“Russian soldier death rate highest since first week of war – Ukraine”
“Russian soldiers are dying in greater numbers in Ukraine this month than at any time since the first week of the invasion, according to Ukrainian data.
The Ukrainian data shows 824 Russian soldiers dying per day in February.
The figures were highlighted by the UK’s Ministry of Defence. The figures cannot be verified - but the UK says the trends are “likely accurate”.
The increase comes as Ukrainian officials say that Russia has launched a “big offensive”.
However, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC), Oleksiy Danilov, also said Russia is experiencing “big problems” with the campaign.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64616099
Ukraine: military situation update with maps, Feb 11, 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(Numbered printed material below - Some of the items below may be out of date, and not updated yet)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/
-—> The True State of Russian Army <——
posted 2 months ago, 21.13 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KiII_2qabk
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Extra:
-—> F-22 Shoots Down Another Object, This Time Over Canada (Updated) <——
F-22s Raptors under the control of NORAD have now shot down two objects in North American airspace within a day, three in the last week.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f-22-downs-another-unidentified-object-over-canada
Excerpts:
The shootdown is the second such incident in two days and the F-22’s third ‘kill’ ever, after the shooting down of a Chinese high-altitude balloon a week ago. Trudeau tweeted he spoke with President Joe Biden on Saturday afternoon about the incident, and that Canadian forces will recover the object’s wreckage.
The shootdown came shortly after reports emerged that North American Aerospace Defense Command was tracking up to two more objects in northern Canadian airspace. Security sources told Canada’s Global News that NORAD is monitoring the contacts.
A U.S. F-22, as opposed to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornet, made the intercept likely on account of the Raptor’s greater air-to-air capabilities. Not to mention the fact U.S. interceptors have operated in Canadian airspace as part of NORAD previously.
Saturday’s shootdown comes only a day after an F-22 shot down an unidentified object off Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. NORAD confirmed in a statement to The War Zone that recovery operations continue both off Alaska and off South Carolina.
There are few new details about yesterday’s shootdown, but reports suggest the object remained undetected until well within U.S. airspace. Fox News reported on Saturday that the downed object, reportedly the size of a small car, penetrated U.S. airspace over Alaska’s North Slope without being detected until February 9, per a senior U.S. official.
It remains unknown where the unidentified object downed Friday originated from or what capabilities it may have had. A temporary flight restriction from the Federal Aviation Administration remains in effect in the area until further notice.
The lack of information may be in part because the Pentagon is still trying to figure out exactly what was shot down. In a CNN story posted on Saturday, a source briefed on the intelligence said there are reports some, but not all, intercepting pilots experienced interference with their aircraft systems during the encounter.
Additionally, pilots reported they could see “no identifiable propulsion on the object” to explain it maintaining altitude at 40,000 feet. Of course, lighter than air craft can be made to loo like many things and have no trouble flying at that altitude.
Updates:
1) An F-22 again used the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile for the shootdown. While a whopping $472,000 per AIM-9X may not be a great exchange rate shooting down “unidentified objects,” The War Zone Editor-in-Chief Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) explains how individual shootdowns don’t threaten stockpiles. But a coordinated mass attack by an adversary, however, is another problem entirely.
2) “All of the objects are similar in certain ways and then dramatically different in certain ways. What we don’t yet understand is what sorts of technology are in there,” the official told The Washington Post. “Really capable technology can be very small and portable. So the size doesn’t tell us a whole lot.”
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••Day 353.
Yesterday’s disastrous attack on Vuhledar that cost the Russians a tank battalion turned out to be just the beginning because today’s fresh footage from the Avdiivka front showed much more catastrophic losses, especially in manpower.
Here, three days ago, I told you that the Russians launched a series of intense attacks along the whole contact line in an attempt to disperse Ukrainian troops, weaken the flanks, and penetrate Ukrainian defenses in front of Vodiane.
The Ukrainians have concentrated a lot of forces in front of Vodiane, which are frequently rotated to keep them fresh and not let the Russians take control over the hills.
In order to force the Ukrainians to move these troops away to the other side of Avdiivka,
the Russians launched the heaviest attacks toward Krasnohorivka and Kamianka.
This is probably the most suicidal direction for the Russians because the local geography here is perfect for defense.
If we look closer, we can see that there is a road embankment, which creates the first obstacle.
Secondly, if we look at the topographic map, we can see that the main Russian positions are in the lowlands.
And thirdly, the Ukrainians are controlling several artificial hills near the coal mines, which gives them total control over the region.
These hills play a crucial role during the defense of Kamianske, which the Russians can attack from Yasynuvata. As a result, during the first wave of attacks, the Russians lost 10 armored fighting vehicles, including 2 tanks, and a whole platoon of killed in action.
During the second wave of attacks, the Russians decided to save armored vehicles and sent more infantry into the fields, which resulted in the losses of 3 armored fighting vehicles, including 2 tanks and another whole platoon of killed in action.
The next waves of attacks were lighter but, in total, the Russians lost around 40 armored vehicles, including 7 tanks, and hundreds of troops killed in action.
And talking about the whole Ukraine, Russian losses continue to stay at around 1 thousand soldiers killed per day.
Interestingly, a Ukrainian soldier that is operating in this region said that since the beginning of this war, the Russians lost around 3 brigades worth of armor only between Krasnohorivka and Kamianka. 3 brigades are roughly 120 tanks and 480 infantry fighting vehicles.
This is not surprising since Avdiivka was one of the main epicenters in Ukraine at the beginning of the war when the Russians were trying to penetrate Ukrainian defenses between New York and Avdiivka.
Other news is coming from the Zaporizhzhia region. Here the Ukrainians conducted an extensive fire mission on the Melitopol Air Base and targeted the areas of forces concentrations and ammunition depots.
The Ukrainian Head of Melitopol stated that the attack was conducted using HIMARS. He said that there were at least 7 direct hits within 40 minutes, and as a result, the Ukrainians reportedly destroyed several ammunition depots, at least one warehouse with heavy equipment, and at least one place where Russian troops resided.
The Russians, on the other hand, conducted yesterday a massive missile strike on Ukraine, targeting critical infrastructure.
Ukrainian military sources reported that Russian forces launched over 100 missiles against critical and civil infrastructure throughout Ukraine.
The Ukrainian General Staff noted that Ukrainian air defense intercepted 61 of the cruise missiles.
Overall, **after deploying mobilized soldiers from Belarus to Ukraine**, the Russians seem to have become less cautious with their resources and tried to take Ukrainian positions by overwhelming them with manpower.
Even though this tactic worked in Soledar, the Ukrainians seem to have rapidly adapted and did not allow the Russians to carry out the same operations around Vuhledar and Avdiivka.
And also, while the Russians are targeting critical infrastructure with the goal of collapsing Ukrainian logistics, the Ukrainians are already creating logistical problems for the Russians by constantly targeting Russian bases with HIMARS rockets.
“Not even the most basic rules of warfare are known to these Russian soldiers near Vuhledar. One by one drives into minefields and trashes its armored vehicle. Absolutely astonishing incompetence.”
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1624808562626031617?cxt=HHwWgsCzte6xvYwtAAAA
I was peacefully scrolling through the feed when all of a sudden, the annoying, daily Maksym and Boryslav Show popped up on it like a blight. 🤮
Berlin: Conservatives projected to win repeated vote
Voters returned to polling booths across the German capital after a botched 2021 election was declared invalid. More voters picked the center-right CDU than any other party, but its candidate may not get to be mayor.
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-conservatives-projected-to-win-repeated-vote/a-64680065