Posted on 02/23/2024 10:49:35 AM PST by marcusmaximus
High comedy from the Russians over the A-50, IL-22 and Su-34 shoot downs today You would think that after 2 years they would finally realize their military is a clown show.
What Lipetsk doink? Holiday fireworks?
Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant not stronk as bull!
No defenders of the fatherland at the largest steel plant in Russia tonight?
What Robotyne doink?
Why is entire line of Ulraine on Eastern Front crumblink?
Vodka time. Ukie killing resumes tomorrow after breakfast.
Multiple explosions reported this evening at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, the largest steel plant in Russia.
You know Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus?”
This is “Birth of Flatusmaximus.” If hasn’t made it to the Ufizzi Gallery yet, but we can always hope.
“Birth Of Flatusmaximus.” Bwahahahaha!
Read the article which came from the “President’s” Office and used both Motherland and Fatherland. Obviously someone who favors “Soviet Nation”, the old red flag, and exposing his manly torso from the waist up would prefer Fatherland.
I was sent a most satisfying 12 second video of the massive explosion by Kherson Cat on X. Anyone know what was produced there and how far the drones or mussiles had to fly?
Ukrainians say their overall casualty "exchange rate" is about three Russians for every one Ukrainian and that can increase to 10 Russians for every Ukrainian in the Russian "Meat Wave" style assaults used to capture cities like Bakhmut (2023) and Avdiivka (2024).
Some estimates say Russia's serious casualties taking Avdiivka totaled 16,000 and total land area captured by Russians in 2024 is in the range of 16 square miles (out of around 200,000 square miles of remaining Ukrainian territory), that's roughly 1,000 Russian soldiers lost for every square mile conquered.
Regardless, given Ukraine's estimates of over 400,000 Russian serious casualties, that still makes Ukraine's numbers horrendous for them.
With Ukraine's population of maybe 35 million, of whom perhaps 25 million are military age, such numbers must mean that every family has lost someone close.
Of course, sadly, Ukrainians have no choice because unlike Russians, they can't just go home.
If Ukrainians lose, they die, and their country is destroyed.
So, they have to keep fighting, regardless of what anybody else thinks of them.
For Vlad the Invader's Russians... well... the Ukraine War is still only two years old, with only 400,000 casualties -- that's vastly more than Russia's invasion of Afghanistan (circa 80,000 casualties) -- but still vastly less than the 3 million dead in three years of the First World War or the 25 million dead in almost six years of the Second World War.
On the other hand, it very likely matters to Russians themselves that, Vlad's endless nonsense about "expanding NATO" notwithstanding, nobody actually invaded Russia or wants any of Russia's 2012 territories.
So, maybe Russians' tolerances for mayhem, death and destruction are not quite as high as they were 110 or 85 years ago.
I guess we'll find out.
As for your fixation on mythical "hopium", it's not good to lose hope:
Yeah, well...
The best estimates I can find say Russians in 2024 have captured a grand total of another 16 square miles of Ukrainian territories, including Avdiivka, at a cost of around 16,000 Russian soldiers, or roughly 1,000 Russian lives for every square mile of Ukraine they take.
In addition to Avdiivka, Russians have captured three other Ukrainian villiages -- Pobieda, Vesele and Krokhmaine -- with a combined pre-war population of around 300 individuals.
This still leaves Ukraine with around 200,000 square miles and 35 million people, of whom maybe 25 million are military age and another 35,000 reach military age each month.
Which side can keep it up the longest?
So, obviously, Russians have the advantages in massive overmatch of cannon-fodder, war materials and dictatorial brute force...
While the only thing Ukrainians have for certain is their stubborn knowledge that defeat means their own deaths and the destruction of Ukraine as an independent country.
Also, their knowledge that at least 80% of the civilized world supports Ukraine in spirit, if not always with enough money or weapons.
Further, Ukrainians are very resourceful, inventive and quite "western" in their beliefs in not throwing away soldiers' lives unnecessarily.
So, I think Ukraine's day of victory will eventually come, though as of today it's impossible to say when, or how.
Countries in blue sending aid to Ukraine:
wildcard_redneck #14: "I forgot to mention that now RuZZZZia is demonstrating air superiority at the front and fixed wing aircraft can now engage front line combatants.
The Ukrainian air defense is crumbling."
Oh really? That's so interesting!
So, the greatly increased use of Russian fixed wing aircraft closer to Ukrainian frontlines might explain the need for one of Russia's super-A-50 $500 million, almost one-of-a-kind AWACS style airborne warning & control plane, to get close enough to Ukraine to come within range of Ukraine's ancient old Soviet S-200 SAMs???
Wow!!!
You lie, RuZZZZia has only shovels. /sarc
Meanwhile he front moves west ever faster.
Apparently there've been two of these Russian A-50 AWACS style planes shot down by Ukrainians, the first on January 14 and the second just yesterday.
I do remember seeing there was a second escort type plane also shot down on January 14, but not yesterday.
I'm reading that Russian military bloggers don't deny there was another A-50 downed yesterday, but they are hugely reluctant to admit it was an ancient Soviet, now Ukrainian S-200 missile that did it.
For them that's inconceivable, so they claim it was a Russian "friendly fire" missile which brought down their own plane.
Frankly, just between you & me and that lamppost over there, I'm just as happy if Russians shoot down their own planes.
A win is a win, I'd say.
Only the ancient S-200 has enough range to actually reach that A-50 east of the Sea of Azov.
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