If it’s accurate it’s my most dangerous course of action and makes it look like they are shifting to defensive operations until ready and able to renew the offensive operation in the east. https://t.co/YBVIaco4ds

— The Intel Hub (@The_IntelHub) April 5, 2022

In an astonishing turn of events, China backs Russia's claims that Bucha was "staged". Note my surprised face.

China's UN envoy refused to condemn Russia for the Bucha Massacre. Chinese commentators are backing Russia's narrative that Bucha was "staged"

Despite the overtures of the EU and Ukraine, China stands firmly with Russia.

— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) April 5, 2022

P.U.T.U said:

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The armoured equipment will be huge in taking back places like Mariupol where you need close support. At the end of the day those cities will be absolutely destroyed, even more than they are already. A lot of the Ukraine economy comes out of that area, specicially steel. We have already had several projects get moved back indefeintely since most of Europe gets their steel from Ukraine. The only other source is China which gets steel from Russia.

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I'm no International law expert; but, I was curious, is there anyway the rebuilding of UKR can be financed with the seized/frozen Russian assets should UKR pull off the upset?

The downloadable data this time includes polygons of the recaptured territory, as used by the Financial Times in this maphttps://t.co/x9VolQGlYG

— Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) April 5, 2022

AgLA06 said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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#Ukraine: Insane combat footage shows a single Ukrainian tank engaging a large #Russia-n convoy consisting of several tanks and BTR-82A. Several Russian vehicles destroyed. pic.twitter.com/q6DUmRE98y

— Arslon Xudosi 🇺🇦 (@Arslon_Xudosi) April 5, 2022

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If that Uke tank could shoot, that could have gotten real ugly for the Russians.

He was set up in the perfect ambush spot.

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That location is Nova Basan to the East of Kyiv. Russians appear to be headed back to Belarus/russia. SInce he was alone I wonder if this was a russian tank captured by local forces on the their initial advance in the previous weeks and had little or no training, other than a great ambush location. its even better on GE street view. You can see his tracks around those lots.

aggiehawg said:

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They don't seem to have any idea from where they are being attacked.

Question: When a tank column comes under fire, what are the usual maneuvers?

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Probably depends...if they can quickly get out of the kill zone, then they probably will. If not, like any ambush, turn into it and attack.

Vehicles should be spaced so that if one is hit, it does not impact another and unless the kill zone is pretty big, it helps insure that only a few vehicles are being engaged allowing others to escape or respond. Also provides maneuver/decision room/time.

Probably someone on here who can describe this better than me...

Hmm, I wonder where she is going more than likely Undergoing Sea Trails after being Docked for Maintenance recently, but because of everything going on right now Globally it could be a Deployment, only time will tell….. https://t.co/2yW3K9nwdn

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 5, 2022

According to this witness, Bucha executions began almost as soon as Russian occupation began. Russia Bros claiming that this is but a very well acted, artfully produced bit of disinformation.

Witness. Bucha.
English subtitles pic.twitter.com/VZDXlxZr0w

— Nikola Repin (@nikorepi) April 5, 2022

JFABNRGR said:

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AgLA06 said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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#Ukraine: Insane combat footage shows a single Ukrainian tank engaging a large #Russia-n convoy consisting of several tanks and BTR-82A. Several Russian vehicles destroyed. pic.twitter.com/q6DUmRE98y

— Arslon Xudosi 🇺🇦 (@Arslon_Xudosi) April 5, 2022

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If that Uke tank could shoot, that could have gotten real ugly for the Russians.

He was set up in the perfect ambush spot.

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That location is Nova Basan to the East of Kyiv. Russians appear to be headed back to Belarus. SInce he was alone I wonder if this was a russian tank captured by local forces on the their initial advance in the previous weeks and had little or no training, other than a great ambush location. its even better on GE street view. You can see his tracks around those lots.

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Doubt that old tank has modern thermals, so the gunner's visibility was likely degraded really quick once smoke started billowing over the road after the fight started. Also, while the Ukrainian tank is in a very protected spot, its forward view is bracketed by buildings and only allows a narrow window to fire on the Russian column.

Navalny statement on Bucha.

Thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1511368989435469834.html

2/14 In the evening, the Channel One anchor explained everything. And I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears:

— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) April 5, 2022

Killing Russian train engines is better battlefield preparation that killing MLRS for the Ukrainians in the Donbas. https://t.co/cNWJx4EjLL

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) April 5, 2022

Can interdiction of Russian trains allow for the capture of the Don see by Ukraine?

Anything which disrupts Russian logistical efforts will certainly increase their chances.

Gilligan said:

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AgLA06 said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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#Ukraine: Insane combat footage shows a single Ukrainian tank engaging a large #Russia-n convoy consisting of several tanks and BTR-82A. Several Russian vehicles destroyed. pic.twitter.com/q6DUmRE98y

— Arslon Xudosi 🇺🇦 (@Arslon_Xudosi) April 5, 2022

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If that Uke tank could shoot, that could have gotten real ugly for the Russians.

He was set up in the perfect ambush spot.

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Setup like that against that many opposition forces. Is that a suicide mission for the Uke?

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The BTRs shouldn't be much of a threat to a T-72 unless they have some anti-tank missiles. The 30mm cannon shouldn't be able to penetrate the armor, especially the front armor.

In Gulf War I, in the Battle of 73 Easting, a Bradley parked on top of a berm and started firing at the Iraqis. Then, the crew realized a T-72 was just below them parked behind the berm. The crew aimed their 25mm auto-cannon down and were plinking at the T-72's top armor. It didn't affect the tank, but it may have given the Bradley enough time to back up and engage with a TOW missile before the T-72 would bring it's gun to bear.

Ukrainians need to destroy the bridge across Dneiper in Kherson to make supply of Russian forces west of river much more difficult to sustain. It would create potential for another major victory over the Russians that have crossed the river. Plus it would reestablish the only major natural defensive barrier. Would it be worth risking the precious few air assets they have? SAM defenses would presumably be strong so some other creative means likely needs to be used.

Long term, It would make any future offensive to take back Crimea that much more difficult, but Russians would drop bridges if forced to retreat back across anyways and Ukraine is going to have to commit more forces to the East and being tied up in the South prevents that.

Just some army cadets in Russia telling us how this is World War 2 all over again, that America did it, Ukraine's full of Nazis, and they plan to take revenge. Perfectly ordinary stuff. No fascists here. pic.twitter.com/KYrUV0StKy

— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) April 5, 2022

A better take is to control the bridge(s).

To control the river you need both banks and a buffer on that SE side, the more the better, but 20KM would be a good start.

JFABNRGR said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Blackbeard94 said:

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AgLA06 said:

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GAC06 said:

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None of those weapons can do much to actual rail infrastructure. They could take out locomotives though. The switchblades are man portable too so that opens a wide range of options with infiltration

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As someone said. Rail bridges are the vulnerability of railines. A track on flat ground can be repaired in hours. Over a body of water or canyon and it could be weeks. I just don't have an understanding of the railines in western russia to know if there are enough bridges to shut it down.

Since western russia is a lot like eastern Ukraine (flat farmland) I doubt there are bridges to take out.

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I would think rail would be extremely vulnerable to attack. Hard to protect the whole line. Saboteurs can set explosives to detonate on pressure or by wire, taking out the engine and causing a derail. Lawrence of Arabia exploited this against the Turks.

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Pull up the spikes that hold the track to the sleepers. You need a lot of explosives to move a 430,000 lb locomotive, but a missing section of track or two will cause a very bad day.

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This and you don't even have to pull up that many especially on tangent track at the coldest part of the day. Thermal expansion will do the rest after the sun beats on it. Do this on a curved bridge or curved approach and you could get a nasty derailment. A bunch of armor, artillery, etc upside down would be a good thing.

On timber bridges you could slant cut all the pilings at the interior bents. Bridge will look normal and let the engine fall through while everything else derails around it. Bridge needs to be longer than the engine for success.

Get the train to derail at the bridge, off the track completely, not just slipped off the rail or bomb a fuel/HE load on the track at the bridge. Most bridges can be built back/repaired extremely fast if the access is good. Destroy or do damage to the bridge together with a nasty derailment in a difficult access location and now you have shut it down for awhile and your hesitant to do it again.

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Sabotaging railroads requires a lot of effort. Trains are heavier today than in WW II but on relatively straight sections of track the train is surprisingly resilient and loaded cars fair better than the empties.

Take source with relative sense of perspective. Mariupol just went full Alamo, as expected. Parallels are actually extraordinary given that the Texans also knew that if they surrendered they'd likely be killed anyway along with the strategic advantage of continuing to fix enemy forces to the benefit of the overall war effort.

"Given Kiev's disinterest in preserving the lives of its servicemen, Mariupol will be liberated from nationalists by Russian and DPR military forces" - Russian Ministry of Defense

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) April 5, 2022

The Russian MOD claims that two helicopters have been shot down near Mariupol, it is suspected that they were supposed to evacuate Azov leadership (same already happened earlier). Considering how little Kiev cares for Azov, I'm not sure it's *them* the choppers wanted to evacuate

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) April 5, 2022

The railways have to be a main focus on both sides now, problem for Russia is they are attached on the eastern front which is where is war is concentrating. Ukraine can take out a few railways to hinder support, now that they have Neptunes they can attempt to cut off amphibious support. A lot of the rail support Ukraine is getting is on the western half where they are getting it from NATO countries.

As far as reparations, my understanding is those are typically handled by treaties and the only reparations are the soldiers and citizens. Germany was faced to pay a ton and also provide support to help countries get back on their feet. Even so much as to having citizens help other countries with manufacturing and agriculture. No way I see Russia agreeing to anything like this, they can't keep up with these in their own country even before the way

The folly of the Kyiv part of Russian strategy. This is what you get when someone insists on 'reinforcing failure' - massed shredded Russian vehicles at Hostomel airport.
Scroll up and down the thread - many interesting pics. h/t @Blue_Sauron https://t.co/EjhbzRCpfb

— Dan (@Danspiun) April 5, 2022

Трошки снарядів pic.twitter.com/UC8aobKVJ8

— Привид Ворзеля (@huvorzel1) April 5, 2022

Thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1511434992601206786.html

It seems like Azovstal plant is about to become the setting for a very video game-like urban battle.

Also lots of rumors that there are some intel/advisors from NATO countries trapped in there with UKR forces. Quite a stretch IMO but would add an interesting twist on the story there. Would also explain the wild attempts at helo evacuations.

Looks like Vlad may have to put up or shut up over Finnish NATO membership.

Finnish government to submit a NATO membership proposal to the country's parliament by mid-April.

I imagine those in the Kremlin are thinking of Simo Häyhä right now.

— Eto Buziashvili (@EtoBuziashvili) April 5, 2022

Rossticus said:

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Looks like Vlad may have to put up or shut up over Finnish NATO membership.

Finnish government to submit a NATO membership proposal to the country's parliament by mid-April.

I imagine those in the Kremlin are thinking of Simo Häyhä right now.

— Eto Buziashvili (@EtoBuziashvili) April 5, 2022

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Putin dumb enough to open a two front war by adding Finland before they join NATO?

MeatDr said:

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Taking the start of this list from BattleGrackle, I'm starting a diplomat expulsion cumulative post. I've tried to only include actual diplomats and not other staff where that information is available. I welcome corrections.

Total diplomats expelled to date as of this post: 389+

Belgium - 21 (Mar 29), 19 (Apr 5)
Bulgaria - 10 (Mar 18)
Czech Republic - 1 (Mar 29)
Denmark - 15 (Apr 5)
Estonia - 3 (Mar 18), 7 (Apr 5)
France - 35 (Apr 4)
Germany - 40 (Apr 4)
Italy - 30 (Apr 5)
Ireland - 4 (Mar 29)
Latvia - 3* (Mar 18), ? **(Apr 5)
Lithuania - 4* (Mar 18), ambassador also expelled (Apr 4)
Montenegro - 1 (Apr 4)
Netherlands - 17 (Mar 29)
North Macedonia - 5 (Mar 28)
Poland - 45 (Mar 23)
Portugal - 10 (Apr 5)
Romania - 10 (Apr 5)
Slovakia - 3 (Mar 14), 35 (Mar 31)
Slovenia - 33 (Apr 5)
Spain - 25 (Apr 5)
Sweden - 3 (Apr 5)
USA - 12 (Feb 28)

* In March a joint statement from Baltic states was released that 10 diplomats were being expelled, 7 between Lithuania and Latvia
** Apr 5 Latvia expelled 13 diplomats and employees, unknown how many of each.

Feel free to add/edit

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Added another 19 to Belgium.

Dirt 05 said:

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Ukrainians need to destroy the bridge across Dneiper in Kherson to make supply of Russian forces west of river much more difficult to sustain. It would create potential for another major victory over the Russians that have crossed the river. Plus it would reestablish the only major natural defensive barrier. Would it be worth risking the precious few air assets they have? SAM defenses would presumably be strong so some other creative means likely needs to be used.

Long term, It would make any future offensive to take back Crimea that much more difficult, but Russians would drop bridges if forced to retreat back across anyways and Ukraine is going to have to commit more forces to the East and being tied up in the South prevents that.

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Negative. That's exactly what the Russians will try to do to hold south of thd river. It's rumored the Russians have already wired the bridge.

Dirt 05 said:

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Ukrainians need to destroy the bridge across Dneiper in Kherson to make supply of Russian forces west of river much more difficult to sustain. It would create potential for another major victory over the Russians that have crossed the river. Plus it would reestablish the only major natural defensive barrier. Would it be worth risking the precious few air assets they have? SAM defenses would presumably be strong so some other creative means likely needs to be used.

Long term, It would make any future offensive to take back Crimea that much more difficult, but Russians would drop bridges if forced to retreat back across anyways and Ukraine is going to have to commit more forces to the East and being tied up in the South prevents that.

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The Ukrainians need that crossing to conduct operations against Crimea.

RebelE Infantry said:

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It seems like Azovstal plant is about to become the setting for a very video game-like urban battle.

Also lots of rumors that there are some intel/advisors from NATO countries trapped in there with UKR forces. Quite a stretch IMO but would add an interesting twist on the story there. Would also explain the wild attempts at helo evacuations.

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Could you link those so the source for this can be seen?

TIA.

Rossticus said:

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Gifts from Estonia

Estonian private enterprises in cooperation with government agencies and @Kaitsevagi have also provided helmets, ballistic vests, communications equipment, drones, night-vision devices, laser rangefinders, medical supplies and chemical protective clothing to Ukraine.

— Martin Hurt (@martinjhurt) April 5, 2022

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Terviseks!

https://texags.com/forums/16/topics/3282111