OT: Putin's War in Ukraine

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Raellus

This piece makes a strong case for Australia and other operators to send F/A-18 Hornets to Ukraine.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ven-to-ukraine

I'm especially interested in our Aussie members' thoughts on this proposal.

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I'd welcome it. To be frank, I'm not in favour of any limits on what (legal) vehicles and weapons are sent to Ukraine.

[kato13]

Probing attacks across the Dnieper near Kherson were not the first thing I suspected to happen. (Contested river crossing, with too much artillery in the area)

Probably a feint to pull troops away from Melitopol, but if the Russians collapse and a bridgehead is formed, who knows.


edit added link
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/04/23/7399048/

Yesterday -> Today

[Raellus]

Yeah, the Ukrainians better have something else planned besides attacking well prepared defensive positions head-on.

I really hope that the UAF HQ staff has studied the failure of Operation Citadel, and don't end up making the same mistakes that the Germans did at Kursk back in 1943.

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[Raellus]

Reuters did an awesome piece about Russian fortifications in Ukraine, featuring maps, satellite imagery, and really cool sketches (including cutaways).

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKR...E/mopakddwbpa/

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[bash]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Reuters did an awesome piece about Russian fortifications in Ukraine, featuring maps, satellite imagery, and really cool sketches (including cutaways).

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKR...E/mopakddwbpa/

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The illustrations are awesome and the piece overall was very good. I wonder though how well Russia's defenses are actually put together. I've seen a lot of videos of the fighting around Bahkmut and the Russian trenches are a far cry from the Platonic ideal of US trench warfare manuals.

Im sure not all Russian fortifications will be as bad as the more hastily dug ones in the Bahkmut region. However there's likely to be highly variable quality across the front. If Ukraine has some good intelligence on the quality of the defenses it will likely inform their avenues of attack.

All things being equal it seems you want to attack the area defended by the 401st Lazy Diggers instead of the 302nd Defensive Position Experts.

[Heffe]

I seem to recall an article a week or two ago about Cavoli stating explicitly that the US has been helping Ukraine with counteroffensive planning. Which I suppose is probably to have been expected, but it was nice to hear it called out so plainly.

As for the counteroffensive, assuming one really happens, I imagine it will be picking up speed before long.

In southern Ukraine, the soil will be dry from around mid-April, then two weeks later in the Donetsk region, and from mid-May in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region further north...

[Vespers War]

Ukraine looks like they're using the end of Mud Season to chip away at Russian logistics by striking oil depots with drones. Beyond limiting fuel availability for combat vehicles, it could also harm resupply by limiting the availability of trucks for final mile haulage from railheads to units. Logistics isn't flashy like a fighter jet or a new tank, but it's a critical function.