aggiehawg said:

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So what is going on here? Russia drops the Nazi, Nazi, Nazi lines?

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Sergei Aksyonov, Russia's top official in the illegally-annexed Crimean peninsula, claimed on Wednesday that Russian FSB security forces have "neutralized" an Islamist terrorist cell.

Russia's statements and the timing of the arrest implied, without stating outright, that these terrorists could have been responsible for the destruction of an ammunition depot in Crimea on Tuesday.

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"All of them are detained. The activities of the terrorists were coordinated, as one would expect, from the territory of the terrorist state of Ukraine," Aksyonov said.

Russian state media quoted the FSB describing the six detainees as "belonging to a conspiratorial cell of a terrorist organization," specifically Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The FSB repeated Aksyonov's accusation that "Ukrainian emissaries" gave the cell its marching orders. Russian state media quoted the FSB claiming it seized "propaganda materials, communications equipment and digital storage devices that were used in their terrorist activity" from the suspects.

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Quote:

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Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamist organization that is banned in Russia, but legal in Ukraine. The Russians launched a perpetual crackdown on Hizb ut-Tahrir after they annexed Crimea in 2014, accusing dozens of Crimean Tatars of joining the group and plotting terrorist attacks, often with very flimsy evidence.

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Well if you watched Indiana Jones the Arabs helped the Nazis

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Well if you watched Indiana Jones the Arabs helped the Nazis

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Well, if you knew WWII history, that would be true.

Our other favorite YouTube analyst's update for today:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/wqrqoj/the_precision_of_ukrainian_drone_operators_is/

aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Well if you watched Indiana Jones the Arabs helped the Nazis

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Well, if you knew WWII history, that would be true.

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Yes I know. Hence the Indiana Jone reference as a joke

Need some help - do you know the trick to skip straight to the video without having to get the app?

1/3⚡️After the latest events in Crimea, the Russians are urgently moving their planes and helicopters deep into the peninsula and to the airfields of the Russian Federation, – the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports.

— Flash (@Flash43191300) August 17, 2022

Sorry. Sometimes my sarcasm meter goes offline.

Another ammo depot cooking off.

Amvrosievka pic.twitter.com/D8qnk3FynM

— Malinda 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇵🇱 🇨🇦 (@TreasChest) August 18, 2022

Ag In Ok said:

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Need some help - do you know the trick to skip straight to the video without having to get the app?

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https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/wqrqoj/the_precision_of_ukrainian_drone_operators_is/

Red Pear Realty said:

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Ag In Ok said:

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Need some help - do you know the trick to skip straight to the video without having to get the app?

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https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/wqrqoj/the_precision_of_ukrainian_drone_operators_is/

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Lots of videos with orcs being obliterated, but there seems to be a lot of abandoned equipment that gets gets destroyed.

…or it seems to be abandoned at the time.

drums said:

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Eliminatus said:

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I think the one major area I have not seen yet by someone here would be Navy surface warfare. So if anyone here served in that capacity, feel free to chime in! We can then pester you with questions on your take on how Russia has been doing in the Black Sea.

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EX USN Fire controlman here (NEC 1102/1111). I've been lurking. Haven't seen a lot to comment about, but will relate one story:

I was in a briefing a long time ago when that cruiser "Moscow / Muskva" was new. The briefing officer basically commented on the huge amount of ordinance they had in weapons / stored topside, and how it would eventually come back to bite them in the ass. Apparently it did.

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I recall a brief that I attended 30+ years ago as a Midshipman in which a Navy Chief was describing how US Navy divers had covertly surveyed the hull of the recently commissioned Moskva when it was at anchor in a Turkish port. They found that upon close examination that the Moskva had been painted over because the waterline stripe painted oo the hull when it was under construction in dry dock was not accurate. The Chief's point was that the Soviet Naval engineers were so ****ty at their job that they could not even predict how a new vessel would sit in the water when it was launched.

Red Pear Realty said:

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Ag In Ok said:

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Need some help - do you know the trick to skip straight to the video without having to get the app?

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https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/wqrqoj/the_precision_of_ukrainian_drone_operators_is/

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They are really good at dropping those grenades from the drones

Today's SITREP.

Sector by sector update. Keep scrolling. MAPS

Eyes in the sky. DRONES

74OA said:

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Eyes in the sky. DRONES

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Good explanation of Ukraine's strategy to retake Kherson and the left bank. Remains to be seen if it will work - but we'll know within 4-6 weeks.

The Russian offensive has stalled and the front lines have been mostly frozen since early July. Which begs the question ... has the war reached the Clausewitz culminating point? Russia now seems unable to mount a meaningful strategic offensive ... but can the Ukrainians?

Ulysses90 said:

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drums said:

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Eliminatus said:

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I think the one major area I have not seen yet by someone here would be Navy surface warfare. So if anyone here served in that capacity, feel free to chime in! We can then pester you with questions on your take on how Russia has been doing in the Black Sea.

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EX USN Fire controlman here (NEC 1102/1111). I've been lurking. Haven't seen a lot to comment about, but will relate one story:

I was in a briefing a long time ago when that cruiser "Moscow / Muskva" was new. The briefing officer basically commented on the huge amount of ordinance they had in weapons / stored topside, and how it would eventually come back to bite them in the ass. Apparently it did.

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I recall a brief that I attended 30+ years ago as a Midshipman in which a Navy Chief was describing how US Navy divers had covertly surveyed the hull of the recently commissioned Moskva when it was at anchor in a Turkish port. They found that upon close examination that the Moskva had been painted over because the waterline stripe painted oo the hull when it was under construction in dry dock was not accurate. The Chief's point was that the Soviet Naval engineers were so ****ty at their job that they could not even predict how a new vessel would sit in the water when it was launched.

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Yes, I recall that same story but possibly about one of the Soviet's attempts at a carrier, that they had painted the ships's waterline at the calculated point while being built, but when the ship was actually floated the waterline was tilted, so instead of making the ship float at the correct angle they just repainted the waterline. It's been so long ago that it very well could have been the .muskva. If the Soviet ran the rest of their fleet the way they designed and built their ships, a war with them would not have been as bad as it looked on paper. Sorry this is such a long way to corroborate your story.

ICEYE is providing the Government of Ukraine with access to its radar satellite imaging constellation. Read more on the agreement with @CharityPrytula in our press release. https://t.co/AajBp5QAej

— ICEYE (@iceyefi) August 18, 2022

It is reported about the blown up rails in village of Krynychna near Donetsk. So rails and bridges are being hit not only on the southern front. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/WoIdtSxBSE

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 18, 2022

benchmark said:

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74OA said:

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Eyes in the sky. DRONES

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Good explanation of Ukraine's strategy to retake Kherson and the left bank. Remains to be seen if it will work - but we'll know within 4-6 weeks.

The Russian offensive has stalled and the front lines have been mostly frozen since early July. Which begs the question ... has the war reached the Clausewitz culminating point? Russia now seems unable to mount a meaningful strategic offensive ... but can the Ukrainians?

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Out of necessity, Ukraine has adopted Liddell Hart's famous "indirect approach." It generally takes longer than a direct force-on-force approach and places a premium on patience and persistence, but it can pay off with lower casualties on offense.

STRATEGY

74OA said:

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Out of necessity, Ukraine has adopted Liddell Hart's famous "indirect approach." It generally takes longer than a direct force-on-force approach and places a premium on patience and persistence, but it can pay off with lower casualties on offense.

STRATEGY

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Good read. Ukraine is outgunned by artillery and doesn't have the resources for a frontal body blow. Hence the death by a thousand cuts approach. I just saw the first report of Ukraine's use of Excalibur artillery near Kherson. If so, a good example of 'corrosion' by dividing defenders into pockets.

Waffledynamics said:

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I want to come back to this video. At about the 7:15 mark, Denys shows a map with a comparison of the frontline a month ago to the frontline now. Russia has almost completely stalled out with very little gains in terms of territory. Recall that there was an operational pause over a month ago, and they resumed a couple of weeks later. In the meantime, they've been sustaining losses to men, equipment, and supplies. To make matters worse, they pretty much aren't safe anywhere in the occupied territories--not even Crimea at this point.

Incredible.

#Ukraine: Possibly the first video of the American M982 Excalibur in action: as claimed, guided shells fired from a M777A2 howitzer were used in #Kherson Oblast.

We can see two entrenched Russian Kamaz-63501AT artillery trucks and a dugout being destroyed with precise fire. pic.twitter.com/qlZjglonR9

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 18, 2022

Black = front a month ago
Red = today

Concerning.

NEWS: A Ukrainian military intelligence official tells @NBCNews that Russia has told its nuclear workers stationed at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant NOT to go to work tomorrow

— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) August 18, 2022

AgLA06 said:

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Black = front a month ago
Red = today

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Using the conservative US estimates of 500 Russian casualties each day, Russia lost 15,000 troops for that.

Jesus.

GarryowenAg said:

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Concerning.

NEWS: A Ukrainian military intelligence official tells @NBCNews that Russia has told its nuclear workers stationed at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant NOT to go to work tomorrow

— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) August 18, 2022

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I put nothing past the Russians. They are capable of anything......

Why would they warn workers ahead of time? We know they don't value human life

BattleGrackle said:

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Why would they warn workers ahead of time? We know they don't value human life

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Very True!

BattleGrackle said:

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Why would they warn workers ahead of time? We know they don't value human life

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Competent nuclear plant engineers and operators are probably pretty scarce in Russia given the state of their educational system and the flight of educated younger folks they have experienced. So they probably value them more than they do the 18 year old from outer BFE that they stuck in a tank.

txags92 said:

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BattleGrackle said:

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Why would they warn workers ahead of time? We know they don't value human life

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Competent nuclear plant engineers and operators are probably pretty scarce in Russia given the state of their educational system and the flight of educated younger folks they have experienced. So they probably value them more than they do the 18 year old from outer BFE that they stuck in a tank.

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I think realistically they'd just pick them up and drive them back to Russia, not tell them to stay home.

This builds on the recent excellent WaPo article (linked above) describing the run-up to war. Second half is particularly interesting.

INTELLIGENCE AS STRATEGY