ah, so if we don't see the atrocities, they didn't happen? no, then it will just be assumed every body unaccounted for at the end of this will have been tortured by the russians, and then burned to destroy the evidence. there will be no escaping the accounting for their deeds.i hope this isn't true.....fingers crossed...
The occupiers begin to burn Mariupol’s dead in mobile crematoria - the City Council
Valentina Romanenko – Wednesday, 6 April 2022, 13:31www.pravda.com.ua
The Ukrainians have little reason to lie and the Russians really are that bad, people didn't want to believe or couldn't believe the holocaust in NAZI Germany, the films and photos put that to rest for the sane. Every atrocity means more weapons systems to Ukraine from Uncle Sam and the EU. They don't need a no fly zone, it would be nice, but there other ways and systems to blunt Vlad and make him pay in blood, logistics and equipment. Perhaps laser guided mortars and other things almost as good at switch blades. Dealing with defensive positions might be a different game with drones and precision munitions to take out all the anti tank weapons, machine guns and other things allowing tanks with mine plows attached to the front to scoop them all up and cut a path for the infantry to the trenches, which the tanks will roll over.i hope this isn't true.....fingers crossed...
The occupiers begin to burn Mariupol’s dead in mobile crematoria - the City Council
Valentina Romanenko – Wednesday, 6 April 2022, 13:31www.pravda.com.ua
They can't deal with regular drones in Ukraine except in specific areas. Jammers and directed energy weapons are susceptible to anti radiation missiles on a largely ballistic trajectory, when the get into effective range and laser guidance can be hardened. They better hope they can position equipment, it will be the very first target along with other AA defense and a priority target for drones when it's moving on the roads. They might have ID'd every piece of equipment in the region and track it all with satellite imagery and other intelligence."For strikes from ambushes." What will the US arm the Ukrainian army with?
Washington plans to transfer to Kiev a large batch of unmanned aerial vehicles Switchblade ("Flipknife"). Small-sized drones belong to the class of loitering ammunition; they are effective weapons at the tactical level. But the Russian army has something to answer.
Drone from backpack
Back in mid-March, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine: 800 Stinger man-portable air defense systems, 2,000 Javelin ATGMs, 1,000 light anti-tank guns and 6,000 AT-4 grenade launchers will be sent to Kiev. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive small arms, bulletproof vests and helmets, and ammunition. The other day it became known that the Pentagon will also provide the ally with 100 Switchblade unmanned aerial vehicles.
These loitering munitions, the so-called kamikaze drones, were developed by order of the US ground forces to fight the Taliban in the hard-to-reach mountainous regions of Afghanistan. They were put into service in 2011, several thousand pieces were made. American infantry and special forces have successfully used them in the Middle and Middle East.
There are two options - anti-personnel and anti-tank. The first, the Switchblade 300, weighing just over 2.5 kilograms, fits into a regular soldier's raid backpack. The ammunition is located in a compact transport and launch container and is launched into the sky with compressed air - according to the pneumocatapult principle. The flight range is up to ten kilometers, the power of the warhead is equivalent to a 40-millimeter shot from an automatic grenade launcher. The cruising speed is 100 kilometers per hour, day and night cameras are provided for observation and guidance.
The anti-tank Switchblade 600 is larger and heavier - 23 kilograms. It hits targets at a distance of up to 40 kilometers from the operator. The warhead is like the Javelin ATGM. According to the Americans, this weapon is effective against any modern armored vehicles if it strikes from above.
Drones of both modifications are controlled from a touch pad. Preparation for launch - ten minutes. The cost of one UAV is about six thousand dollars. Designed for mass use at the tactical depth of enemy defense, it is included in the armament of most motorized infantry units of the US Army. However, Switchblades, like other members of the loitering ammunition family, have weaknesses.
Air interception
“The main drawback is the low capacity of the batteries, they cannot stay in the air for a long time,” says military expert Alexei Leonkov. “The same Switchblade 300 lasts only ten to fifteen minutes. This means that the target should be illuminated by a much larger reconnaissance drone, noticeable to our air defense systems. Ammunition launched "in milk" will simply fall to the ground.
The Russian army has enough means to deal with the new threat. First of all, these are Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems and Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems. They detect, take on escort and destroy even small targets. In Syria, air defense with their help, over and over again, repels extremist attacks on the Khmeimim airbase.
Defense systems are the second echelon of defense,” the expert clarifies. “The first is the electronic warfare troops. Their equipment is capable of destroying the communication channel between the drone and the operator and, in fact, turning the drone into a pile of useless iron. When the Armenians turned on the over Stepanakert, Russian-made electronic warfare complexes Pole, Azerbaijani unmanned aircraft have sharply reduced their activity. I have no doubt that these new items will be used in Ukraine as well."
Supply chains
American kamikaze drones may be able to inflict some losses on the Russian army. But they will definitely not turn into a "superweapon", which this type of military equipment was during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020. At that time, Azerbaijani loitering ammunition IAI Harop actually destroyed Armenian air defense positions, areas of concentration of military equipment and field fortifications with impunity.
Stepanakert and Yerevan did not have the air defense systems that the Russian troops have. In addition, experts doubt that Ukrainians will be able to correctly use overseas gifts.
“It won’t change anything,” military expert Volodymyr Yevseev is sure. “The Americans can plan whatever they want. The question is who will manage these complexes? It’s unlikely that Ukrainian military personnel will be able to quickly train. "Firstly, these people put themselves at real risk because they can be destroyed. Secondly, there is an intervention of a foreign state, specifically the United States, in the war. And thirdly, such supplies contribute to the criminal actions of the Kiev regime."
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially warned that arms convoys entering Ukraine from the West were considered legitimate targets. At the moment, the only route from NATO countries is through the land border with Poland. Probably, everything there is already under the gun of Russian aviation and high-precision artillery.
"Для ударов из засад". Чем США вооружат украинскую армию
Вашингтон планирует передать Киеву крупную партию беспилотных летательных аппаратов Switchblade ("Выкидной нож"). Малогабаритные дроны относятся к классу... РИА Новости, 06.04.2022ria-ru.translate.goog
Heard on TV they now have 50,000 investigators there, cops I imagine from around the EU and allies, UN, red cross, etc.Pentagon: Russian forces outside Kyiv, Chernihiv have ‘completely withdrawn’
The U.S. has seen Russian forces completely withdraw from areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv to regroup in Belarus and Russia, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.
“We are not showing Russian forces in or around Kyiv or to the north of Kyiv, and we’re not showing Russian forces in or around Chernihiv,” the official told reporters.
“We have now seen that the Russians have moved from the north into Belarus and to Russia for refit and resupply. We have seen indications that that refit and resupply is occurring,” the official added.
Russian forces are pulling back from positions across Ukraine as Moscow looks to regroup following what now appears to be a bungled invasion of the country beginning Feb. 24.
Beginning in late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to shift his plans from an invasion meant to topple Kyiv to an offensive focused in the Donbas in the east. The move follows the Kremlin’s struggle to take the capital city and other major metropolitan areas after being met with fierce Ukrainian forces armed with Western-provided weapons.
The Kremlin troops continue to shell major cities as they make their withdrawal and have launched more than 1,450 missiles against Ukraine since the invasion began, the official said.
But the official said that “we are assessing that they have completely withdrawn from Kyiv and from Chernihiv.”
There have also been reports and images of atrocities as Russian forces vacate formerly held areas, including Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv.
The U.S. does not yet have investigators on the ground to document what President Biden has called war crimes, but the apparent murders of civilians appear to be “premeditated,” “planned” and “very, very deliberate,” the official said.
“But it’s difficult to know what more motivation was behind this — whether it was an … attempt or not, clearly a message was sent to the world of Russia’s brutality,” the official said.
Pentagon: Russian forces outside Kyiv, Chernihiv have ‘completely withdrawn’
The U.S. has seen Russian forces completely withdraw from areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv to regroup in Belarus and Russia, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday. “We are not showing …thehill.com
and there is more just a little north of those, and a couple of towns as well in the east of kiev.....they are also assessing stuff in the north around chevkiv (sorry) and Sume as well......Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin: Day 42 Update
They do seem to be beating the drums pretty hard.It takes some time for me to reformat the articles but I thought it worthwhile when it painted a picture of what Russians read. But the BS is so thick on the articles now that it really is not worth the trouble, almost no newsworthy content in them.
Another fire for Vlad to put out, they sense weakness, smell blood and American money in the water!Kazakhstan Says It Does Not Recognize Separatist-Controlled Territories In Ukraine As Independent
Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said his country does not recognize districts in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk controlled by Russia-backed separatists as independent.www.rferl.org
looks like Kazak's are staying out of it, but they are helping Ukraine in they're own way......
Ukrain: hey Kazak's see that little strip of land between us
Kazak's: yeah
Ukrain: lets take it, they invaded us, so lets invade them....Georgia you with us
Georgia: yep...fuck 'em
if you they can do it, hit those 4 columns and the bridge will be out of commission, one you would knock out the bridge, and if your lucky trap the russian fleet....basically making them sitting ducksVlad's weak link, the bridge at Kerch connecting Russia to Crimea, Putin's big project. I wonder how he's defending it? Take out any one of the concrete spans leading to the bridge on either side that go on for miles, or drop the bridge. Cut the road and especially the rail links going into Crimea, then the whole Russian southern front from west of Mariupol and Crimea would be cut off from supply and the equipment, their army there would have to leave it's equipment there in a panic or destroy it on orders. The whole southern part of the attack on the east would collapse and Putin would be in a real panic, trying to arrange sea transport or air to supply or evacuate the troops and Russian civilians there, who want to leave.
The Ukrainians just need to find away of dropping it, switch blades to kill the guards from a boat, then bail out and remote control several tons of ANFO next to a pillar and drop two spans at once. Or land a commando team and control a section in the middle while holding the Russians off in two directions, the team plants explosives to do the job right. Then they try to get back out alive, it would be a classic navy seal type operation. It could be a war winning move, they lose the south and are contained in Crimea with reserves, then everybody goes east and cleans them out there, or take Crimea, a real prize. Vlad can't hide losing Crimea and will have to explain things with a lie.
So a drive on Kherson to draw the Russians west and then hammer Mariupol right to the sea. The attack in the Kherson end will just keep the Russians busy or try to keep them from getting back into Crimea, or supplies coming out of there for the trapped Russians in the south. If they don't drive into Crimea right away, but breakthrough in Mariupol they have a shot at destroying that bridge over Kerch. I'm sure it's on someone's wish list Ukraine doesn't want it, it represents a threat and if they took Crimea they might demolish most of it out past the island Including the bridge and it's eastern approaches.
View attachment 5114166
View attachment 5114167
View attachment 5114168
View attachment 5114170
Nice bridge.bridge at Kerch
Spare the bridge. Take Krasnodar and everything west of Rostov and award them to Ukraine as a reminder not to start things.Vlad's weak link, the bridge at Kerch connecting Russia to Crimea, Putin's big project. I wonder how he's defending it? Take out any one of the concrete spans leading to the bridge on either side that go on for miles, or drop the bridge. Cut the road and especially the rail links going into Crimea, then the whole Russian southern front from west of Mariupol and Crimea would be cut off from supply and the equipment, their army there would have to leave it's equipment there in a panic or destroy it on orders. The whole southern part of the attack on the east would collapse and Putin would be in a real panic, trying to arrange sea transport or air to supply or evacuate the troops and Russian civilians there, who want to leave.
The Ukrainians just need to find away of dropping it, switch blades to kill the guards from a boat, then bail out and remote control several tons of ANFO next to a pillar and drop two spans at once. Or land a commando team and control a section in the middle while holding the Russians off in two directions, the team plants explosives to do the job right. Then they try to get back out alive, it would be a classic navy seal type operation. It could be a war winning move, they lose the south and are contained in Crimea with reserves, then everybody goes east and cleans them out there, or take Crimea, a real prize. Vlad can't hide losing Crimea and will have to explain things with a lie.
So a drive on Kherson to draw the Russians west and then hammer Mariupol right to the sea. The attack in the Kherson end will just keep the Russians busy or try to keep them from getting back into Crimea, or supplies coming out of there for the trapped Russians in the south. If they don't drive into Crimea right away, but breakthrough in Mariupol they have a shot at destroying that bridge over Kerch. I'm sure it's on someone's wish list Ukraine doesn't want it, it represents a threat and if they took Crimea they might demolish most of it out past the island Including the bridge and it's eastern approaches.
View attachment 5114166
View attachment 5114167
View attachment 5114168
View attachment 5114170
Right now I think they will settle for destroying Vlad's army and getting all their country back and their hands on Vlad's money. The bridge was a pet project of Vlad's, consolidating his hold on Crimea and blocking the sea of Azov from everybody else.Spare the bridge. Take Krasnodar and everything west of Rostov and award them to Ukraine as a reminder not to start things.