Ukraine Invasion: Part 44

[MagicFox]

44th thread, all the usual thanks and appreciation

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Sorry I forgot to add a link.

https://marcusoscarsson.se/i-natt-hotar-att-marschera-mot-moskva/?fbclid=IwAR0aWZm-H1m6p7XYX_imuh_hWDp67-eMh7ReG1eU8q4XjCrx1hreMwFKLDE

Announcing a fake rebellion on social media and then rounding up (or more likely, gunning down "in action") anyone who turns up for it would be very Vlad, though.

In fact, do I remember correctly that this precise trick was played in Turkey a few years ago?

Or it's the Ukrainians playing on his paranoia so all Wagner members start falling out of the sky.

It turns out that cluster munitions work a treat when dropped from drones. More Ukrainian battlefield innovation at work.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukrainians-are-cutting-open-u-s-cluster-shells-to-make-drone-munitions

Brilliant! Must be risky to harvest and arm drones with live munitions.

Correct. They are live grenades, but impact fuzed. The ribbons on the end ensure that they fall with the fuze end pointing down, then it takes a pretty good hit to make them go off. If you understand how they work, they won't be that dangerous to remove from the artillery round.

MissConductUS, thanks for the explanation.

Just musing that if ever I found myself fighting an existential war, it looks like something that someone like me could do to help the war effort (with training of course) when all I have is small hands and attention to finer detail rather than brawn.

Most likely will end up blowing myself up.

Some of the best EOD specialists are women with small hands and good eyesight.

https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/ground-forces/explosives-artillery/89d-explosive-ordnance-disposal-specialist.html

Very interesting. I almost did electrical engineering at university. Glad I also meet the minimum height and weight

Very interesting. I almost did electrical engineering at university. Glad I also meet the minimum height and weight

The ACFT is the hard part. 😁

https://www.goarmy.com/how-to-join/requirements/fitness.html

Well that's a revelation!

I am 5' 1" and tiny. Even I meet the minimum weight requirements which honestly surprised me.

I am 5' 1" and tiny. Even I meet the minimum weight requirements which honestly surprised me.

The Army needs smaller people. Large people don't fit well in tanks, for example. And height is irrelevant for lots of specialties (intelligence, logistics, etc.)

I'm on the shorter side myself. 😉

Oh dear, ACFT looks tough <crestfallen>

Oh dear, ACFT looks tough <crestfallen>

The ACFT is an absolute bitch challenge.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-25-2023

Key Takeaways:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s August 24 remarks about Wagner financier Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death established the Kremlin-approved narrative on the issue, and Russian government officials, Kremlin affiliates, and the Russian information space continued to toe this line on August 25.
• Some prominent voices in the Russian information space notably deviated from Putin’s established narrative, however.
• Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a statement on Prigozhin’s death on August 25 that likely aimed at balancing his relationship with the Kremlin with maintaining domestic control, but that also directly contradicted his previous statements concerning the deal he brokered between the Kremlin and Prigozhin.
• The Financial Times reported on the bleak future of the Wagner Group’s operations in Africa following Prigozhin’s death.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations near Robotyne in western Zaporizhia Oblast and reportedly advanced on August 25 as Russian milbloggers expressed concern over a lack of reinforcements and troop rotations in the area.
• Reports of a Russian unit suffering significant losses with inadequate support on an unspecified island in the Dnipro River delta sparked outrage against the Russian military command in some parts of the Russian information space.
• Ukrainian drones likely struck a Russian duty station in occupied Crimea on August 25.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, and in western Donetsk Oblast on August 25 and advanced.
• Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations in at least two sectors of the front on August 25 and reportedly advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• Russian authorities are likely setting conditions to falsify the results of the September 2023 regional elections in occupied Ukraine.

No commentator has analysed these slow consistent advances by Russia apart from one note by the ISW that a tactically significant small settlement had been taken a few weeks ago. The Uk Def Ministry has addressed this today.

Kyiv Independent Telegram

⚡️Top US general says https://kyivindependent.com/top-us-general-says-ukrainian-forces-broke-through-russian-main-line-of-defense/ forces broke through Russian main line of defense.
Ukrainian troops have attacked through the first main defensive belt, which Russian troops were building for months, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said in an interview published on Aug. 25.
General Milley told Jordanian public broadcaster Al-Mamlaka that “it’s too early to say” whether Ukraine’s counteroffensive has succeeded or failed, calling the push “very bloody, slow, long and difficult.”

⚡️Media: Military intelligence confirms https://kyivindependent.com/media-military-intelligence-confirms-strike-on-russias-126th-coastal-defense-brigade/ strike on Russia's 126th Coastal Defense Brigade.

⚡️Russian investigators recover flight recorders https://kyivindependent.com/russian-investigators-recover-flight-recorders-from-prigozhins-crashed-plane/ from Prigozhin's crashed plane

⚡️Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov promises to resign (https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-defense-minister-promises-to-resign-if-dishonest-scheme-in-procurement-of-military-clothing-is-proven/) if dishonest scheme in procurement of military clothing is proven.
[summer jackets being procured instead of winter ones]

⚡️ Finland announces military aid for Ukraine https://kyivindependent.com/finland-announces-military-aid-for-ukraine-worth-102-million/ worth $101.5 million. For operational reasons and to ensure that the aid will safely arrive at its destination, specific details on the package's contents and on the manner of its delivery are not disclosed, the press release said.

⚡️Turkish foreign minister meets https://kyivindependent.com/turkish-foreign-minister-meets-with-zelensky-in-kyiv/ with Zelensky in Kyiv.

⚡️Moscow shuts down https://kyivindependent.com/moscow-shuts-down-all-airports/ all airports.
Russian media reported that all flights in and out of Moscow airports were suspended on the night of Aug. 26.
Local authorities also claimed that a drone was destroyed over the city that night. [this is becoming a regular occurrence. The actual damage to Moscow from the drones is negligible; but making Moscow shut the airports regularly is a strong statement in itself and will inconvenience Moscovites in a way that the explosions don't]

⚡️Media: Dutch Defense Minister says https://kyivindependent.com/turkish-foreign-minister-meets-with-zelensky-in-kyiv/ transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine could take up to 8 months.

⚡️Lukashenko says https://kyivindependent.com/lukashenko-says-wagner-group-will-stay-in-belarus/ Wagner Group will stay in Belarus.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko denied reports of Wagner mercenaries leaving Belarus following the reported death of the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to the state-controlled news agency Belta.

Greece will not sign new contracts with Moscow on maintaining Russian-made air defense systems in the Greek military's arsenal and may instead send them to Ukraine via third-party countries, the Greek news outlet Pronews.gr reported on Aug. 24, citing a leaked official document. https://kyivindependent.com/media-greece-not-to-prolong-air-defense-contracts-with-russia-send-systems-to-ukraine/

⚡️Prosecutor's Office: Ukraine to extradite https://kyivindependent.com/prosecutors-office-ukraine-to-extradite-suspected-russian-terrorist-detained-in-finland/ suspected Russian terrorist detained in Finland.
Ukraine is preparing to extradite a leader of the Russian far-right paramilitary group Rusich, the Prosecutor General's Office announced on Aug. 25
Yan Petrovsky, a Russian-Norwegian nationalist and Rusich co-leader, was arrested in Finland on Aug. 23. He had been wanted for terrorism by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).

⚡️National Resistance Center: Residents forced back https://kyivindependent.com/national-resistance-center-residents-forced-back-into-evacuated-front-line-settlements/ into evacuated front-line settlements.
Russian authorities in occupied regions of Ukraine are forcing residents to return to previously evacuated settlements on the front line, the National Resistance Center reported on Aug. 25.

⚡️Polish minister warns https://kyivindependent.com/polish-minister-warns-of-unilateral-restrictions-if-eu-doesnt-extend-ban-on-ukrainian-grain/ of unilateral restrictions if EU doesn't extend ban on Ukrainian grain.
Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Hungary support the extension of the EU ban on Ukrainian grain imports until the end of 2023, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Aug. 25, as cited by Reuters.

“Russian aggression against Georgia is not only limited to military occupation. The Kremlin, both overtly and covertly, continues to employ all components of hybrid warfare, from propaganda, domestic interference, and corruption, to exerting malign influence to derail Georgia from its democratic development and Western integration,” said former Georgian Ambassador to the United States Batu Kutelia and former Georgian Defense Minister Vasil Sikharulidze in their recent op-ed. https://kyivindependent.com/kutelia-sikharulidze-ending-putins-wars-dont-forget-georgia/

⚡️Government dismisses https://kyivindependent.com/government-dismisses-head-of-state-emergency-service/ head of State Emergency Service.
The government has dismissed Serhiy Kruk from his post as head of the State Emergency Service, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced on Aug. 25 on Telegram.

⚡️NGO: 11 deported Ukrainian children return home https://kyivindependent.com/ngo-11-deported-ukrainian-children-return-home/ This mission brings the total number of deported children rescued by the organization to 161, according to Kuleba.

Belarus Weekly: Lukashenko says Russian invasion of Ukraine through Belarus was ‘unexpected’ https://kyivindependent.com/belarus-weekly-lukashenko-says-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-through-belarus-was-unexpected/
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko admitted that Russian forces invaded Ukraine from Belarus at the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

UNITED24 Media Telegram

Approximately 20% of the Russian military surrendered voluntarily, Kyrylo Budanov said. He refused to name the exact number of Russian prisoners, referring to state secrets.

😐 Georgia did not allow six Ukrainians who were illegally taken from Ukraine to enter its territory from Russia.
The men categorically refuse to return to Russia. They have been in the buffer zone for eight days.

⚡️ In Finland, one of the leaders of the Russian neo-Nazi military group Rusich, associated with the Wagner PMC, was detained. He is in custody.

💥 Ukrainian defenders strike 126 Russian Navy brigade in Perevalne in Crimea, dozens of Russians killed or injured.
SBU predicts more surprises for occupiers.

A satellite image was published after the attack by the Armed Forces on the S-400 air defense system in occupied Crimea.

The S-400 launcher in Crimea was destroyed by a new Ukrainian missile, — Danilov
On the air of Ukrainian Radio, the Secretary of the NSDC did not answer whether this is the latest development or a modification but emphasized that it is a project of Ukroboronprom as part of the program that started in 2020.
"The rocket was new. The rocket was modern. Yes, this is our novelty, which turned out to be absolutely flawless," said Danilov.

LLC "Ukrainian Armored Technology" is proud to announce the successful delivery to Ukraine of the first thousand 122 mm high-explosive artillery shells with a full charge, which are produced in partnership with one of the ammunition holdings of Eastern Europe.

Live: Ukraine Telegram

🌾Agriculture Ministers of Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary agree (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/five-cee-countries-want-ban-ukrainian-grain-extended-till-year-end-poland-says-2023-08-25/) to support further EU ban on Ukrainian grain imports after September 15

Latvia hands over another Mi-17 helicopter to Ukraine.
◾️In July 2022, Latvia donated four Mi-17 and Mi-2 helicopters to Ukraine.

During the fighting in the Donetsk region, a group of foreign volunteers went into the Russian rear and killed everyone who was there, and then waited for friendly units to advance the front line.
One of the Russians ran to them, thinking they were his own.
P.S: The occupier was taken prisoner.

Lukashenko said that Prigozhin had never asked for security guarantees for himself.

🤡Lukashenko said he had previously learned about the preparation of an assassination attempt on Prigozhin, passed the information to the Kremlin, and the Russian president warned the founder of Wagner.

A member of the Russian terrorist group Wagner is upset because Russian authorities ordered the graves of Wagner fighters to be torn down after the death of Prigozhin.

One of the main problems of the Russian army is alcohol, which contributes to the increase in Russian losses at the front.

The Ukrainian Navy has created a brigade of marine drones
The 385th Separate Brigade of Special Purpose Naval Unmanned Aerial Vehicles of the Ukrainian Navy received a battle flag.

Prigozhin has already been canonized in Russia
Another "martyr." [fucking hell, just when you think Russia can't get any weirder]

Just came across this interesting (to me anyway) cultural awareness briefing produced for foreign national volunteers heading for Ukraine...Any thoughts from how those more local to the area on how valid the advice is (the advice about alcohol & toasts made me smile)?

@notimagain The video is pretty accurate. I can’t comment on the military side of things but sounds like this guy knows what he’s talking about.

No shoes in the house and not wasting food especially bread is definitely ingrained in our culture.

Some of the points are specifically aimed at Americans and I can relate to these too as in my early 20’s I worked as an interpreter with American evangelical Christians and I watched them watch us and come to similar conclusions.

Saint martyr Prigozhin- that is sickening 🤢

Just listening to Zelensky’s message ahead of Oleksandr Usyk’s fight tonight has left me with goosebumps.

The wakes go on. The main old Wagner Telegram is opening for me again.

Dipping in and out of things I see sympathy for Prigozhin, curiosity over what happened, recognition of evil but our evil. No ‘well done Putin’ or even ‘meanwhile Putin continues to…’ from anyone who looks like a real commenter.

Oh and bring a gun while you mourn.

@MMBaranova isn't the gun a not so subtle message that vengeance will be sought...