“…almost everywhere, and their task is to make our offensive as difficult, bloody, and resource-intensive as possible. And this is not just about the ‘drone line’ anymore.
2/
“For example, we are now seeing tactical techniques like this: their artillery is positioned deep in their battle lines, beyond the reach of our main drones, and they keep their own forward positions and key objects on it well-fortified with well-positioned fire.
3/
“Accordingly, as soon as our forces start moving, they knock out an enemy stronghold with drones and go to capture it. The enemy then waits for our forces to enter and eliminates them along with the incoming troops.
4/
“Their drone operators, in turn, not only habitually scavenge on supply and reinforcement routes, but also catch our forces engaged in any activity near ‘formerly ours’ objects.
5/
“Add to this constant mining, including remote detonation, and the active use of ‘ambushers’ on the few (and well-monitored) logistical lines.
6/
“If our forces try to quickly deploy a second echelon - for example, drone operators - the enemy immediately launches a local tactical ‘offensive’ and, even at the cost of losing equipment and personnel, achieves its goal: …
7/
“…preserving the ‘kill zone’ between our forward positions and the nearest rear areas. In Kupiansk, for example, they successfully applied this tactic several times - which led to the current situation there.
8/
“Since this situation repeats itself not once or twice, our forces, at all levels, are increasingly less willing to advance at all, and they can be easily understood - it's an inevitable trade-off of kilometers covered for lives, and very valuable lives of soldiers: …
9/
“…those who actually know and are able to act in this very kill zone (the untrained ones will simply die without any result). Therefore, the problem of ‘map coloring’ is not just about headquarters' lies.
10/
“It's also about the difficult moral choice that commanders make: if I really go all out in an unprepared offensive now, I'll lose many people, but if I just send a few teams forward to plant flags and report on the drone footage about the physical presence at the necessary…
11/
“…positions - I'll save lives and equipment.
However, as a result, this leads to situations where it's impossible to request strikes on already ‘colored’ (i.e., ‘our own’ on the headquarters' maps) positions - …
12/
“…neither by artillery, nor by the Aerospace Forces, nor even by drones. Everything there is already ours! And as a result, we still have to pay with lives.”
13/13
Russian Igor “Strelkov” Girkin writes from his prison cell of his surprise and new depths of pessimism regarding the Special Operation after Ukraine's great raid on Moscow.
“I understand that my letter will not reach you for quite some time because, it seems, it will have already lost its relevance by then. Nevertheless, I believe it is necessary to write a few words about the current situation and my impressions of it.
2/
“ ‘The raid on Moscow.’ To be frank, even I—with all my ‘pessimism’—did not expect that the ‘partners’ (not mine!) would be able to do this so easily and… not with missiles, but merely with drones. And what happens when, or if, the missiles start coming? 3/
In a blog entitled “Unthinkable,” Russian war correspondent and blogger Nikita Tretyakov is deeply critical of the results and consequences of Russia’s disastrous “special operation” in Ukraine. 1/
“Sergey Lavrov:
‘I don’t want to even suspect that Alaska, just like European actions, was designed to buy time for the rearmament of the Kiev regime, which would last longer than the First and Great Patriotic Wars.’
2/
“How can I not agree with Mr. Lavrov — there are many things that are hard to think about, and I really wouldn’t want to think about them, for example:
3/
“Of course they will. It’s the cornerstone of their ‘greatness’ ideology and comes with a whole pile of bonuses: the ‘Russia's internal Azov Sea’ and all that other crap.
That said, using Crimea as a launchpad to attack Ukraine is already pure military absurdity.
2/
“From here on, the Freedom-Loving Ukrainian Bird’s borscht recipe is in full effect:
complete air-defense collapse, the remaining fleet getting more and more holes punched in it, the shadow fleet getting shut down, total resource and logistical exhaustion, … 3/
Led by Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine is forging vital partnerships with America tech billionaires — such as Alex Karp of Palantir, Eric Schmidt from Google, and Elon Musk.
These collaborations will deliver a decisive advantage over Russia in AI-enabled systems. 1/
Alex Karp wants to build AI systems that would give the U.S. a decisive technological edge in future wars.
Ukraine possesses a massive dataset and a rich library of real-world combat video that is highly valuable for training advanced AI models. 2/
In exchange for access to this priceless dataset, Palantir has provided Ukraine with AI tools that process enormous volumes of battlefield data, significantly enhancing capabilities such as long-range UAV strikes. 3/
Russian blogger “Rybar” claims that 60% of Ukrainian long-range strike UAVs are launched without a warhead.
Their purpose is to saturate Russian air defenses and force them to engage, because decoy UAVs cannot be distinguished from armed ones. 1/
This way, expensive surface-to-air missiles are traded for cheap UAVs, emptying the batteries and steadily exhausting the total remaining missile resources.
2/
He also notes that even though Russia claims to shoot down 96% of Ukrainian drones, so many are launched that enough get through to cause great damage to facilities — far in excess of the cost of the UAV strikes. 3/
Prominent Russian blogger “Veteran’s Notes” laments the “humiliating” failure of the State to provide heavy lift drones like the Ukrainian “Vampire.”
Instead, Russian frontline units must be supplied by human bearers and a handful of salvaged Ukrainian drones. 1/
“Recently, our unit lost a trophy drone, which I mentioned earlier.
It served the Russian army faithfully for exactly one month.
1/
“By the standards of modern warfare, it was a long-lived device, as it flew several times in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and was then shot down, repaired, and given a second life. 2/