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Russia has reportedly lost over 700 men in combat just in the Donetsk region yesterday. One has to wonder what the strategy for Russia is here, they have been pulling conscripts from everywhere minus the cities of St. Petersburg, and Moscow. But everywhere else, especially in the East, is where the economy is. So the more wounded and dead that pile up means bigger and bigger economic shocks etc. For the two untouchable cities in the West...
Ukraine's military says more than 700 Russian troops were killed during a single day of war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that a total of 710 Russian soldiers had been "eliminated." Ukraine said that a significant number of Russians were killed in the Donetsk region. The "greatest losses" were said to be near the city of Avdiivka and in Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been battling to capture for months.
Ukraine also claimed the destruction of 15 Russian tanks, 24 armored vehicles, nine artillery systems, four tactical drones, one anti-aircraft system and one airplane on Tuesday. Newsweek has not independently verified any of the Ukrainian figures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the fighting in Donetsk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed for Russia in September, as "especially difficult" on Tuesday. He said that the Russian military was continuing its push to capture the entirety of the region despite its own troops suffering "extremely" heavy losses.
"The activity of the occupiers there remains at an extremely high level—dozens of attacks every day," Zelensky said during his nightly televised address. "They suffer extremely large-scale losses, but their order has not changed—to reach the administrative border of the Donetsk region. We do not give up a single centimeter of our land there."
Ukrainian resistance has meant that the Russian military has recently made "little to no progress" on the Donetsk front lines, according to a Tuesday report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which cites Russian media and Telegram posts.
The ISW report also claims that Russian casualties in parts of the region "are much more severe" than what the Russian military has been willing to disclose.
On Monday, a letter purportedly from Russia's 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade claimed that around 300 members of the unit were lost last week—including those "killed, wounded, and missing"—during an "incomprehensible" attack on the Donetsk village of Pavlivka.
"The district command together with [the brigade commander] are hiding this...for fear of accountability," the letter claimed. "They don't care about anything other than showing off. They call people meat."
Russian officials disputed the claim, prompting Zelensky to assert that the region is "littered" with the bodies of Russian soldiers and accuse Moscow of ordering officials to "lie" about the situation.
"The Donetsk region remains the epicenter of the greatest madness of the occupiers—they die by the hundreds every day," Zelensky said on Monday. "The ground in front of the Ukrainian positions is literally littered with the bodies of the occupiers."
Ukraine claims that at least 77,170 Russian troops have been killed since the invasion began on February 24. Russia has rarely publicly shared its own figures on troop deaths, while those that have been released have been far lower than Ukrainian estimates.
In September, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that fewer than 5,937 Russian troops had been killed since the beginning of the war, according to Reuters. Ukraine claimed to have killed over 55,000 Russian troops at the time.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
Sadly, those kinds casualties are sustainable for a very long time, if the will is there. In WW1, Germany had on average about 1300 military deaths a day, out of a population of 65 million. And this was kept up for 4 years.
700 on the worst day is something that Russia can probably potentially keep up forever.
Edit: And even with the highest number of Russian deaths i have seen (77k), we only get about 300 deaths a day. Which is obviously horrific and a tragedy, but also something that Russia can do for decades.
I don't think you are right. This is not about replacing soldiers, it is about political capital and goodwill. That is a sparse resource in this war, and it will diminish stadily as the body bags keep piling up. The initial plan was for a quick strike and victory for a reason.
That is why i said "if the will is there". I don't really have a good read on internal russian politics to figure out how long that will will last.
I see huge intellectual decline here. Even if Russia decided to be good from tomorrow, it would take decades to get some of population educated and properly thinking. Problem of Russia isn't that it needs more land (they won't get Ukraine). Instead, it's that education is bad (too much TV brainwashing going on) and democracy is at very low level. "Be silent and live your life" seems to be lifestyle over there based on what I've seen so far. It's disgusting to me listen to people like the ones from interview above, it's like I'm listening to Goebbels or some nazi bs.
I see intellectual decline when a person doesn't know about biased samples
Nice try, I see your feelings are hurt but I consider myself educated enough about Russia's geopolitical history starting from Soviet times. To the point, I rarely miss 1420's interviews and even when interviews are in Moscow there are still a lot of people who prefer to stay silent (or say "I'm not into politics" which is probably the same most of the time). Yes, rural Russians seem more patriotic, less knowledgeable about the external world but it's not like you don't see such people in Moscow where they say "for the motherland!" and that war against Ukraine is "right". Also, Russia isn't just Moscow and Saints Petersburg so it doesn't make me any less disgusted if video is outside these 2 cities.
-so, watching all 1420's video makes you confident about sociology and education level in Russia? Congrats, that's how propaganda works
I know it isn't what you said, but do you think 1420 videos are propaganda and if so, how do they manage to still make this content?
-I've seen a gradual increase in biasedness of their videos in time. What they currently do is almost 100% playing with the general narratives of western media on Russia. I dont think they are paid for it (other than Youtube monetization); my guess is that is due to some sort of positive feedback loop - as they tune to the viewpoints of their audience
>>how do they manage to still make this content? Imho, you overestimate the strictness of media regulation here. There are plently of critics of government, MoD, Putin, on Youtube and Telegram channels, which have become an important news sources here. A channel with a relatively small Russian audience, like their, is unlikely to get serious problems with law. Just as an example - most of Ukrainian media have Russian-language Telegram channels, which are freely available here.
And what is that narrative? That the bulk of Russians either openly support or at least don't mind the war?
Levada's polls few months ago were showing something about 15-20% pro-war, 15-20% against and the rest not minding/neutral/not thinking about it. Experience from my surroundings kinda align with that (men are more involved in the matter, women less so).
Also yes, AFRF is withdrawing from Kherson, order is publicly given by Shoigu. I only wonder if it was military or political decision.
100% political, that's why Shoigu is doing the communication. If it was military decision, it would be viewed as cowardness and defeat. Now some angel is saving Russian soldiers from the hell of war, but they would have been ready to fight to death.
I see huge intellectual decline here. Even if Russia decided to be good from tomorrow, it would take decades to get some of population educated and properly thinking. Problem of Russia isn't that it needs more land (they won't get Ukraine). Instead, it's that education is bad (too much TV brainwashing going on) and democracy is at very low level. "Be silent and live your life" seems to be lifestyle over there based on what I've seen so far. It's disgusting to me listen to people like the ones from interview above, it's like I'm listening to Goebbels or some nazi bs.
I see intellectual decline when a person doesn't know about biased samples
Nice try, I see your feelings are hurt but I consider myself educated enough about Russia's geopolitical history starting from Soviet times. To the point, I rarely miss 1420's interviews and even when interviews are in Moscow there are still a lot of people who prefer to stay silent (or say "I'm not into politics" which is probably the same most of the time). Yes, rural Russians seem more patriotic, less knowledgeable about the external world but it's not like you don't see such people in Moscow where they say "for the motherland!" and that war against Ukraine is "right". Also, Russia isn't just Moscow and Saints Petersburg so it doesn't make me any less disgusted if video is outside these 2 cities.
-so, watching all 1420's video makes you confident about sociology and education level in Russia? Congrats, that's how propaganda works
I know it isn't what you said, but do you think 1420 videos are propaganda and if so, how do they manage to still make this content?
-I've seen a gradual increase in biasedness of their videos in time. What they currently do is almost 100% playing with the general narratives of western media on Russia. I dont think they are paid for it (other than Youtube monetization); my guess is that is due to some sort of positive feedback loop - as they tune to the viewpoints of their audience
>>how do they manage to still make this content? Imho, you overestimate the strictness of media regulation here. There are plently of critics of government, MoD, Putin, on Youtube and Telegram channels, which have become an important news sources here. A channel with a relatively small Russian audience, like their, is unlikely to get serious problems with law. Just as an example - most of Ukrainian media have Russian-language Telegram channels, which are freely available here.
And what is that narrative? That the bulk of Russians either openly support or at least don't mind the war?
Levada's polls few months ago were showing something about 15-20% pro-war, 15-20% against and the rest not minding/neutral/not thinking about it. Experience from my surroundings kinda align with that (men are more involved in the matter, women less so).
Also yes, AFRF is withdrawing from Kherson, order is publicly given by Shoigu. I only wonder if it was military or political decision.
100% political, that's why Shoigu is doing the communication. If it was military decision, it would be viewed as cowardness and defeat. Now some angel is saving Russian soldiers from the hell of war, but they would have been ready to fight to death.
Which is exactly why it was Shoigu who announced it, and not Putin. It was a military decision. The position was untenable.
I see huge intellectual decline here. Even if Russia decided to be good from tomorrow, it would take decades to get some of population educated and properly thinking. Problem of Russia isn't that it needs more land (they won't get Ukraine). Instead, it's that education is bad (too much TV brainwashing going on) and democracy is at very low level. "Be silent and live your life" seems to be lifestyle over there based on what I've seen so far. It's disgusting to me listen to people like the ones from interview above, it's like I'm listening to Goebbels or some nazi bs.
I see intellectual decline when a person doesn't know about biased samples
Nice try, I see your feelings are hurt but I consider myself educated enough about Russia's geopolitical history starting from Soviet times. To the point, I rarely miss 1420's interviews and even when interviews are in Moscow there are still a lot of people who prefer to stay silent (or say "I'm not into politics" which is probably the same most of the time). Yes, rural Russians seem more patriotic, less knowledgeable about the external world but it's not like you don't see such people in Moscow where they say "for the motherland!" and that war against Ukraine is "right". Also, Russia isn't just Moscow and Saints Petersburg so it doesn't make me any less disgusted if video is outside these 2 cities.
-so, watching all 1420's video makes you confident about sociology and education level in Russia? Congrats, that's how propaganda works
I know it isn't what you said, but do you think 1420 videos are propaganda and if so, how do they manage to still make this content?
-I've seen a gradual increase in biasedness of their videos in time. What they currently do is almost 100% playing with the general narratives of western media on Russia. I dont think they are paid for it (other than Youtube monetization); my guess is that is due to some sort of positive feedback loop - as they tune to the viewpoints of their audience
>>how do they manage to still make this content? Imho, you overestimate the strictness of media regulation here. There are plently of critics of government, MoD, Putin, on Youtube and Telegram channels, which have become an important news sources here. A channel with a relatively small Russian audience, like their, is unlikely to get serious problems with law. Just as an example - most of Ukrainian media have Russian-language Telegram channels, which are freely available here.
And what is that narrative? That the bulk of Russians either openly support or at least don't mind the war?
Levada's polls few months ago were showing something about 15-20% pro-war, 15-20% against and the rest not minding/neutral/not thinking about it. Experience from my surroundings kinda align with that (men are more involved in the matter, women less so).
Also yes, AFRF is withdrawing from Kherson, order is publicly given by Shoigu. I only wonder if it was military or political decision.
100% political, that's why Shoigu is doing the communication. If it was military decision, it would be viewed as cowardness and defeat. Now some angel is saving Russian soldiers from the hell of war, but they would have been ready to fight to death.
Which is exactly why it was Shoigu who announced it, and not Putin. It was a military decision. The position was untenable.
Yup, but Putin can't take the blame. Shoigu can. They first watch how the public reacts and then decide which one it's most
I see intellectual decline when a person doesn't know about biased samples
Nice try, I see your feelings are hurt but I consider myself educated enough about Russia's geopolitical history starting from Soviet times. To the point, I rarely miss 1420's interviews and even when interviews are in Moscow there are still a lot of people who prefer to stay silent (or say "I'm not into politics" which is probably the same most of the time). Yes, rural Russians seem more patriotic, less knowledgeable about the external world but it's not like you don't see such people in Moscow where they say "for the motherland!" and that war against Ukraine is "right". Also, Russia isn't just Moscow and Saints Petersburg so it doesn't make me any less disgusted if video is outside these 2 cities.
-so, watching all 1420's video makes you confident about sociology and education level in Russia? Congrats, that's how propaganda works
I know it isn't what you said, but do you think 1420 videos are propaganda and if so, how do they manage to still make this content?
-I've seen a gradual increase in biasedness of their videos in time. What they currently do is almost 100% playing with the general narratives of western media on Russia. I dont think they are paid for it (other than Youtube monetization); my guess is that is due to some sort of positive feedback loop - as they tune to the viewpoints of their audience
>>how do they manage to still make this content? Imho, you overestimate the strictness of media regulation here. There are plently of critics of government, MoD, Putin, on Youtube and Telegram channels, which have become an important news sources here. A channel with a relatively small Russian audience, like their, is unlikely to get serious problems with law. Just as an example - most of Ukrainian media have Russian-language Telegram channels, which are freely available here.
And what is that narrative? That the bulk of Russians either openly support or at least don't mind the war?
Levada's polls few months ago were showing something about 15-20% pro-war, 15-20% against and the rest not minding/neutral/not thinking about it. Experience from my surroundings kinda align with that (men are more involved in the matter, women less so).
Also yes, AFRF is withdrawing from Kherson, order is publicly given by Shoigu. I only wonder if it was military or political decision.
100% political, that's why Shoigu is doing the communication. If it was military decision, it would be viewed as cowardness and defeat. Now some angel is saving Russian soldiers from the hell of war, but they would have been ready to fight to death.
Which is exactly why it was Shoigu who announced it, and not Putin. It was a military decision. The position was untenable.
Yup, but Putin can't take the blame. Shoigu can. They first watch how the public reacts and then decide which one it's most
Agreed. Putin very rarely gives some kind of negative stuff, to preserve his public image. No matter what caused the decision (which was made quite in advance, see Surovikin's interview a month prior about "hard decisions on Kherson") the military will be the ones to take the blame. But the fact that both Kadyrov and Prigozhin have openly supported the decision, means it came from high above. They had quite different rhetoric on Kharkov retreat, openly blaming the AFRF command back then.
I just watched this video about the latest Ukraine's latest advance near Kherson. It seems like some impressive tactics were used, including patiently taking time to consider their next move:
This is a quite one-sided video, but it highlights the population crisis of both Russia and Ukraine, and how the war has made the situation even worse for both countries. There is a saying that "the second worst thing to losing a war is winning one". It makes me sad to think about, and furious about the twisted logic which started this war.
As predicted Ukraine isn't falling for whatever Russia is saying when it comes Kherson.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing its forces from Kherson, according to the Moscow Times and confirmed by RIA Novosti on Telegram. The retreat was announced on state television by General Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, and approved by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
"The decision to defend on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro is not easy," said Surovikin, "but at the same time we will save the lives of our military personnel and the combat capability of our forces...Kherson and adjacent settlements cannot be fully supplied or kept functioning. People's lives are constantly in danger."
However, an advisor to Ukrainian President Zelensky urged caution, saying on Twitter, "Actions speak louder than words. We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight. A part of the ru-group is preserved in the city, and additional reserves are charged to the region. 🇺🇦 is liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements."
The Russian defenses in Kherson have collapsed! They have COLLAPSED!! It's a complete withdrawal, they've blown up several bridges. Mykolaiv has been almost entirely liberated. Kherson is rapidly falling to Ukraine!
That means the northern/eastern fronts become a lot more important. Crossing the Dnipro is a pretty big ask, regardless of the support they're given. Ukraine should be able to hold Kherson once they've secured it with a fraction of the forces because of the difficulty in crossing the river.
Another video from "Reporting from Ukraine" just dropped. An interresting look at how hit-and-run tactics are used, and a merciless plan to destroy the Russians with artillery as they retreat across the river:
The US to buy 100k rounds of S. Korean howitzer rounds and then send them to Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will buy 100,000 rounds of howitzer artillery from South Korean manufacturers to provide to Ukraine, a U.S. official said Thursday, in a deal the two governments have been working on for some time.
The agreement comes as Ukrainian leaders press for more weapons and aid to take advantage of a counteroffensive that is pushing Russian forces out of some areas they had taken over earlier in the war. And it relieves concerns within the U.S. military — particularly the Army and the Marine Corps — who are worried that persistent transfers of the Pentagon’s howitzer ammunition to Ukraine are eating into their stockpiles.
Other defense officials confirmed the broad outlines of the contract and said it would help with stockpile pressures, specifically involving the howitzer ammunition, which Ukrainian forces have been using at a high rate. Last week a defense official briefing reporters said Ukraine was burning through as many as 7,000 rounds of ammunition a day, while Russia was firing as much as 20,000 rounds daily.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the deal had not been made public.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry in a statement acknowledged ongoing talks over exporting an unspecified number of 155-millimeter artillery shells to shore up diminishing U.S. inventories. However, the ministry said the negotiations were proceeding under the presumption that the U.S. would be the “end user” of those rounds and that Seoul maintains its principle of providing only non-lethal support to Ukraine.
The South Korea agreement provides a sharp counterpoint to U.S. accusations earlier this month that North Korea was covertly shipping artillery to Russia. It’s not immediately clear whether the deal opens the possibility of South and North Korean artillery being fired against each other in Ukraine.
North Korea has aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine while also blaming the United States for the crisis, insisting that the West’s “hegemonic policy” has forced Russia to take military action to protect its security interests. However, Pyongyang has repeatedly denied U.S. claims that it has been sending large supplies of artillery shells and other ammunition to Russia, accusing the Biden administration of a smear campaign.
Experts say North Korea has the potential to become a major source of munitions for Russia, considering the interoperability of their weapons systems based on Soviet roots. They say that the North, which has used the distraction created by the war to ramp up missile tests to a record pace, could seek to receive in return Russian fuel and technology transfers to further advance its military capabilities as it pursues more powerful missiles and nuclear warheads.
Until now, South Korea had previously limited its support for Ukraine to non-lethal equipment and supplies. In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed South Korea to provide lethal arms after Russia’s attack on Mariupol. Seoul’s Defense Ministry confirmed at the time that it had rejected the Ukrainian request for anti-aircraft weapons, citing the South Korean government’s principle of sending only non-lethal aid.
International security experts have said both North Korea and South Korea maintain vast stockpiles of ammunition due to the decades-long tensions along their heavily fortified and militarized shared border.
In a statement, Army Lt. Col. Marty Meiners, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. government has been in discussions to buy ammunition from South Korea’s non-government defense industrial base. The ammunition would not come from South Korean military stocks. He declined to provide details.
Meiners said any potential sales always take into account the South Korean military’s readiness and requirements and “will not detract from our defensive posture or readiness to respond against regional threats.” He added that South Korea’s defense industry regularly sells military equipment and weapons systems to allies and partners, including the U.S.
South Korea has also inked several recent arms deals with European countries eager to bolster their defenses in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including almost $9 billion in multiple contracts with Poland to provide F-16 fighter jets, training aircraft, tanks and howitzers.
The ammunition deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Meiners said he could not provide information on how quickly the ammunition could get to Ukraine. He said the Pentagon has regular conversations with South Korea and other allies around the world about how best to support Ukraine in the war.
The revelation of the agreement came as Russia said it was beginning to withdraw its forces from the key city of Kherson. Ukrainian officials acknowledged Moscow’s troops had no choice but to flee Kherson, yet they remained cautious, fearing an ambush.
Kherson was the only provincial capital Moscow captured after invading Ukraine in February. A Russian withdrawal would mark a serious setback for Moscow, while giving Ukraine a critical launching pad for supplies and troops to aid its effort to win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
On November 11 2022 17:41 mahrgell wrote: The Antonivski bridge has been destroyed for real now. (as in: not just a bunch of holes in it, but there is really no more phyiscal connection)
On November 11 2022 17:41 mahrgell wrote: The Antonivski bridge has been destroyed for real now. (as in: not just a bunch of holes in it, but there is really no more phyiscal connection)
Who did this? The Ukrainians to trap the Russians or the Russians to stop the Ukrainians from following them? Or both?
If it were the Russians, it feels premature, with thousands left on the other side.
This could end up as an ugly Stalingrad moment... or hopefully just a mass surrender.
The bridge is blown by AFRF (together with the railway one). It is reported that by 5 a.m. Moscow time today all AFRF troops were withdrawn to the eastern bank. These are, supposedly, the covering forces withdrawing via pontoon bridge. https://t.me/boris_rozhin/69943 That is kinda confirmed by the fact that AFU is entering Kherson already https://t.me/voynareal/41874
On November 11 2022 21:31 zatic wrote: Did not think Russia would have been able to withdraw that cleanly within 36 hours of the announcement.
They said the kherson wing is made up from the elite of the Russian forces in Ukraine. At least in retreat, this appears to show.
Some people closer to the front said that withdrawal started somewhere around 1st of November. I guess it was HQs, supply troops and heavy equipment (the one that was still running) who went first. Then the forces from the frontline were gradually pulled, blowing the bridges over Ingulets, to reduce the threat of outflanking. Since the withdrawal was hinted by Surovikin on 18th October, I guess it was decision long in the making, hence the much more orderly withdrawal, than from Izyum and Balakleya.
Oh, no doubt this has been long in the making. It's still not easy to pull off a retreat like that without the front breaking somewhere. Without sarcasm, this was probably the most professional maneuver the Russian army has pulled off in Ukraine so far.
EPT
![[image loading]](https://i.gyazo.com/253a5104773be015e8526c5edda2932c.jpg)
