FRONTLINE LARGELY QUIET, HEAT & CONDITIONS ARE CHALLENGING

For the most part the frontline is more stable and quiet than it has been for several weeks. The need to rebuild forces, the near impossible heat which puts a huge strain on soldiers of both sides - Russians and Ukrainians are used to warm summers but this is something new. Temperatures overnight are 27C and daytime hitting 40C. Then there’s the humidity. Exhausting, energy sapping humidity.
The pressure this places on water supplies, making sure dehydration doesn’t set it, the need for electrolyte replacement to allow the body to function properly, food that doesn’t spoil, is an added strain on stretched logistics.
Wearing body armour in these conditions and military clothing can be exhausting. Imagine being in an armoured vehicle without air con. It’s like an oven. In temperatures like this you can cook eggs on a tank hull.
And if that wasn’t enough the heat brings with it flies, midges and the risk of disease spreading in close-knit trenches.
It’s an unpleasant and deadly time of year unless great care is taken. Exhaustion sets in easily.
When you move military vehicles they are even easier to see, dust rises up as soon as they start to get underway. Often there’s little wind and plumes of artillery smoke and vehicle dust hang in the air. Even troops moving risk even higher levels of exposure to the ever present omniscient drones.
This is not a place anyone wants to be.
Yet battles are happening and in some areas, such as New York the Russians continue to make small advances. The spike attack here is now so wide at the base that cutting it off is too late to contemplate.
Small gains have in other areas continued, a field here or there.  But Russian gain’s nonetheless.
The other news is the leaked Russian documentation from their Probate Office. This deals with the state acceptance of death and settlement of the departed’s estate.
Russian figures show that so far the state has accepted the death of 140,000 front line soldiers, paid out $34 billion in compensation (around $243,000 per death), equal to 8% of the state budget and 1.5% of GDP.
Is it any wonder the government delays making these payments for as long as it can and denies them if it can possibly do so?
The other interesting aspect from
a statistical point of view is that these periods of quiet lead to a drop in Russian losses of men and equipment  while Ukrainian losses remain relatively stable in equipment. When Russia is active equipment loss runs at around 3:1 in Ukraine’s favour. The Russians provide the targets, the Ukrainians destroy them.
The Ukrainians lose much of their key equipment to drones - mostly the ever capable Lancett which is a chronic pain in the side.
The rate of Ukrainian loss is lower all of the time but its cause is largely and consistently from loitering drone attacks rather than combat in the frontlines. The Russians have been deliberately targeting as a priority Ukrainian artillery pieces well behind the front. They seem to use a combination of spotter drones at a height where they can’t be easily seen or interdicted, which then relay information to Lancett operators. There’s no denying they’re getting very proficient at these operations.
The same can be said for Ukraine if not more so. Russian troops in some areas complain of swarms of small Ukrainian drones, running into groups as high as 40 which cause mayhem, you don’t know where to look or how to avoid them. They can be demoralising and mentally draining.
Ukraine too persist in attacking artillery and supply lines never making it easy for the Russians. Ukrainian heavy  Babyar drones lay mines day and night so the Russians never know when a new minefield has appeared they know nothing about.
It’s harder on the front lines than ever for the defenders of Ukrainian Freedom. Spare a thought for them today.

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
‘The Analyst’ MilStratOnX

@ukrainejournal