Waffledynamics said:

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Uncorroborated, but it wouldn't surprise me either.

President @ZelenskyyUa said that Russian troops in the #Donbas have 20 times more vehicles than the #Ukrainian Armed Forces, and called on Western partners to hand over modern weapons to Ukraine.#StandWithUkraine

— SUSPILNE NEWS 📰 (@suspilne_news) May 23, 2022

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Build It said:

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100km range. Hoping this allows some ships out of Odessa.

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CM Trump Voter said:

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I for one would have thought that mercenaries would have a more stable home life.

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Quote:

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/23/world/europe/us-ukraine-howitzers.html

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Quote:

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...It is the American-made M777 howitzer. It shoots farther, moves faster and is hidden more easily, and it's what the Ukrainian military has been waiting for.

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Ulysses90 said:

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Quote:

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/23/world/europe/us-ukraine-howitzers.html

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My goodness. The author must have been stroking his muzzle brake as he was typing that. That is the first hagiographic composition I have ever read about an artillery piece.

Quote:

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...It is the American-made M777 howitzer. It shoots farther, moves faster and is hidden more easily, and it's what the Ukrainian military has been waiting for.

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It's actually a British designed and manufactured gun from BAE. It was originally based on a design by Vickers before BAE acquired them. All the fabrication was performed in the UK and then the parts were shipped to Mississippi for final assembly.

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#Vidrodzhennia
Whoa, that's a big pullback, we can assume the entire area south of Popasna is lost and Ukrainian forces are regrouping somewhere near #Bakhmut. https://t.co/8X2oo2H3UU pic.twitter.com/a4VFUIOfRe

— Gregor Martin (@Guderian_Xaba) May 24, 2022

A good army knows when to retrograde, refit and then move back to offensive operations. Ukraine in my opinion is playing smart and seeing if Russia will over extend IVO Severodonetsk and then degrade forces with fires and when possible transition back to offense.

— The Intel Hub (@The_IntelHub) May 24, 2022

The T-62 is a very old tank indeed. Designed in the late 1950s to compete with the UK Chieftain and US M60, some examples in Russian storage bases are likely to be approaching 60 years old. Production ceased in 1975 after which it was largely relegated to reserve service. /2 pic.twitter.com/PbUPbYuBnm

— ChrisO (@ChrisO_wiki) May 24, 2022

Returning back to this, there were probably about 2 Ukrainian brigades around Popasna at this point against ~8 BTG equivalents (were somewhat understrength). Russia later reinforced their forces in the area with VDV and 57th MRB. https://t.co/3OwHRLWutm

— Henry Schlottman (@HN_Schlottman) May 24, 2022

Waffledynamics said:

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Rossticus said:

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Full Thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1529072001188610049.html

The T-62 is a very old tank indeed. Designed in the late 1950s to compete with the UK Chieftain and US M60, some examples in Russian storage bases are likely to be approaching 60 years old. Production ceased in 1975 after which it was largely relegated to reserve service. /2 pic.twitter.com/PbUPbYuBnm

— ChrisO (@ChrisO_wiki) May 24, 2022

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I'm hesitant to believe the reports of Russia running out of anything just because we see old tech. We saw Maxim guns earlier, and supposedly they've been running out of missiles for months.

It could be true, but I'm just not seeing enough to believe it yet.

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TRM said:

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It wasn't that they're running out of bombs and missiles, but ran out of what they had originally allocated.

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Waffledynamics said:

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TRM said:

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It wasn't that they're running out of bombs and missiles, but ran out of what they had originally allocated.

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I see. That makes a big difference in understanding Russia's wherewithal and circumstances in this conflict.

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Appearing on Russian state TV, head of RT Margarita Simonyan explained why Russia isn't nuking Ukraine: not because it's wrong, but because it's not practical. They want those territories usable and don't want to kill all inhabitants—only some of them—and need to sort them first. pic.twitter.com/wfe6cgPKiu

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) May 23, 2022

More genocidal talk on Russian state TV: falsely claiming that Ukrainians are just Russians who need to be reminded that the Ukrainian language, history and religion are "made up," that Russian troops in Ukraine are fighting for "their land" and Russia is planning to never leave. pic.twitter.com/5A3dZn11fS

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) May 24, 2022

Sources within French DGSE indicate they believe Russia has lost some 28,000 personnel in 3 months. This is remarkably close to Ukrainian claims of just over 29,000. https://t.co/RYJSfs1fiN

— Patrick Fox (@RealCynicalFox) May 24, 2022

Zobel said:

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On paper a javelin for a tank seems like great ROI. But the US has provided some 7,000 to Ukraine which is probably around 1/3 of our total inventory. Allegedly we can make around 6,500 a year. Javelins arent the only anti-armor platform (NLAW etc) though.

The Russians have 2800 tanks in service and some silly number like 10000 in storage plus another 20000+ other kinds of armored vehicles. We can speculate about the condition and combat worthiness of those tanks, but the bottom line is the Russians have a lot of armor ranging from garbage to good to expend.

From what I've read, the javelin vs tank number is not the relevant metric. It's about trained soldiers and morale, and I'm not sure that favors Ukraine. Those are two things we can't ship them.

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Thankful to @WeTheBrandon for clueing me onto this. As far as I’m aware neither the British nor Ukrainian governments have officially confirmed the details of the article.https://t.co/hOAeSzgjaF

— Patrick Fox (@RealCynicalFox) May 24, 2022

Quote:

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. . .
After failing to topple Ukraine's government in Kyiv, Russia redeployed troops for a far less ambitious goal: Seize the rest of the Donbas, beyond the area where Russia had already advanced a month ago.
. . .
Again and again, Russia's military has had to accept the difficult reality that it doesn't have the force necessary to fight in too many places at once.

The area with the most critical battles is only 75 miles wide and includes three key cities: Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Sievierodonetsk.

Russia's war is now focused on this area. The Kremlin is targeting five routes to Sloviansk that would allow it to encircle tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops. It has moved closer in places, but it still hasn't broken through.

An enormous Russian force has gathered in Izium and regularly sends units down the main highway to Sloviansk. Artillery shells frontline villages, tanks batter Ukrainian defenses and attack helicopters fly overhead.

Both sides have taken heavy casualties, but Russia has failed to overwhelm the Ukrainian fighters, who have held their positions for weeks.

In an attempt to cut off Ukrainian supply lines, Russian soldiers have also targeted the main road and rail line connecting Sloviansk to the rest of Ukraine.

But this advance has stalled too. Each failed attempt takes a toll on Russia's already depleted military as soldiers are injured or killed, and units become smaller and less effective.

Another advance has made more progress, taking some villages and farmland north of the town of Lyman, which is now under direct attack.

Russia's playbook to capture towns and villages with limited manpower is brutal destroy urban areas with heavy artillery and rocket fire, and then move in a few days later. This strategy suits the depleted Russian army, which does not have the troops required for sustained urban warfare.

But Ukrainian forces have another key defensive resource impeding Russian progress: the Severski Donets River.When a Russian battalion tried to use pontoon bridges to cross the river this month, it was a complete disaster.

Public evidence suggests well over 400 Russian soldiers may have been killed or wounded by Ukrainian artillery.

As advances north of Sloviansk have slowed or stalled, Russia has started fighting for an even smaller area, the city of Sievierodonetsk. As the easternmost city still under Ukrainian control, Sievierodonetsk is exposed to Russian artillery on multiple sides. Shelling has destroyed vast areas of the city and civilians are left with no electricity or running water.

Ukrainian officials expect a siege similar to what Mariupol experienced. Ukrainian troops will likely hold onto Sievierodonetsk as long as they can, while inflicting as many losses on Russia's military as possible.

Russia's military has gained ground elsewhere in the Donbas. It has finally taken over Mariupol after negotiating the surrender of the last significant pocket of Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal steel plant.

It also forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Popasna after relentless shelling and missile strikes left no buildings for them to defend the city from. In a threatening advance, Russia is now moving north from Popasna to try to encircle troops in Sievierodonetsk and prevent supplies getting in from the west.

But these victories aren't enough for Russia to gain control of the Donbas, and its problems may only worsen as the war drags on.

Russian forces are inflicting immense losses on the Ukrainian military, but they are coming at a cost to Russia's own supply of troops and equipment. At the same time, Ukraine continues to receive weapons from NATO countries that will better equip it for launching counterattacks.

Ukraine also has a more reliable supply of fighters than Russia does. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has been reluctant to order a national draft, and so Moscow is fighting at near peacetime staffing levels.

Without enlisting more troops, there is only so long that Russia can continue to push forward. The farther that Russian troops push, the longer their supply lines become and the more exposed they are to Ukrainian counterattacks, so Russia has to reposition troops to defend territory it has already won.

Russia has a limited window to reestablish momentum and make significant advances. After that, it may be forced into more defensive positions, and the war could drift into a stalemate. With troops and equipment dwindling, the battle for the Donbas is likely to be the last major offensive of the war.
. . .

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