TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
With the third Patriot, Germany is giving to Ukraine one third of what it has.
The news of battles won and victories being gained in Vovchansk will come as a huge relief to all of Ukraine and demonstrates that in the right conditions with the necessary equipment, Ukraine can win, not just here, but the war in general.
Outstanding staff work from commanders and tactical leaders alike has made this possible, along with determined and experienced frontline troops, aviators, drone operators and artillerists.
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
From "The Analyst":
VOVCHANSK: VICTORY & SURRENDER
Ukraine has continued its offensive into the city, forcing Russians to retreat from over half the areas they still hold in the western sector - indeed making the remaking streets almost untenable, and taking back a large slice of the city along the west-east axis.
This follows on from the first ever raid by Ukrainian aircraft into Russia itself, resulting in the destruction of an ammo depot - and causing widespread civilian panic - along with the army command HQ building at another site. It was this move that was the final straw that forced the Russians to order the redeployment of air defences from Crimea. Even that hasn’t gone to plan, with ATACMS destroying at least three S-300 and an S-400 system before they could depart, incinerating them all.
In Vovchansk itself the Russians have been almost entirely driven out of the city, with Ukraine now holding about 93% of it, a huge shift in the space of a week.
Several pockets of Russians have been cut off with many surrendering or expected to do so. Those that don’t will inevitably die.
It’s uncertain the Russians even know what is going on. They made feeble attempts to attack the central Ukrainian position - leaving themselves wide open to being captured or killed. Indoctrination seems to work better on some than others and it has the feeling of attacks being launched in the vein of death or glory - death being the general result. Nobody is gaining any glory.
Ukrainian gains to the northeast of the city show them crossing the Vovcha river to the north bank, apparently using a German supplied Beaver bridge layer. FPV drones tried to attack it but don’t seem to have been successful, presumably because the Ukrainians knew it was a target and provided countermeasures.
The Russians seem to be trying their best to resist the Ukrainian advances with air strikes and glide bombs, but they just don’t have the ground forces to make them stick, it has become almost a fighting retreat. In warfare like this you either have the men on the ground or you don’t - no amount of air power is going to make them advance if there isn’t enough of it on the frontline with the right equipment and support.
The one thing the Russians have done is successfully eradicate so many buildings that the city is a total ruin. It leaves few places for either them or the Ukrainians to fortify and make use of for defence.
The Ukrainians have, unusually, a very good numerical advantage in men, around 3:1, and they persist in smashing the rear areas and logistics of the Russian forces - which is proving incredibly significant.
The Russians are holding on to fewer and fewer areas and surrendering in sizeable numbers when resistance is pointless.
Ukrainian forces continue there attacks - and this is virtually the only area of the entire front that is currently very active. Almost nothing at all has changed anywhere else and fighting is pretty static.
Let’s remember this is now mid-June, the longest day is just 8 days away, the weather in the front has been warm and dry and the Russians are doing very little if anything because they just don’t have the resources.
Meanwhile American aid and European artillery shells seem to have arrived in sufficient quantity to redress the balance along the whole front.
I do wonder if Ukraine is preparing some kind of offensive somewhere - maybe for later in the year - largely because it would be such a big surprise, but I doubt it. They have recruited more men in the past month than in the past six with the change to mobilisation laws, so after six weeks of basic training they will start to feed into operational units and provide gradual relief and rest to experienced and long serving troops, while boosting numbers overall. That alone will stabilise much of the weaker spots on the frontlines.
Justice Thomas inadvertently omitted two trips paid for by Harlan Crow. One was to Bali
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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