Ukraine

[Tom Hunter]

In other news the US DoD is planning to increase 155mm artillery shell production to 20,000 a month by this spring. Production was at 7,000 a month. It's still a lot less than Ukraine is consuming, but the US is not the only supply source. It does present a problem for Putin, because it means as the war goes on Ukraine will be able to increase the tempo of it's artillery fire.

Ignoring the trolls, a while back I posted that Putin had a sensible strategy, freeze Europe to weaken it's resolve while training up the new conscript army. Then go on the offensive again when the new troops are ready. However if Ukraine has a lot more artillery ammo when the new troops are ready it's a problem for the offensive? Thoughts on this? Russia is training a lot of troops, they have continued their mobilization and the total number conscripted is well over the 300,000 figure that they quoted to the media.

[George.]

a while back I posted that Putin had a sensible strategy, freeze Europe to weaken it's resolve while training up the new conscript army. Then go on the offensive again when the new troops are ready. However if Ukraine has a lot more artillery ammo when the new troops are ready it's a problem for the offensive? Thoughts on this?

I think that not giving Putin time to get organized and Europe and the US time to weaken their resolve has to be Ukraine's priority. A winter stalemate is good for Russia. I expect Ukraine will try a winter offensive for that reason. Maybe in Zapo, finally.

[Gerarddm]

#7440: In WWI there was an artillery shell shortage in the beginning, until all the combatants ramped up. The production of shells grew to be truly staggering, even in Russia.

Loving these deep Ukrainian strikes. They go to the core of the Russian lie about how their little incursion was going to plan. They are a manifestation of what BH Liddell Hart called the indirect approach. Keep the SOBs guessing.

[sandtown]

You still haven't answered the big question. ?

No, you answer my question first. Do you deny that Europe has a problem with extremist ethnic nationalism ??

I should be clear that Russia also has a problem with ethnic nationalist extremism, as does the US with the Trumpistas.

Why does that simple question get ducked so regularly ??

[ERGR]

Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and the war crimes that are uncovered every time Ukraine liberates an area have the effect to harden the resolve, at least in my part of Europe. The public pressure is for increasing aid to Ukraine, not withdrawing. I've no doubt that the taxpayers will be able to finance our industry to provide the armament Ukraine needs. The longer the war continues, the more Russia will be aware that they're in war with the combined might of western industry.
/Erik

[George Jung]

article yesterday talked about evidence of the Russians are still able to manufacture missiles. Either have another supplier of chips, or have a big stockpile.

[sandtown]

Come on, sandy. Should NATO troops withdraw from all Russian borders to avoid provoking them?

Who knows what a settlement might involve ?? But to lil me, I'd say that if NATO withdraws, then Russia should withdraw its forces from the border - hundreds of miles.

And if it were up to me, which it is not, I would de-militarize the whole region.

DMZ's have worked on the US-Canadian border for centuries - so why not elsewhere ??

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02...astern-europe/

[sandtown]

Here's 6 units from all over the world with a death's head in current use as their badge. I could go on, but 6 is probably enough.

Queen Elizabeth's Own Royal Lancers (

I read a bit of that unit's history - imperial fascists they seem to be.

[Osborne Russell]

Ukrainian drones hitting airfields inside Russia.

[Peerie Maa]

Here's 6 units from all over the world with a death's head in current use as their badge. I could go on, but 6 is probably enough.

Queen Elizabeth's Own Royal Lancers (17/21 Lancers) wear a death's head as their badge. [Question for the Brits: now that you've got King Charles, does the name of the regiment change to King Charles' Own?] Here's the current commanding officer:

Probably not.

On 5 April 2017, to mark her 70th anniversary as colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers and its predecessors, The Queen granted the regiment the honorific suffix "Queen Elizabeths' Own", to recognise their service to Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.^[5]

The Royal Lancers are an armoured cavalry regiment in 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade. Its famous skull and crossbones cap badge, referred to as The Motto, is one of the most recognisable in the British Army and represents its motto: ‘Death or Glory’.

The history of the skull and cross bones:

In 1759, Colonel Hale of the 47th Foot was sent back to Britain with the news of General James Wolfe’s death at the Battle of Quebec. As a reward, he was commissioned to raise the 18th Light Dragoons.
In memory of Wolfe’s demise, the regiment's cap badge was a skull and crossbones, and its motto ‘Death or Glory’. In 1763, it was re-numbered 17th in the order of precedence.

So, does someone want to figure out who is copying whom?

[Nicholas Carey]

Ukrainian drones hitting airfields inside Russia.

Seems they hit an air base in Kursk.

Russia's air defense network seems to be a little patchy, eh?

[ERGR]

Stefan Korshak, working for the Kyiv Post, is also writing articles on Facebook every second day or so. Today's article was a reflection on yesterday's events. I'd link the whole article if I were able, but Google is also a useful tool. Some excerpts:

I have a sneaking suspicion that yesterday, December 5 2022, will go down in history as a turning point in the Russo-Ukraine War, and more specifically a turning point pretty similar to September 15 1940 in the Battle of Britain.

On Sep 15 1940 British pilots (along with not a small number of Polish, Czech, French, Canadian (eh?) and other allied volunteer pilots) shot down 56 incoming Germany aircraft, among them many He-111 bombers. (Pictured)

Herr Goering and the German national leadership decided these losses were probably not sustainable because Germany wasn’t producing enough planes and pilots to make it up. That meant the German air force hadn’t a prayer in destroying the British air force, and THAT meant Germany had to think of a different way of winning World War Two, than invading Britain.

December 5 in the skies over Ukraine may well have been one of those decisive moments in a war. The Russians, after waiting about two and half weeks, launched another wave of missiles at Ukraine’s energy grid. Reports say about 70-80 cruise missiles were fired.

80% - 90% of those missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defence. Total cost for the missiles would have been about half a billion USD, and the damage to Ukraine not very large. In the long run, Russia cannot sustain such attacks.
On top of that you have the Ukrainian attacks on the strategic bomber air bases, which are diminishing Russia's nuclear deterrence capacity. If a war-torn country can attack Russia's nuclear bomber bases with improvised missiles, is Russia's nuclear deterrence capability really safe from China or the USA?
It's questionable (according to Russian bloggers) if Russia can sustain the bomber fleet at dispersed bases. They don't have the personnel for that.
By all reasons Russia should abandon their terror bombing strategy. It's unaffordable and of no military value. Russia is a very slow learner so they will probably continue until their nuclear capable missiles and strategic bombers are severely depleted.
/Erik

Added: ACB will probably link the article as usual when it's published on Medium

[sandtown]

Maybe all those criticisms/complaints levied by HR and Sandy are... just fluffing the sheets; immaterial, intended only to distract/derail. Wouldn't that be something?

Yeah for sure - none of you keyboard warriors is at all interested in hearing the point of view of at least a third of USAeans.

Wow, there are really a lot of Rooskie Bots and Punin lovers out there !! (insert sarcasm thingy)

And your solution is to attack characters and employ juvenile name calling to stifle debate.

Takes me back to 2003 when your ilk did the same things to us war skeptics.

[ERGR]

Kenneth Gregg is another person I'm following on Facebook. He's a Swedish speaking Finlander who's moved to Ukraine and nowadays works as an instructor for the Ukrainian Army after having spent time at the front. The UA considers him too old for frontline duty, but he's probably more valuable as an instructor anyway. Kenneth Gregg writes in Swedish (yet another reason to learn Swedish).
Anyway, he reports that there's now an information black-out from the fronts. This usually means that something important is about to happen. When it starts, we can always trust un-disciplined Russian soldiers to spread information around to inform us about the doings of the Russian army.
/Erik

[WX]

No, you answer my question first. Do you deny that Europe has a problem with extremist ethnic nationalism ??

I should be clear that Russia also has a problem with ethnic nationalist extremism, as does the US with the Trumpistas.

Why does that simple question get ducked so regularly ??

Why just Europe? Look at Israel, Saudi Arabia, North Korea...just to name a few. Now answer my question please.

[sandtown]

There are significant barriers to negotiations . . . it is not looking good.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/20...eid=55f70848ef

[AdB]

Oh please, if you really must wrestle the pig then go ahead. But please don't make me watch.
I.e. please don't quote the troll.
Please.

[sandtown]

Oh please, if you really must wrestle the pig then go ahead. But please don't make me watch.
I.e. please don't quote the troll. Please.

Are you saying that Gen Milley is a troll ?

[Osborne Russell]

Missiles of Goodness, Humanitarian Strikes

Some commentators called for even more brutal strikes against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

“A massive humanitarian military strike against Ukraine has begun. … Its goal is to stop the terror attacks the Kyiv regime is conducting on Russian territory,” Sergei Markov, a politician and frequent pundit on Russian state TV shows, wrote on his Telegram blog. “One can even say there are a hundred Russian missiles in the sky flying there for humanitarian purposes. That’s what we need to call them. Humanitarian strikes, missiles of goodness.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ssile-barrage/

[sandtown]

Why just Europe? Look at Israel, Saudi Arabia, North Korea...just to name a few. Now answer my question please.

I answered it above in post 7446 - but also see 7455, prospects for negotiations right now are not so good.

And do you get that extreme ethnic nationalism has a really terrible history in Europe ?? Think Germany.

So to me, the threat of it in Ukraine is a legitimate topic of discussion.

[WX]

I answered it above in post 7446 - but also see 7455, prospects for negotiations right now are not so good.

And do you get that extreme ethnic nationalism has a really terrible history in Europe ?? Think Germany.

So to me, the threat of it in Ukraine is a legitimate topic of discussion.

Why focus on Ukraine, why not the excessive brutality of the Russian soldiers?
Seems to me a bloke would better off surrendering to the Ukrainians than to the Russians.

[WX]

Are you saying that Gen Milley is a troll ?

I doubt it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Milley#Racial_issues

[C. Ross]

^ Spoil sport.
Some folks enjoy wrestling with pigs whilst p!!$!ng in the wind.

Forgive me. I don’t know what I was thinking. There’s no reaching someone so far down the pipe.

[heimlaga]

When sandtown wrote about the problems with ultranationalistic right wing extremism in various European countries he somehow forgot to mention Russia. Maybe because such extremism isn't a problem to the government in Russia. It is the government and the state ideology of Russia.

The interresting part is that very many of those nazi-wannabees in Europe seem to sympathize with the Russian side in this conflict.

[sandtown]

The interresting part is that very many of those nazi-wannabees in Europe seem to sympathize with the Russian side in this conflict.

I do not sympathize with any of them. How about you ??

[sandtown]

I doubt it.

Now that right there is pathetic beyond belief, but predictable on this thread.

You disagree with Milley, and many others . . . but totally lack the intellect to engage with their ideas.

So you attack their character.

Did you even bother to read Milley's Wiki race entry ?? He apologised for the "jaunt", and defended diversity at West Point. That is all.

Seriously, what is wrong with you ??

[dutchpp]

The ISW Russian offensive campaign assessment, December 6.
https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...ent-december-6

Unfortunately war criminal and mass murderer Igor Girkin survived his tour in Ukraine, although I have doubts if he ever crossed the Russian Ukrainian border, most Russian "heroes" are not that brave. The chasing of him continues by the way
girkin.jpg

Key Takeaways

• The Kremlin directly responded to Russian rumors of a second wave of mobilization in an apparent effort to manage growing societal concern and recentralize information about the war with the Russian government and its authorized outlets, but there are several indicators that Russia still intends to conduct a second wave of mobilization.
• Igor Girkin, a former Russian militant commander and prominent critical voice in the Russian milblogger information space, returned to Telegram following a nearly two-month stint in Ukraine and used his return to offer a vitriolic first-hand account of the situation on the frontlines.
• Ukrainian forces likely made recent gains in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, and Russian forces conducted limited attacks and defended against Ukrainian counteroffensive actions.
• Russian forces continued to conduct ground attacks near Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
• Russian sources claimed that Russian forces made marginal territorial advances near Bakhmut, but Russian forces have not succeeded in their efforts to surround the city.
• Russian authorities are very likely conducting an information operation to convince Russians of the security and integrity of the Kerch Strait Bridge following repairs to the bridge span.
• Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Spokesperson Maria Zakharova denied rumors on December 5 that Russia is preparing to withdraw from or transfer control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to another actor.
• Russian occupation authorities continued to strengthen security measures in occupied territories.

[WX]

Now that right there is pathetic beyond belief, but predictable on this thread.

You disagree with Milley, and many others . . . but totally lack the intellect to engage with their ideas.

So you attack their character.

Did you even bother to read Milley's Wiki race entry ?? He apologised for the "jaunt", and defended diversity at West Point. That is all.

Seriously, what is wrong with you ??

Are you deranged or what? I took the trouble to look up Milley, like what I saw and posted the wiki link. What the hell is wrong with you!?

[JayInOz]

He's a rude, disgruntled miserable old pig Gary. You're wasting valuable oxygen responding to him. I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned Custer yet

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Stefan Korshak cheers up a bit:

https://medium.com/@Stefan.Korshak/dec-6-day-286-cruise-missiles-and-heinkel-111s-and-hermann-goering-and-sergey-surovikin-434df94250d7

[skuthorp]

News here carrid a bit about Russian civilians undertaking automatic weapons training at a gun club, it did not say where. Said they were concerned they may have to defend themselves.
From whom, Ukranians or fellow Russians?

[Osborne Russell]

When sandtown wrote about the problems with ultranationalistic right wing extremism in various European countries he somehow forgot to mention Russia.

Russia, the very paragon of ultranationalistic right wing extremism.

Boils down to west bad, therefore Russia good. It's irrational and immoral. As the lady thought when she woke up from the missile hitting her apartment building.

I know the trauma of Viet Nam runs deep, but dude, get a grip. Your victory -- peace -- consists in you not losing your mind.

[Peerie Maa]

And do you get that extreme ethnic nationalism has a really terrible history in Europe ?? Think Germany.

So to me, the threat of it in Ukraine is a legitimate topic of discussion.

Just so. Reclaiming lands occupied by German-speaking peoples was the excuse for starting WWII by a far right government.
I do hope that any call for a negotiated settlement does not include appeasement.
We tried that in September 1938 and look where that lead us.

[dutchpp]

A team of 40 forensic experts of the Dutch military police returned home after their second tour in Ukraine. They investigated a lot of alleged warcrimes and they conducted a serious number of forensic autopsies on POW's of Mariupol that were killed in Olenivka prison, allegedly by the Russians.
The results of their work will be handed over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the results will for the time being not be revealed to the general public.
KM .jpg
The team at work in the remains of an apartment complex in Izjoem ( Charciv region)

[Canoeyawl]

It is not difficult to note that Moscow must now be well within reach...


650901D6-6B4F-44B9-9E06-B4DF6EDFF905.jpeg