Russia Ukraine Update Thread - part 2

I found this interesting shows how Ukraine is trying to handle the POWs. They started using them to make money for Ukraine's war effort. But it runs y ou through the day shows you the facilities and apparently, they even grow their own food.

The other thing i find interesting is one of the interviewers is kind of upset that the POWs are being treated so well with 3 meals a day when Ukrainians are starving. And you get the impression he doesn't like the fact the prisoners are paid for the work they do.

23 July Update

Key Takeaways

* Ukrainian forces are likely preparing to launch, or have already launched, a counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast.
Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov indicated that Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev is the acting commander of the Southern Military District.

* Russian forces conducted limited reconnaissance operations east of Bakhmut and continued limited ground attacks northwest of Slovyansk, east of Siversk, and south of Bakhmut.

* The Kremlin continued to form regional volunteer battalions and likely intends to have 16 such battalions formed by the end of July.

* Russian occupation authorities are continuing to prepare for referenda on the annexation of occupied areas into the Russian Federation and are taking measures to isolate occupied areas from the non-Russian information space.

More at URL above.

Kuzovlev’s visit and inspection of Kadyrov’s forces, which comes two days after Kadyrov announced that these battalions will not be immediately deploying into Ukraine, may support other hints that Kadyrov is facing mounting domestic pressure.

Cheers

24 July Update

Key Takeaways

* Ukrainian officials are increasingly acknowledging Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in Kherson Oblast.

* The Kremlin is facing mounting (if still very limited) domestic dissent from ethnic minorities who are disproportionately bearing the burden of the Russian war in Ukraine.

* Russian forces attempted limited ground assaults northwest of Slovyansk, east of Siversk, and south of Bakhmut on July 24.

* Ukrainian strikes have damaged all three Russian-controlled bridges leading into Kherson City within the past week.

* Russian forces attempted limited ground assaults in Kherson Oblast.

* The Kremlin continued constituting regional volunteer battalions and is leveraging private military companies’ recruitment drives to generate combat power.

* Russian occupation authorities continued setting conditions for annexation referenda in occupied territories and are recruiting Russian civilians for reconstruction efforts.

Vasily Matenov, founder of the “Asians of Russia” organization, stated in early July that he had officially registered the organization in order to advocate for “endangered and small-numbered peoples who are discriminated against by the Russian state.” Matenov emphasized that the preliminary goal of “Asians of Russia” is to stop the war in Ukraine due to devastating statistics on the combat deaths of soldiers from minority groups.

Alarm in the Russian nationalist information space continues to grow as the pace of Russian operations slows in the face of successful Ukrainian high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) strikes on key Russian logistics and command-and-control nodes.

More at URL above.

Cheers

Code 500 is refusenik


More on Refuseniks

a reply to: Kenzo

That guy has some interesting articles.

Cheers

25 July Update

Key Takeaways

* Russian forces made marginal gains south of Bakhmut but are unlikely to be able to effectively leverage these advances to take full control of Bakhmut itself.

* Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks north of Kharkiv City, east of Siversk, and east of Bakhmut.

* Russian forces are continuing to fortify and strengthen positions in Zaporizhia and Kherson Oblasts in anticipation of Ukrainian counteroffensives.

* Ukrainian forces are continuing to strike Russian strongholds along the Southern Axis.

* Russian forces continued to withdraw military equipment from storage in Omsk and face challenges with repairing damaged combat vehicles.

* Russian occupation officials are continuing to set conditions for the annexation of occupied territories to the Russian Federation and to extend administrative control of occupied areas of Ukraine.

The operations around Novoluhanske indicate that Russian forces are suffering the same limitations in terms of their ability to effectively use battlefield geometry (such as the creation of effective salients) to their advantage, which is exacerbated by the extreme difficulty Russian forces regularly have capturing small and relatively insignificant bits of terrain over weeks or months of fighting. These limitations will grow as Russian units continually degrade themselves during assaults on small villages.

More at URL above.

Cheers

Kazakhstan Boosts Defense Spending Amid Ukraine Invasion – WSJ

Kazakhstan is significantly increasing its defense spending and seeking closer ties with China and NATO countries amid fears of Moscow’s geopolitical ambitions spreading beyond Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a Kazakh official.

The Central Asian country will commit an extra 441 billion tenge ($918 million) to its defense budget, a nearly 1.5-fold increase over last year’s budget of $1.7 billion, WSJ reported. Part of the additional funds will be spent on strengthening its military reserves.

The weakening of ties with Russia has seen Kazakhstan draw closer to China, the United States and NATO member Turkey in recent months, WSJ reported. A senior official from a Central Asian country told The Wall Street Journal that unease is rising across the region over Moscow’s aims beyond Ukraine. “Imagine if they [Russia] don’t have Ukraine to abuse. Are we going to be next?” the unnamed official told WSJ.

Good work Putin....not only Sweden and Finland join NATO , but Kazakhstan is also taking more distance from Russia as precaution.

"nationalist" leaders exposed as intel operatives

Sounds about par for the sloppiness of Moscow's operations these days.

Cheers

This article, about how the war has effect Russian economy.


Actually, the Russian Economy Is Imploding


Im sure mad Vlad will claim everything is fine with Russian economy

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2


Interesting read. I had never heard of that guy before reading that article, but then 10 minutes later, I happened across this tweet...

1/3 Former FSB RF officer and ex-Minister of Defense of the so-called "DPR" Igor Strelkov-Girkin predicts a "revolutionary situation" by autumn after a serious defeat of the Russian army.

twitter.com...

a reply to: WeDemBoyz

I have this weird respect for him. He's a die hard nationalist and monarchist, actually wants to reinstall a Czar. But at least he has some values and spine, he isn't just bull#ting for money. He's been insulting the military leadership on telegram. Which is weird perhaps, you'd they'd want to silence him. But maybe Putin wants them to take the blame anyway.

originally posted by: Kenzo
Actually, the Russian Economy Is Imploding

That's a brutal assessment.

HEY!! i found something about how Russia was instigating this crap since 2014.

Apparently in 2014 russia was already firing into eastern ukraine

en.wikipedia.org... still waiting on confirmation but the bridge is either heavily damaged or destroyed after repeated artillery strikes by Ukraine

On 26 July 2022 approx 22:55, the bridge sustained damage by Ukrainian rocket fire, allegedly using HIMARS rockets supplied by the United States. Current reports and video footage shows that the bridge has been structurally damaged. Ukrainian forces report 18 explosions to the structure from 3 Himars cassettes. TASS reported that their air defence systems had intercepted the projectiles, however, Ukrainian forces dispute this.

big if its out of comission as this is not some small bridge and would leave the rail connection as the only way accross the river dniper


www.dailykos.com...

www.youtube.com...

26 July Update

Key Takeaways

* Russian proxy and occupation leadership is enunciating expedited deadlines for the capture of Ukrainian territory to align with the Kremlin’s efforts to prepare for the annexation of occupied territories into the Russian Federation.

* Russian forces gained marginal ground northeast of Bakhmut and are continuing to fight east and south of Bakhmut.

* Russian forces conducted a limited attack northwest of Izyum, likely to secure Russian rear areas on the Izyum-Slovyansk line.

* Russian forces conducted limited attacks southwest of Donetsk City near the Zaporizhia Oblast border.

* Russian forces focused on defending occupied lines and conducted a limited ground assault in northwestern Kherson Oblast.

* Ukrainian forces continued to strike Russian logistics nodes in Kherson Oblast.

* The Kremlin is continuing to constitute regional volunteer battalions for deployment into Ukraine.

* Ukrainian intelligence leaks continue to reveal the Kremlin’s annexation agendas for occupied Ukraine by way of falsified referenda.

More at URL above.

Cheers