Russia and its “Special Operation” in Ukraine

[Mandy Lifeboats]

2 hours ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

Good points,  a blackout now and again maybe ? 
 

Maybe.  But here's a better idea.

During WW2 the BBC ran a fake German radio station from a very powerful transmitter.  The transmission was so strong that it could drown out real German radio stations.  

The British used it sparingly to communicate news flashes which assisted allied forces. Some examples were: 

Telling a city that a massive air raid was on the way and they must evacuate the city.  

Telling a city that saboteurs dressed as Gestapo were attacking the city and must be shot on sight. 

Reporting that factories had been destroyed and workers should stay at home   

The Germans discovered the operation and blocked its transmissions. 

Now image the same thing with the Russian Internet.  

 

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Mandy Lifeboats
Speeling mishsteaks

[Mandy Lifeboats]

4 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

Maybe.  But here's a better idea.

During WW2 the BBC ran a fake German radio station from a very powerful transmitter.  The transmission was so strong that it could drown out real German radio stations.  

The British used it sparingly to communicate news flashes which assisted allied forces. Some examples were: 

Telling a city that a massive air raid was on the way and they must evacuate the city.  

Telling a city that saboteurs dressed as Gestapo were attacking the city and must be shot on site. 

Reporting that factories had been destroyed and workers should stay at home   

The Germans discovered the operation and blocked its transmissions. 

Now image the same thing with the Russian Internet.  

 

 

If anyone wants to know more about this operation, search for "Aspidistra Transmitter". 

It truly is an amazing story that very few people are aware of. 

 

 

 

 

[sne]

 

[magnkarl]

Seems the asphalt factory in Bakhmut is the new Chornobaivka airport. Russia keeps sending lightly protected waves of soldiers into the compound, Ukraine mortars the hell out of them, sends in drones with grenades to mop up and then Russia does the same again. It's been going on like this for almost a month. One drone operator says he's dropped over 200 grenades on Russian soldiers inside the compound alone. It's like Russia still hasn't figured out that human wave tactics don't work in 2022..

[villa89]

1 hour ago, magnkarl said:

It's like Russia still hasn't figured out that human wave tactics don't work in 2022..

It shows you how little Putin and his cronies think of the Serfs they are sending to die. I'm surprised there hasn't been more revolt amongst the Russian soldiers. If it was me I'd shoot the officer trying to send me to my death and then surrender to the Ukrainians. A year or two as a PoW and then hope the war is over. 

[Delphinho123]

48 minutes ago, villa89 said:

It shows you how little Putin and his cronies think of the Serfs they are sending to die. I'm surprised there hasn't been more revolt amongst the Russian soldiers. If it was me I'd shoot the officer trying to send me to my death and then surrender to the Ukrainians. A year or two as a PoW and then hope the war is over. 

Or shoot the officer and then disappear into the night with a friend and hope you make it to Georgia or Moldova or somewhere like that. 
There really is no way back for Russia in this war is there?

[bickster]

2 hours ago, villa89 said:

It shows you how little Putin and his cronies think of the Serfs they are sending to die. I'm surprised there hasn't been more revolt amongst the Russian soldiers. If it was me I'd shoot the officer trying to send me to my death and then surrender to the Ukrainians. A year or two as a PoW and then hope the war is over. 

These aren't just meat grinder conscripts in Bakhmut, the Russian offensive there is largely run by the Wagner PMC, at this stage they are just sending released murderers and rapists to an early death, it's actualy saving Russia a fortune

[sne]

Ukraine Feb 24th compared to Nov 24th. Grim stuff, Russia systematically killing their power grid.

[Genie]

Russia knocking out the power feels like one of those things the West will later say they should have done more about at the time.

[tinker]

World cup is a perfect place to reach the Russian people, a few flags along the lines of "Putin stop the war" ......."save Ukrainian and Russian lives, stop the war Putin"  would hit a big proportion of Russian football fans, is Qatar pro Russian? 

In fact the whole Rainbow armbands is a decent distraction from the horrors of the Ukrainian war. 

[bickster]

16 minutes ago, tinker said:

World cup is a perfect place to reach the Russian people, a few flags along the lines of "Putin stop the war" ......."save Ukrainian and Russian lives, stop the war Putin"  would hit a big proportion of Russian football fans, is Qatar pro Russian? 

In fact the whole Rainbow armbands is a decent distraction from the horrors of the Ukrainian war. 

Qatar were one of the 141 countries that voted at the UN for Russia to immediately withdraw from Ukraine

It's a interesting point though as although FIFA did ban Russia from the WC it didn't stop them selling the rights to show it to them. $40 million. In contrast the PL, Portuguese league, La Liga and quite a few others withdrew their deals so their games can't be shown in Russia (legally). The Bundesleiga, however, still allows their games to be shown. And that bit is interesting because the Russians stopped showing the games when politcal protests about the invasion started at games, so they'd probably do that again, especially as the Russian's don't seem that interested in the tournament.

[tinker]

49 minutes ago, bickster said:

Qatar were one of the 141 countries that voted at the UN for Russia to immediately withdraw from Ukraine

It's a interesting point though as although FIFA did ban Russia from the WC it didn't stop them selling the rights to show it to them. $40 million. In contrast the PL, Portuguese league, La Liga and quite a few others withdrew their deals so their games can't be shown in Russia (legally). The Bundesleiga, however, still allows their games to be shown. And that bit is interesting because the Russians stopped showing the games when politcal protests about the invasion started at games, so they'd probably do that again, especially as the Russian's don't seem that interested in the tournament.

No protests so far, maybe Russia has allowed the tournament to be shown , be interesting if half way through it the protests started, not just pro Ukraine, just anti war appealing to Putin to stop it , the only one who really has the power to stop it, ps Southgate is a moron  

[magnkarl]

8 hours ago, bickster said:

These aren't just meat grinder conscripts in Bakhmut, the Russian offensive there is largely run by the Wagner PMC, at this stage they are just sending released murderers and rapists to an early death, it's actualy saving Russia a fortune

Including a high up Wagner commander today it seems. The video of him meeting his maker via drone and his own rifle is doing the rounds today.

[Mandy Lifeboats]

26 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

Including a high up Wagner commander today it seems. The video of him meeting his maker via drone and his own rifle is doing the rounds today.

I saw that video.  He didn't look badly injured.  It seemed like he'd blown his knee out or broken his leg.  

It summed up the major weakness with Wagner.  It's a group of individuals not a team.  That's OK if you are fighting poorly armed militia.  But against Ukraine they'll take huge loses.  

[avfc1982am]

28 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

I saw that video.  He didn't look badly injured.  It seemed like he'd blown his knee out or broken his leg.  

It summed up the major weakness with Wagner.  It's a group of individuals not a team.  That's OK if you are fighting poorly armed militia.  But against Ukraine they'll take huge loses.  

The problem is Wagner have their own agenda, The Russian Forces theirs and the Kadrovites have theirs and they all despise each other. Wagner because they're mecenaries, the Russian forces are perceived as weak, and the Kadrovites are just clowns. It's a match made in heaven.... for Ukraine. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by avfc1982am

[Panto_Villan]

29 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

I saw that video.  He didn't look badly injured.  It seemed like he'd blown his knee out or broken his leg.  

It summed up the major weakness with Wagner.  It's a group of individuals not a team.  That's OK if you are fighting poorly armed militia.  But against Ukraine they'll take huge loses.  

I think Wagner are actually meant to be some of the most effective troops on the Russian side. Obviously the prisoner conscripts less so (they're just sent in to die), but I don't think there's any indication the proper Wagner troopers don't know how to fight together as a team.

[Panto_Villan]

7 hours ago, Genie said:

Russia knocking out the power feels like one of those things the West will later say they should have done more about at the time.

I read quite an interesting longform article on this a couple of weeks back. It went a bit counter to the narrative I've been reading on Twitter, which is basically that the Russians sent over these massive salvos of missiles and then the Ukrainians get everything fixed up and there's no real harm done.

The article was saying that Ukraine still uses the Soviet style of power grid, which uses transformers that run on a different voltage (or something to that effect) than the Western / EU countries do. All these missile strikes are being targetted at essential infrastructure and although the Ukrainians quickly repair most of the damage inflicted, when one of these massive twenty-ton transformers gets blown up there's basically nothing they can do. Nobody in the EU builds transformers that work with the Ukrainian style of power grid because we don't use them, and even the old ex-Soviet countries in the EU have moved over to Western systems in the past decade or two, so they don't have any either.

It was saying Ukraine is already short at least fifty of these things and the problem just gets worse with every new wave of missiles, so there's potential this turns into a really serious issue going forward.

Edited November 25, 2022 by Panto_Villan

[Mandy Lifeboats]

7 hours ago, Panto_Villan said:

I don't think there's any indication the proper Wagner troopers don't know how to fight together as a team.

I think you need to see the video referenced.  A seemingly lightly wounded commander shoots himself whilst lying alone.  I am not doubting their ability to fight together.  It’s the other things like the desire and ability to evacuate wounded. 
 

[Tayls]

43 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

I think you need to see the video referenced.  A seemingly lightly wounded commander shoots himself whilst lying alone.  I am not doubting their ability to fight together.  It’s the other things like the desire and ability to evacuate wounded. 
 

whilst lying alone… with someone filming? Or did he film himself? Or is it CCTV? I don’t plan on watching it but I need to understand it 

[Mandy Lifeboats]

2 hours ago, Tayls said:

whilst lying alone… with someone filming? Or did he film himself? Or is it CCTV? I don’t plan on watching it but I need to understand it 

There was a Ukrainian drone flying above.  

I shall not describe any gruesome detail.  He is lying on his back in a grassy area.  His upper body seems fine.  His one leg is bent at a strange angle. With some difficulty he manages to shoot himself in the chest with his own rifle.  He appears dead or well beyond any help. The Ukrainian drone drops a grenade.  It explodes very close with no perceivable reaction. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by Mandy Lifeboats
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