2022-2024 Russo-Ukrainian War

[Albany Rifles]

Given my reading today of a infantry battalion with 40 effectives and companies routinely operating at 35% strength, one can easily see how bad tactical behavior creeps into your manpower reality.

What's the source for those metrics? Is this for the Ukrainian Army?

Because it doesn't apply to us. Even in the early 80s we were never that undermanned.

[S2]

"What's the source for those metrics? Is this for the Ukrainian Army...?"

Twitter anecdotes wouldn't qualify as "metrics" but, yeah, the Ukrainian Army. Absolutely-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...fantry-russia/

[TopHatter]

"What's the source for those metrics? Is this for the Ukrainian Army...?"

Twitter anecdotes wouldn't qualify as "metrics" but, yeah, the Ukrainian Army. Absolutely.

I saw that online a couple days ago, what you're referring to....trying to find it again and naturally have no luck

But yeah, a Ukrainian battalion commander lamenting that he had 40 guys left.

Edit: Found it

A Ukrainian commander said his unit is desperately short on soldiers: 40 infantry troops doing the fighting of 200


Ukrainian servicemen attend drills near the border with Russia in Sumy region, Ukraine, January 2024.

• A Ukrainian commander said his unit has less than 40 infantry troops, but should have more than 200.
• Another commander told the Washington Post said his unit was similarly short of fighters.
• Tensions are growing in Ukraine over getting more troops to the front.

A Ukrainian battalion commander said his frontline unit has fewer than 40 infantry soldiers, a small fraction of what it should have.

Speaking to The Washington Post, the commander, who was not named as he was not given permission to speak to the media, said his unit should have more than 200 troops when fully equipped.

Another commander, in a separate infantry brigade, told the Post said his unit was similarly short of fighters.

Ukraine has been struggling to replace its frontline troops.

Oleksandr, another battalion commander, told the Post that his battalion had only been sent five new soldiers in the past five months, not including those who returned after being injured.

He also said that infantry personnel were being made to stay in their posts too long without being rotated out.

"They need to be replaced by someone," he said.

"There is no one to replace them, so they sit there more, their morale drops, they get sick or suffer frostbite," he added. "The front is cracking. The front is crumbling. Why can't we replace them? Because we don't have people; nobody comes to the army."

The commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that their country needs around 500,000 new soldiers, two people with knowledge of the exchange told the Post.

Zaluzhny has publicly stated that Russia has an advantage in its ability to get more troops, while Ukraine cannot "improve the manpower levels of our armed forces without the use of unpopular measures."

Zelenskyy has questioned if Ukraine has enough money to mobilize hundreds of thousands more soldiers, and said he wants to see more plans before he could advocate for such a move.

Tensions have been growing between the two men, and Zelenskyy could be looking to replace Zaluzhny amid disagreements over conscription and other issues.

One advantage Russia has over Ukraine is its significantly larger population. President Vladimir Putin's iron grip also means that Russia can implement unpopular conscription measures with less fear of societal blowback.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is also facing shortages of ammunition and weaponry, something that is making it harder for existing soldiers.

Ukraine's defense minister said last week that his troops are limited to firing 2,000 artillery shells a day, a third of what Russia can fire.

In the US, Senate Republicans are blocking $60 billion in aid that President Joe Biden wants to send to Ukraine.

Ukraine is considering boosting its conscription efforts, including by reducing the minimum age of conscription from 27 to 25.

It could also introduce stricter sanctions for anyone who evades the draft, while allowing those who have fought for 36 months to be demobilized.

A draft bill including these measures was approved by Ukraine's parliament this week, but another vote is needed before it can be enacted and changes to the text are expected.
___________

[Ironduke]

A real gem from the Tucker Carlson interview of Putin:

"They rejected Hitler's demands. Since they did not give up the Danzig corridor, the Poles nevertheless forced him. They got carried away and forced Hitler to start the Second World War against them first."

"Why did the war start on September 1, 1939 precisely against Poland? Because it turned out to be uncooperative. Hitler had no choice but to implement his plans, starting specifically with Poland."

Exculpate Hitler, blame the Poles, yet the Ukrainians are Nazis.

[Monash]

God I hope journalists all across the west pick up on this quote.

[jlvfr]

A real gem from the Tucker Carlson interview of Putin:

"They rejected Hitler's demands. Since they did not give up the Danzig corridor, the Poles nevertheless forced him. They got carried away and forced Hitler to start the Second World War against them first."

"Why did the war start on September 1, 1939 precisely against Poland? Because it turned out to be uncooperative. Hitler had no choice but to implement his plans, starting specifically with Poland."

Exculpate Hitler, blame the Poles, yet the Ukrainians are Nazis.

... omfg...

[Ironduke]

Looks like the situation in Avdiivka may soon become untenable for the UA. The Russians are literally a building away from the main road north out of the city. And it's certainly under their fire control. Supposedly the Ukrainians have been able to somewhat offset this with a road running from the west, but time might be running out for the city.

[statquo]

Russia used an advanced hypersonic missile for the first time in recent strike, Ukraine claims

Ukraine claims it has evidence Russia fired an advanced hypersonic missile – one that experts say is almost impossible to shoot down – for the first time in the almost 2-year-old war.

The government-run Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise said in a Telegram post that debris recovered after a February 7 attack on the Ukrainian capital pointed to the use of a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile by the Russian military.

“Markings on the parts and fragments, the identification of components and parts, and the features of the relevant type of weapon” point to the first-ever use of the Zircon in combat, said the institute, which is part of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry.

The Telegram post was accompanied by a video showing dozens of pieces of debris believed to be from the new missile.

Ukrainian authorities reported four people were killed and 38 others injured in Kyiv during the February 7 attacks, but no casualties have been directly attributed to the alleged Zircon missile.

There was also no mention of the launch platform for the missile, though previous reports in Russian state media say it has been deployed on a warship.

Experts say the Zircon, if it lives up to what the Russian government says about it, is a formidable weapon.

Its hypersonic speed makes it invulnerable to even the best Western missile defenses, like the Patriot, according to the United States-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).

The alliance says its speed has been put at Mach 8, or almost 9,900 kilometers per hour (6,138 mph). Hypersonic is defined as any speed above Mach 5 (3,836 mph).

“If that information is accurate, the Zircon missile would be the fastest in the world, making it nearly impossible to defend against due to its speed alone,” the alliance says on its website.

The site also points to the missile’s plasma cloud as another “valuable” feature.

“During flight, the missile is completely covered by a plasma cloud that absorbs any rays of radio frequencies and makes the missile invisible to radars. This allows the missile to remain undetected on its way to the target,” it says.

Additionally, the MDAA says the Zircon is “a maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile” with a range of somewhere between 500 and 1,000 kilometers (310 to 620 miles).

When the Russian navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov set out on a combat mission last January, leader Vladimir Putin boasted about the Zircon missiles the ship was carrying.

“It has no analogues in any country in the world,” Putin said, according to a report from the state media agency TASS. “I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country,” he added.

If Russia has introduced the new weapon into the conflict, it could mean trouble for a Ukrainian air defense already straining to repel Moscow’s aerial attacks.

For instance, in that February 7 attack in which the Zircon was allegedly used, three Iskander ballistic missiles and four Kh-22 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces evaded attempts to bring them down, data from Ukraine’s air force shows.

Although air defenses have brought down Iskander missiles in the past, it is believed that Ukraine has failed to intercept a single Kh-22 in almost two years of war. Speaking in December, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said that Russia had fired almost 300 Kh-22s so far in the war.

Ukraine’s air defenses did have some success during the February 7 attack, bringing down 26 of 29 Kh-101, Kh-555 and Kh-55 type cruise missiles, all three Kalibr cruise missiles and 15 of 20 Shahed drones fired by Russia. But those are less-advanced than the Zircon

Despite that, analysts caution not to exaggerate the impact the use of the Zircon could have on the war as a whole.

As it is a new – and expensive – technology, one question is, how many has Russia produced?

A key “consideration is Russia’s ability to produce and field a capability like Zircon at scale, especially as the program will compete for financial and other resources with priorities like rebuilding the Russian ground forces,” Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, wrote last year after the Admiral Gorshkov allegedly deployed with Zircons aboard.

——————————————

[tbm3fan]

So Russian scientists are far more advanced than our American scientists or do we secretly have the same capabilities? Assuming all is fact, of course.

[TopHatter]

So Russian scientists are far more advanced than our American scientists or do we secretly have the same capabilities? Assuming all is fact, of course.

A quick primer on what hypersonic missiles

[Albany Rifles]

So Russian scientists are far more advanced than our American scientists or do we secretly have the same capabilities? Assuming all is fact, of course.

You are correct in that assumption

[Ironduke]

There are reports that Ukraine has destroyed and sunk the RN landing ship Caesar Kunikov at sea south of Yalta.

Drone video here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68292602

https://youtu.be/QmQCQXfN_SU?

It seems the closure of the Turkish Straits have condemned the BSF to be systematically defeated and destroyed in detail.

I don't know how this war will end with Moscow Mike holding up the Ukraine aid in the House yet again, but I don't think there will be a Russian Black Sea Fleet left at the end of it.

[jlvfr]

Ukrayne:"Big ships? We don't need big ships, we sink big ships!"

[astralis]

Yes, they have thus far. It's attrition and the Russians are winning!

what I really find horrifying about all this is that the Russians are losing considerably more per month than the US did in its single bloodiest month of the Vietnam War (May 1968, middle of Tet Offensive)....and they've incurred that level of casualties every goddamn month of this war.

[rj1]

Russia used an advanced hypersonic missile for the first time in recent strike, Ukraine claims

Ukraine claims it has evidence Russia fired an advanced hypersonic missile – one that experts say is almost impossible to shoot down – for the first time in the almost 2-year-old war.

The government-run Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise said in a Telegram post that debris recovered after a February 7 attack on the Ukrainian capital pointed to the use of a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile by the Russian military.

“Markings on the parts and fragments, the identification of components and parts, and the features of the relevant type of weapon” point to the first-ever use of the Zircon in combat, said the institute, which is part of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry.

The Telegram post was accompanied by a video showing dozens of pieces of debris believed to be from the new missile.

Ukrainian authorities reported four people were killed and 38 others injured in Kyiv during the February 7 attacks, but no casualties have been directly attributed to the alleged Zircon missile.

There was also no mention of the launch platform for the missile, though previous reports in Russian state media say it has been deployed on a warship.

Experts say the Zircon, if it lives up to what the Russian government says about it, is a formidable weapon.

Its hypersonic speed makes it invulnerable to even the best Western missile defenses, like the Patriot, according to the United States-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).

The alliance says its speed has been put at Mach 8, or almost 9,900 kilometers per hour (6,138 mph). Hypersonic is defined as any speed above Mach 5 (3,836 mph).

“If that information is accurate, the Zircon missile would be the fastest in the world, making it nearly impossible to defend against due to its speed alone,” the alliance says on its website.

The site also points to the missile’s plasma cloud as another “valuable” feature.

“During flight, the missile is completely covered by a plasma cloud that absorbs any rays of radio frequencies and makes the missile invisible to radars. This allows the missile to remain undetected on its way to the target,” it says.

Additionally, the MDAA says the Zircon is “a maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile” with a range of somewhere between 500 and 1,000 kilometers (310 to 620 miles).

When the Russian navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov set out on a combat mission last January, leader Vladimir Putin boasted about the Zircon missiles the ship was carrying.

“It has no analogues in any country in the world,” Putin said, according to a report from the state media agency TASS. “I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country,” he added.

If Russia has introduced the new weapon into the conflict, it could mean trouble for a Ukrainian air defense already straining to repel Moscow’s aerial attacks.

For instance, in that February 7 attack in which the Zircon was allegedly used, three Iskander ballistic missiles and four Kh-22 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces evaded attempts to bring them down, data from Ukraine’s air force shows.

Although air defenses have brought down Iskander missiles in the past, it is believed that Ukraine has failed to intercept a single Kh-22 in almost two years of war. Speaking in December, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said that Russia had fired almost 300 Kh-22s so far in the war.

Ukraine’s air defenses did have some success during the February 7 attack, bringing down 26 of 29 Kh-101, Kh-555 and Kh-55 type cruise missiles, all three Kalibr cruise missiles and 15 of 20 Shahed drones fired by Russia. But those are less-advanced than the Zircon

Despite that, analysts caution not to exaggerate the impact the use of the Zircon could have on the war as a whole.

As it is a new – and expensive – technology, one question is, how many has Russia produced?

A key “consideration is Russia’s ability to produce and field a capability like Zircon at scale, especially as the program will compete for financial and other resources with priorities like rebuilding the Russian ground forces,” Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, wrote last year after the Admiral Gorshkov allegedly deployed with Zircons aboard.

——————————————

The timing of this is ridiculous if so and makes me think the hoopla today is a political stunt.

If this is what has D.C. up in arms today about an unspoken new Russian military capability, the HBTSS is launching on a SpaceX today at 5:30 Eastern.