World War III

[Nickdfresh]

Russia has suffered an estimated 75,000 casualties in Ukraine invasion, U.S. official

Russia has suffered an estimated 75,000 casualties in Ukraine invasion, U.S. officials say
Niamh Cavanagh

Thu, July 28, 2022 at 11:06 AM

LONDON — More than 75,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured since the Kremlin launched its brutal war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to U.S. intelligence.

Speaking to CNN, Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin said the estimate was revealed during a classified briefing with officials from the Biden administration. “We were briefed that over 75,000 Russians have either been killed or wounded [in Ukraine], which is huge. ... Over 80% of their land forces are bogged down, and they’re tired,” she said.

That roughly correlates to the number of casualties estimated by CIA Director William Burns on July 20. “I think the latest estimates from the U.S. intelligence community would be, you know, something in the vicinity of 15,000 killed and maybe three times that wounded, so a quite significant set of losses,” Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum.

He went on to say that Ukrainian soldiers had “suffered as well,” but “probably a little less than” enemy forces. More recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s senior adviser said military casualties were between 100 and 200 per day.

Ahead of Russia’s invasion, President Biden said Russia had amassed around 150,000 troops, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that 200,000 were stationed on Ukraine’s borders. No figure has been disclosed by Russia’s Defense Ministry.


In a briefing on Monday, the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense said the number of Russian soldiers who had died in the first three months of the invasion in Ukraine were comparable to the Soviet Union’s losses during its decade-long conflict in Afghanistan.

“A combination of poor low-level tactics, limited air cover, a lack of flexibility, and a command approach which is prepared to reinforce failure and repeat mistakes has led to this high casualty rate, which continues to rise in the Donbas offensive,” the department said.

Keeping relatively quiet on the number of casualties its military has suffered, Russia announced on March 25 that it had counted 1,351 deaths. No public statements have been made since.

LINK

[Seshmeister]

Should she be telling CNN what she is told in a classified briefing?

[FORD]

Slotkin is "former" CIA herself, so she probably knows exactly which details NOT to mention to the corporate media whores. Unless she was from that incompetent branch of the company that was loyal to Cheney & the Chimp (as opposed to Langley headquarters) during their PNAC wars.

[Nickdfresh]

Or they want you to know. But stunning. The Soviets lost 15,000+ war dead in Afghanistan, widely thought to have been one of the last cogs in the Soviet demise. They have at least 25,000 war dead (using the typical 3 wounded for every 1 killed ratio, but that's if you have decent battlefield medical care) in the Ukraine and upwards of 40K if the Ukrainians are to be believed...

[Nickdfresh]

From military themed channel Warthog, the above shows the minute a Russian Orc crew was filming on their BMP fighting vehicle as it was hit by a Ukranian ATGM...

It's a catalog of the increasing collapse of the Russian forces in the face of growing Ukrainian offensives around Kharkiv and the Kherson Oblast...

[Kristy]

It would be wise to invest in the scrap iron business after the war in Ukraine

[Kristy]

This is a good one. A famous Russian T80 firing from behind a tree line. Unfortunately, the crew didn't even know what hit them.

[Nickdfresh]

This is a good one. A famous Russian T80 firing from behind a tree line. Unfortunately, the crew didn't even know what hit them.

A little bit of hyperbole here by Wartfog. The T-80 IS NOT Russia's most powerful tank. In fact it was an idiotic misstep where the Soviets were obsessed with copying Western Tech they decided they wanted a nice gas-turbine engine like the one used in the M-1 Abrams series as opposed to the more traditional and sensible turbo-diesel used in every other modern tank. They largely mothballed them and used the design along with the best features of the T-72 series to come up with the T-90, which is Russia's actual most modern tank and until the Ukraine debacle was thought to be a super scary high tech missile shooting down tank based on some bullshit that happened in Syria. Of course, like the Russian military in general this was just a propaganda fraud. Of course there is still the T-14 Armata garage-queen-white-elephant no one wants and they can't afford...

The T-90 here was destroyed by a 50 year old Swedish shoulder fired recoilless rifle (but a really good one)...

[Nickdfresh]

Note the above video was made a full 5 months before the Ukraine Russian-special-abortion...

[Nickdfresh]

Putin is finished. The Ukrainians have him on the ropes with a stunning victory in their sights
Mike Martin
Sun, September 11, 2022 at 4:45 AM


Vladimir Putin
President of Russia

Ukrainian troops pose in the recently liberated settlement of Vasylenkove, in the Kharkiv region - TERRITORIAL DEFENCE OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

By the time you read this article it will most probably be out of date, such is the speed of the advance of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Most likely the last 72 hours of warfare in Ukraine are going to be studied by generations of future military officers and historians. In summary, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have retaken over 2,500 sq km of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

And they have done this by punching a hole through thinly-guarded Russian front lines east of Kharkiv, and severing the Russian lines of logistics, forcing the withdrawal of large contingents of Russian soldiers from multiple locations, but most importantly Izyum and Kupyansk.

Without these two cities, Russia cannot effectively supply its forces in the north-east or the east of the country, and so further collapses, withdrawals and surrenders of Russian forces are to be expected.

In fact, as this article was being written, reports are emerging that the Ukrainians have retaken Donetsk Airport, and are heading for the Black Sea coast—either Mariupol, or Melitopol. It is a quite stunning success.

So what does this mean?

For the war, it means that we are seeing the disintegration of Russian forces in Ukraine. They may be able to stabilise their lines temporarily, but we have crossed a point of no return. Russia's forces were previously poorly equipped, supplied and of low morale. To that list you can now add terrified of encirclement.

Some are worried that this will force Putin to use nuclear weapons, but as long as the Ukrainians stay within their borders this is unlikely—for Putin knows it will be the end of him, and potentially of Russia too.

Only a matter of time
Geographically, the Ukrainians are carving up the Russian forces into small pockets which they will deal with individually. The hardest of those pockets to defeat will be Russian forces in Crimea, but once Ukraine has isolated them by destroying the Kerch bridge that runs between Crimea and Russia, it is only a matter of time.

The Russians are not going to be able to pull this together - we are witnessing an army in rapid decline, it is just a question of the speed at which it declines.

Of course, for Ukraine, this means that they are getting closer to their overall strategic goal: the removal of all Russian forces from the sovereignty territory of Ukraine.

This has been achieved with exceptional skill and bravery on their part, and huge losses of civilians and soldiers, including an estimated 1.5million Ukrainians who have been transferred to Russia. (Luckily they have captured and are capturing thousands of Russian soldiers and so these two groups may well be swapped.)

It has also been done with billions of dollars of weaponry, terabytes of intelligence data, and discrete operational advice from western countries, and especially the US and the UK.

But what does this mean for Russia?

Well, first and foremost it means that Putin could be finished. This has been his war. And it has not only failed, but achieved the opposite of what he said it would: Russia is now ostracised, sanctioned, has unified its enemies, and is about to have its army defeated in the field. This may seem like a good thing but there is only one thing worse than a strong Russia, and that is a weak one.

A weak Russia, with its leader defenestrated, leaves many unknown questions. Could there be a coup? Who takes over after Putin? Does Russia stay whole? What happens to the nuclear weapons — and Russia has over 5,000 of them while all of this is happening?

So while everyone’s eyes are focused on what is happening in Ukraine, I hope someone is thinking about what may be shortly to happen to Russia.

Dr Mike Martin is a War Studies Visiting Fellow at King's College London and author of Why We Fight.

https://news.yahoo.com/putin-finished-ukrainians-him-ropes-084514600.html

[FORD]

[Nitro Express]

We just need to be careful we don’t go out of the frying pan into the fire regarding Russia. There’s going to be a coup against Putin in Russia. There’s two problems with Russia. You can’t have a weak incompetent leader there because it’s a country full of nukes surrounded by countries you don’t want getting them. You need a tough guy running Russia. Just tough enough to keep things under control but not too tough and thuggish. We had that with Putin for awhile. We could keep him under control with the oil prices which we used to control.

The situation now is a fuck up. Everything is chaotic. Geopolitically it’s a pooch screw.

[Nickdfresh]

We just need to be careful we don’t go out of the frying pan into the fire regarding Russia. There’s going to be a coup against Putin in Russia. There’s two problems with Russia. You can’t have a weak incompetent leader there because it’s a country full of nukes surrounded by countries you don’t want getting them. You need a tough guy running Russia. Just tough enough to keep things under control but not too tough and thuggish. We had that with Putin for awhile. We could keep him under control with the oil prices which we used to control.

The situation now is a fuck up. Everything is chaotic. Geopolitically it’s a pooch screw.

I agree overall with your sentiments but you are confusing a couple things here. One does not need to be a 'tough guy" to not be a weak, incompetent leader. I would argue the tough guys are very much weak and incompetent by their very nature and insecurity. Look at that Chechen lackey cunt with his "tough guy" Tik Tok army of f@ggits that would be eviscerated if they actually fought a Ukrainian unit. Macho posturing isn't going to secure anything, being very smart is. Zelensky isn't beating Russia because he's a "badass", his nation is beating them with quiet confidence and by just fucking being smarter and more motivated than the denizens of a Kleptocracy/oligarchy...

We never "controlled" Putin via oil prices. Putin was a ruthless but somewhat sensible technocrat for a while but probably changed as he became increasing corrupt and the wealthiest of oligarchs that he pretended to hate. His real fear isn't NATO or the West, he hates the "Orange" Ukraine because while very corrupt, they at least are starting the pretention of being a democratic society not run by strongmen and kleptocrat cunts. Putin's fear is being overthrown in a "colored" revolution and thrown on the trash pile of history: something that may well be a self-fulfilling prophecy now....

[FORD]

Did somebody try to take Pooty out & shoot out his front tire??

It's the Daily Mail, so take it for what it's worth.....


dailymail.co.uk
Putin's limousine is 'hit by loud bang' in possible 'attack'
Will Stewart

Vladimir Putin's car was 'attacked' in what may have been an assassination attempt amid the Ukraine war, according to an unconfirmed claim.

His limousine was hit by a 'loud bang' on its 'left front wheel followed by heavy smoke', it is alleged.

The car drove to safety with Putin unharmed but there have been multiple arrests from his security service - while other bodyguards have vanished - amid claims that secret information about the 69-year-old ruler's movements was compromised, says General SVR Telegram channel.

General SVR is a Russian Telegram channel which regularly posts alleged insider information about Putin and the Kremlin.

While some are sceptical of General SVR, others say it is one of the few prominent anti-Putin channels in Russia that provides an insight into the true goings-on at the Kremlin.

The same source claims in a separate post that Putin had ordered his glamorous lover Alina Kabaeva, 39, a former Olympic gymnast, to have an abortion, leading to a 'worsening' of their relations.

It is not immediately possible to verify either extraordinary claim.

The same source claims in a separate post that Putin had ordered his glamorous lover Alina Kabaeva, 39, a former Olympic gymnast, pictured, to have an abortion, leading to a 'worsening' of their relations

According to the anti-Kremlin channel, Putin was travelling back to his official residence on an unspecified date in a decoy or 'backup' motorcade amid deep security fears.

This comprised five armoured cars, with Putin in the third, according to the claim.

'On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, [and] the second escort car drove around without stopping [due to the] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle.

In Putin's car 'a loud bang sounded from the left front wheel followed by heavy smoke'.

Putin's car 'despite the problems with control' made its way out of the attack scene to reach the safety of the residence.

'Subsequently, the body of a man was found driving [the] ambulance, which blocked the first car from the motorcade,' said SVR General.

The channel - which boasts an inside track to the Kremlin yet provides no hard evidence for its allegations - said details of the supposed attack are 'classified'.
According to the anti-Kremlin channel, Putin was travelling back to his official residence on an unspecified date in a decoy or 'backup' motorcade amid deep security fears. Pictured: Putin's motorcade on June 25

'The head of the president's bodyguard [service] and several other people have been suspended and are in custody,' claimed the channel, without naming anyone.

'A narrow circle of people knew about the movement of the president in this cortege, and all of them were from the presidential security service.

'After the incident, three of them disappeared.

'These were exactly the people who were in the first car of the motorcade.

'Their fate is currently unknown.

'The car on which they were traveling was found empty a few kilometres from the incident.'


In another post, the channel claimed that a Kabaeva pregnancy - which it 'revealed' in May - had now been terminated.

This was the reason Kabaeva - rumoured to have several children with the Kremlin leader, who will be 70 next month - had gone into hiding in recent weeks.

She was last seen in the first half of June in St Petersburg but has not appeared in public since.

'We already talked at the beginning of May this year that Alina Kabaeva was pregnant, and after the sex of the unborn child became known, we reported that Putin and Kabaeva would soon have a girl,' posted the channel today.

Kabaeva, pictured with Putin, was last seen in the first half of June in St Petersburg but has not appeared in public since

'But Russian President Vladimir Putin considered Kabaeva's pregnancy untimely, and the birth of another, unplanned child, undesirable.

'As a result, relations between Putin and Kabaeva worsened.

'And at the end of August, the president insisted that Alina have an abortion, despite the fact that the pregnancy was already more than 20 weeks and there were no medical and social indications for abortion.

'After the abortion, complications arose and for some time Kabaeva could not appear in public.

'By order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, thousands of women and children are being killed [in Ukraine', whose fate is indifferent to him.

'But he also wanted to spit on people close to him, including his common-law wife and children.'

Kabaeva refused a request from her mentor Irina Viner - longtime wife of ex-Arsenal FC part-owner Alisher Usmanov - to take part in a gala concert last weekend in Moscow.

Putin has never confirmed a relationship with Kabaeva, pictured together, and his officials have issued denials which are not believed by many Russians

The Telegram channel General SVR has previously published claims about Putin's alleged illnesses and other oil tycoons who have died mysteriously in recent months.

Putin has two officially acknowledged children — Maria, 37, and Katerina, 35, both from first wife Lyudmila.

Dr Maria Vorontsova, a year younger than Kabaeva, was born when the Russian president was a KGB spy in Germany, is an expert in rare genetic diseases in children.

She is a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

Her divorced sister Katerina is deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University.

She is a former high-kicking 'rock'n'roll' dancer.

Both elder daughters have been sanctioned by the West, unlike Kabaeva, and Putin's unacknowledged 'love child' Luiza Rozova, 19.

Luiza is the daughter of cleaner-turned-multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 45, now part-owner of a major Russian bank, one of the country's wealthiest women with an estimated £74 million financial and property fortune.

[Kristy]

Putin publicly orders the death of 300,000 RuZZian citizens.

Going straight into a Ukrainian meat grinder.