Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
There is a saying in Danish that translates as "thieves think everyone steals."
How do you (and journalists that started this) imagine this exactly, I wonder?
It’s the same as saying that the coal mines of Donbass were the reason for invasion. There’s no shortage of natural resources in Russia — it’s just that no one bothers to invest in infrastructure anymore. And with the Eastern Ukraine being wiped out by the war who exactly is going to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding the infrastructure (that they are likely to lose to the Ukrainian forces at some point)? It’s not vibranium mines that are going to be key to winning the war and are worth the risk.
not the reason for the invasion but a good reason for choice of military focus in the invasion.
They did that a lot in Syria too.
They did that a lot in Syria too.
I mean Russia has tons of resources as you mentioned but there is no such thing as too many resources. And they had to focus for something to gain from as the above poster stated.
Against all logical reasons, it made no sense to attack those areas with the way they have been, ending with all destroyed infrastructures even if they got it.
But that's our perspective. Theirs can make sense for their own.
The fear of Russian retaliation weighs deep in the minds of Western politicians. Russia's army is poor as we've seen (as is their navy) but the air force and missile forces still pack a punch. And then there's the nukes.
Politically it's easier for the English speaking countries to make this decision. The internal debate in a country like Germany could destabilize the government
To have resources you first need to obtain them. Russia has a lot of untapped resources that they aren’t getting because they can’t be bothered to invest in infrastructure. In what condition do you think those mines is Soledar would be after months of devastating modern warfare? Who’s going to work there? Who’s going to check it for safety and invest tons of money in it when they can easily lose it the next day?
As I said, it doesn't make much sense for us.
But in your opinion, why are they attacking that area like that?
I’d imagine he has been told he can keep them as ‘spoils of war’, so it’s an incentive rather than the sole reason.
Taking Bakhmut and Soledad would apparently make Ukrainian logistics and resupply more difficult in the Donbas, but not enough to make it a key target. I think there’s three reason.
1) Like Stalingrad in WW2, it’s become a symbol. The town has become well known on both sides, and is thus a microcosm of the war as a whole. Neither side wants to be seen to lose that symbol.
2) Wagner group seem to be in charge here, therefore this is a chance for them to show Putin and the Russian people how effective they are as a fighting force (when compared to the rest of the Russian army.
3) It’s important enough that Ukraine will want to defend it as much as they can. These constant attacks mean that The Ukrainians are tied down here rather than being able to regroup, reorganise, and attack elsewhere. I suspect when (and if) the next tranche of mobilised soldiers come through their training then the focus will be elsewhere.
Some hard battles are currently taking place in Soledar as Wagner is throwing everything they have to take the town, it’s seems like they’re all-in there.
But who is doing the dying here, do you think? Russian conscripts being forced to attack by rear echelon Wagner-ites? Or actual Wagner mercenaries themselves? I suspect it’s the former.
Because they’re trying to get everything they can, Prigozhin needs to prove to Putin that his guys are more effective than the regular army and taking Soledar can help with Bakhmut?
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By all accounts the best of Wagner mercenaries are now forcing Soledar, Prigozhin is very desperate after 6+ months of no results.
I hate to see the Ukes lose any ground at all, but the sheer time, effort and losses that Russia has taken bodes well. Cities were overrun in a matter of hours in the first month of the war, now it’s been six months for a town. Seems like the Russians can’t overrun Ukrainian defences any more. I guess the question is can the opposite happen- can Ukraine make the kind of gains it made in Kherson and around Kharkiv?
Sad state of affairs, what drives these Russians to want to die in the cold and wet trenches under Bakhmut? What’s the purpose? How brainwashed does one have to be? Complete waste of human life.
I like to see Russians getting an ass whooping as much as the next man but boy that is brutal. War is horrible. That guy takes two grenades and is still alive.
Someone got it!
Wagner filled their ranks with prisoners. The first groups to attack a position which are likely to suffer heavy casualties might consist of those they want to get rid of, while the actual attack that has a chance to succeed due to gathered information seem to be the best Wagner has.
For Wagner — either money or freedom (and fear of certain death as they will kill those who refuse to go — this only applies to prisoners as I understand) if we’re talking about recruited prisoners.
For regular army… who knows. Sheepish stupidity and obedience.
A nice little speedup: Orginally a three way deal was made between Germany, Greece and Ukraine - Greece would deliver BMPs to Ukraine and in return get 40 Marder from Germany. Half of that is now delayed, so that 20 Marder intended for Greece can be send to Ukraine, as Germany now promised Marder to Ukraine.
All Marder units to be delivered have been inactive for years, so all need refurbishment which is why the numbers can't be delivered immediately, so every delivery shuffle in favour of Ukraine is helpful.
All Marder units to be delivered have been inactive for years, so all need refurbishment which is why the numbers can't be delivered immediately, so every delivery shuffle in favour of Ukraine is helpful.
I wonder how much of that is due to conservation of ammo etc, and how much due to simply not having the necessary equipment/manpower. Either way it means less dead Ukrainians.
I think its simply a reflection of them not having unlimited ammo. They used so much of it flagrantly in the beginning that they are beginning to run low, which is doubly problematic given they are under extreme sanctions and increasingly lacking in domestic ability to replenish.
They had huge cold war Soviet ammo stockpiles and they squandered that “inheritance” by now through indiscriminate high intensity shelling which lasted for almost a year. That was one-off gift from Soviet times that they were sitting on for a long-time which gave them a significant competitive advantage at an early stages of the war. They military doctrine is built on having massive artillery firepower, while their current domestic production is no where near Soviet era.
You dont know what they have or not. Neither anyone here (so im not attacking you, im just stating that no one knows) The stock piles of artillery, misiles, tanks, rifles, bulletw and everything would been depleted many times, after reading many posters even at the second month of the war. The truth is that russia keeps pounding, fortunately ukraine is pounding harder
5 fold decrease in shelling compared to the peak in spring/summer from Russian side is a fact though, and explanation is pretty straightforward.
Not exactly. We don't know whether Russia is actually out of ammo or whether they are for example struggling with logistics to get existing stockpiles to the front.
Considering the sorry state of many Russian trucks and the many successful GMLRS strikes on Russian logistics hub this theory would also be plausible.
Could be for what you said or because winter and waiting for the new soldiers changed their strategy or any other assumption that anyone with 0 knowledge here has about russian stockpiles and strategy
Actually by the sounds of it regular army has joined in storming Soledar as well, seems like they’re really short of any kind propaganda material (wins) for internal consumption.
I was listening to a military man on Youtube the other day. Countries at war do not run out of artillery rounds. What they do is change strategy before that happens. Russia might becoming more selective in what to hit.
One of the guys is wearing a Ukrainian kit = war crime but that’s just par for the course for the orcs. Hopefully he catches some good old friendly fire.
Solovyev and friends are annoyed by a pragmatic guest who cautions against nuking France, Poland, and the UK 
Wagner group claiming they're in control of Soledar.
Is that 11th time since the summer where they claim to have taken Soledar or Bakhmut?
An Italian newspaper citing a “military source” worried about the West actually depleting their own primary stocks with all these passing on to Ukraine.
I didn't know that artillery shells were unobtanium and can't be manufactured again.
Its a common story that most papers have done at least headline on at this point. I don't think there is much to "worry" about personally, they are being used for what they were intended. Stocks will be replenished as and when governments see fit to do so. No doubt manufacturers will be chomping at the bit to agree government contracts, if it isn't already arranged in some countries.