Previous day’s thread: https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4148843/posts
Ukraine: military situation update with maps - April 26, 2023
(’Orc’ is associated with the various hoards of 13th century Mongol invaders, as well as LOTR evil villains)
War in Ukraine Explained/Reporting from Ukraine:
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU
Artillery (key to success in this war), Fuller explanation of Orc military structure, Other Bonus articles - see previous postings in “Attack on Europe” (FR title search).
(Numbered printed material below - Some of the items below may be out of date, and not updated yet)
••Denotes Transcribed Dialogue. The entirety of the analysis is from a Ukrainian guy named Reporting from Ukraine’s daily video - I only transcribe it. Extras are just that - from other sites, or my comments marked (Edit: .... ) or { } or [ ].
-—> Current to date and past MAPS: <——
https://militaryland.net/
-—> Daily Battle Maps by Date and Region, Showing Troop Dispositions and Movements: <——
https://deepstatemap.live/
==
-—> The True State of Russian Army <——
posted 2 months ago, 21.13 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KiII_2qabk
The Russian military, the second largest military in the world, may not be what it looks like. Lies and systematic corruptions may in fact have dragged Russia into this war with Ukraine, which has been heavily backed up by the US and NATO. We will present the evidence, you make your own decision, because the Russian Army, is not what you think.
==
-—> Understanding Combined Arms Warfare <——
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZOGdKANL5s
Designed to support the U.S. Army Captains Career Course, “Understanding Combined Arms Warfare” defines and outlines the important aspects of modern combined arms operations. This is not a complete history of combined arms warfare. It is intended to highlight the most important aspects of the subject.
The beginning of the documentary establishes a common understanding of combined arms warfare by discussing doctrinal and equipment developments in World War I. The second part compares the development of French and German Army mechanization during the interwar period and describes how each country fared during the Battle of France in 1940. The film concludes by showing how the United States applied combined arms operations in the European Theater in World War II.
==
-—> Combined Arms Breach, 1990 <——
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ-sCT_maAQ
What UA will have to master to smash Orc Lines. This visualization was developed for the Maneuver Center of Excellence and is closely based upon the National Training Center Breach and Assault exercise executed circa 1990. This visualization demonstrates viable Techniques, and Procedures as discussed in Army Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures March 3, 1990 for the conduct of the combined arms breach against a hypothetical enemy.
==
-—> How Many of Each Type of Tank Does Russia Have In Storage? <——
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PHUK6zkbpc
Type Good 2023
T-54/55 270
T-62 560
T-64 248
T-72 1841
T-80 942
T-90 50
~3,911 operational tanks in storage as of ~04/07/2023 | Ball park tank number.
==
The Odd Case of ‘Russian Air Defense Vehicles’ Showing Up on a Train In Ohio
Tor-M1s and an S-300 were recently spotted on railcars in Ohio, but they likely aren’t exactly what they appear to be.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-odd-case-of-russian-air-defense-vehicles-showing-up-on-a-train-in-ohio
[ No Chance Given. Russian Attack Implodes | Most Brutal Defeat | It Was a One Way Trip | ]
••Day 428: April 27
Today there are a lot of updates from the Donetsk region.
Here, Ukrainian forces learned from their mistakes and adapted to the new Russian approach. Shortly, Russian forces conducted a bigger attack in an attempt to develop their recent success, however, they entered a prepared kill zone, which resulted in complete annihilation of their assault unit.
Last time I told you that due to the problems with logistics, Russian forces decreased the intensity of their attacks in the direction of Tonenke, and switched their focus to Nevelske. I also told you that Russians applied a new tactic, where 1 assault unit was sacrificed to draw the attention of the main Ukrainian fire power while another assault unit attacked the main target.
The freshest reports suggest that Russians tried to develop their success further and launched much bigger attacks. If previously, Russians used 2 tanks, then for this attack, Russians allocated 1 tank and 3 armored fighting vehicles.
Ukrainians identified that the main goal of this mission was to capture a trench network in the tree line right in front of Nevelske, and reserved their fire power. The moment the Russian column started approaching the target, Ukrainian ATGM crews immediately destroyed the Russian tank.
Several seconds later, the first armored fighting vehicle was destroyed as well, and the column was stopped. Immobilized Russians tried to engage and suppress Ukrainian firing points, however, it was unsuccessful, and Russians lost the third machine. The last remaining one decided to proceed with storming nonetheless, managed to cut the distance with the trench, and start storming it.
Unfortunately for Russians, Ukrainian artillery responded very timely, and destroyed the vehicle, while the fighters from the 56th Brigade dealt with the enemy infantry. The remaining 4 soldiers tried to hide under the remnants of the vehicle but were finished by the drone operators.
In the northern part of the region, Ukrainians conducted a successful counterattack. As you remember, previously, Russian forces reached the embankment and started rapidly expanding their control along the road. Russians established their main positions in the ruins of the bridge, established control over a trench network north of the bridge, and even started digging in and establishing firing points on the embankment itself.
Ukrainian marines from the 36th Brigade conducted a series of raids on Russian positions, sometimes with tanks, and managed to identify a weak spot. It turned out that Russians focused on fortifying the embankment but left their flanks vulnerable, assuming that an attack from the north is unlikely.
Recent combat footage revealed that Ukrainians prevented Russians from conducting a rotation process with an artillery strike, making sure that the exhausted from constant digging troops remained in their positions.
Next, they caught Russians by surprise with a sudden attack from the north and cleared all positions north of the small hill, including the trench network and, highly likely even the bridge. By moving the contact line towards the natural obstacle, Ukrainians undermined Russian plans of using this bridgehead for an attack on Novokalynove.
Avdiivka is the most challenging direction for Russians, and according to the former Head of the DPR militia, the Russian rate of survival here is even lower than in Bakhmut.
After significantly degrading their assault units, Russians were forced to modify their approach in order to continue moving forward. As expected, the new tactic became wiping out the areas of difficulty, in particular, with air bombs. The Spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force reported that there are cases of the use of 1500-kilogram bombs.
Last year, Ukrainians managed to curtail Russian use of aviation by destroying Russian airfields, with the most notorious case being the destruction of around 20 fighter jets in Crimea by sabotage. This forced Russians to move their jets away from Ukraine. Ukrainian Intelligence is working on new options and sometimes leaves easter eggs in their interviews.
In the meantime, as Russians started using aviation more frequently, the number of accidents involving malfunctions and pilot errors immediately skyrocketed. Recently, a Russian fighter bomber accidentally dropped on Belgorod two FAB-500 bombs.
The first bomb landed on the road, and the explosion threw one car on the roof of a house and left casualties among civilians. The second bomb hit a residential building but failed to explode due to malfunction. Belgorod authorities evacuated 3,000 civilians from the city while sappers extracted and later detonated the bomb. Another accident happened in the Murmansk region.
Here, a Russian fighter jet malfunctioned midair, and the pilots ejected themselves from the aircraft while the jet fell into the lake. Malfunctions and detonations are perfect concealments of sabotage, and even though these cases do not seem suspicious, any large-scale accidents may indicate the effective work of Ukrainian Intelligence and spies.
••UA confirms that they are targeting Russian forces on the southern bank of the Dnieper River near Oleshky. It’s also been confirmed by eye witnesses in Nova Kakhovka that there was shooting and explosions. This may mean that the UA used light boats to cross in the area.
==
Russians confirm that there were explosions in St Petersburg yesterday, but no other information.
==
Another drone spotted near the Moscow airport.
==
Putin signed an order that all people in the occupied territories must take the Russian passport or be subject to deportation.
==
UK Intelligence said 97% of ALL Russian forces are in Ukraine. The remaining 3% will have parade duties.
==
Russians beefed up forces at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor with 30mm and artillery systems on the roofs of the power plant.
With the Russian anniversary of Chernobyl approaching, Russian memes say they can repeat that with the Enerhodar plant.
==
US modernizing Cold War nuclear warheads, Trident II missiles, and the B6112 warheads stationed Europe.
==
Ukraine already has received Oerlikon Revolver Mk3 Systems from Germany. [Apparently a land version of the Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium Gun or Rheinmetall GDM-008 naval system.]
==
Russian General Mizinsef, butcher of Mariupol, was dismissed. The bombing killed more civilians than UA soldiers killed so far: the number could be more than 100,000 civilians.
==
Russia’s big Landsat drones took out two UA S-300 launcher systems. The two were parked a few meters apart, with no apparent air defense nearby. Those drones are very effective. The Patriot systems risk the same fate.
==
Russia wants to hire 415,000 new troops this year.
==
Russia has stopped all cargo trucks from entering Armenia because they are doing a joint military exercise with NATO including around 9,000 US troops.
АSLAN@antiputler_news
Apr 27
‼️The column “Our boys have returned from Ukraine”...
https://twitter.com/i/status/1651595997535928321
It appears reading all the news that Russia lost all it’s weapons two months ago, yet somehow the Russians are still fighting…… 1st casualty of war is…..
You spread cut and paste propaganda like it’s your job. Oh wait, it probably IS your job!
@ChuckPfarrer 4h
BAKHMUT CITY /1250 UTC 28 APL/ While UKR Lines of Communication & Supply (LOCS) are assessed as secure, heavy fighting is ongoing in the city and adjoining suburbs. RU forces have expanded control of the NW urban area. UKR air defense downed six Russian UAVs of various types.
Peter Zeihan estimated that Russian storage will be mostly filled this month (April), and that they will have to start shutting off some significant portion of oil production next month.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4149100/posts?page=1
"Photos recently published to the Defense Department’s Defense Visual Information Distribution System and first spotted by our colleagues at The War Zone show an A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron taking flight with 16 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) mounted across four separate BRU-61/A bomb racks during one of several test missions that took place between April 19th and 20th at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada."
"the Warthog already has air-to-surface precision strike capabilities in the form of the AGM-65 Maverick missile and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit. But as our colleagues at The War Zone note, the 250-pound SDB would provide the A-10 with a significantly improved precision strike capability over ranges up to 40 nautical miles away.
The integration of the SDB into the A-10s — initiated in 2018 under the Air Force’s Common Fleet Initiative raft of upgrades for the airframe — will “give the A-10 a four-fold increase in standoff bomb capability and allows the A-10 to provide weapons effects in much [greater] threat environments than before.""
@NOELreports 3h
It is reported that another 20 Italian M109L 155-mm self-propelled howitzers are being prepared to be sent to Ukraine.
While Russia has suffered thousands of losses in its war against Ukraine, a senior US military commander in Europe told lawmakers Wednesday that they have plenty more firepower left in their arsenal.
“[T]he Russian ground force has been degenerated somewhat by this conflict, although it is bigger today than it was at the beginning of the conflict,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of US European Command, told the House Armed Services Committee.
“The Air Force has lost very little, they’ve lost 80 planes. They have another 1,000 fighters and fighter bombers,” he said. “The Navy has lost one ship.”
Poland just signed a deal with the UK for 44 CAMM launchers & “hundreds of missiles” for an upgraded air defense system
The deal with MBDA is worth USD 2.4 billion & will be complementary to the 8 batteries of the Patriot Missile Defense System that Poland is also buying.
@visegrad24 15h
The Presidents of Czechia and Slovakia, Petr Pavel and Zuzana Caputova have arrived to Kyiv for a joint visit.
After going to Borodianka, they will meet with Zelensky to discuss further aid for Ukraine.
@NOELreports 4h
“Germany has offered to produce 250,000 artillery shells, which is a quarter of the 1 million 155-mm shells that the EU plans to produce for Ukraine.”
In what time frame, I wonder.
ISW, 28 April 2023:
“Key Takeaways
Russian forces launched a series of missile strikes against rear areas of Ukraine on the night of April 27.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed the appointment of Vice Admiral Vladimir Vorobyov as the new commander of the Baltic Fleet following the transfer of former Baltic Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Liina to the Pacific Fleet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree codifying conditions for the further large-scale deportation of residents of occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu promoted the Kremlin’s efforts to form a potential anti-Western coalition during a meeting of the defense ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in New Delhi, India.
Head of the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill of Moscow defrocked a Russian Orthodox Church protodeacon who did not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces continued ground attacks near Kreminna and have made an incremental advance northwest of Kreminna as of April 28.
Russian forces are increasing pressure against the T0504 Kostyantynivka-Chasiv Yar-Bakhmut highway.
Russian forces continued routine indirect fire and defensive operations in southern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin tasked Russian officials with developing Russia’s domestic drone industry likely as part of the Kremlin’s effort to gradually mobilize Russia’s defense industrial base (DIB).
Russian occupation authorities continue to announce patronage programs with Russian federal subjects.”
