"Ukrainian soldiers near the Belarusian border say that the high number of beaver dams, which locals haven’t cleared because of the war, have helped flood the Volyn swamps - making the area much easier to defend"
Posted on 01/13/2023 7:21:53 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the origin of a piece of equipment can't be established, it is not included in the list. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.
(Excerpt) Read more at oryxspioenkop.com ...
I agree...A couple of days ago, I posted that Belarus might be a feint.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4122574/posts?page=40#40
“Belarus might be a feint”
Because of the beaver dams
“Ukrainian swamps make attack from Belarus unlikely - for now”
“Burst river banks, thick mud and waterlogged fields could be seen for miles around northwest Ukraine’s border with Belarus on Thursday, making the prospect of a Russian assault from across the border unlikely for now despite recent warnings from Kyiv.”
“Ukrainian officials have warned of a new looming Russian assault, with Belarus to the north named as one possible launchpad, as Moscow seeks to revive its faltering invasion.
Russia and its close ally Belarus have beefed up their joint military grouping in Belarus and plan to hold joint aviation drills there from next Monday.
Against this backdrop, the borderland’s thick forests and treacherous swamps are guarded by the Volyn territorial defence brigade, one of hundreds of Ukrainian units recruited from local people willing to defend their communities.”
“On the sidelines of training exercises several kilometres south of the Russian border, soldiers and officers from the unit told Reuters how the unusually mild winter had given them a considerable tactical advantage.
“On your own land, everything will help you to defend it - the landscape, lots of rivers, which have burst their banks this year,” said Viktor Rokun, one of the brigade’s deputy commanders. The fields and trees around him were submerged in murky lakes of cold water.
The unit’s spokesman, Serhiy Khominskyi, said that help in making the terrain unpassable had also come from an unlikely ally: the local beaver population.
“When they build their dams normally people destroy them, but they didn’t this year because of the war, so now there is water everywhere,” he said.”
@ChuckPfarrer 4h "SOLEDAR /1330 UTC 13 JAN/ Wagner PMCs are reported to have expanded control over residential & industrial sections of the city. UKR forces have concentrated efforts to defend several key locations, notably the vicinity of the school, hospital and the access to mines 1 & 7."
@ChuckPfarrer 1h "BAKHMUT/ 1400 UTC 13 JAN/ First reports of a RU breakthrough at Kurdiumivka occurred on 12 JAN. RU forces have advanced NW along the watercourse and are likely intent on cutting the vital H-32 HWY, UKR UAV directed artillery has taken advancing RU units under sustained fire."
“A car bomb exploded in Berdyansk. Mabey it’s a collaborator, who knows.”
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1613945913453547528
“Putin Buys Off the Poor, Writes Off Middle Class With War Budget”
“When his family in the Saratov region received a payment in compensation for their son’s death fighting in Ukraine, it went to buy just the car he’d wanted, according to a report aired on Russian state television last year.
The father then goes to take it for the first drive — to the cemetery.
The payoff is just one case of the increasingly blurred lines between social programs and the Kremlin’s spending on the war effort that contributed to a record budget shortfall in December.
While sparing no expense for the army, President Vladimir Putin has been rewarding the neediest Russians by expanding handouts to families. Soldiers fighting in Ukraine also receive a one-time payment worth more than a year’s average living wage in Russia.
The boost in social benefits has lifted the incomes of the poorest decile of the population by more than twice the inflation rate, the only group to do so well, according to Bloomberg Economics. Russia now earmarks about two-thirds of its budget on defense, security and social programs.
“The state is targeting the poor and the near-poor,” said Natalya Zubarevich, a specialist on the economy of Russian regions at Moscow State University. “For the middle class, the message is, ‘goodbye guys, you are on your own.”’”
More US/NATO military equipment and supplies arriving in Poland via Lithuania right now, destination Ukraine…
Russia Declares “Full Control” Over Soledar In 1st Major Win In Months
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-declares-full-control-over-soledar-1st-major-win-months
The fall of Bakhmut should happen soon, too.
I think this is Good.
“JUST IN: Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has decided to resign as Germany’s Defense Minister - BILD”
‘In Months’
You got that right.
Followup to post 25.
“Explosions reported in Berdiansk, occupation government official’s car allegedly blown up.”
Good but should be down 100%.
“German exports to Russia down 52.8% in November compared to same period a year earlier”
“German exports to Russia dropped by 52.8% to 1.2 billion euros in November 2022 compared to the same period a year prior, according to Germany’s federal statistical office.
“In contrast, exports to the United States, the most important destination of German exports, increased by 30.9% to 14.4 billion euros,” the office wrote, adding that motor vehicles and machinery were among the top exported goods.”
Purification of RuZZia.
“Putin ally suggests seizing property of war critics who fled Russia”
“A close ally of President Vladimir Putin suggested confiscating the property of Russians who have left the country and who “insult” the state and its armed forces from abroad.
The proposal from Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of parliament, was clearly aimed at opposition figures — many already designated as “foreign agents” — who have condemned the Ukraine war after fleeing the country to avoid arrest.
“Recently, some of our fellow citizens consider it possible to insult Russia, its inhabitants, soldiers and officers, and openly support villains, Nazis and murderers,” Volodin said, the latter terms referring to the forces that Moscow claims to be fighting in Ukraine.
“Their goal is clear — to curry favour and try to maintain their well-being abroad,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.”
“Christine Lambrecht (57, SPD) has decided to resign as Defense Minister. BILD learned this from several sources.
The initiative to give up the office therefore comes from her - not from the Chancellery. It is now about the exact time of the resignation. Her successor is already being discussed internally.
The “SZ” confirmed the BILD report on Friday evening, citing the minister’s environment. As a result, Lambrecht wants to resign from office next week.”
“In the current INSA poll for BILD, Lambrecht ranks last among 20 politicians. She is even less popular than AfD bosses Alice Weidel (43) and Tino Chrupalla (47) .”
...
“When around 200,000 Russian soldiers marched in front of Ukraine’s borders in January 2022, Lambrecht proudly announced the delivery of 5,000 helmets to Ukraine. A disgrace!”
“How Western Goods Reach Russia: A Long Line of Trucks Through Georgia”
“With Western sanctions barring many imports, a lot of what Russia needs now travels a slow, crowded truck route through the Caucasus Mountains.”
Reports that Russia was using blocking troops (Russian, not Chechen) at the rear of the Wagner meat to force the Soledar advance by Prigozhin’s convict army. Reports that Wagner lost more than 30% of their army in the past week in the area.
This is a win for everyone - except RuZZia.
“Biden Administration to Ask Congress to Approve F-16 Sale to Turkey”
“The deal depends on Ankara’s signoff to NATO expansion, administration officials say, and comes alongside an F-35 sale to Greece”
“The Biden administration is preparing to seek congressional approval for a $20 billion sale of new F-16 jet fighters to Turkey along with a separate sale of next-generation F-35 warplanes to Greece, in what would be among the largest foreign weapons sales in recent years, according to U.S. officials.
Administration officials intend the prospect of the sale to prod Turkey to sign off on Finland and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Ankara has blocked over objections to their ties to Kurdish separatist groups. Congress’s approval of the sale is contingent on Turkey’s acquiescence, administration officials said. The two countries ended decades of neutrality when they decided to join NATO last year in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sale to Turkey, which the administration has been considering for more than a year, is larger than expected. It includes 40 new aircraft and kits to overhaul 79 of Turkey’s existing F-16 fleet, according to officials familiar with the proposals.
Congressional notification of the deal will roughly coincide with a visit to Washington next week by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The sale to Turkey also includes more than 900 air-to-air missiles and 800 bombs, one of the officials said.”
Europe may avoid a recession. Who would have thunk it 6 months ago?
“Europe’s Mild Winter Cushions Economic Blow of Ukraine War”
“Lower energy prices, government support mean Europe could face the shallowest of recessions—if its economy shrinks at all”
“Russia’s economic war with the West looks set to claim a much smaller toll on Europe than the brutal recession many economists warned about just months ago, due to falling energy prices and government intervention to buttress the continent’s economy.
A mild winter so far, efforts by businesses and households to cut energy consumption, successful moves by governments to find new natural-gas suppliers and hundreds of billions of euros in fiscal support mean Europe’s recession is likely to be shallow and brief—if it happens at all—according to fresh data and estimates.
And with energy costs now falling back toward levels seen before Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, the cost of the subsidies and tax relief deployed by European capitals to soften the blow are set to shrink, reducing their impact on public finances.”
Great to see that this long running tradition is still enforced.
In the Red Army of the RSFSR and the Soviet Union the concept of barrier troops first arose in August 1918 with the formation of the заградительные отряды (zagraditelnye otriady), translated as "blocking troops" or "anti-retreat detachments".
The initial barrier troops comprised personnel drawn from Cheka punitive detachments or from regular Red Army infantry regiments.
I would guess that the barrier troops must score high on rifle marksmanship and be awarded their marksmanship badge.
And no Russian flags flying over Soledar still...
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