20139

Zero reason for Ukraine to rush in. I’d take my time and scout the crap out of that city, who knows what surprises they left. And talk to the locals, who’d know what’s what.

Wasn’t Ukraine blasting the crap out of that bridge out of the city? Hope Russia wasn’t able to take a lot of their heavy machinery.

20140

Ukraine already discussed last week how they are very wary of walking into a trap in Kherson. Discussion of Russian troops disguised as civilians and the like. But if Russia blows the bridges on their way out then there is no way they could leave many troops behind effectively.

There is certainly no way they could hide or supply enough troops on that side of the river to pull off anything like an envelopment. Best they could hope for is to cause some guerilla warfare pain and make Ukraine put resources into securing the city bit by bit.

20141

Though I suspect that any special forces types they left behind to do any guerilla stuff might find themselves outed and lynched by the populace before the AFU could even get there…

20142
20143

Just planting crops for the winter.

20144
20145

You have no chance to survive, make your time!

20146

For great justice!

20147

I find the idea of the stories with poor recruitment, faulty (and rusty equipment), lack of training, etc. being Ukrainian propaganda quite amusing. Really? Just because you can find these things on twitter, doesn’t mean that they originate on twitter. The vast majority of these stories all originate on Telegram, VK, and other native Russian social media sites. You have Russian recruitment offices publically recommending that recruits bring their own gear. If you understand Russian, it is easy enough to go online and find these stories being discussed by Russians on Russian sites.

Granted - maybe Ukraine has infiltrated these sites and are directing propaganda against Russia there. I doubt it though, unless we assume that Russian counter-intelligence is even worse than their army.

20148

the duke of new york

20149

Darth Putin nailed it today.

20150

But you have to give equal weighting to Putin’s side of the story, otherwise you are just a closed-minded sheeple living in your own comfy narrative bubble. Also, Putin is a liar so you can’t trust what he’s saying, you have to assume he’s trying to trick you into a false sense of security. So take whatever he has to say and assume it’s a trap meant to lull Ukraine into a false sense of security. Therefore you really have to use what he has to say as a starting point to construct a truth that will be devastating for Ukraine if it comes to pass. Then multiply that by 4. There, you’ve successfully done your own research.

20151

It’s indeed a trap. Fuckers.

20152

That actually tracks. Those mine clearing charges are pretty significant and having all of them explode at once would probably look like what we see there.

Here’s one being used for warcriming (1:39), but the explosion is the same scale as we see above.

Edit: Also it speaks to Russian incompetence if that is the case because the UZ-77 is not a frontline combat vehicle. It’s armor is on par with a WW2 armored car, so basically it will probably stop rifle rounds, but not much else. And it’s full of explosives, so not something you want in the middle of your tank formation.

20153

“Snaaaaake Plissken… I heard you were dead.”

20154

I’m not sure I’d necessarily call it a trap, at least not yet. We don’t know the extent of the RU forces there, or if they’re plotting a trap or if they’re a rearguard holding action while Russia tries getting men and materiel out.

20155

+15 Tanks, 12 APC’s, 11 Artillery, 2 MRLS, 2 Air defense radars, and 11 trucks.

20156

You are the Duke of New York, you’re A #1!

20157

It’s not a trap. It’s the Russian propaganda apparatus preparing people to better accept the situation when they are inevitably thrown out of Kherson.

It’s not a rout - it’s an orderly withdrawal.

20158

Kherson region update: