The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
The mass kill in wartime is still a relatively rare event, and as another poster pointed out, mostly relegated to naval events.

Nevertheless, never underestimate the RU MOD ability to screw up.
This is the first war where both sides have this kind of robust missile capability coupled with a massive scale of fighting and relatively capable UAVs. Both sides have made this mistake. Russia made it a point to hit Ukrainian staging areas, Ukraine has done the same. This is just potentially the single largest one.
 

KipPotapych

Well-Known Member
Unless a full btln was in one location, with support assets. Russia has caused similar numbers of casualties hitting Ukrainian forces in garrison. It took a while for Ukraine to learn the lesson and disperse forces. It's entirely possible that a mobilized Russian reservist officer positioned an entire btln in one large structure, far from the front line, thinking himself safe. It's really hard to be certain of anything, but the numbers are not small. Even if we're looking at 63 KIA and 4:1 WIAs, that's over 300 casualties total. I suspect 300 casualties is the bottom figure, and 700 the upper with reality somewhere in between.
Probably right. A Russian general reporting the number has increased to 89.

edit: I should provide a reference, I believe:

The attack happened a minute past midnight, ie a minute into new year.
 
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Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Update. Dec 7th-9th

Kherson-Nikolaev-Odessa.

Russian VDV air defense training on the Kherson axis. Note the upgraded AKs.


Russian Cossack irregulars, Don brigade, on the Kinburn peninsula. They claim they still control the entire coastline, and report failed Ukrainian landing attempts.


Protests continue in Odessa due to slow repairs of the power grid.


The North.

Ukrainian forces in Pripyat show off their Canadian Titan-S armored cars.


Kiev stands dark.


Oskol Front.

LNR forces using a Grad-P on the Svatovo axis.


Russian TOS-1A fires near Svatovo.


Russian BMPTs have shown up near Svatovo, reportedly part of the new 3rd Army Corps.


There are reports that Ukraine is repairing small rural airfields in Kharkov region, possibly as new launch points of Tu-141 reconverted cruise missiles.


LDNR Front.

Russian strikes on Avdeevka. In the second link we see incendiaries.


North of Vodyanoe, towards Avdeevka, DNR ATGM work against a BMP and pickup truck.


A Ukrainian attack near Vodyanoe involving Mastiff MRAPs and MT-LBs. Apparently repulsed by Sparta btln.


Another look at the recent Ukrainian attack on Peski that included M113s, Mastiffs, and T-64BVs. Somalia btln, DNR forces, repulsed the attack with support from Russian Mi-28NMs.


UAV directed fires by DNR 3rd Motor-Rifles. Location unclear.


DNR SpN quadcopter munition drop into a Ukrainian dugout.


Two Russian T-80BVs getting taken out in Lugansk region, possibly Excalibur fires.


Russian helo work on the Lisichansk axis.


Ukrainian mechanized infantry attempted a counter-attack near Soledar, they lose at least one BMP. Russian Cossack irregulars were defending.


Fires continue to burn in Artemovsk/Bakhmut.


Reports continue to come in of heavy Ukrainian casualties in Artemovsk/Bakhmut.


A view from the trenches, Artemovsk/Bakhmut, reportedly Polish fighters.


Allegedly Ukrainian forces posing for a "charming" photo in Artemovsk/Bakhmut.


Shellings of Donetsk continue. Reportedly Grads were used, against the center of the city, relatively indiscriminately.


In DNR controlled area a Russian military truck collided with a van, killing 16 and wounding 3 more.


Russia.

A look at a Ukrainian UAV used in a recent attack in Crimea. It was likely launched from inside Crimea.


More footage from Dyagilevo that shows the damage from the recent strike.


FSB detains two locals in Sevastopol' under suspicion of being Ukrainian spies.


Kursk and Belgorod volunteers training at Wagner facilities in Krasnodar region. I suspect these are the territorial defense militias being trained by Prigozhin.


Misc.

Ukrainian soldiers attempting to down a Russian loitering munition with small arms but fail, it apparently hits a Ukrainian M777.


A destroyed Ukrainian Bureviy, an Uragan MLRS on a Tatra chassis.


A scarce now Russian Su-27SM in support of operations in Ukraine. The Su-27 would have faced retirement by 2025-27 timeframe at pre-war preplacement rates. Of course all of this is unclear now.


Russian Su-25 and Su-35 ops in Ukraine.


Russian Msta-SM ops in Ukraine.


A Ukrainian improvised MLRS using S-8 rockets, on a pickup truck.


Another Ukrainian improvised MLRS, this one using a Humvee.


A Ukrainian GAZ-66 with a Vasilek automatic mortar.


Another Russian truck uparmored haphazardly, Ukraine.


I'm not sure what to make of this, it's a train of T-72Bs with K-5 tiles, possible T-72BAs, in Kazakhstan near Alma-Aty. It's possible Kazakhstan will be contributing to the Russian war effort but this seems unlikely to me.


NATO/EU&Co.

First documented use of the French MO-120-RT61 mortar in Ukraine.


Germany is preparing the delivery of 18 RCH-155 howitzers to Ukraine.


First sighting, I believe, of the M1089 Oshkosh repair vehicles in Ukraine.


Germany is reportedly delivering 20 Dingo armored cars and 2 Oshkosh 1070 towing trucks.


T-55S in Ukraine, preparing for war.


Reportedly Morocco will be supplying T-72B spare parts to Ukraine.

 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
With regards to targeting information especially locations coming from the use of mobile phones why not introduce devices like jammers to block their signals ,Russia has had this sort of technology for at least twenty years ,some versions are available on the internet though illegal
Cell Phone Jammers Interferes With 2G 3G 4G 5G Signals (greatjammer.com)
Russian problems are not so much technological as they are organizational. This has been obvious for a while.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Russian problems are not so much technological as they are organizational. This has been obvious for a while.
The real question is, are the Russian military leadership learning their harsh lessons from the frontlines? Or are they just clumsily plodding along as usual? You can blame the political leadership for starting the war, making basic strategic planning blunders, refusing to take advise from their military commanders etc., but if the senior military leadership is ignoring lessons from the front and not acting upon them, then they should have the blame shafted home to them, and be held accountable. In the case of the incident where the large number of Mobiks have been targeted and killed, because they were gathered together, whichever officer order the Mobiks to be accommodated like that should be shot and worry about the Courts Martial afterwards. After 10 months of war, it must be quite obvious to a blind, deaf, and dumb officer, that the Ukrainians have really good targeting capabilities and the reach to take out targets of opportunity deep within rear areas.

Officers .... :cool: Who gave the officer the map. :D Hmm my class prejudices maybe showing.

One other thing that this war has illustrated is the hindrance that a lack of a professional. knowledgeable NCO cadre has had on the Russian military. It's almost like a huge large anchor chain. That's one thing that the PLA noted and changed in its reforms over the last 20 years. It now has a solid professional, experienced and knowledgeable NCO cadre and that has improved its capabilities no end. It has been 30 years since the USSR collapsed and in that time the Russian military have truly stagnated with little in the way of conclusive and constructive reforms. This has worked to Ukraine's favorite and it is a deficiency that the Ukrainians themselves rectified in their organizational reforms. It shows in their battlefield performance.
 
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Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
The real question is, are the Russian military leadership learning their harsh lessons from the frontlines? Or are they just clumsily plodding along as usual? You can blame the political leadership for starting the war, making basic strategic planning blunders, refusing to take advise from their military commanders etc., but if the senior military leadership is ignoring lessons from the front and not acting upon them, then they should have the blame shafted home to them, and be held accountable. In the case of the incident where the large number of Mobiks have been targeted and killed, because they were gathered together, whichever officer order the Mobiks to be accommodated like that should be shot and worry about the Courts Martial afterwards. After 10 months of war, it must be quite obvious to a blind, deaf, and dumb officer, that the Ukrainians have really good targeting capabilities and the reach to take out targets of opportunity deep within rear areas.
This is a good question. I suppose only time will tell. The Russian state is definitely taking this war effort seriously and is attempting to mobilized available resources. Loitering munitions are being prioritized, there's an attempt to integrate UAVs more widely. There are definite efforts to do something. On the other hand, inertia and decades of small wars are problematic.

Officers .... :cool: Who gave the officer the map. :D Hmm my class prejudices maybe showing.

One other thing that this war has illustrated is the hindrance that a lack of a professional. knowledgeable NCO cadre has had on the Russian military. It's almost like a huge large anchor chain. That's one thing that the PLA noted and changed in its reforms over the last 20 years. It now has a solid professional, experienced and knowledgeable NCO cadre and that has improved its capabilities no end. It has been 30 years since the USSR collapsed and in that time the Russian military have truly stagnated with little in the way of conclusive and constructive reforms. This has worked to Ukraine's favorite and it is a deficiency that the Ukrainians themselves rectified in their organizational reforms. It shows in their battlefield performance.
This is very much the issue. Also the issues with corruption, and scaling. Serdyukov-Gerasimov reforms were never finished, and then even partially rolled back. These are the consequences.

Of course there's the problem of western involvement. Ukrainian Air Force escaped much of Russia's initial wave of missiles due to early warning from the West. Western ELINT/SIGINT/AEW, and just plain old satellite recon is huge. In a war against Ukraine those assets would be getting hit. But now they're effectively part of the war effort. And are off limits here. This matters, a lot.
 

KipPotapych

Well-Known Member
In the case of the incident where the large number of Mobiks have been targeted and killed, because they were gathered together, whichever officer order the Mobiks to be accommodated like that should be shot and worry about the Courts Martial afterwards.
In the article I linked above, they state the following (via google translate):

Among the dead was the deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Bachurin.
 

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
Wagner group explains why they are struggling in Ukraine: The Ukrainians are defending themselves, and the Wagner group lack ammo and armored vehicles. How convenient to blame Ukraine and the Russian MoD.

Dmitri on Twitter: "Wagner's Prigozhyn explains why he is unable to take Bakhmut https://t.co/sTdQt8G5xq" / Twitter

According to Russian military reporter Alexander Kots, after being trained for 3 months in the "art of artillery", the soldiers were sent to the frontline and were used as infantry instead, since there was no need for artillery men in the location they arrived at. According to the same reporter, this has happened more than once:
When they are doing mistakes like this, it's no wonder Russia is struggling! It seems a large number of Russian military personnel are not really motivated to do a good job.

Translations by Dimitri (@wartranslated)
 

singletond

New Member
airpower comparison: Russia vs Ukraine
I read that Russia has several thousand and Ukraine has a few hundred.
Why is Russia not using that advantage?
Dave
 

tonnyc

Well-Known Member
airpower comparison: Russia vs Ukraine
I read that Russia has several thousand and Ukraine has a few hundred.
Why is Russia not using that advantage?
Dave
The short version is because Russia failed to destroy Ukrainian air defenses. They tried during the initial strikes but Ukraine manages to save enough. And the ex-Soviet anti-air systems turned out to be pretty decent, at least when facing non-stealth aircrafts.

Ukraine's airspace is considered contested. Anything that flies near the frontline is at serious risk. If Russia tries to cowboy it up they will lose a lot of airplanes. Ergo they've been really cautious about it. Ukraine is in a similar situation, but given their weaker air power nobody expected much from Ukraine's air force.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
France is supplying AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine. It is unknown when or how many will be provided. The US is also considering providing Bradley IFVs to Ukraine. Ukraine to get armored combat vehicles from West, asks for tanks. The French light tanks are being phased out of French service and are wheeled being a 6 x 6. Macron promises 'first Western tanks' for Ukraine.

The AMX-10 RC has been around since the 1980s, is now being replaced by the Jaguar ARV, and carries a 105mm gun mounted in a turret. The gun is unstabilised, hence has low degree of accuracy whilst firing on the move. What will be interesting is if the Ukrainians receive the upgraded variant or not.

UPDATE: Oryx have tweeted an update on the AMX-10 RC being provided to Ukraine.
Not a tank..png

So I stand corrected and they aren't a tank.
 
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Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
France is supplying AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine. It is unknown when or how many will be provided. The US is also considering providing Bradley IFVs to Ukraine.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...ored-combat-vehicles-from-west-asks-for-tanks.

The French light tanks are being phased out of French service and are wheeled being a 6 x 6. Macron promises 'first Western tanks' for Ukraine.

The AMX-10 RC has been around since the 1980s, is now being replaced by the Jaguar ARV, and carries a 105mm gun mounted in a turret. The gun is unstabilised, hence has low degree of accuracy whilst firing on the move. What will be interesting is if the Ukrainians receive the upgraded variant or not.
Someone finally figured out the M113 is garbage on par with the BMP-1 in 2022, and MRAPs aren't cutting it for what Ukraine needs to do. The next logical step is Leo-1s or M-60s. They already got the M-55S with the 105mm gun.
 

seaspear

Well-Known Member
I can appreciate the abilities of the Abrams and Leo tanks but in Ukraine with its terrain of heavy mud would the Bradley and AMX-10 RC be more maneuverable in those conditions the need to be able to ford rivers and be transported suggests a lighter tank is preferable, Im not suggesting they would have some advantage over main battle tanks like the t-80 , but would hold its own against other ifvs
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
The Ukrainians are really liking the German Gepard SPAAG .


Slovenian M-55S in Ukrainian service.


Ground fire damage to a Russian Mil-35P


Rob Lee makes a very valid point about arms delivery and future Ukrainian ammo problems 6 - 12 months from now. He suggests that the West should start training the Ukrainians now.


For our Australian posters. Arms from down under.


Video from Bakhmut

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1610691518934781971?s

An update on equipment received by Russia from its friends and allies.

https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1610741252139384849?s

Oryx aren't happy about the AMX-10 RC being classified as a tank. :D

https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1610740195850059798?s

President Biden has confirmed that Bradley IFVs are "on the table for Ukraine."

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1610729323207483392?s

Whilst the Bradley is an old vehicle as @Feanor has pointed out, it is far better than the M-113 APC. Which variant the Ukraine receives remains to be seen, but I strongly doubt that it will be the latest US Army variant.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
I can appreciate the abilities of the Abrams and Leo tanks but in Ukraine with its terrain of heavy mud would the Bradley and AMX-10 RC be more maneuverable in those conditions the need to be able to ford rivers and be transported suggests a lighter tank is preferable, Im not suggesting they would have some advantage over main battle tanks like the t-80 , but would hold its own against other ifvs
Maybe you should support this with some evidence. What is the ground pressure (pounds per square foot) of the M-1 Abrahams or the Leopard compared to that of the T-72 or T-90? You might find that it is less than that of an 8 x 8 AFV. Senior Colonel Mud doesn't last overly long in the scheme of things.
 

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
UPDATE: Oryx have tweeted an update on the AMX-10 RC being provided to Ukraine.
View attachment 49992

So I stand corrected and they aren't a tank.
Some claim it's actually a light tank :)

Domen Prešern on Twitter: https://t.co/PfrKMi38Hv" / Twitter

In any case, there is this (IMO) very significant tweet from Macron:

Emmanuel Macron on Twitter: "Jusqu'à la victoire, jusqu'au retour de la paix en Europe, notre soutien à l'Ukraine ne faiblira pas. Je l'ai confirmé au Président Zelensky : la France va fournir des chars de combat légers et poursuivre son soutien en matière de défense aérienne." / Twitter

"Until victory, until peace returns to Europe, our support for Ukraine will not weaken. I confirmed it to President Zelensky: France will provide light combat tanks and continue its support in terms of air defence."

This is a major news! In addition to the US, the UK, the Nordics, the Baltics, Poland, the Netherlands, also France is now offering an unprecedented, long-term level of military support. It will be interesting to see what air defence systems they are talking about now.

In other news, Norway has shipped additional 10,000 155mm shells to Ukraine, they have already arrived. According to my calculations Norway donated military equipment and provided financial support to military training/purchase of mil equipment for approx. 5.5 billion NOK (USD 540 million) in 2022, and more to come in 2023, and the following years, "until victory, until peace returns to Europe". Norge dobler donasjonene av egne våpen til Ukraina – NRK Norge – Oversikt over nyheter fra ulike deler av landet
 

seaspear

Well-Known Member
Maybe you should support this with some evidence. What is the ground pressure (pounds per square foot) of the M-1 Abrahams or the Leopard compared to that of the T-72 or T-90? You might find that it is less than that of an 8 x 8 AFV. Senior Colonel Mud doesn't last overly long in the scheme of things.
Pulling heavy tanks out of the mud there seems difficult ,as these Russian tanks were discovered I have no reason to believe the heavier Abrams would fare better
Video: Entire column of Russian tanks gets stuck in Ukrainian mud | American Military News
ABRAMS tank stuck in the mud compilation 2020 - YouTube
 

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
It seems the first T-90 S have been lost in Ukraine -- could this be an Indian T-90 S?

Ukraine Weapons Tracker on Twitter: "https://t.co/3yxDc77FAf" / Twitter


It's about time India start to think more seriously about who should provide their weapons in the future... The developing relationship between Russia and China should also make India think more about the future reliability of Russia as a weapons provider.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
...
Rob Lee makes a very valid point about arms delivery and future Ukrainian ammo problems 6 - 12 months from now. He suggests that the West should start training the Ukrainians now.
...
There are production lines in NATO members for Soviet calibres: 122mm, 125mm, 152mm, mortar bombs, small arms, artillery rockets, etc. Place orders with the Poles, Slovaks, Romanians etc. & get those lines busy & Ukraine (with any of its own production capability that hasn't been wrecked by the Russians) could have enough.
 
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