Posted on 05/16/2024 10:15:28 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Russia’s new offensive across Ukraine’s northeastern border had been expected for months — yet it still surprised the Ukrainian soldiers stationed there to defend against it.
Ukraine’s 125th Territorial Defense Brigade — stretched thin along a roughly 27-mile stretch of the Kharkiv region’s border with Russia — used reconnaissance drones to monitor, daily, how Moscow was steadily building up forces for a possible attack. But the morning it happened, May 10, the brigade lost all its video feeds due to Russian electronic jamming.
Its Starlink devices — satellite internet the Ukrainian military relies on for basic communication — failed, the first time it was knocked out completely for them since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
“We were left at a certain point completely blind,” said a drone unit commander in the brigade. The Post agreed to identify him by his call sign, Artist, in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol.
“This was the biggest problem, we didn’t see how they were moving, we only worked through radio or through phones where they still worked,” Artist, a 53-year-old sergeant, said. The drone feeds, he said, “simply disappeared.”
Within days, the Russians had captured — for the second time — some 50 square miles of territory along the border, capitalizing on a moment of particular vulnerability for Ukraine’s military.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“I guess 18 months in Kharkiv wasn’t enough time to build fortifications.”
Longer than that. They had time since 2014 when Russia stole the Crimea and stirred up trouble in the Donbas. Yet they did very little or nothing at all.
Lines were built with the finances sent.
On mirrors.
Probably what happened is those lines were not built in Ukraine, they were built in the French Riviera along with the whores that go along with those lines.
More than likely.
Stupid. ALL defensive lines can be overcome, ie Marginot Lines.
The actual biggest aid to Russian reinvasion of Kharkiv is the months long stoppage of US aid, causing artillery shortage, and the stupid US insistence that its weapons cannot be used on Russian soil which stopped Ukraine from striking the attacking Russian army with Himars or Atacms.
U.S. officials have repeatedly said that they do not support or encourage Kyiv's strikes with American weapons at Russian territory, while Ukrainian officials are reportedly trying to convince Washington to lift this ban.
Fake news.
The Russians only occupy parts of one the grey zone - or no mans land. The main UKR defense lines are kilometers away.
Russians were forced to retreat from Kyiv, Russians were forced to retreat from Kharkiv, and Russians were forced to retreat from Kherson.
That's pretty good for fighting the #2 military on the earth(Russia) with no Ukraine navy and pretty much no air-force.
WITH ridiculous rules imposed by the west- Kyiv's strikes with American weapons on Russian territory are forbidden. Resulting in ALL of Ukraine targeted by Russian drones and missiles while Russian military bases just across the border cannot be attacked.
Ruh Roh!
If you go to the artillery shell store and there ain't no artillery shells, that's where an artillery shortage comes from.
BTW - we all know that the US was sliding arms and ammo to the Ukraine under the table before the DC establishment passed the bill to make the under-the-table stuff legal.
So, that was all "paid forward" beforehand.
Nice try with your propaganda, though! 
The whole reason this operation is happening is because Ukraine kept shelling civilians in Belgorod, so your response is that Ukrainians should be supported in continuing their attacks on Russia? Wow.
Right, because there are no Russian military bases and training grounds in Belgorod.
Local residents of Russian Belgorod showed a video of a Russian Grad MLRS firing toward Ukraine from a road on the outskirts of Belgorod.
Video of Russian Grad firing Toward Ukraine on Civilian Road in Belgorod
US stopped sending artillery shells to Ukraine for months due to lack of funding, not because of shortage.
Czech Republic found 500,000 155 shells they can buy from third party sources. I guess the "shell store" wasn't empty.
Czech President Petr Pavel said at the Munich Security Conference last month that his country had identified 500,000 rounds of 155mm shells and 300,000 rounds of 122mm ones that could be delivered within weeks if the money was made available.
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/ukraine-to-get-155mm-artillery-shells-found-in-czech-led-effort-11709319241449.html
Keep pretending that it isn't.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.