No idea. I've read that the IRGC is primarily a business though, for the folks in charge/mullahs. The obvious question would then be who paid for it how, as the Ukrainians are clearly getting a lot of funds from foreign donations/aid.

We are unlikely to ever get a clear answer, imho.

knj2417 said:

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Are those two related, like the damn was blown to flood the road coming into bakhmut?

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Denys seems to believe they are related.

Propaganda works. That's why they do it.

It isn't new for that poster. He was pushing the "it's all fake" crap a while back. He got dismantled and stopped but I guess now he's back

MouthBQ98 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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GinMan said:

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I am sick and tired of the lack of footage of the Ukraine war. I worked in cable news. I am initiated. If it bleeds, it leads. Where is the war footage? Where are the Pulitzer Prize winning photos? This smacks of a scam and the American people are fed up.

Produce the… https://t.co/vf8nrzOvbO

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) February 24, 2023

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This is one of the weirder Russian info campaigns. At some points you can see multiple accounts posting the same thing or almost the same thing, word for word. It's designed to rile up ignorant people.

Meanwhile, there's footage all over the place.

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There's a strange phenomenon emerging from a portion of the American right to frame the war as a primarily a corrupt grift and not even a real war, but rather something that is politically concocted and managed to draw in funding. I suspect it is an attempt to bring about a geopolitical failure there that can be saddled in the Biden Administration. I'm not sure the administration needs any help regarding finding ways to fail, but the coalescing narratives around Ukraine support being an entirely corrupt failure in the last 2-3 months or so has been interesting to watch. If you look back a few months, those narratives weren't there, though I suppose you could also say the extent of promised support wasn't as extensive either.

I'm not arguing that one side or the other is right or wrong, just noting how this phenomenon has increasingly polarized into yet another issue to identify political alignment and virtue signal to peers with, and as this happens, the information sources each side refers to becomes increasingly selective and confirmation biased over time. It's almost as if the emergent political conflict is curated.

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This is why it's really important to weed out bad sources of information. We've done some of that here and in the OSINT groups I take part in. It doesn't help us understand what's going on when there are less reliable sources on either side of the conflict. For example, you don't see much mention of Chuck Pfarrer anymore because he would essentially start posting pro-Ukraine war fiction that didn't corroborate with anyone else's maps, visual confirmations, etc.

It's best to be intellectually objective even if you're emotionally biased. That's one of the fascinating parts of observing this war.

Oof.

Unsuccessful launch of the Ukrainian MLRS BM-21 Grad. This happens sometimes. The main thing is that no one was hurt. #Ukraine #War #UkraineRussiaWar @Rebel44CZ #Україна #UkraineWar pic.twitter.com/AmjSpZHdNh

— AlexRaptor (@AlexRaptor94) February 26, 2023

The accuracy on these drones is just insane. This is a mixed bag of footage, but how the heck do you counter these if they can get right above you without you noticing and hit accurately inside of a small trench roughly a few feet wide?

Also, at 0:30, we can see what looks to be a Uke infantryman clearing the trench in cooperation with the drone above. Excellent usage.

109th separate mountain assault battalion. Drone attacks. pic.twitter.com/QGu98yAt9w

— Paul Jawin (@PaulJawin) February 26, 2023

Appears to be way more effective than lobbing a bunch of mortar shells over hoping to hit someone. I'm sure this war is going to totally expand the use of drones in our military. Just think what you could do with dedicated units versus a Jerry rigged consumer model.

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Bakhmut and taking out some BMP-2s. Insane destruction all around them.

Знищені російські дві БМП-2 у приватному секторі Бахмуту pic.twitter.com/jQwjhryS3F

— ⚡️Спутник News АТО 🇺🇦 (@SputnikATONews) February 26, 2023

Longer video with more combat footage and commentary (just skip past the commentary as it's not in English. I'll try to come back and post time stamps later, but I have to head out the door here in a sec).

https://t.co/A6Dd3JorEy

The Russians are continuing their retreat now completely around Bakhmut.

UK news orgs used the term that one Uke soldier applied to Bakhmut of his OWN men "a meat grinder" to claim it was the Russkies losing men.

— Larry Schweikart (@LarrySchweikart) February 26, 2023

Today's SITREP.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/11crd5k/i_dont_know_if_this_is_true_but_it_could_be_uaf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Might have cut the Russians in the north of Bakmut?

This is in response to some supposed footage of a supposed counterattack in the area. The footage appears to be taking place in a completely different season as there is no snow on the ground.

There is a lot of “Fake News” and “Wishful Thinking” coming out today regarding the Bakhmut Front, I would be very careful of Posting or Reposting anything that speaks about Ukrainian Reinforcements or Counter-Offensives in the Region.

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2023

Belarusian Partisans are claiming to have attacked Machulishchy Airbase in Central Belarus earlier today in which 2 Explosions caused Severe Damage the Radar Antenna and Front Sections of a A-50U “Mainstay” Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft of the Russian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/bTlLTNXU6W

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2023

docb said:

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Appears to be way more effective than lobbing a bunch of mortar shells over hoping to hit someone. I'm sure this war is going to totally expand the use of drones in our military. Just think what you could do with dedicated units versus a Jerry rigged consumer model.

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I would expect drones to eventually replace mortars in infantry units but they still have a ways to go. Mortars don't require vehicles or generators to charge them up. That said, I'm surprised we haven't seen more drone development in this war. To date we've only really seen an evolution of munitions dispensers from indigenous UKE designs.

Eventually anti-drone tech will improve and these drones can't provide the volume of fire or sustained fire that mortars can

No Reason was given for his removal.

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2023

Why not both?

Well this vehicle did its job for sure.

MaxxPro MRAP вивіз хлопців з пекла 💪🇺🇲🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/3BFBjw0fhD

— Андрій Л ✙🇺🇦⚓❤️🖤🇺🇲🇵🇱🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@Andrii_L1983) February 26, 2023

Waffledynamics said:

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Well this vehicle did its job for sure.

MaxxPro MRAP вивіз хлопців з пекла 💪🇺🇲🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/3BFBjw0fhD

— Андрій Л ✙🇺🇦⚓❤️🖤🇺🇲🇵🇱🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@Andrii_L1983) February 26, 2023

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That should buff out.

Full Thread Unroll:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1629722074938744836.html

2/16
Based on a captured russian manual, the Assault Unit (or Detachment) is a battalion-sized force designed to perform assaults in fortified tree lines and urban environments. It is essentially a reinforced battalion with a specific focus on assault operations. pic.twitter.com/UxoZZZKmpt

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) February 26, 2023

What’s going on in Moldova? This is the Kremlin’s interpretation:

“According to our information, Western countries are indeed considering the option of artificially escalating tensions in Moldova and then bringing in NATO contingents to "stabilize" the situation.”

This is… https://t.co/PwV21cKv6A pic.twitter.com/IDogwMBklC

— Ivana Stradner 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@ivanastradner) February 25, 2023

Siły UA, w tym m. in. 17. Brygada Panc. i 3. brygada Szturmowa (były Azov) prowadzą kontratak, którego głównym celem wydaje się, że jest region sklepu ogrodniczego. Obecnie RUS natarcie od północy na Bachmut nie tylko się załamało, ale UA wyszli na tyły rosyjskiego ugrupowania.1/ pic.twitter.com/zhWw9yEhoF

— Artur (@Artur_Micek) February 26, 2023

Thread Translation:

"AU forces, including but not limited to 17th Armored Brigade and the 3rd Assault Brigade (ex-Azov) lead a counterattack, with the main target appearing to be the garden shop region. Currently, the RUS attack from the north on Bakhmut not only collapsed, but the AU came to the rear of the Russian grouping.

The situation is very dynamic and various information is coming. The Ukrainians also counterattack near the village of Krasne. Contrary to previous information, there is no retreat from eastern Bakhmut, only AU counterattack there. It's getting really interesting. Additional UA reserves are to enter the action.

There's a lot of euphoria about UA's counterattack, but I'd be careful. RUS rotated forces here a few days ago and they have reserves...

What the AU forces north of Bakhmut are doing right now is very risky and could end differently. Everything will become clear tonight. I am a pessimist. UA has its wings exposed during this operation and RUS reserves. RUS forces are not encircled yet. Let's not rejoice yet."

This approach underscores Russia's reliance on manpower superiority through conscription

It could also reflect Yevgeny Prigozhin's influence over Russia's war effort, as the Bakhmut meat grinder could become Moscow's strategy in Ukraine

The 2023 casualty spike will persist

— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) February 26, 2023

I hate Rybar's celebratory posts of dead foreign volunteers but they always seem to be the first to rush out with an announcement. Also notice how Rybar now refers to Ukrainian locations as being Russia.

RIP to this American vet who chose to sacrifice his life in service to others.

The Wisconsin resident was 28 years old. He followed in the footsteps of his father, who fought in Kuwait. In 2012 he joined the US Army, and in 2014 he fought in Afghanistan.

At the end of Nov 2022, Peters arrived in Ukraine and signed a contract with the International Legion.

— Rybar in English (@rybar_en) February 25, 2023

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1629975102229184513.html

Hot off the digital press, our full report (some of which is based on this thread!)

Claims Swirl Around Supposed Strike On Russian A-50 Radar Jet In Belarushttps://t.co/cxrCD325Lj

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) February 27, 2023

Rossticus said:

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Full Thread Unroll:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1629722074938744836.html

2/16
Based on a captured russian manual, the Assault Unit (or Detachment) is a battalion-sized force designed to perform assaults in fortified tree lines and urban environments. It is essentially a reinforced battalion with a specific focus on assault operations. pic.twitter.com/UxoZZZKmpt

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) February 26, 2023

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A very interesting development. I looked through the TOE they have set up and honestly at first glance just looks like a slightly shrunken down BTG. A very diversified unit dedicated for shock attacks. They may be able to maneuver better especially with poorly trained members but their logistics issues I don't see being solved which is one of the major reasons the BTGs largely failed so far. They want anti armor, anti air, engineers, tanks, artillery, specialized infantry assets like snipers and ATGM gunners, etc, all in one organic unit. Sounds great on paper but I don't see Russia keeping these orgs any more properly supplied than what we are seeing now.

What I do see, is an very streamlined and even simple way to get the most bang for the buck when it comes to what type of troops they have available. It looks like new doctrine (as opposed to current) is also set? Saying for assault units to leave wounded behind for follow on forces, only move in woodlines, etc. In all honesty, this is probably a good move on the Russian part. The BTG was designed to move and respond against anything. This is purpose made as a spear to be tossed into prepared defenses. A return to their Shock Armies of WW2. Historically, shock troops are supposed to be more elite than normal infantry (a la Imperial Germany and early Nazis) but in more dire times would devolve to lesser troops who were expected to attack and probably die. It is brutal, but can be very effective. It's manpower intensive but much easier to train to these reduced standards.

At least that is my takeaway from that thread.

Igor Girkin says Russia needs a Chinese "lend-lease" if it’s to continue fighting in Ukraine "with any level of success"

He complains that Russian generals led by the "cretin" Gerasimov are burning through armour at a rate that Russian defence plants can’t withstand pic.twitter.com/ndNnEhrR5X

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 25, 2023

I would hold off on buying into that. Situation seems much worse.

There is a lot of “Fake News” and “Wishful Thinking” coming out today regarding the Bakhmut Front, I would be very careful of Posting or Reposting anything that speaks about Ukrainian Reinforcements or Counter-Offensives in the Region.

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 26, 2023

The Situation in Bakhmut is just as Critical as had been previously believed. https://t.co/OYcKacNLVW

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 27, 2023

The only reason I'd posted it was because he did qualify it with this bit, which made it sound like a last ditch effort on the part of Ukraine which wasn't likely to succeed.

"There's a lot of euphoria about UA's counterattack, but I'd be careful. RUS rotated forces here a few days ago and they have reserves...

What the AU forces north of Bakhmut are doing right now is very risky and could end differently. Everything will become clear tonight. I am a pessimist. UA has its wings exposed during this operation and RUS reserves. RUS forces are not encircled yet. Let's not rejoice yet."

I don't think anyone believes that Iran would be sending their weapons and munitions to Ukraine

I believe the supposition is that these are MORE EVIDENCE of Iranian shipments to Russia which have now been captured by the UFA

you can counter the drones by shooting them down far from your lines

for example with this