Russian special military operation in Ukraine #53

mnztr wrote:

Dr.Snufflebug wrote:Remember how those tiny, tiny Norwegian drones that were given to Ukraine were lauded as some kind of gamechanger? Remember the U.S-produced "Switchblade" drones? Nobody even talks about them anymore, much like everything else...

Well, thing is, they usually (not always though) work as advertised but they only do so in very specific, ideal conditions, and they cost an effing shit ton of money at that. The entire western MIC is absolutely not geared up to handle an actual war against a peer opponent like Russia or China. Not economically, not logistically, not industrially. The western MIC is designed to provide hideously overpriced defense "solutions" to its members (chiefly NATO) that could potentially work in some minor show of force kind of conflict against a tiny, underdeveloped opponent, but first of all it is designed to feed the aforementioned MIC. Hence the heavy lobbying and what not. It's called corruption in any other country. An inflated variant.

IF, and I say "if" (because none has really impressed anyone so far) any western weapon introduced to the conflict actually would bother the Russians, they soon figure out how to counteract it and within the same timeframe also produce an analogy to strike back with. This for a mere fraction of the price.

Yes but these are early days in this revolution. Look at the Turkish drone. 2 years ago it was revolutionary, now a piece of trash. Its not possible to predict how this is gonna evolve, and when that is the case, there is a huge risk there will be times when you are on the back foot.

TB-2 has never impressed anyone in the know, IMO. Sure, as a cheaper Reaper/Predator I guess, but like them only effective vs people without AA means anyway, but yeah.

Much ado was made in certain circles over the fact that TB-2s destroyed a bunch of Pantsirs in Syria and Libya. But the vehicles struck weren't used properly, most weren't even staffed, some were just in transit (inactive) and at least one was parked in a shed (naturally not active either).

When TB-2s were put into the Nagorno-Karabach conflict, the situation was the same. Seemingly effective, but only by virtue of operating in an environment without proper AA.

In Ukraine, the TB-2 instantly underperformed badly. Badly! But as expected. Expected!

Ukraine ran out of all of theirs in a week or so, with little to show for it. Then they kept getting new deliveries, which likewise made zero impact. They were just shot down en masse. Literally in droves, each new delivery (based on S/Ns and export Nos) was found as a smoking wreck mere days, or hours after being put in action.

Their only tangible success was to help dislodge the small Russian contigent from ostrov Zmeiny, in which they just exhausted the Tor battery by being sent in suicide waves, until the defenders' missiles ran out. Not a particularly cost-effective operation even considering the relative cheapness of the TB-2 vs other UCAVs.

After that, little to nothing's been heard or seen of them apart from occasional shot down ones (quickly dwindling as the vulnerabilities relegated them to conduct spotty surveillance from afar, not what they were designed for), and wrecks washing up on Romanian beaches after the aforementioned "operation".

The hype surrounding it was entirely misplaced from the very beginning, it had no relevant record to speak of. A record yes, but irrelevant to what was inevitably going to transpire in Ukraine.

The other drones mentioned were hyped in a different fashion, but ultimately met the same fate. Difference being their hype was based on shiny pamphlets at arms expos only, not a throroughly misinterpreted prior combat record.

RTN wrote:

GarryB wrote:I would describe what Putin has done as something rather similar... he took a corrupt cesspool drowning in western consumerism and corruption into an actual democracy with a real free press

Free press and Russia. Take your meds on time.

Hi, an American here.  So uh when does Reality Winner get out of prison? why is Julian Assange in prison? Why did youtube pull all Russian news networks off the air in Feb 2022? Why did Biden say nothing when Ukraine killed an American journalist critical of the Z man? How is a nation that has 5 corporations owning 90% of all the news media on that country exaclty home to a free press? Why did we arrest a PressTv reporter and force that network to go back to having a .IR domain? Why don't CNN and MSNBC cover the speeches of the leading opposition candidate? You like me are an American. Unlike you, however, I chose to quit buying the propaganda when we bombed Serbia for no fucking good reason. That's the thing dumbass, you are so heavily propagandized and indoctrinated that you can't see how had you truly are.

A record yes, but irrelevant to what was inevitably going to transpire in Ukraine.

Just like all the other western weapons.

Free press and Russia. Take your meds on time.

The moscow times is hardly a pro Putin newspaper, they give away their rubbish at train stations and in museums. It is not banned like RT and Sputnik is in the west.

Russia has a better mix of media than the west has ever had... all the media in the US are owned by about 4 of the richest families in America... radio, tv, print, internet, etc etc note I don't include the US State department and Pentagon releases but that would just add two families to the ownership tree... and would certainly not involve any taxpayers or legitimate voters...

In his opinion, Kyiv’s support could give the United States a geopolitical advantage and also bring dividends to the country’s military-industrial complex.

Throwing good money after bad is usually what finishes off the problem gambler, but as a likely massive shareholder in the US MIC he thinks massive investment in the war in the Ukraine would bring him dividends... all it will cost is another half million Ukrainians... men and women... which is nothing for the US... most couldn't even find the place on a map.

Unlike you, however, I chose to quit buying the propaganda when we bombed Serbia for no fucking good reason. That's the thing dumbass, you are so heavily propagandized and indoctrinated that you can't see how had you truly are.

The really sad thing is that Assange and Manning and Snowden are actually patriots that believed in the US and thought they were doing good by exposing evil and corruption and international warcrimes. Their only mistake was that they didn't think it through and realise exposing these crimes would clearly expose the elite that run everything so they sent their attack dogs to nip it in the bud. The whistleblower is trying to destroy the west by exposing the corruption and evil of the west, so attacking the whistleblower is the job of the propaganda machine... the machine does not want any changes, it is the opposite of the foundations of America... truth and justice were supposed to be the American way but that has been forgotten so you think America means something good, but really it is like most organisations... more interested in covering its own arse than doing the right thing.

Putin is doing the right thing and is doing right by all his people... not just the ones that vote for him or contribute to his campaign.

It is funny that every country has laws and while you might not agree with those laws that makes no difference... the west has a habit of making heroes out of dissidents in the places they are not happy with... China and Russia and Iran and North Korea and Cuba and Venezuela etc etc but if those heroes were to criticise the west they lose their status as freedom fighters and heroes almost immediately.

Stalin was a bastard... but from 1941 to 1945 he was a good bastard to the west... he was their bastard... and then when the war against German and Japan ended he went back to just being a bastard.

The enemy of my enemy mantra in the west leads the west to get into bed with very evil groups, but those evil groups probably don't realise how really evil the west is.

mnztr wrote:
Yes but these are early days in this revolution. Look at the Turkish drone. 2 years ago it was revolutionary, now a piece of trash. Its not possible to predict how this is gonna evolve, and when that is the case, there is a huge risk there will be times when you are on the back foot.

Me thinks that you are considering the thing from a slightly wrong perspective.
TB2 fell victim of assisting propaganda, and a huge part of it was a deliberate struggle of it's producer.
Simple marketing.
We could watch a professionally organized propaganda - or rather advertisement - campaign, that was carried with the help of staged materials.
It was cleared in Ukraine when in one of the interviews one of the managers of Ukroobronprom claimed openly that Turks are shipping them as a payoff for propaganda materials Urs are delivering.
And a whole system is one big hype that is useless on the battlefield.
This is what was being told by anyone who had any knowledge of the warfare.
It is cheap, slow/low flying, and much more observable due to its size drone that will fall easy prey to any serious AD asset.
As long as the opponent lacks air defense, it can be used effectively from an altitude higher than can be effectively covered by MANPADS or AD artillery. Clashed with the most sophisticated and numerous air defense, it will be ripped to pieces within minutes.
And I would consider that for example Iranian AD system is similarly good because they have been playing with their own drones for decades. They even operate MANPADS big enough (combined before start using two separate containers) to get to this tier level.
And exactly that happened.

calripson wrote:
Russia needs to aspire to a standard of a free press found in the West. They should hire Julian Assange as a consultant.

Meeeh.
It is an old name.
Gonzalo Lira should mark the new standards of the freedom of the press

Another drone attack to a St.Petersburg oil refinery this morning.

Ukraine seems to be able to attack far away subjects in Russia at will.

Meanwhile Russia still refuses to attack Ukrainian and Western oil refineries.

Karl Haushofer wrote:Another drone attack to a St.Petersburg oil refinery this morning.

Ukraine seems to be able to attack far away subjects in Russia at will.

This is old info, just now Ukraine successfully attacked an oil refinery in Kamchatka while Putin's convoy was ambushed by the SBU inside the Kremlin. Is Shoigu still alive??  

Karl Haushofer wrote:Another drone attack to a St.Petersburg oil refinery this morning.

Ukraine seems to be able to attack far away subjects in Russia at will.

Meanwhile Russia still refuses to attack Ukrainian and Western oil refineries.

Drones attacking as far away as Saint Petersburg, are they really coming from Ukraine? or maybe they are being launched from Finland or maybe Estonia?

The one that fell on a fence outside a refinery was suppressed by EW.
With some others as well, only longer distance.
Some of this peremoga events are being staged by $250 drone that some jerk is carrying in his backpack while pretending to a bike ride.
Do you seriously feel a need to answer to a troll?

If you count up all the potential targets kiev could attack with drones it would number in the millions and there is little chance Russia could protect even half of those targets and if they tried to protect everything they simply don't have the assets which would be spread too thin to protect everything.

And anything that is not protected and they will attack that.

Kievs army is being destroyed and missile strikes are destroying their weapon and ammo storage areas while large forces are being built up that could be used for all sorts of things.

War crimes are being documented and when those who are guilty are captured they are tried in a court of law... they are not summarily executed like the west does with its murder bots and special forces assassination missions like Osama Bin Laden and Gadaffi. The trials of Saddam showed these evil people often have close ties with the west which the west really don't want to be revealed in a court. Conversely Russia actually wants justice and are not afraid of truth.

Russia is the new America with truth and justice... while the US has turned to lies and revenge.

Do you seriously feel a need to answer to a troll?

You can't ignore them or some might think they are right.

Remember if smart people say nothing stupid becomes contagious.

I remember lots of people on the internet said that on December 21 2012 the world was going to end because the Earth was in alignment with the moon and the sun and the centre of the Milkyway galaxy and the concentration of gravity of all those things at once would destroy earth.

Well obviously it didn't happen... but why didn't it?

Well you could tell before that it wouldn't happen because it didn't happen on December 21 2011 or 2010 because every year on December 21 they all line up and nothing has happened so far so there was no reason for it to happen that year.

If no one had said that would you have believed that prediction?

Speaking out against stupidity is what is not happening in the west.... some idiot says there are 200 genders and nobody wants to correct them...

What’s old is new: What comes after the Ukraine War?

Buffeted by negative economic headwinds and with the political class increasingly reviled over issues such as the migrant crisis, the Post 1991 order in Europe appears to be in terminal decline. In this situation, the birth pangs of something new, but also familiar, can now be observed. Nationalism and genuine Rightist thought is returning to the European scene.

This confirms the era-defining importance of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine in of itself, but also allows us to speculate on what comes next. As far back as 2014, Russian politicians have advocated for Eastern European nations to join them in a partition of Ukraine and now this seems to be a reality made true. By territorial appeasement, Moscow now has the chance to deliver the death blow to the EU by splitting off its Eastern members. From there, in concert with each other, an alliance can be born and thus establishing a new security framework in Europe in opposition to the liberal one existing in Brussels.

Things are rapidly changing in the world, and this process will undoubtedly continue as the American led order continues to crumble and decay.

https://t.me/intelslava/55057

Russia Returns 195 Soldiers From Ukraine-Controlled Territory - MoD, 01.31.2024.

The freed servicemen will be transported to Moscow by Russian Air Force military transport aircraft for treatment and rehabilitation at Russian Defense Ministry medical facilities.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that 195 Russian servicemen were returned from Ukrainian captivity on Wednesday and will be brought to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation.

"On January 31, as a result of the negotiation process, 195 Russian military personnel, who were in mortal danger in captivity, were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In exchange, exactly 195 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred [to Ukraine]," the ministry said in a statement.

"All those released will be provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance," the ministry added.

The ministry said that the UAE had provided humanitarian mediation efforts during the return of the Russian soldiers from captivity in Ukraine-controlled territory.

"Upon the return of Russian servicemen from captivity, the United Arab Emirates provided humanitarian mediation," the ministry said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240131/russia-returns-195-soldiers-from-ukraine-controlled-territory---mod-1116515384.html

Putin: Ukraine Downed Russian Il-76 Full of Ukrainian PoWs Using US-Made Patriot Missile System, 01.31.2024.

Six Russian crewmembers, three Russian servicemen and 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile attack targeting an Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlifter over Belgorod region last Wednesday. The plane was on route to a planned prisoner exchange, which was subsequently cancelled.

The Russian Il-76 transport plane full of Ukrainian PoWs downed over Belgorod region on January 24 was targeted using an American-made Patriot missile system, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced, citing the findings of Russian investigators.

"The plane was shot down by the American Patriot system. This has already been established for certain in an expert review," Putin said, speaking to election representatives in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

Putin accused authorities in Kiev of trying to provoke Russia into a retaliatory response, but emphasized that Russia would not stop prisoner exchanges in spite of the provocation.

"Will [the shootdown] stop exchanges? We will not stop exchanges. We have to free our guys," Putin said. "[The Ukrainians] always give us the signal that they are ready. Well, if they're ready, please go ahead."

The president estimated the ratio of Ukrainian PoWs held by Russia in relation to Russian PoWs held by Ukraine is as much as ten to one, and that there are "thousands" of Ukrainian PoWs held by Russia, compared to "dozens" held by Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that another 195 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian captivity and brought to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in exchange for 195 Ukrainian PoWs.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240131/putin-on-downed-il-76-jet-ukraine-wants-to-provoke-us-into-retaliatory-actions-1116516148.html

It is those reports which prompted Zelensky to attempt to fire Zaluzhny

Shows you that Banderaland is a failed state.
As Supreme C-in-C the President has the right to fire anyone in the military, no matter if
those Generals like it or not.

Kiko wrote:Putin: Ukraine Downed Russian Il-76 Full of Ukrainian PoWs Using US-Made Patriot Missile System, 01.31.2024.

That would clearly mean a staged and planned provocation.
As I said, you can't use Patriot as a separate subsystem.
It requires a fully developed structure, with radars and power supply to operate.
Making a battery ready for battle requires about an hour of extensive operations.
Maki it use one launcher only you might spare some time, but not much.
On the other hand, they were attacking a plane that was a scheduled flight they were perfectly aware of. They knew the date and time.
Considering that, well, it might have been possible that they have brought needed subsystems.
Arranged a power supply from civilian infrastructure. Kept radars in quiet and hidden. With one system waiting in some barn for the moment ...
Then well, maybe.
But that is really an indication of orchestrated action.

At about 17.00 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using 20 aircraft guided missiles against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped. Duty air defense systems destroyed 17 Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea and three more over the Crimean Peninsula. The fragments of Ukrainian missiles fell on the territory of a military unit in area from the village Lyubimovka of the Republic of Crimea. There was no damage to aircraft.
https://vk.com/mil?w=wall-133441491_964930


Amazing work by the Russian AD

I have some doubts, maybe you can enlighten me ...



How many pronounces do they have?