Genie Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 How are Russia able to hold the defensive line with these losses in every department? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted October 20, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2023 Russia just has lots of kit. It might be shit kit, comparatively, but it's kit. The same had always been true of their troop numbers - they always have had men to throw at a problem, and as the saying goes quantity has a quality of its own. They're getting pushed on all fronts though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 The two sides are in each others faces in the windbreaks. They're mostly Russian speakers, and there's a lot of shouting at each other. Most of it isn't very complimentary. Also a round of abuse is often immediately followed by an exchange of shots. Russian to English auto translate on Youtube gives an entirely new angle to these exchanges. The software interprets the sound of a heavy firefight as [applause]. The action on screen is hair raising, and then the subs are comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 20, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2023 7 hours ago, Anthony said: It is kind of nuts the losses the Russians are taking, but my fear is that the AFU will be overwhelmed with sheer numbers; obviously a constant fear in this war, but it's one of the few 'tactics' the Russians have that appear to 'work'. It's all about power at a point. It's obviously great that the AFU can eliminate loads of Russian forces, but can the AFU get enough troops/equipment in place quickly enough to stop the Russian attacks? Who knows. I hope so. On 30/08/2023 at 12:47, sidcow said: I'm not entirely sure about this. Population of Russia is 143m. A good many of young fighting age men have left. A good many fighting age men are burning recruitment centres and murdering recruitment officers and in hiding. Population of Ukraine is 44m. Russia have been literally throwing men into the meat grinder. I would not be in the least surprised if their losses are at least 3 - 4 times that of Ukraine which means purely on population they'll run out of men first or be more or less equal before you even think about how many have left and are in hiding. Ukrainians are better trained, better armed and better motivated and are used strategically with actual tactics instead of being told to march into machine guns holding antiquated rifles. People seem to think that Russia literally has an unlimited number of fighting age men they can throw at this. But the losses they are taking MUST be eroding their numbers at speed. I've re-posted something I first put up in August. Since then Russia has continued to throw men into the meatgrinder. I would expect even more men to have left or gone underground. They've got absolutely gigantic borders to control and a great many troublesome regions to control, they still need men in industry and farming and science and in their Oil and Gas industry. Men needed in arms factories to replenish their dwindling supplies. I am pretty sure they must be struggling with manpower in all areas by now. Their population was already in steady decline and now they're wiping out an entire generation of young men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 They’ve got a few left yet. It would be interesting to see how many are leaving. For some they would have access to and interest in foreign media and a political awareness. There’s even been a slight male surplus in the boy / girl birth rate of late so this special military operation should help to redress that a little. I would suspect for the majority they will believe the media of the mother country which will be telling them the special military operation is going absolutely swimmingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted October 20, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2023 (edited) 14 hours ago, Panto_Villan said: I mean they couldn’t have picked a worse place to attack if they tried. Ukraine have been fortifying Avdiivka (sp?) since 2014 so I think things are heavily tilted in their favour there. Especially given that the US gave them all the cluster munitions for their artillery a few months back. Its a concern that Ukraine are struggling to push Russia back, but I don’t think there’s much chance Ukraine are going to be pushed back either. Funnily enough, I read about those defences about half an hour after I posted. "We're going to go them at their strongest point." "Why sir?" "it's the LAST thing they'll expect!" "A cunning plan indeed." Edited October 20, 2023 by Anthony typo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted October 20, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, sidcow said: People seem to think that Russia literally has an unlimited number of fighting age men they can throw at this. But the losses they are taking MUST be eroding their numbers at speed. I've re-posted something I first put up in August. Since then Russia has continued to throw men into the meatgrinder. I would expect even more men to have left or gone underground. They've got absolutely gigantic borders to control and a great many troublesome regions to control, they still need men in industry and farming and science and in their Oil and Gas industry. Men needed in arms factories to replenish their dwindling supplies. I am pretty sure they must be struggling with manpower in all areas by now. Their population was already in steady decline and now they're wiping out an entire generation of young men. I don't think they have an unlimited number of fighting age men, but I believe the Russian leadership thinks so. Their tactics suggest so.. I think that's all they know how to do, on the battlefield at least. Edited October 20, 2023 by Anthony Sp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 20, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 20, 2023 34 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: They’ve got a few left yet. It would be interesting to see how many are leaving. For some they would have access to and interest in foreign media and a political awareness. There’s even been a slight male surplus in the boy / girl birth rate of late so this special military operation should help to redress that a little. I would suspect for the majority they will believe the media of the mother country which will be telling them the special military operation is going absolutely swimmingly. Will be interesting to see that graph again with the last 3 years added. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mozzavfc Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 26 minutes ago, Anthony said: I don't think they have an unlimited number of fighting age men, but I believe the Russian leadership thinks so. Their tactics suggest so.. I think that's all they now how to do, on the battlefield at least. It's not just Russians fighting. They've got mercenaries from around the world fighting their war which pumps the numbers up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Dogg Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 7 hours ago, bickster said: Remember those helicopters and the worst day in Russian military aviation history pt III... Well UK Intelligence had this to say today 14 helicopters lost in a day The US need to keep supplying those missiles, seem like the game changer Ukraine have needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 21, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 21, 2023 I assume the war is over. It's never on the TV news anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 21, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 21, 2023 16 minutes ago, mjmooney said: I assume the war is over. It's never on the TV news anymore. BBC website today https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67182172 Ukraine war: Why Kyiv's Dnipro east bank gain could be significant Quote Ukrainian fighters on the frontline say troops have not only crossed into Russian occupied territory but held a position, apparently for the first time, on the fiercely defended east (or left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region. Quote The development is potentially significant. Ukraine's counteroffensive aims to slice through Russian occupied territory, severing a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula which Moscow annexed - illegally - in 2014 Quote If successful, the force said, the settlement would give advanced units a base from which to launch a larger offensive aimed at dividing Russian troops and cutting off their supply lines. Quote They told us they had just managed to partially breach the first line of Russian defence near the village of Verbove - and that they'd successfully targeted some ammunition depots and bases, but that progress was limited. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 1 hour ago, mjmooney said: I assume the war is over. Ukraine are pushing pretty hard, partly I think because they don't want their support abroad to lose interest? They're doing alright too. There's noticeably more virtue in this conflict, the other one is just a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 2 hours ago, mjmooney said: I assume the war is over. It's never on the TV news anymore. You know.... not the most popular war anymore. The Middle East has taken over. Ukraine have crossed the Dniper river around Kherson now and have a foothold on the east bank, although not much. Russians are still being slaughtered, heavily in the East around Andiivka in the Dontesk region. It appears the phrase cannon fodder has become prominent once more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 Unfortunately I can't do anything about the shit music but here's an example of the mess around Avdiivka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 (edited) This is a close quarter encounter in the East at Andriivka. You can actually see Russians moving in the foreground as Ukrainians fire on them. Edited October 21, 2023 by avfc1982am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Russia has never lost as much armour and artillery as they have in the last week so far in the war. The same goes for air-assets. If Russia had 100 or so KA52s before the war, and are reported to have lost something like 58, how many would they likely have that are serviceable left after such a long campaign? We must be getting to a point where APC's, tanks, helicopters and artillery systems are getting sparse to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 2 hours ago, magnkarl said: If Russia had 100 or so KA52s before the war, and are reported to have lost something like 58, how many would they likely have that are serviceable left after such a long campaign? We must be getting to a point where APC's, tanks, helicopters and artillery systems are getting sparse to say the least. Won't they be fixing some, making more, servicing old ones whilst the war is going on? Also don't they have like a billion tanks? (slight exaggeration) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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