Russo-Ukrainian War Thread - Page 501

Ukrainian forces reportedly launched a massive push against Russia's front-lines in the country's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, threatening Russian positions that had been overseen by a general who was recently fired.

The surge marks a dramatic change in pace for Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive. For nearly two months, Kyiv's troops were forced to make slow and steady advances to liberate occupied territory as they faced Russia's formidable defensive lines, which include deadly networks of trenches, barbed wire, anti-armor obstacles, and minefields.

Clearing the Russian fortifications — particularly the minefields — has been a painstaking process for Ukraine, which managed to preserve lots of its firepower and combat capabilities, such as heavy armor provided by the US and its NATO allies. But it now seems as though Kyiv has committed significantly more resources into the fight.

Pentagon officials told the New York Times on Wednesday that Ukraine has poured thousands of reinforcements — many who have been trained and outfitted by Western countries — into battle along the Zaporizhzhia axis, which is one of several locations along the several-hundred-miles-long front line where Kyiv is fighting.

The sheer scale of this thrust as reported suggests a main attack has begun, coming after weeks of probing attacks and mineclearing that suggests Ukraine's war commanders think they've found a vulnerable spot in Russia's formidable defenses. The fired Russian general had demanded changes after suffering losses in artillery battles with Ukraine that were crucial to holding their defensive lines.

According to the US officials, Ukraine has expressed a desire to press south toward the occupied city of Melitopol, near the Sea of Azov. Doing so would allow Kyiv's military to split the territory that Russia currently occupies and threaten its hold on the Crimean peninsula.

Russian state-run media outlet TASS said Ukraine carried out a "massive tank attack" in the Zaporizhzhia area, citing a defense ministry official, who claimed the attacks had been repelled and that Kyiv lost a number of tanks, armored vehicles, and personnel. The battlefield picture, however, was disputed and unclear on Wednesday, and Insider was not able to immediately verify Moscow's assertions.

Ukrainian officials did not publicly reveal many details about the new push on Wednesday, although Kyiv's General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a Facebook update that Russia "is concentrating its main efforts on preventing the further advance of our troops" in Zaporizhzhia.

The General Staff added that Ukraine's air force carried out over a dozen strikes on Russian troops, military equipment, weapons, and anti-air defense systems. It said Kyiv's missile and artillery units managed to strike Russia's own artillery units and command posts.

"By the way, today our guys at the front had very good results. Well done. More details later," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation on Wednesday.

The new Zaporizhzhia assault comes shortly after Russia's military leadership fired Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, who previously commanded Russia's 58th Combined Arms Army, which had been battling Ukraine's offensive in that region. Popov was apparently dismissed from his role earlier this month after he raised concerns over several front-line weaknesses plaguing his forces, including deficiencies in Moscow's artillery defense.

Popov later said in an audio message that he raised concerns about "the lack of counter-battery combat, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations, and the mass deaths and injuries of our brothers in enemy artillery fire." Lacking air superiority, Ukraine has relied heavily on artillery to strike Russian troop positions, command and control locations, communications sites, and heavy guns.

According to the Times, Ukrainian officials told the US that the new operation in Zaporizhzhia could take up to several weeks. Kyiv's military leadership previously expressed frustration with some in the West who have suggested that the counteroffensive should be moving faster than it had been, saying that every meter of territory is extremely costly for Ukraine to liberate. Top Pentagon officials have also pushed back on discourse around the speed of the offensive.

On July 27 2023 16:56 pmp10 wrote:
https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1684298647414902786
That might be the point when Ukraine commits their reserves.
Having it reported in the press before they even start is not optimal.

On July 27 2023 17:55 Gorsameth wrote:
If people are talking about it, even if off the record, then I would hope that its already underway and Russia already knows of it.

If not then I hope these people are caught and prosecuted to the full extend of the law because they are literally killing people by talking.

The African Union called today to urgently reinstate a United Nations-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain that was terminated at Russia's behest.

"The problem of grains and fertilizers concerns everyone," Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who heads the 55-nation African Union, told Russian state newswire RIA Novosti. He was speaking in St. Petersburg, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting a summit with African leaders.

Putin last week pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative that had allowed Ukraine — one of the world's breadbaskets — to export grains and oilseeds through three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea: Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdenny.

Russia, which has waged all-out war on Ukraine for 17 months, has since launched a series of air strikes against the country's port facilities and reimposed a maritime blockade — making countries that need to import food more reliant on Russia and increasing the risk that they will go hungry.

"We will talk about this in St. Petersburg, we will discuss it with Putin to see how we can restart this agreement," Assoumani added.

Putin is meeting with 17 African leaders on Thursday and Friday, as the increasingly isolated Russian leader attempts to maintain relations with a continent with close historical ties to Moscow.

On July 28 2023 13:32 gobbledydook wrote:
What does a Russian defeat in Ukraine mean for Russians in Russia?
Suppose next month the floodgates open, Ukraine takes back the land corridor, and the bad news is impossible to hide or explain away. What do we expect to happen?

On July 28 2023 14:15 Sermokala wrote:

Saddam Hussain was able to hold onto power after losing Kuwait and the majority of his military power. I think things just move on like that afterword's. Their neighbors will be bitter but a weak, limping Russia is the best Russia for all other parties. I would expect NATO to offer to trade crimea in exchange for lifting the sanctions, with China stepping up to be the figurehead for getting this deal through. Ukraine will join NATO and the EU by some pathway and people will have to turn to figuring out how to survive climate change. Russia will become a chinese vassel state living off the scraps they can produce and their people will need to learn what its like to not be European anymore.

On July 28 2023 14:51 Lmui wrote:


If Ukraine can push to the Black sea anywhere in the mainland I don't see Russia holding Crimea. Yeah there's a gigantic bottleneck, but if you down the Kerch bridge, have access to block off the water supply and have enough anti-ship weaponry to make sea based resupply hard, the attritional war is going to eventually go in Ukraines favor

On July 28 2023 13:32 gobbledydook wrote:
What does a Russian defeat in Ukraine mean for Russians in Russia?
Suppose next month the floodgates open, Ukraine takes back the land corridor, and the bad news is impossible to hide or explain away. What do we expect to happen?

On July 28 2023 13:32 gobbledydook wrote:
What does a Russian defeat in Ukraine mean for Russians in Russia?
Suppose next month the floodgates open, Ukraine takes back the land corridor, and the bad news is impossible to hide or explain away. What do we expect to happen?

On July 28 2023 15:40 Gorsameth wrote:
Absolutely nothing.

There is no will to resist in Russia, the people are not going to revolt or complain to loudly because then you get imprisoned.
There will be no pressure from the people for peace because the people have no power.