NEW: US officially announces more #Ukraine security assistance - a $400 million package
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 3, 2023
Per @StateDept @SecBlinken, it includes:
- Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges
- ammo for #HIMARS, howitzers & #Bradley fighting vehicles
- demolitions munitions / equipment pic.twitter.com/TGR66KMaHb
Russian President Putin signed a decree today that if Military Defense Companies within Russia fail to meet deadlines and Martial Law is declared that these Companies will be placed under the Direct Control of the Russian Government.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 3, 2023
Source: https://t.co/Cefcbyv4tC
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 3, 2023
I know that Bakhmut is smaller than Mariupol, but Ukraine had a year to propare for the siege. Also much closer to Ukrainian positions to northwest. IMHO Ukraine will bleed Russian as long as feasibily possible and still be able to exfiltrate their troops.74OA said:
Ukraine likely must soon either reinforce or withdraw from what remains of Bakhmut as Russia seems poised to take possession of the ruins in the near future. Reports say Ukraine has already built a line of fallback fortifications along a ridge a few miles west of Bakhmut. So, after nine months of fighting and tens of thousands of Russian casualties, apparently the operational payoff from Bakhmut's fall will be to slightly shift the meatgrinder to a nearby location.
Hopefully, though, Bakhmut will turn out to be the Pyrrhic victory that Putin deserves: "They apparently have used Bakhmut, and the Kremlin's weird obsession with the town, to bleed Russian forces and, in so doing, set the conditions for a long-planned spring offensive."
BAKHMUT
#Ukraine: A Russian Su-34/Su-30SM fighter jet was shot down over Russian-controlled Yenakiieve, #Donetsk Oblast. Two pilots ejected.
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 3, 2023
According to preliminary information, the jet was shot down in a friendly fire incident. pic.twitter.com/6Vw0peOAmi
Incredible footage of combat in the residential area of Bakhmut. The enemy is on the same street as the Ukrainians, 15 meters away. The task, at a minimum, is to create a flurry of fire to prevent enemy assault.
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) March 3, 2023
Source: MotoLife. pic.twitter.com/djkodYGkGX
Where are the Russians going to get the troops to occupy these defenses?
— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) March 4, 2023
Seriously?
Putin's intentions are clear for the world to see. No one should be fooled by Russia's litany of lies pic.twitter.com/olMtfsQ8PQ
— NATO (@NATO) March 3, 2023
Definitely.
— ASCE Venezia (@AsceVenezia) March 3, 2023
That was break even point weeks ago. Russia has committed several errors. But considering the length of the conflict, they have time to do the corrections. https://t.co/JBKBQIIWBm
As always the latest map has been uploaded to @Soar_Earth where you can look at it in much more detail as well as change the base map to show satellite or elevation data.https://t.co/haPUhrxCcC
— War Mapper (@War_Mapper) March 4, 2023
About 500 thousand protested with their feet and left the country.ShotOver said:
Serious question: Why do the Russian people continue to tolerate this? Seems as though at least the young people, (20-40ish), would be better informed and protest this war…are they that brainwashed to believe Putin's BS? Those of you who are more in the know than me…is there any sign of an uprising against this insanity?
It's less unpopular than one might think. Still, the reality is probably more nuanced, behind closed doors. but really, that is pretty irrelevant. Kim Jong Il, the mullah's, and whoever's running Cuba today are also unpopular in their home countries, very likely.ShotOver said:
Serious question: Why do the Russian people continue to tolerate this? Seems as though at least the young people, (20-40ish), would be better informed and protest this war…are they that brainwashed to believe Putin's BS? Those of you who are more in the know than me…is there any sign of an uprising against this insanity?
Good grief.nortex97 said:
If it mattered, Zelensky has gotten a much higher proportion of military age males in Ukraine killed (and closed the border etc), but he's not facing significant street opposition/protests either.
ShotOver said:
Serious question: Why do the Russian people continue to tolerate this? Seems as though at least the young people, (20-40ish), would be better informed and protest this war…are they that brainwashed to believe Putin's BS? Those of you who are more in the know than me…is there any sign of an uprising against this insanity?
He posts simply to provoke a reaction, not to offer a legit "alternative viewpoint".benchmark said:Good grief.nortex97 said:
If it mattered, Zelensky has gotten a much higher proportion of military age males in Ukraine killed (and closed the border etc), but he's not facing significant street opposition/protests either.
A Russian drone operator films himself and his location, and then sends a drone for reconnaissance, which the Ukrainians shoot down, take data from the drone and bombard the location with artillery along the coordinates from the memory card. pic.twitter.com/ApltV4bEB4
— Paul Jawin (@PaulJawin) March 4, 2023
Ru. forces made one limited confirmed advance near #Bakhmut today. As ISW said 3 MAR, Ukr. forces are likely setting conditions for a controlled fighting withdrawal from Bakhmut’s difficult eastern sectors. It is not clear that Ukr. cmdrs have decided to withdraw at this time. https://t.co/mqdjKRER18
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 5, 2023
Quote:
Key Takeaways
- Russian forces appear to have secured a sufficient positional advantage to conduct a turning action against certain parts of Bakhmut but have not yet forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw and will not likely be able to encircle the city soon.
- The purpose of a turning movement is to force the enemy to abandon prepared defensive positions and is different from the aim of an encirclement, which is to trap and destroy enemy forces. The Russians may have intended to encircle Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has signaled that it will likely withdraw rather than risk an encirclement.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Eastern Military District Commander Colonel General Rustam Muradov in western Donetsk Oblast, likely to assess the extent of Russian losses around Vuhledar and the possibility of a further offensive in this direction.
- The Chinese government is reportedly angry with the Kremlin over the publicization of arms sales discussions.
- Russian State Duma Defense Committee Head Andrey Kartapalov encouraged Russian companies to purchase their own air defense systems to defend against drones.
- The Wagner Group reportedly opened at least three new recruitment centers at Russian sports clubs between March 2-4, possibly to augment Wagner's recruitment base after losing access to prisoner recruits.
- Russian forces conducted offensive actions along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.
- Russian forces continued efforts to encircle Bakhmut and conduct ground attacks along the Donetsk Oblast front line.
- Ukrainian sources continue to report that Russian forces are trying to set conditions for offensive operations in southern Ukraine.
- Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov continues apparent efforts to increase Chechen influence within Russia through promoting Chechnya's Special Forces (SPETSNAZ) and youth policy efforts.
- Russian occupation administrations are strengthening law enforcement measures in occupied territories.
Orders just came down. Deploying to a real bad place tomorrow morning. Doesn’t get much worse. Glad we ate well last night.
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) February 28, 2023
First convoy has left, all packed and waiting for second convoy clearance. Thank everyone for all the well wishes pic.twitter.com/1OCSx8sIBC
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 1, 2023
Heading out on 3rd and final convoy ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/GouGvLrzcR
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 1, 2023
Go time! pic.twitter.com/IwocHQKX6h
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 1, 2023
I will be documenting our operation but just know for security purposes most info will be days removed from real time and some sensitive info may be weeks or months removed
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 2, 2023
We’re all good today, sorry I could only point to ground, too many landmarks around to risk pic.twitter.com/LjIQZ0Gxfk
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 3, 2023
Long battle today, only one injured. Can’t say that for the other side. I’ll get into it more in the future but my body feels like a bag of hammered shit and I’m going to bed
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 4, 2023
There was an article I read a month or two ago (which, of course, I can't find now) that talked about how the sinking of the Kursk, and the backlash that flowed from it, taught Putin early in his rule about the need to control the press and manage information.RebelE Infantry said:ShotOver said:
Serious question: Why do the Russian people continue to tolerate this? Seems as though at least the young people, (20-40ish), would be better informed and protest this war…are they that brainwashed to believe Putin's BS? Those of you who are more in the know than me…is there any sign of an uprising against this insanity?
Much of the political pressure Putin is facing is from a significant portion of the people screaming for all out war against Ukraine. They see Putin as indecisive and overly legalistic. The fact is that he is widely popular and faces little to no opposition from a Liberal faction.
