The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Strikes.

After the failure of talks in London where reportedly Ukraine was going to be presented with a deal that involves recognizing Crimea as Russian, Russia carried out the largest Kinzhal strike against Ukraine of this war, using 11 missiles. This was reportedly part of a massive wave of strikes with 71 missiles and 145 Shaheds.


Russia hit a tank repair plant in Zhitomir.


Russian strikes landing in Kiev. Targets include the Antonov plant where allegedly the An-196 UAVs are being built (BDA in last 2 links). Note these links are at least 3 different waves of strikes.


Belaya Tserkov', near Kiev, was also hit.


An explosion took place at the Burevestnik factory in Kiev, but with no evidence of strikes. It might be that the strikes were not caught on footage, it might be an industrial accident, it might be Russian sabotage.


Russian strikes landing in Kharkov. Note these are at least two different waves of strikes. Targets include the Malyshev factory, the Ukrelektromash factory, the AO Effect perfume factory, and the airport. During one of the strike waves we saw something new happen. First off the sound of the engines of the Shaheds is different, suggesting these might be jet engined Shaheds. Second off it appears they grouped up over the city at heights over 2000 m out of most AAA range, and then group-dive targets.


Russian strikes hit Izyum.


Russian strikes landing in Kramatorsk. One of the targets was allegedly a munition dump. There are also rumors floating around that some of the factories in Kramatorsk are doing defense work.


Russian strikes hit Slavyansk. Note these appear to be two separate strikes.


Russian strikes hit Poltava, reportedly bringing down the powergrid. It's possible they were targetting substations.


Russian Shaheds have landed in the Palmash factory in Pavlograd.


Russian strike in Pavlograd hit a Ukrainian medical btln and the chemical plant.


Russian strikes landing in Dnepropetrovsk. Power outages are being reported. Note these are at least two separate strikes, with one taking place during day time.


Russian Shahed strikes in Stepnoe, Zaporozhye, allegedly against a manufacturing facility that made explosives.


One of Russian strikes on Zaporozhye hit a auto-repair facility being allegedly used by the Ukrainian military for vehicle maintenance.


Russia hit a storage facility at the Cherkasy airport. Another day time strike.


Russian strikes in Odessa. Targets include the Unitech factory, Novaya Pochta storage facilities, and the NII Shtorm facility. The factory produced aircraft components, NII Shtorm reportedly did electronic production. These links apparently show 3 different waves of strikes. Some of the Shaheds used over Odessa also have new engine sounds, meaning they also might be the new version. Here we also have reports of different behavior by the Shaheds, they gathered in groups, and allegedly in some cases attacked the Gepard AAAs that engaged them. Note confirmation is lacking.


Russian Gerber decoy but apparently with a camera, targetting a Buk FrankenSAM. This is part of a series of recent strikes where updated versions of Russia's cheap long range drones are being used.


It appears Russian anteannces in drones and gliding bombs have been upgraded to carry 12 elements, to make them more EW-resistant. We've seen 12 and 16 element antennas on drones before, but on gliding bombs this is new. This does make them more expensive.


We have reports of Ukraine losing a Su-27 during one of the recent waves of strikes. The pilot reportedly survived, and details are lacking. Ukraine has previously lost a MiG-29 to a Shahed, due to a close intercept with shrapnel knocking down the jet, and an F-16 likely due to friendly fire.

 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Ukraine attempted to strike targets in Elabuga, Tatarstan, but it appears all UAVs were intercepted or missed their target. Some of the footage shows Pantsyr SAMs failing to bring down a target. They were trying to hit targets in the industrial part of town. Last 3 links show BDA which involves one hit in an empty yard.


Reportedly a Ukrainian drone element trying to reach Moscow was shot down near Kolomna.


Ukrainian strikes on Donetsk, allegedly in violation of the Easter truce.


Ukrainian strikes landing in Kursk.


Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's 112th Missile Bde base in Shuya, Ivanovo area. Note this is an Iskander unit, and it's unlikely any of the systems were in garrison.


Interesting bits.

During the Easter truce Russian and Ukrainian forces sent teams into no-man's land to collect casualties. Both sides accuse the other of firing on such groups, violating the ceasefire.


An interesting video of a Ukrainian interceptor drone attempting to bring down an Orlan-30, but the drone auto-tracks the interceptor, and apparently dodges it.


A rare sighting of a Ukrainian M-55S. A Russian drone hits it inside a building.


A Ukrainian drone hits either a 2S43 or 2S44, but the extent of the damage is unclear, it may have just burned out the anti-drone cage.


Russian forces with a captured Pbv-302. This is the first one.


Russian forces have apparently received some of the new ZSA-Titan MRAPs. The vehicle was shown at iirc Army-2024.


Russian soldiers installing drone cages on DPRK sourced M1991 MLRS. It's a 240mm system that presumably provides longer range then something like a Grad.


More pack animals being used by Russian forces. Location unclear.


Russia's T-72B3 with Arena-M installed is, instead of being on the front lines, being used to shoot a movie in Mariupol', where it plays the role of a Ukrainian tank. No doubt this is the best use for this scarce asset.


A rare Russian Zoopark-1M counter-battery radar up-armored with improvised materials.


Russian ATS-59G laying down fiber-optic cable in the war zone.


Ukrainian forces with M114A1 US howitzers from WWII, probably supplied by Greece or Portugal. Reportedly they're being operated by Ukraine's 5th Assault Bde.


Also Ukraine's 5th Assault Bde, a PRP-3 artillery recon vehicle converted with the Parus module into a regular IFV.


Ukraine's 10th Mountain Bde with a French MO-120-RT mortar.


Italian 6X6 Puma APC in Ukrainian service.


Ukraine has apparently managed to arrest a ship of the Russian shadow fleet that was transporting grain from Kherson region.


Russia and Ukraine did another POW swap of 246 for 246. They also did a separate swap of 15 heavily wounded Russian POWs for 31 Ukrainian ones. Russia and Ukraine also swapped bodies of fallen. Russia returned 909 Ukrainian dead, Ukraine handed over 41 Russians.


There are reports that Denmark will send personnel to Ukraine to exchange experience in some sort of training mission. It's important to note that Russia isn't shy about targetting western personnel inside Ukraine, so I suspect these soldiers will be targeted.

 

Fredled

Active Member
Interesting picture of the A22 "Foxbat", the retrofitted tourist plane used by the Ukrainians as long range UAV, lying on his back.
We can see a bomb placed under the plane (when it's in the normal position.) while there is plenty of room inside the cockpit. It would make more sens to put it inside for better aerodynamic.
This configuration makes me think that the bomb could be dropped vertically on the target from above. This would, for example, allow it to rip through the roof of a building, or to hit target hidden between two buildings and impossible to reach with the plane falling at an angle. The descend angle could be 45 degrees, maybe 60 degree but not 90 degrees.
After dropping its bomb, the UAV could circle and crash somewhere else.

This would explain why we have seen videos of UAV not exploding. Of course, this is my theory, real failure could also be an explanation. On one of the last video, we see an explosion, then an UAV falling without exploding. Unfortunately I can't find the video again...
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A rare official announcement of a loss of a fighter jet by the Ukrainians:
A Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet was lost during a combat mission, with the pilot successfully ejecting.
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Sen. John Kennedy said:
America is paying the price for Biden's appeasement
This is a remarkable statement because Biden was seen as pro-Zelensky, and, until recently, Trump as pro-Putin.
Yet, it's true that Biden was always shy to crosss the red lines laid out by the Russians. And always late when providing new types of weapons, after Europeans already did.
Sen. John Kennedy said:
Putin has reneged on every promise that he has made to President Trump. His latest proposal is, well, nothing. He wants to keep all the [Ukrainian] territory that he's taken.

I think he thinks we're afraid of him. He has jacked around President Trump at every turn.

He has disrespected our president. I don't think it's going to get any better until we make it clear to Mr. Putin that we are willing to turn him and his country into fish food.
We need to get Russia down and choke them. They're not going to come to the table otherwise,
This is a clear distancing from the initial Trump approach to negociations. Trump seems to slowly change his mind too about Putin.
Sen. John Kennedy said:
I want a settlement in Ukraine. We also have to ask Europe to do better. Europe's got to start paying its own bills
Fox News
This is apparently within Trump's philosophy. At the same time it's urging Europeans to do even more for Ukraine.
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Ananda said:
The Economist said:
AMERICA is withdrawing. The threat from Russia is mounting. Ukraine is on the defensive. Despite pledges of new spending, arms production remains too low for comfort. Fear not, Europeans. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has your back. “It has become clear once again”, Turkey’s president and Europe’s prospective saviour said on April 11th, “that European security is unthinkable without Turkey.”
America is definetly not withdrawing. The US hasn't announced or planned to withdraw a single soldier from Eastern Europe. They have around 20K troops based there.
On Ukraine, military supplies have sharply slowed down, but not completely and we don't have clear information about that. I suspect that US deliveries are kept secret to avoid issues when talking with the Russians.

I don't think that Europe "accepts reluctantly" Turkey's participation. Instead, it's welcome and most of the criticism Europeans had toward Erdogan vanished overnight when the full scale invasion of Ukraine started and Turkey was clearly on our side.
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PachkaSigaret said:
Seeing a lot of rumblings about a possible Russian Dnieper crossing towards Тягинка. Interesting if true, especially if they've reached the P-47 with the Тягинка river protecting the left flank.
Yes it's true. Ukrainians have reported these attempts on their official channel. They didn't reach the Right Bank. But they are fighting for the islands in the delta.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
An example of weapons decommissioned or awaiting destruction sent to Ukraine ,how should it be valued?https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ukraine-russia-canada-aid-package-f16-1.7314594
There's been a lot of that. I think the Germans valued the old Soviet MANPADS they gave to Ukraine early on at the cost of repair & delivery, for example, & the UK gave old NLAWs at a very low valuation, because they were nearly time-expired, & refurbishment would cost a large proportion of the price of buying new - which the UK did. But that hasn't been universal.
 
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