Ukraine destroys airfield, fuel depots, sub in overnight drone attacks on Russian regions

A massive drone attack walloped the military command center Russia is using to wage its war against Ukraine on Saturday.

The overnight barrage destroyed ammunition plants and fuel depots in Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov regions.

Among the successful targets was the Morozovsk airfield, where Russia keeps its fighter-bomber jets. The Russian airfield has played a crucial role in the Kremlin’s operations against Ukraine.

Some of Russia’s anti-aircraft defense systems were also disabled on Saturday by Ukrainian-launched missiles.

Russia also lost its B-237 Rostov-on-Don attack submarine, which was sunk Saturday outside Sevastopol in Ukrainian bomb strikes.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense noted on X the sub was now resting at “the bottom of the Black Sea.”

Ukraine ping

fso301: [If so, why are both sides burrowed into the ground like groundhogs?]

That’s because Russia lacks a sufficient equipment and manpower margin to overcome Ukraine. It wasn’t technology that overcame Germany in WW2, but masses of infantry and equipment. The US alone handed Russia 14,000 planes and 13,000 tanks, and provided a substantial chunk of its food during WW2. Russia is getting no US support for its Ukraine venture this go-around.

Ukraine is losing ground, albeit at a snail’s pace, because Western support has been minimal, with tanks and planes supplied under 1% of the numbers supplied to Russia during WW2. At the same time, the obvious deterioration of Russian units in terms of armor protection, such that armored fighting vehicles are giving way to golf carts, motorcycles and even electric scooters for mobility, suggests that Ukraine’s Fabian strategy of grudgingly trading space for large Russian casualties is yielding dividends. WW2 Russia pushed the Germans back based on steadily larger and better-equipped Russian armies overwhelming steadily smaller and less well-equipped German ones. The current Russian army is regressing to ever more obsolete equipment decommissioned long ago even by its former client states, and its numbers aren’t being subsidized by China at all, with which the relationship seems to be cash-and-carry.

US aid to WW2 Russia was perhaps 6% of the 1941 US GDP, compared to 0.2% for Ukraine today. In other words US aid to Russia was 30x what US aid to Ukraine is today. That one number explains the reason that Ukraine is barely holding on against Russia, not Russian drones.

“It wasn’t technology that overcame Germany in WW2, but masses of infantry and equipment.”

This is the excuse the German generals used to explain their failure. It’s only partially true. The truth is, beginning with Operations Saturn and Uranus, the Soviets outsmarted and outmaneuvered the Germans. Their weapons in many instances were just as good or better than the Germans.

Ukraine ping

rxh4n1: [This is the excuse the German generals used to explain their failure. It’s only partially true. The truth is, beginning with Operations Saturn and Uranus, the Soviets outsmarted and outmaneuvered the Germans. Their weapons in many instances were just as good or better than the Germans.]

The inflation of Russia military skill is contradicted by clear German superiority in employing what little they had against forces with superior numbers, in terms of men, equipment and munitions, all of which owed greatly to American supply efforts. In just about every action of significance, the Germans inflicted outsized casualties against superior forces. Even in the Battle of Berlin, after which Germany surrendered, despite being outnumbered 3 to 1, the Germans killed roughly 1 Russian for every soldier they lost.

The old Bolshevik Horde legend, straight from Dr. Goebbels propaganda ministry. The German generals used that excuse and also blamed Hitler for all their mistakes. The Germans had the advantage in casualties inflicted in 1941 and 1942 even though the Soviets always had superior numbers. The tide started to turn in 1943, and the Soviets were able to turn the casualty ratio around. You should study the campaign more closely.

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