Posted on 08/10/2022 9:42:48 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The word from Ukraine’s high command this morning was that nine Russian jets were neutralized in the surprise attack on Saki airbase on the Crimean cost.
I invite you to enlarge the two photos in this tweet and compare the before and after. I count more than nine.
Comparison of August 9th and August 10th imagery show very large craters, many destroyed aircraft, and destroyed buildings. It looks like a direct hit on the building on the left, so whatever it was seems accurate.
pic.twitter.com/QyLn86PUjw— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) August 10, 2022
Looks to me like 16 aircraft visible and intact in the “before” photo and three visible in the “after” photo. The buildings on the left and upper right are just plain gone.
Here’s a color version of the “after” photo. The six jets lined up at the bottom of the “before” picture have either been moved or are in ruins. That too is evidence of the incompetence that’s characterized Russia’s prosecution of the war: Per Michael Weiss and James Rushton, what were those jets doing parked clustered together on the “apron” of the airbase instead of being sequestered in their own protective hardstands like most of the jets seen in the photo?
Not that the hardstands would have done them much good.
Higher resolution, colour version of the photo from Eliot’s tweet. The craters from whatever it was that hit the airbase are even more visible here…
pic.twitter.com/Eorjdi8XXE— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) August 10, 2022
I see what appears to be three distinct impact craters as well. What did Ukraine use to do that?
And how did they get through Russia’s air defenses?
The fact that the operation has been attributed to Ukrainian special forces raises the possibility that ground troops infiltrated the base somehow and planted explosives. That would explain how the attack eluded enemy air defenses — but it wouldn’t explain how the hell Ukrainian saboteurs were able to penetrate a base deep inside Crimea and detonate no fewer than three strategically placed bombs.
An air attack is more plausible, and there’s a convenient explanation in that context for why Russia’s air defenses might have failed. The White House recently admitted to arming Ukraine with AGM-88s, anti-radiation missiles that are designed to zero in on air defense systems and take them out. According to one report, Ukraine did in fact destroy more than a dozen Russian radar and air defense systems in the days before the Saki strike. Maybe AGM-88s “blinded” the airbase beforehand, preparing the way for an as yet unknown weapon to take out Russian jets in the main strike.
Losing that many in a single attack would be a blow to any country but it’s especially heavy for a country that’s under onerous sanctions and can’t easily replace major military equipment. “The pictures show what appear to be three large craters and at least eight destroyed warplanes, both Su-24 and Su-30 warplanes, all parked on the air base’s western tarmac,” the Times notes. “The planes cost tens of millions of dollars each, and their loss could amount to more than half a billion dollars.”
That base was a staging area for aircraft that would have been used against Ukrainian troops during their counteroffensive in Kherson. Not anymore. And the Ukrainians are giddy at how discombobulated Russian propagandists are about their ability to reach Crimea:
Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of state-controlled media organizations RT and Rossiya Segodnya, called for calm and continued support for Moscow’s military.
“Whatever happens, your duty is to support your country, your people and your army,” she said on Telegram. “Don’t whine. Don’t panic. Don’t criticize. Support!”
Popular television host Vladimir Solovyov expressed frustration that Ukraine, which he blamed for attacking Crimea, was being allowed to get away with such acts of aggression.
“What, are we crazy? The red lines we are trying to draw, what are they about?” he said in a clip of his show posted on Telegram on Wednesday. “I really want to understand. What is the red line now? Are they supposed to bomb Moscow?”
“Ukrainians on social media haven’t been this excited since their military sank the Moskva, the flagship cruiser of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet,” observed Weiss and Rushton. Some Ukrainian companies have even taken to tagging themselves in photos of Crimea on social media, as if to imply that they’ll be reopening their businesses there soon. That’s unlikely, but it’s a fun morale booster.
Meanwhile, tactical strikes to aid the Kherson counteroffensive are continuing. Remember the last time Ukraine shocked Russia with its capabilities, striking the Antonovsky Bridge across the Dnieper River repeatedly? The Ukrainians weren’t able to do that previously due to antiquated, inaccurate artillery but the arrival of American HIMARS systems allowed them to hit targets precisely from 50 miles away, putting the bridge within range. Ukrainian forces struck it repeatedly, rendering it unfit to support heavy weapons and complicating Russian logistics. A few hours ago they struck another bridge over the Dnieper, the Kakhovsky, hoping to render that one unfit for military equipment too. As the bridges are taken offline, Russia will be stuck using pontoon bridges to try to resupply its forces in Kherson. And pontoons are easy pickings for artillery.
⚡️A video of the results of the attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Kakhovsky Bridge appeared pic.twitter.com/PRqKHtuAh5
— 🇺🇦War in Ukraine🇺🇦 (@Rinegati) August 10, 2022
Caught the Russians as they were flying in vacuum bombs, did they?
Is it still February?
I thought it was said that the Russians would win the war within a week.
I wonder who really did this with who’s help?
They did. But you won't read that anywhere in the globalist media.
Wonder what kind of response will be coming? The Ukes are still talking about invading Crimea and looks like they did a similar attack on Belarus today.
Woopsie Daisy! Good job America and Nato! As I recall from years of life, Russia doesn’t forget.
We colored outside the lines.
Ukraine can’t invade Crimea because Crimea belongs to Ukraine. The “voting” on the Yalta coast was completely fraudulent and the stealing of beachfront property from Ukranians was an orgy of crime.
Supposedly only one person was killed. Which shows the desperate Russians are sending everyone to Putin’s frontline meat grinder.
The one guy with high connections thought he was lucky to be stationed back near the beach resort.
Now it’s just back and forth, but the Russians already took what they wanted: Eastern Ukraine which is ethnic Russian, an industrial area, port city (~20% of Ukraine’s landmass and population). They have already accomplished their political objectives, i.e. no NATO expansion.
It’s us who are trying to define what amounts to failure as success. Ukraine is badly damaged: refugees, casualties, infrastructure, economy, internal stability. They won’t even become an EU member at this point and that was within their reach before the war.
We armed the Ukraine and trained them for years. We allowed the building of a mercenary army (~7,000 men plus major firms like the former Blackwater which is in Kiev...) we basically paid for with US tax dollars. When we gave the green light for NATO membership we were betting on the cost being to high and Russia acquiescing.
We gambled. We lost.
Baloney. It’s been a Russian city and navy base since the 1780s. The Uke idiots are playing word games. They are about to get punished.
Oh well, I’m more worried about the dictatorship that has arisen here in America than what the Uke Hobbits try next.
So when did the Russians capture Kiev and execute Zelenskyy again? That’s generally the definition of winning a war. Or is this like our own misadventure in Iraq where W declared “Mission Accomplished” yet somehow American troops kept getting shot at by an enemy they had supposedly subdued?
If and when Russia does win the war even the LSM won’t be able to cover it up.
It was not Russian in 1970, in 1990, in 2010. Then Russia invaded with the green suits. You have supported the genocide against Ukrainians and you believe might makes right. If you can just kill more Ukrainians and displace more Ukrainians you can establish Russian majorities. The Bolsheviks have a long, long history of this.
“They have already accomplished their political objectives, i.e. no NATO expansion.”
Cough, Finland, Cough, Sweden, Cough, Ukraine.
You support uke nazis. You didnt care when Azov nazi artillery pounded the Donbass for 8 years.
“Ukraine can’t invade Crimea because Crimea belongs to Ukraine.”
Just to be accurate, Crimea was part of Russia for hundreds of years, and only became part of Ukraine in the 1950s by an act of Khrushchev.
I have friends and family in the Donbas. I know what happened there. You are a brainwashed Moscow stooge. Thousands if those Russian speakers in the Donbas are continuing to fight against the Russian invaders and their fake “separatist” movement. Teachers and bureaucrats in the “separatist” area have to join the party and the party is called UNITED RUSSIA. That doesn’t sound very separate does it?
Oh, they did. I think it was earlier this year. But as I mentioned, the globalist cabal isn't letting the information be released. Instead they feed you this story about the Ukrainians beating back the Russian advance and holding their own, blowing up tanks and sinking ships and shit. Don't believe it! Only believe pro-Russian propaganda!
“Baloney. It’s been a Russian city and navy base since the 1780s.”
It was also lost in the Crimean War, and also to the Nazis.
All of Ukraine was part of Czarist Russia and later the Soviet Union. It ain’t part of Russia now.
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