds. We have been inside about this many times, our November layout for this case is still relevant today.
We are waiting for a law to be introduced that prohibits criticizing the authorities, covering the scumbags and corruption of officials, under the pretext that this is all in favor of the “enemy”.
As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So in Ukraine, the Office of the President, hiding behind good intentions, is building a total dictatorship.
It all started with the fact that it was forbidden to cover arrivals and criticize the Armed Forces of Ukraine for placing them in residential areas, kindergartens and civilian facilities, and then gradually the tap is turned on.
It’s time to start a flash mob #screw the freedom of speech in the name of democracy and a great victory.
The reason for the tough measures is the elections are coming soon.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15022

Posted by: Down South | Mar 26 2023 5:59 utc | 77

Whoops, its glonass and not glonaas, my bad.

Posted by: gT | Mar 26 2023 6:34 utc | 79

Re: De-Dollarization
Another system relevant global financial institution being quietly rescued this weekend by intimate money printing – Deutsche Bank
Barron‘s had a wowser of a article this weekend highlighting how Foreigners are pulling their capital out of US with a shocking sub-title The US is uninvestable
Conclusion;, Slow but steady increase in the pace of De-Dollarization.

Posted by: Exile | Mar 26 2023 7:30 utc | 81

Ukrainian sources report that more than 50% of the militants trained at the training grounds of the EU and Britain have already been eliminated or become crippled in the Bakhmut and Donetsk directions. Some of them were located on the border with Belarus, but a month ago they began to be transferred to the east.
Strictly speaking, it is not entirely correct to blame any of the Bandera military leaders for the fact that the reserves preparing for the offensive were “eaten up”, because if the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not try to hold these lines, they would have to hold others. Strictly speaking, the Nazi regime has already lost the war, but the Ze-team is dragging on the agony, every day of which enriches it inexpressibly. Even if at the cost of the death of more and more thousands of Ukrainians.
https://twitter.com/GraphicW5/status/1639890947314950145

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 26 2023 7:57 utc | 83

” 10 orders of magnitude, ”
tried GoogleTranslate to German and the wording is comparable.
BUT probably a translation “uncertainty”
magnitude of 10:1 would better fit reality.
( translations are on occasion problematic _or_ are leveraged for insidious purposes : cue those helpful CIA translations offered 🙂

Posted by: MAKK | Mar 26 2023 9:24 utc | 85

@Ma Laoshi 86
But what option does one have beyond “symbolism”?
(After all clearly NATO owns dominance of escalation)

Posted by: AG | Mar 26 2023 9:33 utc | 87

At 83 re ukr losses….some talk that ukrops are deliberately seeking out russian native and culturally more so speakers to send to front line…a form of genocide….

Posted by: Jo | Mar 26 2023 9:43 utc | 89

@AG | Mar 26 2023 9:33 utc | 87
>>But what option does one have beyond “symbolism”?
Well I’m not a world leader, and for good reasons. 🙂 Sending some DU payload home to the UK would clarify things real quick. But let’s say you don’t want to go there: are there really no Brits sneaking around in either Ukraine or Syria where they don’t belong, that could be made to feel that there are consequences? But if you don’t want to do any of those things, then don’t draw imaginary red lines and write checks you can’t cash, or you only set yourself up for more of the same.
>>After all clearly NATO owns dominance of escalation
Is that so, or is it merely a bluff? Most of the time Russia behaves as if they do, I agree. But do the Brits own it, with their single brigade which will mayyybe be built out to a division in 10~15 years? And which other NATO members will rush to die for British pig-headedness? One often sees reference to that Obama interview, where he stated he hadn’t gone all in on Ukraine because in those lands, Russia would always have escalation dominance. No reason to treat that as gospel, but at least it’s another opinion.
This is about poisoning Russian lands for generations. After the various withdrawals, Russia has something to prove about being able to protect the local population.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Mar 26 2023 10:06 utc | 91

With mini-submarine and cargo cranes
Nord Stream sabotage: Russian ships headed for crime scene
By Jonas Mueller-Töwe, Oliver Alexander, Carsten Janz and Lars Winkelsdorf
Updated 03/26/2023 – 08:55 AM
Russia is becoming the prime suspect in the attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Information from security circles and publicly available data give a plausible scenario.
Russian military vessels presumably operated at the crime scenes a few days before the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. This is the conclusion of research by t-online, which is based on information from security circles and publicly available data. According to this, the shipping group had the necessary equipment to plant explosive devices. Read the entire research on the Nord Stream sabotage here.
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/aussenpolitik/id_100149764/nord-stream-anschlag-russische-schiffe-steuerten-tatort-an.html
Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Posted by: BonfireNight | Mar 26 2023 10:20 utc | 93

@ shadowbanned
Thank you for your reply.
I’d guess they’ll do more than what’s announced so far.
But, we’ll see what happens.

Posted by: natokraine | Mar 26 2023 10:41 utc | 95

Orignally I could not see the importantance of Bakhmut. It is a defensive position, but there are others further west and these can easily be strengthened. Indeed whole new ones can be established. The ground might not be so favourable but in essence endless defence lines can be formed.
What makes Bakhmut so important is that it is a transportation hub – road and rail. The Russians need to take the city before moving further west and gain control of the road and rail lines running through it. Otherwise they would struggle to maintain logistical support for troops operating west of Bakhmut, nothwithstanding leaving a Ukrainian fortifed fire base to their rear might not be a great idea.
Posted by: marcjf | Mar 26 2023 7:52 utc | 82

Bakhmut was hugely important strategically a year ago. But after nearly a year passed that is no longer the case.
Recall the events from the first months of the war.
The north and northeast of the LNR was taken largely without a fight. Russians just rolled in. Svatovo was taken on March 6 2022, ten days into the war.
In Kharkov it was a similar situation in the northeast — in Kupyansk the mayor just handed the city over in the first week, Balakleya was taken on March 10.
Then they hit real resistance in the LNR when they approached the Kremennaya-Rubezhne-Severodonetsk-Lisichansk agglomeration, where heavy fighting lasted from late March to early July.
And they met serious resistance in eastern Kharkov region when they reached Izyum, which only fell in early April. After that they stalled completely not being able to cross the river.
Kupyansk and Izyum were similarly strategically important as Bakhmut — key railroad junctions, the idea being to take them and use them as logistics hubs, so they were targeted as priorities and taken relatively quickly. But that didn’t help all that much because there was no progress from there as it doesn’t matter if you hold the logistics hub if you have not allocated the needed resources to be moved through it and the enemy has built another series of strong defenses in front of you.
Well, it’s the same situation with Bakhmut. In the north of the DNR the key event was taking Popasna (though that’s technically in the LNR) — another town important for logistic reasons. That happened in early May 2022 after a very long and bloody battle (it was near completely destroyed in the process). And then people talked about the “flower of Popasna”, because Russians seemed to “bloom” in all directions from there. Yeah, but only for a few miles in each direction. Then they stalled again.
Bakhmut was supposed to be an even bigger Popasna. And had it been taken quickly, there might have been another such effect of it enabling a quick advance in multiple directions. But that window of opportunity is long gone.
Right now UA holds Bakhmut (OK, only a third to half of it at this point) but can’t use it as a logistics hub because the roads and railways are cut off. However, that hasn’t resulted in the front collapsing.
And they have had many long months to build defenses behind it, so even when it eventually falls, that will not collapse the front either. Then Wagner will have to take a bit of a break as they will be heavily bloodied themselves, and not much will happen for a long time unless fresh regular army reserves pour in.
Now there are reasons to think the Ukrainians themselves are not very confident in their ability to hold the lines after Bakhmut. Hopefully that is indeed true, but that is contingent on Russia’s ability to exploit those vulnerabilities, which will require a certain investment of resources that is nowhere to be seen at the moment.
In short, the city lost much of its real importance when it wasn’t taken quickly.
BTW, all of that was clear already in the summer of last year.
The primary reason Bakhmut became so “important” as the months dragged on is that it was Wagner who happened to be in that section of the front and it was their next target. And Wagner were the only ones doing much real fighting for a very long time. The regular Russian army largely disappeared after Lisichansk, and only Wagner continued offensive operations. Vastly outnumbered and underresourced relative to what the Ukrainians were throwing there, which is why it has taken forever.
Sure, maybe indeed it is a convenient kill zone to destroy Ukrainian manpower and armor without having to level major cities further to the west. Maybe. But maybe that is just a cope to rationalize away the very strange way the war is being fought. For example, there are several training grounds in Chernigov, within range of Russian heavy MLRS, not to mention Iskanders, with thousands of Ukrainian soldiers there. Not being touched. Why if the objective is to “grind down the enemy”? Doesn’t it make sense to do it before the enemy has a chance to kill you and how much sense does it make it wait for those resources to come to the front line instead of hitting them long before that, which you are well in your capabilities to do? That sort of thing…

Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 26 2023 10:59 utc | 97

@ # 68 “titanium” ? I’m sure the correct metal is tungsten, not titanium.
Metals, all metals other than the noble metals, are combustible in aerosol dust. Gotta get ’em pretty hot first.
“Dusting” was/is a method of using radioactive materials to deny access…but doing “dusting” (in the 1950s) was a difficult matter… the DU ammunition “solved” that…

Posted by: Walter | Mar 26 2023 11:09 utc | 99