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
(2/2)
The Soviet Union developed the BTR-50 in the early 1950s. It entered service in 1954 and, for the next 12 years, was the Soviet army’s main fighting vehicle. BTR-50 crews would haul soldiers into battle, protect them as they dismounted and then support them with its machine gun.
The BTR-50 is lightly-armed and thinly-armored by even 1960s standards, however. When the heavier, and more heavily-armed, BMP-1 debuted in 1966, thousands of BTR-50s cascaded to second-line units. The BTRs hauled artillery, engineers and anti-aircraft guns until MT-LB tractors began displacing the older vehicles from those roles, too.
The present-day Russian military had few uses for a BTR-50 until, around 15 months into the wider war in Ukraine, Russia’s monthly losses of modern armored vehicles exceeded Russia’s monthly generation of reasonably modern replacement vehicles—either through production of brand-new vehicles or the recovery, from long-term storage, of vehicles from the 1980s or later.
The Kremlin began pulling BTR-50s out of open storage in early 2023. It seems Russian commanders initially assigned the vehicles to rear-area support roles and kept them away from the front line. But then, in late 2023, BTR-50s began showing up in Russian assault groups in the east.
Six months later, the Russians have lost in battle at least four BTR-50s that the analysts at Oryx can confirm. One got hit by a Javelin while attacking Ukrainian lines west of Novomykhailivka on or right before Sunday.
The Ukrainian army’s 79th Air Assault Brigade holds the line in that area—and that brigade’s anti-tank missileers are notoriously bloodthirsty. It’s unsafe to send a modern T-72 tank with hundreds of millimeters of armor against the 79th Air Assault Brigade; it’s suicide to send a BTR-50 with just 10 millimeters of armor.
That BTR-50’s doomed assault is indicative of a wider problem. Tens of billions of dollars worth of fresh military aid the United States and the European Union are on the way to Ukraine. Perhaps hoping to capture additional territory ahead of that aid arriving, the Russians launched a new offensive two weeks ago—rolling south across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia.
This offensive, apparently targeting Kharkiv—Ukraine’s second-biggest city, just 25 miles south of the border—captured a few small border villages before running into a wall of Ukrainian mechanized brigades firing those first consignments of fresh artillery shells coming from the United States.
Sustaining offensives in the north and east in addition to positional fighting in the south has proved difficult for the Kremlin. Big advances in the north would require “a large number of vehicles,” according to Frontelligence Insight. Even as it mobilizes tens of thousands of fresh troops every month, Russia is struggling to equip them with modern vehicles.
A BTR-50 is as old as a combat vehicle gets without coming directly from a museum. And it’s only slightly more protected than a golf cart. When a Ukrainian anti-tank missile team spots a BTR-50 rolling toward it, it’s not just bad news for the crew and occupants of that BTR-50. It’s also bad news for the whole Russian war effort.
(2/2)
@EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe
When A 70-Year-Old Russian BTR-50 Attacks Ukrainian Troops, It’s Bad News For The Whole Russian War Effort
The thinly-protected, 1950s-vintage BTR-50 might not be the worst vehicle the Russian army has sent in a direct assault on Ukrainian positions, but it’s probably the oldest.
And while it’s safer for Russian troops to ride in a 70-year-old BTR-50 with its 10-millimeter-thick armor than to ride in, say, a brand-new Chinese golf cart, it’s still an ominous sign for Russia that more BTR-50s are appearing on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds toward its 28th month.
“Without mechanized units fully equipped with proper combat vehicles like tanks, achieving swift and decisive penetration of defenses will be very challenging,” Ukrainian analysis group Frontelligence Insight explained. “This limitation is likely to result in slower and more limited advances, hampering the overall progress of Russian forces.”
The BTR-50 is a 15-ton, diesel-fueled armored tractor with two crew and space for up to 20 passengers. It usually packs a heavy machine gun.
The Soviet Union developed the BTR-50 in the early 1950s. It entered service in 1954 and, for the next 12 years, was the Soviet army’s main fighting vehicle. BTR-50 crews would haul soldiers into battle, protect them as they dismounted and then support them with its machine gun.
The BTR-50 is lightly-armed and thinly-armored by even 1960s standards, however. When the heavier, and more heavily-armed, BMP-1 debuted in 1966, thousands of BTR-50s cascaded to second-line units. The BTRs hauled artillery, engineers and anti-aircraft guns until MT-LB tractors began displacing the older vehicles from those roles, too.
(1/2)
@EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe
In addition to the Kovrovets minesweeper, which was reportedly destroyed yesterday, the destruction of another ship, the Project 22800 Karakurt Class 'Tsiklon', is likely, Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said.
"Actually, this information is still being verified. Because in order to be 100 percent sure, it is still necessary to obtain the appropriate results of objective control," he added.
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-vms-imovirnist-rosiiskyi-korabel-tsyrkon/32954637.html
Nato allies should not fear that sending troops to Ukraine to train its soldiers would risk dragging the military alliance into war with Russia, Estonia’s prime minister Kaja Kalas said.
"There are countries who are training soldiers on the ground already, and they did so at their own risk. If training personnel were attacked by Russian forces it would not automatically trigger Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence clause," she said.
The chairman of the French Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly demands that France change its doctrine, and no longer prohibits Ukraine from striking inside Russian territory.
"This change in doctrine is perfectly legitimate insofar as it puts an end to the unacceptable asymmetry between the situation of the aggressor and that of the aggressed. In the name of what can we deny the Ukrainians the right to respond blow for blow to the attacks of which they are victims?" he emphasized.
"There are mines on the road."
Ok. Let's continue. Blyatbarn, charge!
Russians at work.
People are looking forward to dancing on this man's grave.
🇺🇦 The International Boxing Federation (IBF) will strip Oleksandr Usyk of his heavyweight title as his belt defense against Filip Hrhovych has expired
Horvath is a must-win title contender, and he refuses to wait for Fury and Usyk to rematch (if it comes to that match it would be in October).
With that in mind, the IBF is taking away its belt and will award it to the winner of the Hrgovych-DuBois fight on June 1. The winner of this fight will face the ex-heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
If Usyk can defeat Fury in the rematch, then he will have to fight the new IBF champion to collect all four belts (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO) and defend the title of the absolute champion in the heavyweight division.
@ukrainejournal
From the Freedom of Russia Legion:
We are not fighting “against”. We fight for. For our families, for children, for peace, for the future, for freedom.
And, of course, for love. Therefore, today we cannot help but congratulate our brother in arms “Vita” on his wedding!
Just recently, “Vit” was wounded in the Bakhmut direction. But not only is he successfully undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, but today he is celebrating the creation of his family. Let life continue to conquer death, and light - darkness.
Congratulations brother! Happy married life! 💙🤍💙
@ukrainejournal
Donnie it does not require a legal expert. They proved your guilt so completely even a slow witted person like myself can see your guilt.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-has-crybaby-meltdown/56196/
Ukraine is using the flight simulator to train pilots.
Donnie posted a video on X about his "Unified Reich.
Resist. Resist. Resist
Good morning. I had terrible muscle cramps in my legs this morning. But I got a 150 foot row rototilled 2 feet wide. My tiller is 9 inches wide.
I am going to say goodnight now. I am trying to rototill. Came in to rest. It won't upload the picture. Sorry
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
TheOldGuy's choices:
