What's going on in Ukraine?

[Hellraiser]

Carlson is going to end up getting his collar felt at some stage.

[Uncle fester]

I wonder with the stuff going on in Belgorod would the Russians cut their losses there to an extent and keep the focus on Ukraine? They could probably suppress the news from spreading easily enough.

Unless the Belgorod adventurers gain huge public support, they probably aren't going to have much wider impact.

[_Os_]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

[laurent]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

There are a lot of exercices at the moment. There is a large one in Finland right now ACE 2023 (France sent 6 Rafale 5 2000-5 and 5 2000-D a Sentry and which is rather unusual )
https://www.opex360.com/2023/05/30/la-f ... -ace-2023/

Another (Air defender) is taking place in Germany next week.
https://air-cosmos.com/article/l-air-de ... otan-64708

Sorry most of my aircraft reading is in French (we do make the best airplanes after all

[Sandstorm]

Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video.

No one wants to see that.

[tabascoboy]

Meanwhile

[yermum]

Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video.

No one wants to see that.

Maybe that's why the planes were leaving

Probably tried circle back and drop a JDAM on him just to make sure

[tabascoboy]

I have kept quiet on the counteroffensive and this is by design. But I want to say this:

The Russian troops at many parts of the frontline are getting pounded by tubed and rocket artillery, Storm Shadow, JDAMs etc. Sometimes tanks and IFVs join the fray. The long range strikes such as in Tokmak and Melitopol in the last hours are even more interesting.

Most if not all of that "repelled" attacks Russians claim are in fact them surviving barrage after another one and having a chance to report them. In some limited cases Ukrainian forces launch probing attacks and even get through. There are already permanent liberated areas, but that is not the purpose of probing attacks.

Those few videos which sometimes appear are almost all videos from Russian sources and obviously cherry-picked. But they are not impressive either. Yes, when an army advances or launches probing attacks there are inevitable losses. During D-Day allies lost 2000 men in the first hour. But the enemy loses far more and, more importantly, the enemy has already to react in a forced way.

The main strike hasn't arrived, yet. It can arrive anywhere and anytime at the front, even areas which have not been intensively shelled. Btw. I'm still on track with my predictions. Russians, however, are currently burning down their limited (mobile) reserves which they have in order to deal with the current situation. Intelligence gathering plays an important role at this stage, too, without going into details.

Overall what I see right now is what I would expect from an Ukrainian counteroffensive. Keep calm and wait for the events to unfold.

[tabascoboy]

If genuine, it begs the question of whether RU has (another) something dangerous in mind...such as relocation to Crimea to use as human shields...

In connection with the hostilities, for the safety of our citizens, to save the lives of children, as well as to maintain the work of administrations and other services of the Zaporozhye region in an uninterrupted mode,
I OWN:
1. Carry out temporary relocation of residents of the Zaporozhye region from settlements: Tokmak, Vasilievka, Pologi.
2. Moving to the city of Simferopol (by land transport) and Kerch (by sea) to the points of reception and accommodation of citizens.
3. Ensure priority relocation of administrations, as well as power and communal structures.

[tabascoboy]

[pjm1]

Is that the first ever post by TOGA that didn't mention the greatness of Sarries or Owen Farrell??

[Hellraiser]

It's properly kicked off.

[Hellraiser]

Just saw video of a T-90M that had a non-penetrative hit on its turret cause the armour welds to break. Shows the "quality" of Russia's most modern tanks.

[Biffer]

Just saw video of a T-90M that had a non-penetrative hit on its turret cause the armour welds to break. Shows the "quality" of Russia's most modern tanks.

And that's their best

This is the thing about their nuclear threats. They have no confidence their nukes will work. The fusion bombs need refuelling every ten years - how many times has that been done since the nineties? Never mind all the stolen electronics etc, they'd be as likely to hit Moscow as Kiev. And that's before we talk about the golbopolitical impact of their use, where there'd be a scramble for nukes from all the countries neighbouring Russia.

[tabascoboy]

Good if can be confirmed, they don't have large numbers of these reportedly

[weegie01]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

Not the same, but there is a lively debate locally about the number of Apache (general consensus) helicopters flying up and down our glen, and pulling some pretty extreme manoeuvres. Due to the topography of the glen we get a decent number of training flights. But it has always been fixed wing or Chinooks before. This is unprecedented in terms of type, numnber and frequency.

Evil looking things.

[Flockwitt]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

Not the same, but there is a lively debate locally about the number of Apache (general consensus) helicopters flying up and down our glen, and pulling some pretty extreme manoeuvres. Due to the topography of the glen we get a decent number of training flights. But it has always been fixed wing or Chinooks before. This is unprecedented in terms of type, numnber and frequency.

Evil looking things.

the Ukranians in secret training exercises!! Apache's to Ukraine. FACT. Here. First.

[Niegs]

A History Extra podcast chat with an author who wrote a book on Ukraine's relationship with Russia (Serhii Plokhy - The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History)

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-j7jta-18cd243b

[_Os_]

No one wants to see that.

Maybe that's why the planes were leaving

Probably tried circle back and drop a JDAM on him just to make sure

Fuck you guys. If there's no one around, then all a shirt does is get loaded with sweat, then the sweat gets cold, then the chaffing.

Besides, Spencer checked another Os out back in the day ...

[_Os_]

Not the same, but there is a lively debate locally about the number of Apache (general consensus) helicopters flying up and down our glen, and pulling some pretty extreme manoeuvres. Due to the topography of the glen we get a decent number of training flights. But it has always been fixed wing or Chinooks before. This is unprecedented in terms of type, numnber and frequency.

Evil looking things.

Months back I saw two or three (cannot remember how many) Apaches flying low, I had never seen Apaches in formation before then.

[Uncle fester]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

Not the same, but there is a lively debate locally about the number of Apache (general consensus) helicopters flying up and down our glen, and pulling some pretty extreme manoeuvres. Due to the topography of the glen we get a decent number of training flights. But it has always been fixed wing or Chinooks before. This is unprecedented in terms of type, numnber and frequency.

Evil looking things.

the Ukranians in secret training exercises!! Apache's to Ukraine. FACT. Here. First.

Would training in hilly terrain be much use for the steepe terrain of East Ukraine?

[lemonhead]

Not the same, but there is a lively debate locally about the number of Apache (general consensus) helicopters flying up and down our glen, and pulling some pretty extreme manoeuvres. Due to the topography of the glen we get a decent number of training flights. But it has always been fixed wing or Chinooks before. This is unprecedented in terms of type, numnber and frequency.

Evil looking things.

the Ukranians in secret training exercises!! Apache's to Ukraine. FACT. Here. First.

Would training in hilly terrain be much use for the steepe terrain of East Ukraine?

Bravo, sir

[Enzedder]

Is that a misspelled steep or steppe?

Rhetorical question by the way.

[tabascoboy]

Whether this is genuine or not, it has the ring of truth about it ( Now updated with ENG subtitles )

[tabascoboy]

[tabascoboy]

Only a couple of days in - and of course understandably radio silence from UA on the sitrep from their side, but this looks like being a very long and slow grind for now with many small assault ops clearing out trenches and foxholes that could relay info to the main RU defensive lines. While the counter-offensive is underway this is not a big bang where large advances happen quickly at least for now. RU sources will big up any real or claimed successes for their own, so we are likely to get a distorted view in the short term. Seem to be many battles for good strategic points at the moment.

UA will make mistakes and incur major losses at times, sadly it's unavoidable, and unlike the early RU invasion they have to negotiate huge minefields and fortified lines. Meanwhile picking away at bases and supply routes behind the lines with long range weapons, let's hope they can take out some command posts as that could weaken the resolve of the defenders as well as create shortages of logistic knowhow and supplies.

Fingers crossed they can keep up pressure and wear down the occupying forces and keep pushing them back one thing at a time and ultimately force another "goodwill gesture".

[fishfoodie]

Not a bit surprising. Universities are black holes for cash of all hues. Bet Ireland and the US have all sorts of dodgy cunts dutifully handing over a few hundred grand while sowing chaos elsewhere

I worked with a guy who did Electronic Engineering down in Cork in the 80s, & he said one of the standard projects was 30 day timers. He said he made sure to wipe his fingerprints off his, before he handed it over, because he knew the Political views of the lecturer, & couldn't be sure what it ended up timing !

[fishfoodie]

Oh dear, how sad...

A Russian citizen has been killed by a shark off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

A tiger shark attacked the man as he was swimming off the city’s Dream Beach on Thursday afternoon, Egyptian and Russian officials say.

An eyewitness caught the moment of attack on camera and shared the video with Reuters. It shows the man, in his early 20s, thrashing about in the sea before being dragged under water.

According to Reuters, a diver described how a lifeguard at a nearby hotel had raised the alarm and people had rushed to help, but were unable to get to the man in time.

Swimming, snorkelling and other water sports in the area have been banned for two days, starting from Friday, Egypt's environment ministry said.

The shark had been captured by a specialist team and was being examined to determine the cause of the attack, it added.

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev named the man as V Yu Popov, saying he had been living in Egypt for a while and was not a tourist, the Tass news agency reports.

Even sharks don't like the Orcs .... except as an entrée

[fishfoodie]

Not a bit surprising. Universities are black holes for cash of all hues. Bet Ireland and the US have all sorts of dodgy cunts dutifully handing over a few hundred grand while sowing chaos elsewhere

I worked with a guy who did Electronic Engineering down in Cork in the 80s, & he said one of the standard projects was 30 day timers. He said he made sure to wipe his fingerprints off his, before he handed it over, because he knew the Political views of the lecturer, & couldn't be sure what it ended up timing !

Lots of twats in uni's. In fact I personally know about 8 lecturers and professors and all but one are shades of touched.

I think the weirdest thing has been what the German spy chief touched on recently and it's Putin's grip on power remains strong and they have loads of equipment for a long war. It's pretty demoralisng but probably very accurate

The Russians are natural serfs !

They might have loads of equipment, but having 10x what your opponent has, only works if you have the manpower to operate it, & the opponents weapons aren't 50x more effective than yours !

On both counts the Orcs are fucked, because they have loads of inferior kit, but no crews, & you can't just create them out of fresh air, & even if you could, you're sending them out against a now experienced Ukrainian defender, who can pick off Orc before he even knows they're close. Their tactics show the Generals know this.

[tabascoboy]

This seems to be new and not the one already reported yesterday

[GogLais]

Saw two B-1Bs out road running in the middle of nowhere in the South West at around sunset. Only had rugby shorts and runners on, so no photos or video. They were about 100-200 metres up, low enough to see into their cockpits a bit which had their lights on, wings swept forward, flying south in a lead and wingman combat formation. Definitely heading out to patrol NATO airspace (Baltic/Poland/Romania/Turkish side of the Black Sea), probably fully armed.

Totally different vibe to an air show. First it's totally unexpected (Googling they were only deployed to the UK at the end of May), second it's a real mission and they will launch on Russian targets if ordered.

Fearsome piece of equipment.

A400 flew directly over us at treetop height in the Conwy Valley. A very “Holy shit” moment.

[tabascoboy]

RU forces still shelling the areas of Kherson where rescue workers are trying to evacuate from the flooded areas, so yeah f*ck 'em up

[tabascoboy]

[tabascoboy]

In case anyone sees it, there is a report from a Dutch source who states UA forces are in battle 25km from Tokmak with info from a supposed RU deserter. This is completely unsubstantiated and best treated as no more than baseless rumour or mere wishful thinking unless verified. There is however partisan activity in the city itself which appears to be genuine, very little detail though.

[petej]

In case anyone sees it, there is a report from a Dutch source who states UA forces are in battle 25km from Tokmak with info from a supposed RU deserter. This is completely unsubstantiated and best treated as no more than baseless rumour or mere wishful thinking unless verified. There is however partisan activity in the city itself which appears to be genuine, very little detail though.

Hasn't tokmak been 25-30km from the front line for ages? The east west railway goes through tokmak.

[tabascoboy]

In case anyone sees it, there is a report from a Dutch source who states UA forces are in battle 25km from Tokmak with info from a supposed RU deserter. This is completely unsubstantiated and best treated as no more than baseless rumour or mere wishful thinking unless verified. There is however partisan activity in the city itself which appears to be genuine, very little detail though.

Hasn't tokmak been 25-30km from the front line for ages? The east west railway goes through tokmak.

Yes although this was suggesting more than the probing/recon reported on and RU desertions. We need to wait for more information really.

[Hellraiser]

In case anyone sees it, there is a report from a Dutch source who states UA forces are in battle 25km from Tokmak with info from a supposed RU deserter. This is completely unsubstantiated and best treated as no more than baseless rumour or mere wishful thinking unless verified. There is however partisan activity in the city itself which appears to be genuine, very little detail though.

Hasn't tokmak been 25-30km from the front line for ages? The east west railway goes through tokmak.

60km

[Hellraiser]

There's a fairly horrific 11 minute video going around of a Ukrainian medic treating some badly injured troops after an artillery strike. One has part of his jaw blown off, but can still speak coherently so it appears his tongue is mostly intact, and the medic tells him to lies on his side or he might drown on his own blood.

The other has severe blast wounds to his legs and arms, and is bleeding from the eyes. He begs the medic to kill him. He tells him he's paid to keep him alive and stabilises the guy despite a shitty Chinese knock-off tourniquet breaking while he ties it.

The first lad is in shock but has enough faculties to walk out. The medic later posted to social media that both survived.

The further fate of the Ukrainian defender with the call sign "Zeus", one of the wounded heroes of the video, filmed by a cold-blooded combat medic of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The jaw was assembled, the bones are growing together. So far, the lower lip and chin are still affected. I can already feel the upper lip and cheeks completely. At this stage, the work of the doctors is complete, we are waiting until the nerve endings are fully restored, then it will be possible to do plastic surgery," - said "Zeus " ".

@yigal_levin

I've seen a picture of him and while he has a huge scar he doesn't look too bad.

The other, much more badly injured, lad in the original vid has released a hospital bed video. He's in good form and recovering.

[tabascoboy]

[Flockwitt]

In case anyone sees it, there is a report from a Dutch source who states UA forces are in battle 25km from Tokmak with info from a supposed RU deserter. This is completely unsubstantiated and best treated as no more than baseless rumour or mere wishful thinking unless verified. There is however partisan activity in the city itself which appears to be genuine, very little detail though.

Yes, the open question, what to do about the fortified settlements. If you can't outflank them they become an enormous issue. Just what the Ukrainian plan is here with Tokmak is going to be the crux of it.