The Ukraine Crisis Part 2 . The Battle for the Donbas

A great find .

There isnt much Western Media stuff coming out at the moment. In the UK there seems to be more emphasis again on domestic issues .

The T72 B3 as featured in the videos is basically the Russian Standard tank and over 200 examples have been destroyed or captured .

The 2016 model being the newest specification . In Western terms these are pretty obsolete and are somewhat 10 years behind.

Again I am looking at the area where these were captured ( very open) and again I would deduce poor tactics used. For them to be taken out by hand held antitank weapons in open countryside tells me that these tanks did not have infantry support . This is a beginners mistake in strategy. The infantry are needed to nullify the opposition infantry anti tank teams .

Regardless of whether Russia wins or loses this conflict , its going to be very costly for them and will set them back many years in rebuilding . With this in mind one can clearly see why the West is helping Ukraine. A weak Russia in my view will help to bring stability to the Region and the less likelihood of other neighbouring countries being invaded .

 

I probably should have warned people about that dead body under the tank but war is a nasty business.

 

The deputy chairman of the Duma's Defense Committee, Alexei Zhuravlev, claimed that Finland's desire to join NATO would be cleared in just 10 seconds.
In response to Finland's announcement.
Statements like these make the world turn against Russia. The political strategy seems to be driven by beasts. Or by Ukrainians because these are what makes the almost whole world support Ukraine.

 

NATO Prepares to Add Finland and Sweden to Northern Defenses (msn.com)



That's basically the entire Western border of Russia except Belarus.

 

I'll let this stand but it is a little off topic . Perhaps more appropriate here Could This Be The Start Of World War Three?

 

Oh! Sorry... I wanted to interject about the status of the situation more generally.

I didn't intend for it to detract from the main topic.

Please by all means.

 

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I said its no problem and I mean that

 

I wanted to post 2 comparison maps as to the progress made by the Russian invasion . I have to say many are getting carried away by the Western hyped media and whilst its morale boosting doesnt for me anyway paint the complete and true picture .

It is true to say the Russians have been pushed out of Ukraine except for the eastern side of Ukraine. However some of these troops particularly around Kharkiv have retreated over the border in good order so they can be redeployed in the Donbas Region . This is obvious now that this is where they want to concentrate their forces and its where if you compare the maps can see some albeit slow progress made by the Russians .This conflict is not going to end anytime soon and with Russia having an almost inexhaustible supply of 25 year old conscripts will eventually win the day in my view down to sheer weight of numbers . The best I can see is a compromise ceasefire and perhaps at the 2016 front line or the Russians just giving up eventually .

 

Just in case nobody noticed... Putin wants control of the Black Sea again*. (*USSR "again")

 

That's true Russia has the numbers, but I think we're seeing the competence level of the Russian army dropping exponentially. Russia can't train the new kids fast enough to keep up with Ukraine's superior battle savvy and new technology. Especially when Putin & his (remaining) generals are still trying to fight an old man's war. At least that's the spin I'm hearing from Pentagon analysts... might be morale boosting like you said, who knows. But recent dumbass mistakes by the Russians seem to back it up. In other words, Putin is just throwing more kids into the meat grinder. Sooner or later he has to see this and back off??

 

Maybe .My view is he has gone to far and past the point of no return .From his point of view he has no option and has to win .He could try and settle for what he has got should things still go badly wrong. At the moment they are as I am seeing basically very poor coordination between his infantry and armour resulting in losses of the latter .His air force are very quiet in many ways due to the Wests supply of effective anti aircraft defences and the supply of "spares" to keep the Ukrainian aircraft flying. Not achieving air supremacy has been a major factor in Russia's slow stalling progress in this conflict.
My main concern is Russia can just keep throwing resources at this conflict and Ukraine doesnt have these numbers and could just end up being worn down . The analogy I can use here is a death of 1000 cuts . With the first cuts being sustainable .

 

The Belarusian President would be better served keeping out of this conflict as best as he can .Belarus is a poor country and any reprisals either military of economic severed by the West will have a devastating affect on his country . He isnt a very popular leader as it is and direct involvement could escalate his downfall .

 

That’s true. Today’s news about the surrender at Azovstal is a reminder that the death of 1000 cuts strategy works. Surround them, keep shelling, choke off their supplies. Even if Russia ends up losing 10 soldiers for every 1 Ukrainian soldier, Putin can keep up the strategy, then declare victory, then tell his people that only a dozen Russians were killed :/

 

Spot on . Thats the former Soviet doctrine and now Russia . Destroy 10 tanks we have another 10 to use against you .

 

Until they don't...