Here we go again-Ukraine once again

[mapuc]

< Hopefully it's not true.

Markus

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

< Hopefully it's not true.

Markus

Russia that cannot defeat an army vastly smaller than them gone go to war with NATO even if Ukraine counteroffensive does not go according to plan Ukraine will not surrender it already has the promised supplies for next year and are the main threat to Russia it can not deploy any more troops to open a second front those 2 losers are always threatening with ... or ... but they always fail.

[Catfish]

I almost hope Russia will do this stunt, maybe the russians realize what kind of idiot they have as a "president". Putin knows he will not live forever, i guess he will try to extend the war as long as possible. If this means taking over Belarus (what about Lukashenko b.t.w.?) and attack Poland he may try this, he does not want an end of the war while he's alive.

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I almost hope Russia will do this stunt, maybe the russians realize what kind of idiot they have as a "president". Putin knows he will not live forever, i guess he will try to extend the war as long as possible. If this means taking over Belarus (what about Lukashenko b.t.w.?) and attack Poland he may try this, he does not want an end of the war while he's alive.

[Skybird]

Those declared dead live longer.

https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/..._x_tr_pto=wapp

Russia's economy is on the brink of collapse. The ruble collapses. Putin is terminally ill, he has been dead for months. The military has no more rockets. The Russians are running out of ammunition. We will punish Russia. The elites rebel. Putin can't hold out much longer. The military is stupid as bean straw. The Russians can't fight at all. They still make the same mistakes as in the beginning.

Von wegen.

The Ukrainians will never be able to throw the Russians out of their country by force and struggle. These are number-based realities. Their only chance is to wear out the Russian army in general so that it will erode internally of its own accord, like a structure whose steel beams have rusted so that they break. But kick out the Russians through a series of major battles? I'm sorry, I don't see that, not even hinted at. And Putin only lives as long as the war goes on. So he has no interest in peace, he has a vital interest in the war continuing under all circumstances - costs and progress are unimportant. And if that were no longer theoretically possible in Ukraine, it would be through escalation against another country. Putin needs the war. If there is no war, he is dead.

So to all peace activists: have fun negotiating. And even if your hope lived only until the beginning of the negotiations, it still has lived. Toll!

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

[Skybird]

Two-thirds of the forces deployed for the offensive are still being held back, probably for the moment when the current numerous probing raids believe they have found a weakness in the Russian lines, which the Ukrians then decide to exploit.



Nevertheless the situation of the Ukrainians is worse than is usually portrayed in the reports of the media, for the war extends over more domains than just that of direct military combat. Economic data is devastating - while Russia's have suffered much less than hoped. And the infrastructure needed to keep logistical flow alive gets systematically wiped out by Russia: bloackde at sea, and bombing of the all important railway grid.



https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/..._x_tr_pto=wapp

[Jimbuna]

[Dargo]

The Kakhovka reservoir is almost empty, can Ukrainian tanks now drive across?

On clear days, from the Ukrainian city of Nikopol, you can see the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, 10 kilometers across. But since the reservoir emptied, the nuclear power plant occupied by the Russians seems even closer: what used to be a mighty reservoir is now a river only 400 meters wide and surrounded by kilometers of marshy land, according to an analysis of satellite images by Planet. The dam breach caused the water level to drop at lightning speed from around 17 meters to less than 12 meters in the first few days. Since then, the water level has dropped much further, satellite images show.

A crossing of the Dnipro near the flooded town of Kherson has not been feasible since the dam breach last Tuesday, military analysts said. A crossing upstream near the reservoir looks a lot easier from the air. 'But if you're standing on the shore as a soldier, it's a lot harder,' says former commander of the Dutch land forces Mart de Kruif. Walking across that area as a soldier is practically impossible, says De Kruif. 'Then you are a glorified mudflat runner as a Ukrainian soldier. That is physically very tough with all the equipment.' The soggy ground makes that scenario unrealistic. 'It has to harden first, and that will take some time.' The Leopard tanks the Ukrainian army has can handle some swampy terrain with their tracks. 'They can wade through water,' says De Kruif. 'But that doesn't make much sense if the ground has no support. That area is now a deep layer of mud and clay. You would have to investigate whether you can cross that with armored vehicles.'

Even if the Ukrainians want to build a bridge, they soon run into practical problems. 'The ground almost certainly has too little support for that, while at the same time you make yourself hugely vulnerable to air attacks.' In all scenarios, the Ukrainian army has to reckon with coming under fire from the Russian army, which has entrenched itself near the nuclear power plant. 50 kilometers to the north, Ukraine does have bridges over the Dnipro, notes De Kruif. 'It makes much more sense to use those.' That the Russians' defenses might be weaker at the deflated reservoir is not a decisive reason for a Ukrainian crossing for De Kruif. 'The offensive has long been planned, you're not going to adjust that for such a risky operation.' https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-ach...jden~b33110af/

[Exocet25fr]

Don't underestimate russians, we could have bad surprises!. It was said that they had no more air force.........

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Exocet25fr

Don't underestimate russians, we could have bad surprises!. It was said that they had no more air force.........

I fear the Russian air force they are bringing them closer to the front, let's hope the comms between land and air is still FUBAR as in the past or that they lack trained pilots. Ukraine needs a good anti air in this counteroffensive, else this will fail.

[Dargo]

Hundreds of old Merkava tanks on the way to Europe: all the details about the historic deal

years after they entered service in the IDF, hundreds of Merkava tanks of the 2nd and 3rd marks are expected to be sold to two foreign countries, including for the first time to a European country. The tanks went out of use in recent years, remaining in warehouses - but after the start of the war in Ukraine and the renewed demand for armored war vehicles, they were tested and found to be suitable enough to sell One of the Israeli symbols is being exported to Europe for the first time: 40 years after they entered service in the IDF, old Merkava tanks manufactured in Israel are expected to be sold soon to two foreign armies, reach Europe, and continue to serve despite their advanced age. The US Department of Defense should soon approve to Israel the sale of hundreds of Merkava Mark 2 and 3 tanks that were manufactured in Israel in the 1980s and 1990s and have been decommissioned in recent years to two foreign countries, one of them in Europe, against the background of the war in Ukraine and the refinement to which classic armored war vehicles are being re-acquired. This is the first time that Merkava tanks will be sold to a European country.

The Ministry of Defense does not specify the names of the two countries that agreed on the purchase of more than 200 used Israeli tanks in light of the sensitivity of the process, but the deal is on the verge of a final signature and is expected to be completed relatively immediately, within about three months. Officials at the Ministry of Defense told Ynet that since certain mechanical parts in these tanks are American-made, especially the engine, approval from the Ministry of Defense in Washington is required to carry out the transaction. According to estimates, the scope of the deal will reach several tens of millions of dollars for all the tanks, an amount that will enter the state coffers and will probably be transferred directly to the defense establishment. This is an amount that is considered negligible in relation to the purchase of new western tanks. For the sake of proportion, about a decade ago, the Ministry of Defense offered a foreign army to purchase a new Mark 4 Merkava tank, from the production line, for approximately four million dollars per tank.

Additional details indicate that the two transactions will be split - one will include the older Merkava 2 tanks and the other the Merkava Mark 3 that entered service in the nineties and served mainly the fighters of the 188th Brigade. In recent years these tanks have fallen out of use and today all 3 regular armored brigades - 401, 188 and 7th Brigade - equipped with advanced Merkava Mark 4 tanks with the active defense system against anti-tank missiles, of the wind jacket type and computerized command and control systems. Some of the regular tanks, especially those with less experience, were transferred to reserve brigades, including the 10th (Harel) brigade instead of the tanks. However, more than 200 orphaned tanks remain in the IDF's maintenance depots. At first, the defense establishment was pessimistic about the possibility of a foreign army purchasing them, and the possibility of selling them to iron recycling contractors was considered, but not before they were scrapped. But the counter-armaments will strengthen them well and at the same time the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out last year, which changed the security needs of European countries. Initial interest in used tanks began already in the middle of last year and the Ministry of Defense rushed to check the condition of the old tanks, and found that they were serviceable enough to be sold.

Security officials explained that "producing a tank as an off-the-shelf product is a complex and long process that can take two years and cost a fortune, in our time there are tanks that are qualified, with receipts, for operation tomorrow morning, in open and built-up areas." The sources also said that "Europe is in an arms race that has not been the same since World War II." For example, the German Ministry of Defense tripled its defense budget because of the tensions with Russia, while Sweden and Finland join NATO, and only yesterday the Israeli Ministry of Defense reported an all-time record in the sale of Israeli weapons to the world - approximately 12.5 billion dollars in the past year.

It should be noted that in the IDF's warehouses there are still hundreds of M-113 APCs that are also going out of use, in light of the introduction of the NMR and Eitan APCs in recent years, mainly to the regular brigades. For these APCs, which are not considered protected from anti-tank fire, there is still no foreign demand. At the same time, in recent years, Israel has succeeded in promoting the sale of decommissioned Air Force F-16 aircraft to the Croatian army. The security officials stated that "it is difficult to sell military surpluses, and we are trying to be attractive and extend their lives as much as possible." The first chariot tanks, the product of the development of Major General Israel Tal (Telik) and the engineer Israel Tilan, were produced in Israel in the late 1970s, and their first version, the Mark 1, was integrated into operational activity already in the First Lebanon War, during Operation Peace of the Galilee. Immediately after that, the Ministry of Defense developed the follow-up version, Mark 2, with improvements that allowed warfare even in built-up areas, and with additions for passive protection. Regular and reserve armored personnel carriers recorded thousands of successful battles in chariot tanks in all recent Israeli systems, in the security zone in Lebanon, in Operation Protective Wall, in the Second Lebanon War, in operations in the Gaza Strip before and after disengagement, as well as in ongoing security in the various sectors. https://www-ynet-co-il.translate.goo...x_tr_hist=true

[Jimbuna]

Let us hope the Ukrainians are as skilful and effective in their use as the Israelis were.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Exocet25fr

Don't underestimate russians, we could have bad surprises!. It was said that they had no more air force.........

Thy were not able to reach total air superiority, but planes they have enough. They still have enormous numbers of interceptors and CAS aircraft they could throw in, if they want, but the main share of air-based ground attacks they launch on the Ukrainian spearheads are from drones (both artillery observers and kamikaze drones) and also are done by helicopter gunships like the Mi-28 and Ka-52 that are, like the American Apache, designed for and specialise in long distance anti tank warfare from up to 6-8 km away. Thats what gives the Ukrainians currently super big headaches.


In the Syrian war, the Ka-52 showed to be more mature, reliable and capable type. Russia has minimum 130 of these and planned to double this number until in the second half of this decade. Russia had at the beginning of the war around 120-140 Mi-28, a dozen of which got lost in the war so far.