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The M142 HIMARS Biden sent to Ukraine are mauling Russian Troops with a 53 miles range and low cost drone spotting these things are deadly. The fact that Putin is planning military strategy shows how incompetent the Russians are. This reminds me of how Hitler acting as a military commander and in many cases making lot of mistakes.
I just view the "We'll call up 300,000 troops" thing to be almost like a relic of the past if you're EFFECTIVELY fighting with MODERN weaponry.
The accuracy and lethality is just so over the top these days it's almost like the transition from the Napolean era of warfare to WW1 where the machine guns and artillery changed everything.
If it were the eastern front 1940's then sure, wow, 300k men but if you don't have effective equipment and training you're just going to end up like the Moskva where they had all these anti-missile weapons yet just sat there and took it like they were a freakin' cruise ship.
That really sums up the Russians problems for me in a nutshell. All these great systems and tech but when they come time to work these days? Nope. Just on paper.
And yet, we funded a 300k strong Afghan army. Why? I'm sure the weapons were somewhat superior to the AK-47.
P.S. And on a related note, in the NE, Ukraine mustered a huge numerical advantage.
This link is worth visiting for those who think oil sales to China and the value of the ruble will somehow save Russia from economic disaster.
Oil and oil products made up 42.98% of Russian exports in 2021. $146B. Putin's net worth is more than that!
Russia is not going to thrive on $146B per year. Fact is, they are going to get a lot less than that because (A) oil production is going down and (B) they must sell at a discount.
None of this is news to Putin. He has one chance and that is to end the war quickly. I can't tell you exactly what he intends to do with this new army, but whatever it is, the intent is to force a close to the war.
He will probably fail.
The Russian mobilization system is struggling to execute the task Russian President Vladimir Putin set and will likely fail to produce mobilized reserve forces even of the low quality that Putin’s plans would have generated unless the Kremlin can rapidly fix fundamental and systemic problems
Russian pro-war milbloggers and social media users are raising concerns about unlawful mobilization practices and showcasing many serious Russian mobilization problems on the second day of the mobilization effort.
Challenges and errors in the first days of executing a large-scale and demanding partial mobilization in the midst of a failing war are not necessarily surprising, although they suggest that the Russian military mobilization infrastructure was not better prepared for a major war than the Russian armed forces themselves.
Divergences from the mobilization decree and from Putin’s and Shoigu’s statements about the categories of men who are exempt from mobilization are also causing anger and mistrust toward Russian federal subjects and the Kremlin itself.
The highly nationalist and pro-war milblogger community is calling on the Kremlin to address these mobilization issues rapidly, but the Kremlin is unlikely to be able to meet their demands.
Disparate mobilization processes across different regions may exacerbate social tensions in Russia already raised by perceived inequalities in the creation of volunteer battalions.
Key Takeaways
Quote:
Russian partial mobilization efforts are suffering from serious and systemic problems in their first days, generating popular resentment and setting conditions to produce a mobilized reserve force incapable of accomplishing the tasks Russian President Vladimir Putin has set for it.
Protests, attacks against recruiting centers, and vandalism have occurred across Russia in the first 48 hours after the announcement of partial mobilization.
Ukrainian forces continued to advance north and northwest of Lyman.
Ukrainian forces continued their interdiction campaign in Kherson Oblast and maintained operational silence regarding Ukrainian progress on the axis.
Russian forces continued to launch unsuccessful assaults near Bakhmut and northwest of Donetsk City.
Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone in an unspecified area of the Black Sea, likely near Odesa.
Russian occupation authorities began the voting period for their sham annexation referenda on September 23 with overt coercion and falsified turnout numbers.
Russian occupation authorities remained on high alert to prevent partisan attacks against sham election workers, polling stations, and government facilities.
Activity in Russian-occupied Areas
Quote:
Russian occupation authorities began the voting period for their sham annexation referenda on September 23 with overt coercion and falsified turnout numbers. Ukrainian sources reported that members of the occupation “election commissions” went door-to-door in occupied Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts accompanied by armed men.[42] Voters who turned up at polling stations did not have access to private voting booths; armed occupation forces reportedly showed voters which boxes to check and did not check identification at polling sites.[43] Occupation authorities reportedly stopped people on the streets to force them to vote.[44] The Ukrainian head of the Luhansk Military Administration, Serhiy Haidai, reported that armed men threatened to break into apartment buildings that refused them entrance and told voters who offered identification that ”we already know you.”[45] Haidai reported that occupation authorities are recording the names of those who vote no on the referendum, indicating that Russian authorities are likely preparing to retaliate against uncooperative Ukrainian civilians.[46]
Russian occupation authorities remained on high alert to prevent partisan attacks against sham election workers, polling stations, and government facilities. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) reported that forces from Rosgavardia, the Russian military police, as well as the Russian Ministry of Emergencies are tasked with the “protection” of annexation referenda measures.[47] Russian occupation authorities in Luhansk Oblast reported that forces from the LNR Interior Ministry, the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry, and Rosgvardia implemented unspecified ”organizational and practical measures” to protect public order and civilian safety during the referendum, including the protection of election commission personnel ”outside the polling stations.”[48] The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on September 23 that sappers from the International Mine Action Center have begun inspecting polling stations and nearby areas in Luhansk for explosives, referring to these as ”anti-terrorist measures.”[49] The Russian head of the “We Are Together With Russia” movement, a likely Kremlin-directed attempt to demonstrate grassroots support for the sham referenda, reported a “terrorist” attack near a residential building in central Melitopol on September 23, likely describing a partisan attempt to disrupt the sham referendum there.[50]
Russian milbloggers already set information conditions to explain away any reported low turnout. One milblogger reported on September 23 that occupation administrations in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia oblasts have not maintained the telephone lines meant to inform residents in Ukraine and Russia about where polling stations are located.[51] The milblogger claimed that no employees answered the phone at informational call centers and that many residents in Ukraine and Russia cannot vote because they do not know where the polling stations are located. Russian milbloggers may use this misleading narrative to justify low turnout or coercive door-to-door “polling” of residents.
Russian media will likely distribute false turnout numbers each day of the sham referendum to maintain a thin veneer of legitimacy. A Russian reporter claimed that 15.3% of voters in Kherson Oblast, 22% of voters in Luhansk Oblast, 20.5% in Zaporizhia Oblast, and 23.6% in Donetsk Oblast turned out to vote on September 23.[52] He did not clarify whether these percentages refer to all eligible voters in each oblast, or only in occupied areas. Russian occupation authorities may have specific quotas of paper ballots to meet for informational purposes, but the results of these sham referenda are pre-determined and will wildly overstate turnout and support for Russian occupation.
Army training was 2 months of basic training, 2 months of advanced training for infantry.
We spent 3 months getting to the "baseline individual skills" stage, another 3 for specialized training (heavy weapons, signals, vehicles, cross-training, urban combat, NBC), then 6 months working up as units - squads, then platoons, then company, then battalion. At the end, we weren't bad. Did our own bit rather OK, played well with tanks and artillery, that sort of thing. But after a year on civilian street, the edge was off.
Wow, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the info. Of course I’m well aware of the fact that the USSR no longer exists, but it seems as though NATO looks upon Russia as synonymous with the old Soviet Union.
That's - sorry, but that's stupid. You're not, so why type it? The Baltic states would have been long since Ukrained, had they not joined NATO. You know it. Finland has decided to join the club. Smart move.
"Nothing to gain"? Russia respects power, and only power. They would love nothing more than being surrounded by small, naive countries.
No, it’s not even remotely “stupid”. in spite of your Russia-phobia, Finland and Russia have been peaceful neighbors now for 70+ years. So, Finland has no compelling need for “protection”. But, as a NATO member, they become an adversary immediately, and because there are certain membership obligations, they’ll have to have their military readiness updated, and maybe become a site for an anti-ballistic missile system. That would place them in the crosshairs as a priority target due to their close proximity. NATO membership would dramatically compromise their security, not enhance it.
No, it’s not even remotely “stupid”. in spite of your Russia-phobia, Finland and Russia have been peaceful neighbors now for 70+ years. So, Finland has no compelling need for “protection”. But, as a NATO member, they become an adversary immediately, and because there are certain membership obligations, they’ll have to have their military readiness updated, and maybe become a site for an anti-ballistic missile system. That would place them in the crosshairs as a priority target due to their close proximity. NATO membership would dramatically compromise their security, not enhance it.
Apparently the country, you know Finland, thinks otherwise. You should have shared your sage advice with them in order to save them from being a target.
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