Ukrainians making an extra special effort to piss Putin off today. Big Navy Day celebrations in Russia today. Putin unveiling his new navy plan to conquer the world or in his mind anyway. Meanwhile the Ukrainians force a cancellation of Navy Day celebrations in Sevastopol by doing a drone strike on the headquarters of the Black Fleet. Most likely that drone was launched from inside Crimea too. They just don't want to admit it. Some sources describe it as "a homemade drone," whatever that means. Putin does not handle that type of thing well. All the bloodshed and genocide and deaths of his own troops do not phase him that much. But Vlad does not handle public humiliation that well. The Moskva was based there in Sevastopol. I can guarantee ya that even though it is Navy Day there that they had no planned memorials for the men unless they have recently figure out some cover story that says they are off doing research in the Arctic or something. Russian official says Ukraine carried out drone attack on Black Sea fleet HQ July 31 (Reuters) - A senior official in Russian-annexed Crimea accused Ukraine on Sunday of carrying out a drone attack ahead of planned celebrations to mark Navy Day, injuring five and forcing the cancellation of festivities. https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...t-drone-attack-black-sea-fleet-hq-2022-07-31/ Also this update to Moskva sinking. This pretty much sucks. These guys have given their lives in service to their country. No military funerals. Most have only been told that their sons are "missing." As though they are off at Disneyland or something and did not return. The son of the Russian Admiral, commander of a division of the Black Sea Fleet, died on the cruiser “Moscow https://odessa-journal.com/the-son-...e-black-sea-fleet-died-on-the-cruiser-moscow/
Russia’s train with over 40 cars loaded with military equipment & ammunition from Crimea destroyed by HIMARS in Kherson Oblast 80 Russian soldiers killed & 200 injured in the strike, Serhii Bratchuk, the head of Odesa Reg Mil. https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-at...-destroyed-with-himars-in-kherson-region.html
From the report A reminder that, between February 24, 2022 and July 31, 2022, Russia’s total combat losses in Ukraine reached about 40,830 troops.
The Russian Navy is not doing very well. And the problems are not merely limited to the war zone. Putin Has Another Problem: The Russia Navy Is In Trouble https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/07/putin-has-another-problem-the-russia-navy-is-in-trouble/
Show you how much Rand corporation's "analysts" opinion is worth: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/21/weapons-ukraine-russia-invasion-military/
They called it as a possibility, seems like their opinion is worth quite a bit. "The nature of the reported Russian buildup suggests the expanded war, if it happens, will differ fundamentally from the past seven years of simmering stalemate. Russia has the ability to carry out a large-scale joint offensive operation involving tens of thousands of personnel, thousands of armored vehicles, and hundreds of combat aircraft. It would likely begin with devastating air and missile strikes from land, air, and naval forces, striking deep into Ukraine to attack headquarters, airfields, and logistics points. Ukrainian forces would begin the conflict nearly surrounded from the very start, with Russian forces arrayed along the eastern border, naval and amphibious forces threatening from the Black Sea in the south, and the potential (increasingly real) for additional Russian forces to deploy into Belarus and threaten from the north, where the border is less than 65 miles from Kyiv itself. In short, this war will look nothing like the status quo ante of conflict in Ukraine, and that undermines the first justification for U.S. aid: deterring Russia. The Ukrainian military has been shaped to fight the conflict in the Donbass and thus poses little deterrent threat to Russia; provision of U.S. weapons can do nothing to change that. If Moscow is willing to launch a major war, invading the second-largest country in Europe with a population of over 40 million, all while absorbing tremendous economic punishment from the West, then it is unlikely to be deterred by whatever U.S. military assistance can be delivered in the coming weeks. The only weapons systems that could plausibly impose costs that could change Russia’s calculus, such as surface-to-air missiles and combat aircraft, are ones that the United States would be highly unlikely to provide the Ukrainians. And, regardless, they could not be procured, delivered, and be made operational—to say nothing of getting the Ukrainian operators trained up to use them—in time to have an impact on this crisis. Large, modern systems require extensive training and material support."
Their thesis is completely wrong. They were the "3 days to Kiev" guys. As in: "In short, the military balance between Russia and Ukraine is so lopsided in Moscow’s favor that any assistance Washington might provide in coming weeks would be largely irrelevant in determining the outcome of a conflict should it begin. Russia’s advantages in capacity, capability, and geography combine to pose insurmountable challenges for Ukrainian forces tasked with defending their country. The second argument for aid—changing the course of the war—thus does not hold water." Bull. Ukrainians held even without the "assistance Washington provided in coming weeks". And yes, the weapons Washington is NOW providing did and do change the course of the war.