TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/9jcbn77GtEKuqi3r/
The White House has recommended that Russian leader Vladimir Putin withdraw his troops from Ukraine if he is concerned about the situation developing in Kursk region as Ukraine pursues its incursion.
This was stated by John Kirby, a While House strategic communications coordinator
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/CLhNDMD2aUj6Rzaj/
The Pentagon spokesperson stressed that Ukraine is doing everything possible to continue liberating its sovereign territory, and the events in Kursk Oblast fit into this scenario.
"We're going to continue to support Ukraine with the capabilities and the systems that they need. We don't feel like this is escalatory in any way. Ukraine is doing what it needs to do to be successful on the battlefield," Singh said.
The operation in the Kursk region helps the front and complicates Russia's military logistics
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhy, said that the operation in the Kursk region helps the front: "It does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to the Donetsk region and complicates its military logistics. The ZSU is a civilized European military force that fully complies with the laws and customs of warfare, international of humanitarian law. The goal of the Armed Forces is only military facilities and a military contingent."
☝️The purpose of the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region, the spokesman said, was to save the lives of Ukrainians from Russian strikes, because since the beginning of the summer, more than 2,000 strikes have been carried out in the Sumy region from the territory of the Kursk region : "Unfortunately, Ukraine cannot strike with existing long-range weapons to protect itself from this terror, there are still no such solutions, which we insist on, so there is a need to liberate these border territories from the Russian military contingent that is striking Ukraine with the help of the Armed Forces."
At the press conference, he said that Ukraine, unlike the Russian Federation, does not seek to seize foreign territories, including the Kursk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the Order of Courage, 3rd degree, to a doctor at the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv, which Russia hit with missiles on July 8.
We are talking about a native of Simferopol, a pediatric maxillofacial surgeon at the hospital's reconstructive plastic microsurgery department, Oleg Golubchenko, who was operating on a 5-month-old child during the attack.
The man studied at the Crimean State Medical University, but after the occupation of the peninsula in 2014, he was forced to leave for Kyiv.
The photo of doctor Oleg Golubchenko, who, in bloody medical clothing, is clearing away the rubble of the hospital where he works, is remembered by everyone.
When the enemy missile hit, the surgeon was performing an operation on a five-month-old child. The medical staff were injured by the debris, covering the child with themselves. Once they were sure that the child was okay and transferred to another hospital to complete the operation, Oleg, with a back wound, hurried to clear away the rubble to free his colleagues and patients.
In Russia, there are plans to expand the mechanism that allows individuals to be sent to war in Ukraine by including those already on trial, according to the BBC. The Russian Supreme Court has proposed that criminal cases against individuals who agree to fight in Ukraine could be halted not only during the preliminary investigation stage but also during court proceedings.
The proposed law, which aims to extend the "mechanism for the release of SMO participants from criminal liability," was presented at the Supreme Court's plenary session and is expected to be submitted to the State Duma for consideration.
This practice of exempting individuals from criminal responsibility has become more common in Russia, particularly after prisoners who received amnesty were sent to fight in the war. In March of this year, amendments to criminal legislation were enacted, allowing for the suspension of criminal cases against individuals who are either undergoing military service or have signed a contract for military service during the mobilization period.
The new proposal suggests applying this exemption mechanism even during court proceedings, specifically when a criminal case has already been sent to court and is being heard in the court of first instance or on appeal.
Volodymyr nicknamed "Fill" - a combat medic of the 112th separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Volodymyr never dreamed of becoming a soldier. He only knew about wars from textbooks and monographs he read during his studies at the history faculty of Kyiv National University named after Shevchenko. He had his own business. Met a large-scale invasion on vacation:
"I just went skiing in Bukovel, and I skied there... I immediately took my family closer to the border, and I myself returned to Kyiv and joined the ranks of the 112th brigade."
"Fill" is a combat medic from the "Angels" unit, who, as crews assigned to battalions, is engaged in the evacuation of the wounded and performs tasks of providing emergency medical aid. He says he could never have thought that he would learn how to put catheters with drips, but when such a need arose, he did everything to be useful: "There were difficult moments. In the spring of 2023, we were with the 127th Territorial Defense Battalion of Kyiv in Serebryansky Forest. There was a big assault on our positions. Enemies had a significantly increased contingent, then they tried to break through to the borders of the Luhansk region. We had three days when we didn't sleep at all, we didn't even have time to eat. We refueled the cars and returned to the forest to our positions to help the boys."
In general, the "Angels" have more than a thousand rescued soldiers. After two and a half years of war, the most pleasant thing for "Phil" is to meet fellow citizens with whom he once crossed paths. Although the situation at the front is difficult and often not laughable there, he remembers several funny stories: "Once we took one soldier from the positions, jumped back, and recorded his data on the way. He says: call sign "Bes". Well, it's cool, I say, angels carry the devil. And he: "Guys, don't drop me off, I'll change the call sign! And one, as soon as the connection явився зв , called his wife. He says: everything is fine, well, it hurt, don't worry, the "Angels" are taking me! She, poor thing, thought that he was already saying goodbye to her."
Without humor in war, it is very difficult psychologically, says "Phil". And he also dreams that each new rotation will be the last.
"To be honest, every time I think that we will go now, our offensive will begin, we will drive them away, like then, during the Kharkiv operation. They will flee, and then there will be some negotiations, the capitulation of the Russian Federation, everything will be over and you will come home... Time passes, my children grow up. The war started when they were 10 years old, today they are 13. It was especially difficult when I did not see them for the first almost two years. I was escorting the little ones, and here there are already such personalities. We had to catch up, adapt to what they are interested in."
According to Volodymyr, with more powerful support from partners, the imperialist ambitions of the Russians could be suppressed for several centuries: "To forget about them for 200 years... This is a very difficult war. What we stand for is only thanks to the self-sacrifice of our people, who today on the battlefield do not spare either their lives or their health , but go and do their job - defend their Motherland."
Communication service of the 112th separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Ultimately as I said the other day, it will force a major rejig of Russian forces and disrupt almost solidified supply lines out of threat or necessity. At this stage in the war that’s a major upset for the Russians.
This is like World War One in so many ways.
The western front had been stuck in place with few changes of any significance for three and half years. The major German offensive the summer of 1918 exhausted them as Russia’s is testing it.
As the Germans sat behind their defences the allied offensive with mobile forces- the first truly major operation of its kind at Amiens in 1918 broke through in such a way, so fast and so deep it set off a whole chain of cascading events that led to the armistice.
This is potentially such a moment. It holds great promise but it must be executed with utter ruthlessness and determination. Failure really isn’t an option.
And still I cannot help but think Kherson and Crimea hang like overripe fruit, a tempting place for a surprise operation. Maybe just wishful thinking.
‘The Analyst’ MilStratOnX
Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦!
I don't think this is the same Analyst. Style is different last couple of weeks.
MILITARY & STRATEGIC:
KOLOTILIVKA - NEW FRONT? NEW OPPORTUNITY!
New information from the area of Kolotilivka, on the Russians side of the border barely 1km in, shows what appears last Saturday, to have been a fight the Russians lost for the border checkpoint.
Tanks and troops have been witnessed crossing the frontier. However little information - again tight opsec, is coming out but let’s look at why this might matter.
The position has a major metalled road that runs into Russian territory through the small town. The town itself is roughly half way between the Kursk incursion and the Russian forces in the Liptsy sector of their Kharkiv incursion.
The border runs north-south here before turning west-east at the Liptsy section.
That places the new front opening above and potentially behind the Russians Kharkiv operation. The main road connects almost directly to Belgorod - the most crucial logistics hub for the Russians in Kharkiv and the whole of the northern sector of the main front.
If this is the development it appears to be - and as many as two brigades may be involved though that’s only an observation rather than a concrete assessment, then it can do several things to aid Ukraine’s position.
Firstly it slices off any possibility of Russian troops being quickly deployed to the southern part of the Kursk incursion when they risk the possibility of being attacked from the west while in transit. It acts as a flanking defence for the Ukrainians. Over time Kursk forces and those from Kolotilivka could meet up and consolidate a huge area before Russians can reach it.
At the same time the Kolotilivka attack doesn’t have to strike north or northeast to reach the Kursk forces - but wait for them to reach it as they push east and south east.
This would enable them to begin to jeopardise the Russian positions in Kharkiv longer term, while potentially slicing off their supply routes from Belgorod.
Ukraine doesn’t need to take Kursk or Belgorod - both major urban centres- but if they fell without a fight in the wider longer term plan, they would. But they don’t need to. They just need to cut off the Russians from their rail and road supply networks to impede their movement in countering the Ukrainians, at the same time as seriously impacting Russian operations through interdiction of their supply chain.
The whole key to this is mobility, command and control.
Dangers of course abound. Not least the further in Ukraine gets the more complex becomes its own supply chain. The wider and thinner its own forces become.
We already know the Russians have pulled units from their main operations and as far as Kherson - but it takes days and masses of rail and road transport to extract, move, redeploy and get them into the field. Operationally this needs to be done well away from where the Ukrainians attack is coming from or they won’t have a unified force to defend with if they try and deploy into a combat area in range. The trouble is the flexibility of the Ukrainian units and their willingness to engage or not, on their terms, makes it difficult to know what is a safe place that’s not too far from the operational area. This of course is what Ukraine needs - Russians constantly on the back foot and unable to reliably coordinate.
The Russians are making a rod for their own back too. Splitting the strategic command of the operation between the non-military trained FSB and the real army is just asking for trouble. These things in Russia just don’t work well, they’re not supposed to because the lack of cross departmental coordination is part of securing any autocratic government. Nobody wants power centre’s coordinating potential resistance to the autocrat.
Overall, if the situation expands as it looks like it will potentially, then this is another twist in what could be a war changing plan.
⏺ A UAV alert was issued in the Kursk, Belgorod, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions of russia.
Explosions have been reported from the Zheleznogorsk district and the Oboyansky district of the Kursk region in russia.
Air defence fire or explosions have also been reported from then Voronezh region.
From ‘The Analyst’ (Military & Strategic) X: MilStratOnX
RUSSIAN MEDIA TWIST THE KURSK OFFENSIVE
Russian media has been trying to explain the Kursk offensive in the most extraordinary way.
First off, it had nothing to do with and was not organised by, Ukrainian leadership at any level - because the Russians cannot give credit to Ukrainians for any degree of self determination or capability.
The whole episode is to them, planned by the US & NATO.
They claim most of the units are mercenaries.
They are saying that the situation is grave, they don’t play it down in terms of scale. But they do blame anyone else for it happening.
They blame psi-ops and internal traitors for giving out vital information.
They blame panic and the people who abandoned their homes for a degree of stupidity verging on treachery.
Yet while they deny Ukraine can organise anything, they blame Ukraine for undermining the people and causing panic.
They want to make points but they can’t make them consistently or in a way that makes any sense.
Russian propaganda is truly weird. The most extraordinary aspect is they think it’s alright for them to react harshly to being invaded but don’t seem to think it’s fair when the country they attacked reacts harshly against them.
They think they are superior but can’t truly explain how Ukraine resists.
At the entrance to Moscow by the Dmitrovskoe Highway, measures have been taken similar to those that were taken after the terrorist attack against Crocus: part of the road has been blocked by a KAMAZ, behind which are security forces - both regular traffic police and one of the special forces, according to russian media
The reinforcement is allegedly connected with the expectation of the penetration of Ukrainian sabotage groups into the capital.
Rest in Peace Brave Warrior
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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