The US institute of War (ISW) has published a drawing of new Russian defensive fortifications in Southern Kerson based on satellite images purchased from Maxar Technologies.

They comment "Russian forces concentrated most of their defenses at multiple locations astride critical roads, establishing only a handful in the open fields between the highways.
However, Ukrainian forces have previously conducted long cross-country drives in Kharkiv Oblast to capitalize on their success in breaking through Russian defensive lines.

Many of the fortifications across the roads do not extend far past the roads themselves, often just far enough to provide good fields of fire from both sides onto the road itself. Most of these positions have open flanks terminating in the middle of fields.
The flanks are often not refused (drawn back) or otherwise well-designed to deter or defend against attacks from the sides or rear.
Many of these positions are not in tactical supporting distance of one another.

Russian forces would be under threat of attacks on their uncovered flanks or even complete encirclement if Ukrainian forces were able to initiate a substantial mechanized campaign from a base on or near the Kinburn Spit to the west of most fortifications or if Ukrainian forces were able to cross the Dnipro River."

RU held both riverbanks at that time, plus a significant stretch of land to the north that kept UA forces at a distance. That doesn't compare to today.

in a speech ursula von der leyen stated that "100,000 ukrainian military officers" had been killed before the video was deleted and subsequently edited out.

link in german:
https://www.msn.com/de-de/nachrichte...en/ar-AA14LrjX

You make it sound like some cloak and dagger cover up. It was explained as follows, and probably removed to prevent confusion (or drama llamas making up some wild narrative )

I believe she has mistaken soldiers (troops) for officers... Of course it's embarrassing for an ex- minister of defence.


What's your theory?

https://www.politico.eu/article/ursu...venient-truth/

https://www.republicworld.com/world-...ticleshow.html

Nice. Take over whole Ukraine and blackmail European countries with radiation pollution. Filtering camps. Lists of people to kill and to intimidate.

With that info, for me all the masks are off now.

Putin and cronies have to be eradicated. I don't see any way to make it work with these people for the long term.

yes, it's commonly known as 'damage control'.

Controlling what damage?

Ukrainian special forces have crossed the Dnipro and put up a flag on the East bank.

If they can secure several such places then they would have the makings of an offensive.

War has slowed down, even the Russians have not much to say. So, winter is here

https://tass.com/russia/1545449

There was an article somewhere about the whole incident. These numbers were coming from some American general and were only approximations based on the idea that both sides must have suffered huge losses in all these months, which I find perfectly reasonable.
Obviously unsere Ursula didn't write the message, her PR staff did. Which makes me wonder, why these people work for the European Commission? Who hired them? Do they come from the press? Who would have written in an official communicate sensitive stuff they had no official info/numbers about?
The truth is no side had real numbers, it's only approximations and each of them tends to maximise the other's human losses.
IMO.

Russians were being careless with cigarettes again at Engels military aerodrome in Saratov Oblast, Russia where Russia's strategic nuclear bombers are kept, video here.
There are claims but no photographic evidence that it was a drone attack and nuclear bombers damaged.

BBC also reports a second fire due to a fuel tanker exploding killing three and injuring six in a military airfield near the city Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, Russia.

After watching the final episode SAS Rogue Heroes on BBC1 last night and also the documentary that accompanied the series 'SAS - The Originals' not to mention the SAS's other exploits since WW2, like the Iranian Embassy siege.
I wouldn't put it past 'the powers that be in the UK' to have a team of 21st century Rogue Heroes 'doing the dirty business on these Russian bases' using the sage old excuse of 'plausible deniability' if caught or found out.

After all the British are pirates & buccaneers at heart and whereas in the past you had Sir Francis Drake 'singeing The King of
Spain's beard' with Drakes raid on Cadiz back in 1587 - whose to say Britons modern day pirates, the SAS are not singeing Putin's
hairy chest at his air bases ?

__________________
Surely the time has come for Boris to 'circle the wagons' for a bit of herd immunity ?

Yes, and James Bond must have been in there too…

Another big fire at a Russian military airfield, this time in Kursk - darn cigarettes.

Edit: Some claims that Ukraine is making these attacks with 40/50-year-old unmanned Tupolev Russian built aircraft that should be easy targets for Russian air defenses.

Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin also known as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov is a Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who played a key role in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

He has been absent from social media for some weeks claiming to be attempting to be on the front line. Now he has written a pretty scathing report of the Russian effort here (in Russian but google translate works well). Also, a long description of his front-line attempts until he was thrown out.

Some quotes

1. In most parts of the Russian Armed Forces, soldiers and officers do not understand: for what and for what purposes they are fighting in general.
   
2. The absence of a clear military-political strategy does not allow the military to develop tactics that will contribute to its implementation.
   
3. I do not expect anything good at the front in the coming weeks.
   
4. The enemy slowly (and without encountering any opposition) implements his own strategic tasks with the complete passivity of the military and political authorities of the Russian Federation
   
5. Many fighters and commanders have long been looming the unresolved question: "What are we doing here, if Moscow is most concerned with the implementation of "grain deals ", the unhindered pumping of ammonia through Odessa.

Sometimes the most surprising people rise incredibly well to the occasion, his trip to the front line yesterday was amazing while Putin sits in his bunker somewhere in the Urals, or did I mean urinal.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been named as TIME Magazine's Person of the Year.

Hoping he'll win a war already lost. Well, maybe if he sends another army of trolls to convince everyone they have won...it's really amazing how many people are and will be affected (on both sides of the war and not only) by his delusional ambitions and resentments. Unfortunately I'm not seeing much opposition to them from the simple people either (and I've waited..) except for the very young ones, who ironically will be affected by the mad man more than any of his supporters....it's too sad and frustrating to comment anything else on this subject.

Igor Girkin is an evil man and was one of three convicted of murder (in absentia) over the MH17 attack.

He now writes articles evermore critical of the Russian military and political leadership.

As somebody has translated his latest article from yesterday I attach a copy. He writes in a sort of East European ironic humour style
page 1, page 2.

What a creep indeed. I didn't now who this character was before....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Girkin

Thank you, Russia.
As for the tools who still dare to defend Russia's actions in any way, shape or form, I hope you'll all live there. Put your money where your mouth is. That's it.