Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[River]

If their answer to modern weapons is nuclear threats they're pretty much admitting that their conventional military technology hasn't been keeping up with NATO's conventional military technology and their only hope of "winning" at this point is dropping nukes. Though they kind of were already admitting it when they reacted the way they did to Georgia and then Ukraine making moves towards NATO...

[RoseMorninStar]

They're sending Valery Gerasimov into the Kharkiv region in Ukraine. I believe he is Russia's General Chief of Staff. Evidently he'd fallen into the same hole Putin did relying on misinformation which resulted in miscalculations in regards to Ukraine. Going to Ukraine puts a HUGE target on his back. I'm guessing Putin is getting desperate for a big 'win' for their Victory Day Parade on May 9. What a sad, awful (and unnecessary imo) mess.

[Frelga]

IIRC, Gerasimov's nephew has been killed in Ukraine already. Ukraine averaged about a general a week for the first two months of the war.

Putin reportedly decided to take personal charge of the war, a move that worked out real well for Russia's last tzar. And also for Hitler.

Meanwhile, special heating operations are taking place across Russia.

Probably Ukrainian strikes: An ammunition depot is on fire near Belgorod Region. Fuel depot blew up in Bryansk, about 100 miles from the border.

Russia defence research institute fire in Tver, Dmitrievsky Chemical Plant fire, and no one knows what near another research institute in Korolyov - who knows, it's Russia, things catch fire frequently.

Five (at least) military district offices - probably domestic arson. These offices would handle conscription, including both the regular spring draft and any total mobilization if one were to be a announced so this is likely preventive maintenance.

Also reportedly there are massive wildfires in Siberia because the Russian military in Siberia that would normally fight them have been redirected to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, a fire fight was reported between Russian troops from the Buriatia region and Kadyrov's Chechens.

Finally, as recently as last week it appears that Russia parked more aircraft in Chorobaivka where Ukrainians keep bombing the crap out of the same airfiled only for Russians to put more in the same spot. By some counts, there have been over a dozen rounds of this.

[Sunsilver]

Russia defence research institute fire in Tver, Dmitrievsky Chemical Plant fire, and no one knows what near another research institute in Korolyov - who knows, it's Russia, things catch fire frequently.

So, it's not just their ships!

[Frelga]

So, it's not just their ships!

Screenshot_20220430-082628.jpg (69.8 KiB) Viewed 2075 times

[Frelga]

IIRC, Gerasimov's nephew has been killed in Ukraine already. Ukraine averaged about a general a week for the first two months of the war.

As it turned out, this week's General, reported by Ukraine but still unconfirmed by Russia, was Major General Andrei Simonov. He was the head of the Radio-electronic warfare division of the Russian army. If confirmed, this is the ninth Russian General killed in the invasion, not counting the two reportedly killed under Kherson but unconfirmed.

Also in the special heating operation, a big fire near Vladivostok, all the way out in Siberia, possibly a military airfield. Worth noting that Vladivostok is where Russians forcibly relocated thousands of Ukrainian civilians. No one mentioned any possible connection, yet.

[River]

Special heating...I see what you did there.

How many generals do they have? And how many do they need? Just trying to figure out how much longer the war can go.

[Sunsilver]

Can't resist...

Frelga, I've heard Putin is reviving the Gulags, and sending Ukrainian civilians (mostly women and children) there. Any truth to that that you can see?

[RoseMorninStar]

Special heating...I see what you did there.

How many generals do they have? And how many do they need? Just trying to figure out how much longer the war can go.

From what I've heard they have many, many generals and therefore many are (sadly) seen as more disposable than some countries might consider a general. (ugh)

Ukrainians in Gulags..

[Sunsilver]

During an interview, Zelensky said Ukraine had lost 15,000 soldiers in 8 years during a previous war, while he estimates Putin lost 15,000 in just one month in the Ukrainian invasion. Often, the dead were not even buried. "They do not even mourn their own casualties. ....He is throwing Russian soldiers just like logs into a train's furnace".

Strongly recommend listening to the last couple of minutes of his interview, from about 21.30 on.
This interview took place March 25th, so the number of Russian dead is now considerably higher.

[Sunsilver]

Ukrainians in Gulags..

I heard from several sources that the Russians were separating women and children from the men, and putting them on buses to take them back to Russia. Then, they were being interrogated to see if they had any close ties to Ukrainian soldiers, or people in positions of power. I'm not sure what happened to them after that. Then, I saw a post on Instagram that Putin was reopening the Gulags, and thought "Maybe THAT'S what he will do with those he thinks might be a danger!"

But at the moment, I'm just speculating. Don't have any hard facts. So, I'm wondering what Frelga has heard, as she can get information directly from Ukrainian and Russian sources.

[Frelga]

So, I'm wondering what Frelga has heard, as she can get information directly from Ukrainian and Russian sources.

I don't think we know what happened to the thousands of Ukrainians forced into Russia. 600,000 by some reports. That they have been forced to move is, unfortunately, true.

Husband's cousin runs a company that employs Ukrainian programmers. He's gone to Ukraine trying to get his staff out and into Poland. One of them had parents in Mariupol. They've lost touch for weeks and were losing hope, when they heard from the parents that they were in Russia. That was all, they were not able to say where or how they were. It was in March, I don't know if they were in touch since.

Another woman was hiding for days in a cellar near Kharkiv. They were finally able to connect her with a driver to get her out, but he could not get to her location. She had to walk for several miles through a forest to the pick up point. Luckily, they've made it out.

The courage of drivers, train conductors, volunteers traveling into the war zone to rescue stranded residents is humbling. Some make trip after trip, under bullets and bombs.

And most of these people lived comfortable, modern lives only two months ago.

[Sunsilver]

So hard to imagine - most of us would have no clue how to survive something like that.

[N.E. Brigand]

They're sending Valery Gerasimov into the Kharkiv region in Ukraine. I believe he is Russia's General Chief of Staff. Evidently he'd fallen into the same hole Putin did relying on misinformation which resulted in miscalculations in regards to Ukraine. Going to Ukraine puts a HUGE target on his back. I'm guessing Putin is getting desperate for a big 'win' for their Victory Day Parade on May 9. What a sad, awful (and unnecessary imo) mess.

You called it.

Russia’s highest-ranking general dodges Ukraine attack in secret trip to front line. (New York Post)

Some other reports today said Gen. Gerasimov was "lightly wounded" in the attack, but apparently not.

[Frelga]

Some said that he was perfectly fine and being towed to the port. But the consensus is, he got off with a light scare.

[Sunsilver]

Some said that he was perfectly fine and being towed to the port.

Hmm...does that mean he's going to sink out of sight?

[Sunsilver]

The Ukranian army has designed a new anti-tank weapon, a Stugna-P antitank missile mounted on a buggy similar to a jeep. They're calling them Stug-buggies, although some have dubbed them 'the Rat(chet) Patrol', a reference to a TV series which ran in the mid-60's, that featured highly mobile jeeps with 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the back:

https://sofrep.com/news/ukrainian-speci ... qsSoAnXkmU

The U.S. Special Forces has been advising and training the Ukrainian Special Forces for years, and has been credited with coming up with the idea. Similar tactics were used by the LRDG in WWII and also during the Gulf war.

(The Rat Patrol was based on the LRDG, but featured 3 Americans and one Brit, which upset a lot of people because the Yanks weren't even IN the Western Desert at that time.)

[N.E. Brigand]

The Ukranian army has designed a new anti-tank weapon, a Stugna-P antitank missile mounted on a buggy similar to a jeep. They're calling them Stug-buggies, although some have dubbed them 'the Rat(chet) Patrol', a reference to a TV series which ran in the mid-60's, that featured highly mobile jeeps with 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the back:

Ukrainian Special Forces Have Stug Buggies Out Hunting Russian Tanks

The U.S. Special Forces has been advising and training the Ukrainian Special Forces for years, and has been credited with coming up with the idea. Similar tactics were used by the LRDG in WWII and also during the Gulf war.

(The Rat Patrol was based on the LRDG, but featured 3 Americans and one Brit, which upset a lot of people because the Yanks weren't even IN the Western Desert at that time.)

I'd never even heard of that TV show until a couple years ago, when it started getting regular air play here late night on weekends. Catchy theme song:

[Sunsilver]

True confession time - I had a huge crush on Chris George, and Gary Raymond certainly wasn't hard to look at either...

[N.E. Brigand]

Ouch. Per this story from a month ago in the Tampa Bay Times, approximately $300 million of Florida's state retirement fund was then invested in Russian assets, including Sberbank and Rosneft. That's only 0.15% of the $195 billion total in the fund, but it's still enough that you might want to try and protect it. Two months ago, Democrats in the Florida state legislature called on Florida to divest those assets. Florida's governor, Ron DiSantis, who had previously been vocal about calling for the retirement fund needing to divest from companies that boycott Israel, dragged his feet on this issue (the Times piece said he could be doing more), and the Republicans who control the legislature never acted, and with sanctions having tanked Russia's economy, the fund apparently is now worth $200 million less than it was.