benchmark said:

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Ulysses90 said:

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74OA said:

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More antiques pulled out of long-term storage.

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........ He insisted that the Battle Guard was expected to be destroyed but that their destruction would reveal the defense positions. We weren't familiar with the concept of the "Battle Guard". He explained that in the Red Army, the soldiers selected for the Battle Guard element in the attack were decorated for valor before they were sent forward with guns pointed at their back, lest they lose courage. That's just the way they do it over there.

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Maybe that's why we're seeing so many antiques in their armored assualt groups recently. Not because their armor is depleted - but because these are doomed "Battle Guard" groups designed to probe for weaknesses (e.g. mine fields), identify defences, and occasionaly make a breakthrough. Russian SOP.

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what a sad state of existence for a country and its populace

Waffledynamics said:

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How does the average Russian citizen feel about the West? Hopefully it's nothing like these ridiculous propagandists!

is there anyone that believes Vladimir Putin sees a daily casualty list?

Counterpoint said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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How does the average Russian citizen feel about the West? Hopefully it's nothing like these ridiculous propagandists!

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For years I was the backup emcee at the local VFW for the once a month "wrestling." The prepared scripts these clowns are reading reminds me of being back stage with the guys before the show starts.

It's all a choreographed act for the children written by the state.

Waffledynamics said:

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Maybe it's not everyone else!

This is some picture. Sure would like to know the rest of the story. Unfortunately from the sparse explanation it is the Russian sub visiting Cuba. Flying a Cuban flag below an old fort.

russian trough in Cuba.
The fact that it sailed there turned out to be a surprise not so much for the Americans as for the crew. The danger of this wreck is primarily for sailors and fish. pic.twitter.com/IqXTxxuCTo

— Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) June 17, 2024

sclaff said:

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This is some picture. Sure would like to know the rest of the story. Unfortunately from the sparse explanation it is the Russian sub visiting Cuba. Flying a Cuban flag below an old fort.

russian trough in Cuba.
The fact that it sailed there turned out to be a surprise not so much for the Americans as for the crew. The danger of this wreck is primarily for sailors and fish. pic.twitter.com/IqXTxxuCTo

— Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) June 17, 2024

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Russian MX has always been marginal, but even our subs lose anechoic tiles sometimes. Doesnt affect the subs operation, but does increase the probability of being detected.

gracias para explanation

sclaff said:

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This is some picture. Sure would like to know the rest of the story. Unfortunately from the sparse explanation it is the Russian sub visiting Cuba. Flying a Cuban flag below an old fort.

russian trough in Cuba.
The fact that it sailed there turned out to be a surprise not so much for the Americans as for the crew. The danger of this wreck is primarily for sailors and fish. pic.twitter.com/IqXTxxuCTo

— Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) June 17, 2024

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It looks like it's just missing some anechoic tiles. Not incredibly important because they're just an outer coating to help it be more quiet and less detectable to sonar.

Counterpoint said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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How does the average Russian citizen feel about the West? Hopefully it's nothing like these ridiculous propagandists!

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Not sure about the "average" Russian, but the Russians I speak with don't take Solovyov and his ilk seriously. He represents the most extreme of the Kremlin butt kissers and disseminates "opinions" in the fashion that the Kremlin wishes.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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sclaff said:

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This is some picture. Sure would like to know the rest of the story. Unfortunately from the sparse explanation it is the Russian sub visiting Cuba. Flying a Cuban flag below an old fort.

russian trough in Cuba.
The fact that it sailed there turned out to be a surprise not so much for the Americans as for the crew. The danger of this wreck is primarily for sailors and fish. pic.twitter.com/IqXTxxuCTo

— Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) June 17, 2024

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It looks like it's just missing some anechoic tiles. Not incredibly important because they're just an outer coating to help it be more quiet and less detectable to sonar.

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Anechoic tiles are rubber or synthetic polymer tiles containing thousands of tiny voids, applied to the outer hulls of military ships and submarines, as well as anechoic chambers. Their function is twofold:

• To absorb the sound waves of active sonar, reducing and distorting the return signal, thereby reducing its effective range.
• To attenuate the sounds emitted from the vessel, typically its engines, to reduce the range at which it can be detected by passive sonar.

Rossticus said:

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Not sure about the "average" Russian, but the Russians I speak with don't take Solovyov and his ilk seriously. He represents the most extreme of the Kremlin butt kissers and disseminates "opinions" in the fashion that the Kremlin wishes.

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Not sure about the "average" Russian either, but this article paints a good picture IMO.

The Guardian: Russian soldier says army suffering heavy losses in Kharkiv offensive

Quote:

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Despite the mass casualties, overall support for the war in Russia remains high, driven partly by non-stop state propaganda and a lack of alternative viewpoints.

A survey published by the independent Levada pollster showed that 79% of Russians supported the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine. However, half supported initiating peace talks, while almost 40% said they would prefer to return to the period before Moscow invaded Ukraine.

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benchmark said:

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Rossticus said:

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Not sure about the "average" Russian, but the Russians I speak with don't take Solovyov and his ilk seriously. He represents the most extreme of the Kremlin butt kissers and disseminates "opinions" in the fashion that the Kremlin wishes.

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Not sure about the "average" Russian either, but this article paints a good picture IMO.

The Guardian: Russian soldier says army suffering heavy losses in Kharkiv offensive

Quote:

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Despite the mass casualties, overall support for the war in Russia remains high, driven partly by non-stop state propaganda and a lack of alternative viewpoints.

A survey published by the independent Levada pollster showed that 79% of Russians supported the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine. However, half supported initiating peace talks, while almost 40% said they would prefer to return to the period before Moscow invaded Ukraine.

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Tells me the other numbers are bogus and driven by fear.

benchmark said:

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Rossticus said:

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Not sure about the "average" Russian, but the Russians I speak with don't take Solovyov and his ilk seriously. He represents the most extreme of the Kremlin butt kissers and disseminates "opinions" in the fashion that the Kremlin wishes.

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Not sure about the "average" Russian either, but this article paints a good picture IMO.

The Guardian: Russian soldier says army suffering heavy losses in Kharkiv offensive

Quote:

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Despite the mass casualties, overall support for the war in Russia remains high, driven partly by non-stop state propaganda and a lack of alternative viewpoints.

A survey published by the independent Levada pollster showed that 79% of Russians supported the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine. However, half supported initiating peace talks, while almost 40% said they would prefer to return to the period before Moscow invaded Ukraine.

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"Support" is relative. Failure to publicly "support" the war, or God forbid speak against it, will get your ass jailed or at least added to a list that will earn you other unfavorable consequences. So even many of the people who wish Putin would get an extra hole added to his head will "support" the war.

Everyone in Russia realizes that alternative viewpoints are a liability to their health and wellbeing and will in no way impact Putin's course of action. Dissenters will be removed from the equation and the regime will continue on its chosen course regardless.

100%.

2 aircraft delivered through April is pretty pathetic but similar to the rate at which they've been building them over the last 20ish years

Estimates now that Russia has lost approximately 500,000 troops or more. Ukraine likely similar. This does not count the millions of young men who have fled each country.

Some analysts are suggesting one of the reasons Russia has not lost so much public support is that the vast majority of these losses are conscripts from minority groups and small towns outside the major metro areas. Eventually they may have to actually mobilize young "pure Russian" men from the Moscow and St. Petersburg areas to send to the grinder, which would cause quite a bit more trouble among the population.

To this point folks in Moscow still feel "safe" from what I've been told. Other large cities like Kazan, Samara, etc. not so much. Conscription has moved from ethnic minorities and Russian poor to less poor in not so outlying areas. But still not making Moscow and St Petersburg residents feel the heat as of yet.

LMCane said:

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is there anyone that believes Vladimir Putin sees a daily casualty list?

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He very may well see them. He just doesn't give a f#ck. He will fight to the last Russian because he cannot lose this war.

great piece on the realities of the internal situation in Russia right now. Labor shortage is becoming acute (mentions 14 year olds now working in hazardous industries) and trending towards critical.

🐢🇺🇦First captured Russian turtle tank along with its crew. By the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/kcILpGle1B

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) June 17, 2024

74OA said:

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Thanks again, Vlad.

"A record more than 20 NATO member nations are hitting the Western military alliance's defense spending target of 2% of GDP this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. The estimated figure is a nearly fourfold increase from 2021 in the number of the 32 NATO members meeting the guideline. Only six nations were meeting the goal that year, before Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

SPENDING

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The fact that 14 or more of the countries weren't meeting their defense spending targets is the issue.

Never forget that terrorist Russia lies on your doorstep. Chance favors the prepared!

It's mind boggling the amount of money spent on killing, but if you don't you're dead.

AtticusMatlock said:

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🐢🇺🇦First captured Russian turtle tank along with its crew. By the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/kcILpGle1B

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) June 17, 2024

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what are they gonna do with that POS now that they captured it, it's a T-62 under that "structure"

Gilligan said:

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Never forget that terrorist Russia lies on your doorstep. Chance favors the prepared!

It's mind boggling the amount of money spent on killing, but if you don't you're dead.

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It seems many forget that national defense / benefits to citizens are one the core reasons government exists. No viable country should drop as far as many had. Spending that money is no different than having insurance. You're paying more than you want to ensure the worst thing that can happen, doesn't.

Study the structure. I was going to comment on why the Russians just didn't throw a grenade or two inside to damage the internals but a T62 may not be worth the cost of a grenade. Much less I doubt the tank crew had any

Gilligan said:

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74OA said:

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Thanks again, Vlad.

"A record more than 20 NATO member nations are hitting the Western military alliance's defense spending target of 2% of GDP this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. The estimated figure is a nearly fourfold increase from 2021 in the number of the 32 NATO members meeting the guideline. Only six nations were meeting the goal that year, before Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine."

SPENDING

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The fact that 14 or more of the countries weren't meeting their defense spending targets is the issue.

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Twelve, not 14 or more. The takeaway is the huge jump in compliance.

Since that article, NATO has updated the number in compliance to 23, so now just 9 of 32 members are not yet meeting the 2% goal, whereas three years ago 26 were noncompliant.

2wealfth Man said:

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AtticusMatlock said:

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🐢🇺🇦First captured Russian turtle tank along with its crew. By the 22nd Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/kcILpGle1B

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) June 17, 2024

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what are they gonna do with that POS now that they captured it, it's a T-62 under that "structure"

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Send it back. Russia is using them as breaching vehicles. They're slow and can't shoot for sh*t, but they are survivable against drones and can effectively clear mines and obstacles.

Ukraine claims Russians behead one of its soldiers, Russian tank losses mount, another Russian oil storage facility on fire and other miscellaneous news.

UPDATES

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Send it back. Russia is using them as breaching vehicles. They're slow and can't shoot for sh*t, but they are survivable against drones and can effectively clear mines and obstacles.

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Interesting listen on the possibility of Russia running out of tanks.

Zeihan's assessment of the current situation; not saying he is right or wrong (or good or bad). Just another data point. Thinks more western style combined arms type offensives coming by the Uke's; especially with F-16's and new arms deliveries in the offing.

Russia's APC/IFV losses are staggering, so it has resorted to sending half-trained expendable infantry into battle on foot to conserve its armor. Casualties have skyrocketed.

"In May, Russian vehicle losses spiked to a staggering 288 APCs and IFVs, according to analyst Andrew Perpetua, who tallies vehicle losses in Ukraine. "This is only what we could see and count," Perpetua stressed.

The problem for Russia is that its industry can build, or regenerate from long-term storage, just a thousand or so APCs and IFVs a year. That's a quarter of the vehicles the military would need in a year if it continued losing them at the current rate."

MASSACRE

MaroonStain said:

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74OA said:

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Russia's APC/IFV losses are staggering, so it has resorted to sending half-trained expendable infantry into battle on foot to conserve its armor. Casualties have skyrocketed.

"In May, Russian vehicle losses spiked to a staggering 288 APCs and IFVs, according to analyst Andrew Perpetua, who tallies vehicle losses in Ukraine. "This is only what we could see and count," Perpetua stressed.

The problem for Russia is that its industry can build, or regenerate from long-term storage, just a thousand or so APCs and IFVs a year. That's a quarter of the vehicles the military would need in a year if it continued losing them at the current rate."

MASSACRE

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Facts. This goes against the "narrative" that Russia was producing 250 fighting vehicles per month posted earlier in the year by Putin sycophants.

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It's difficult to reliably determine quantities for sure month by month.

But now that Russia has clearly been forced to dig deep into its rusty stockpiles of progressively older, less capable and more worn vehicles there's less serviceable materiel to refurbish, fewer un-cannibalized carcasses to strip for parts and new production is nowhere near making up the difference.

Amidst this scenario, Ukraine has just weathered the most dangerous period since the opening months of the war due to a six-month gap in aid shipments. Meanwhile Russia is being steadily attrited, while Ukraine is only now starting to receive operationally meaningful quantities of fresh resupply from the US and EU and should become more militarily resilient.

It's the longer trend that matters and imo it is becoming apparent that Russia is just holding on while Ukraine is getting what it needs to rebuild its strength.