Russian Invasion of Ukraine Megathread

How well is the war this going for Russia?

  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Blyatskrieg

    Votes: 249 10.6%
  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I ain't afraid of no Ghost of Kiev

    Votes: 278 11.8%
  • ⭐⭐⭐ Competent attack with some upsets

    Votes: 796 33.7%
  • ⭐⭐ Stalemate

    Votes: 659 27.9%
  • ⭐ Ukraine takes back Crimea 2022

    Votes: 378 16.0%

  • Total voters
    2,360
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Russia has some experience of getting screwed over in urban combat in Chechnya. Russian armor would move in, and they simply could not elevate their guns high enough to hit Chechen rocket troops, who were firing from the rooftops of buildings. So the Russians specifically designed an armored vehicle called the BMPT Terminator with a high-elevation gun system that can elevate the autocannons 45 degrees.


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I have not seen a single one of these in the footage from Ukraine. It's all old BMPs, BTRs, T-72s, et cetera. It's literally all 40-year-old Cold War hardware. Why is Putin holding the good stuff back?
:thinking:
Tbh I kind of suspect that the whole shitbag soldier cannon fodder thing was true too at least some extent. I've seen a lot of varying extremes from Russian soldiers that look like a disciplined force to soldiers that look like they have no fucking clue what they're doing. Granted it's hard to get a good picture of what's going on since you have on one side of the conflict, a force that tells nothing but lies, and then on the other side of the conflict, a force that is effectively mute. Really in terms of just general soldiering, the Chechens have surprised me the most. They seem absolutely spot on for the most part.
 
Speaking of seizing assets, remember I mentioned about the Russian air industry last week? Well apparently the signs early this week point to the Russian government effectively nationalizing the foreign owned aircraft operated by Russian companies.
Here's a follow up video to the one I posted before:

Plus a couple news articles on the subject:
Business Insider (archive)
Airline Weekly (archive)

The short of it is that Russia's taken steps to enable quick re-registering of foreign registered craft in Russia, postponed some inspection requirements and made them easier to meet in Russia, and directed its airliners to not fly foreign registered aircraft abroad lest they be impounded or seized. This would also put Russia in violation of the Cape Town Treaty they ratified back in 2011. It'll also make any aircraft kept that way virtually worthless in the future as maintenance records would become unreliable, and it's a lot harder to sell someone an aircraft if they don't have decent assurances it's been properly maintained.


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I will say, I will miss Aeroflot's service in the USA. I have had nothing but great experiences with them, other passengers have not been assholes. Some people may poo-poo on them, as I have no idea how their domestic flights are, but, heard some stories, but for international flights, I will miss them for however long they are away. Fine airline, fine people, fine (international) customers, good food. Aeroflot was great, except for those few 3am phone-calls in Russian reminding me of my flight..... Other than that!
 
Really in terms of just general soldiering, the Chechens have surprised me the most. They seem absolutely spot on for the most part.
There is nothing like fanaticism and absolutely believing in a cause to motivate someone to devote every waking moment to getting good at it.
 
There is nothing like fanaticism and absolutely believing in a cause to motivate someone to devote every waking moment to getting good at it.
Given how Russia bombed Chechnya into the dirt not that long ago, can any history buffs or Russia buffs enlighten me how Russia managed to gain such devotion from Chechens?
 
There is nothing like fanaticism and absolutely believing in a cause to motivate someone to devote every waking moment to getting good at it.
I fully agree but would argue that's a good thing.
Given how Russia bombed Chechnya into the dirt not that long ago, can any history buffs or Russia buffs enlighten me how Russia managed to gain such devotion from Chechens?
They got a lot of what they wanted out of it. Chechnya is now largely left to its own devices. Likewise, the Chechens absolutely hate the Ukies and NATO for a plethora of reasons.
 
There is nothing like fanaticism and absolutely believing in a cause to motivate someone to devote every waking moment to getting good at it.

I remember one French dude who saw this vid a couple years back and he was like "Where the hell did they get guns in France?"

I had to explain to him, very slowly and carefully, that Chechens are born with pistols in their hands. It's like, default equipment. Their mothers have to squeeze extra hard because their sons literally come out of the womb with a Makarov PM. :smug:
 
Given how Russia bombed Chechnya into the dirt not that long ago, can any history buffs or Russia buffs enlighten me how Russia managed to gain such devotion from Chechens?
Judging by a twitter thread on Chechnya history I found earlier, it sounds like it's mostly a matter that during the post Soviet conflict Ahmad Kadyrov switched sides to serve Putin, and his son Ramzan Kadyrov succeeded him. The upshot being that Chechnya ended up as something of a vassal state of Russia. One of their own is in charge and used Russian resources to secure power. After which Putin let them basically do their own thing as the guy in charge is loyal to Putin.
 
Given how Russia bombed Chechnya into the dirt not that long ago, can any history buffs or Russia buffs enlighten me how Russia managed to gain such devotion from Chechens?
Brutality. It really is a big chunk of the answer as far as I know, just read a bit about the war.
Chechens getting a bit uppity? Go in and destroy their capital. Kill thousands.
Win and establish a pro-Russian government.

Now tell that government to kill anyone who tries to get uppity and give them your support.
There was still blood being shed almost 10 years after "peace" was realized as they kept killing those who wanted to rekindle the flames of independence.
 
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Apparently it says "Children of Donbass say 'Hello'."
 
"Poroshenko is a bitch! Hello from the children of Lugansk"
I don't know anything about Poroshenko except he's one of the main Ukrainian figures.

This one is the same but Donetsk. Lugansk and Donetsk are the two regions that make up the Donbass I think so "Hello from the children of Donbass" with both images makes sense.
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