(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Speaking of NEIVANMADE:
Шеврони від #NEIVANMADE для бійців 2 штурмової роти 3 ОШБр pic.twitter.com/5dlGBKEw4l
— NEIVANMADE (@neivanmade) May 24, 2023
Here’s the translation of the tweet:
Chevrons from #NEIVANMADE for fighters of the 2nd assault company of the 3rd OSHBr
Just a very brief update tonight.
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
The first Ukrainian F-16 will be one of the strongest signals from the world that Russia will only lose – address by the President of Ukraine
24 May 2023 – 21:56
I wish you health, dear Ukrainians!
Today, I held the first meeting of the Staff after all the important visits, meetings and decisions – defense decisions that we have been working on for quite some time and are now getting them in cooperation with our partners.
First of all, this concerns the aviation coalition – a coalition of modern fighter jets for Ukraine.
We are doing everything we can to reduce the time until the result is achieved, until new and powerful aircraft with Ukrainian pilots emerge in the Ukrainian skies.
It is clear that this global step will allow us to expand our defense capabilities. Because it is only with powerful aircraft that an air defense system can be complete.
On the other hand, the first Ukrainian F-16 will be one of the strongest signals from the world that Russia will only lose because of its own aggression, becoming weaker and more isolated.
This will be a signal that Russian terror has lost, and our world, which is based on respect for independent nations and the right of peoples to choose their own path, has endured.
We will prepare the necessary basis to ensure that our aviation transition is as quick and efficient as possible.
Our warriors have already proved that they can master modern weapons with efficiency that was not expected from us. I’m sure they will be just as successful with the aircraft.
The main thing is the speed of training and supply, i.e. the time that will pass between decisions and the actual defense of our skies.
Today, as usual, I heard reports from the commanders, the Commander-in-Chief, the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate on the current situation at the front, our counteraction to the occupier, and the capabilities that Russia is going to use against us.
We know how to respond. In particular, this applies to the missile threat and the constant terror of kamikaze drones.
Now Russia is increasingly resorting to so-called combined strikes – different types of missiles, different types of drones.
I am grateful to our Air Force, to all our defenders of the sky, to our intelligence for improving our defense faster than Russia can change its terror tactics.
If we take, for example, just one weapon of Russian terror, the Iranian Shaheds, our soldiers have shot down almost 900 of these drones to date. In total, about 1160 Shaheds have been used against Ukraine. We shoot down most of them.
And we are constantly looking for tools to make the share of downed Iranian drones 100%.
But today, given that such strikes are ongoing, I would like to appeal to the people of Iran directly. To everyone – to society, to Iranian ulama, to every Iranian family, to those people who are able to influence government decisions in Iran. A simple question: why do you want to be accomplices in Russian terror? Why are you on the side of the evil state?
The world sees what is happening, and you all in Iran see it. Support for evil cannot be denied.
Even though we have learned to shoot down most of your kamikaze drones that you are handing over to Russia, there are still hits.
When an Iranian drone kills a pregnant Ukrainian girl and her husband in their home, why do you, mothers and fathers in Iran, need this? When your Shahed hits a dormitory with our students, people die, a fire starts, rescuers arrive, and in a few minutes a second Shahed hits, taking the lives of those who were saving the lives of others… Why does Iran need such cynical murders? Committed by Russia’s hands, yet with your weapons.
What do you, the people in Tehran, or in Shiraz, or in Saqqez, or in any other city in your country, get from this?
Unfortunately, even greater isolation from the world and even greater problems.
For Russia, absolutely everything is a target. Homes, schools, hospitals, houses of worship, churches, power plants, markets, even humanitarian aid distribution points and bus stops… There are thousands of examples of this. People of Iran! Russia is hitting everything indiscriminately. With artillery and mortars, missiles and drones – with what it has and what Russia is given on your behalf.
I am sure you must be on the other side of history – not with evil.
Russia started this war for the sake of enslavement. It is a war of a colonizer against a neighboring nation. Russia even steals people – our children! Thousands and thousands… Only absolute evil can steal the children of another nation. And by going against Ukrainians, the Russian occupiers are destroying all other national communities that have lived on the land of Ukraine for centuries. The villages of Greek Christians burned by Russians and Russia’s systematic repression of the Crimean Tatar people, our Ukrainian Muslim community, are proof of this.
The people of Iran could live a very different life if you were not put on the same side with such evil as Russian aggression.
Your Shaheds who terrorize Ukraine every night only mean that the people of Iran are being pushed deeper and deeper into the dark side of history.
Glory to all who defend life!
Thank you to everyone in the world who helps strengthen our air defense, our aviation and save our people from Russian terror!
If we are strong, we will live!
Glory to Ukraine!
Bakhmut:
Bakhmut before and after the russian invasion.
Like a cancerous tumor on the body of Europe, Ruscism brings only destruction and death wherever it spreads. pic.twitter.com/TwROmElHd3— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 24, 2023
Avdiivka:
Yesterday, russian terrorists completely destroyed a 9-story and partially damaged a 5-story residential building in Avdiivka, Donetsk region. The bodies of two dead people were retrieved from the ruins of a collapsed structure. One woman is in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/LlLraKqbcQ
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 24, 2023
Crimea:
Crimean bridge. Russia says it is closed due to military exercises. Better run now. pic.twitter.com/TtbLDnqGUF
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 24, 2023
The Belgorod crowd:
Answering journalists' questions, the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, White Rex, says the unit had no losses during the Belgorod incident, only two wounded. He somewhat dodges questions about American combat vehicles, saying these could be re-captured from Russians,… pic.twitter.com/mQRSPIfvlA
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) May 24, 2023
Here’s the full text:
Answering journalists’ questions, the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, White Rex, says the unit had no losses during the Belgorod incident, only two wounded. He somewhat dodges questions about American combat vehicles, saying these could be re-captured from Russians, including in Bakhmut. He also adds that there appears to be considerable support for the unit among the Russian population in Belgorod.
Free Russia Legion published a separate comment on the press conference, saying Russians did not show much resistance despite numerical superiority, and bombed their own citizens trying to hit the group. The Legion appears to have suffered more serious casualties than the Corps -… pic.twitter.com/0wBbwdUsrV
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) May 24, 2023
Full text of the tweet:
Free Russia Legion published a separate comment on the press conference, saying Russians did not show much resistance despite numerical superiority, and bombed their own citizens trying to hit the group. The Legion appears to have suffered more serious casualties than the Corps – two dead and ten wounded combined. This is in contrast with the Corps who are said to have lost two people wounded. It is still unclear whether the two groups were fighting in the same area, or separately.
And here are the screen grabs of Dmitri’s translation of the statement:
That’s all I’ve got time for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
#NAFOfellas , congratulations 😍 https://t.co/r9yexHGmSo
— Patron (@PatronDsns) May 24, 2023
The link of Patron’s new video at his official TikTok doesn’t want to embed. You can click through and see it here.
Open thread!
Anoniminous
Prigozhin announced Wagner taken 20,000 KIA at Bakhmut. At the NATO Standard 1:3 that means and estimated 60,000 WIA for 80,000 total casualties. That’s the low-ball figure. Given Russia’s inability to provide combat medical care, transportation, and behind the lines medical services I suspect Biden’s figure of 100,000 total casualties to be nearer the mark.
Tactically, it is very likely Wagner has to pull out from Bakhmut due to lack of cannon fodder.
Alison Rose
That was quite an address from Zelenskyy tonight. I really like the appeal to Iranian citizens, since we know many of them are willing and able to stand up to their government. I don’t know what power the people have on this issue, but I’m glad he put it front and center.
Happy birthday to the Fellas! I hope they get everything they want ;)
Thank you as always, Adam.
Kyle Rayner
Maxim Katz made a funny observation while discussing the raids today.
Andrya
@Kyle Rayner: There’s a fourth border guard for russia’s territorial integrity: Rishi Sunak. Given the putin regime’s entanglement with white supremacy, it’s extremely ironic that they are dependent on a person of color who is the head of government of a European country.
ETA: To clarify, I would greatly prefer a Labour prime minister, but the UK Labour Party appears completely unable to get its act together.
Roger Moore
@Anoniminous:
I think you have your calculations backward. If the Russians are having trouble providing medical care, you’d expect more KIA and fewer WIA, as some soldiers die who could have been saved with better medical care. That would mean the 20K KIA probably have fewer than 60K WIA, not more.
ETA: Still, it’s telling that Wagner has sustained far more KIA trying to take Bakhmut than the US had in 20 years in Afghanistan.
Jay
@Roger Moore:
Mordor count’s KIA on the field,. they don’t include missing, or those who die on the way back or in hospitals.
Saw a Dimitri vid the other day of a Mordor DR, barred from providing life saving medical treatment to the wounded.
Anoniminous
@Roger Moore:
It was purposeful. I’m trying to be conservative figuring a least half of the KIA would have been WIA in a NATO army.
Anoniminous
This is very strange. A T-70 being pulled off a war memorial? Some numbnuts thinking this POS would be useful in combat in 2023?
Jay
@Anoniminous:
there is the absence of medical care, there was a drone vid today of Mordor Orc’s approaching a wounded “comrade”, just to steal his watch. After that, they abandoned him.
Another, of a wounded guy drinking from a ditch, (really, we have filters for that), and when they detect the drone above, drag, and I mean drag, not carry, the guy across the ditch into the pampas grass, then abandon him when they realize the drone knows exactly where they are.
Jay
@Anoniminous:
It’s for next year’s “Victory Parade”,…… they might have it running and drivable by then. The Laotian T-34 has broken down.
Jay
Jay
Devore
Seems like more Russian artillery is getting destroyed recently. I assume that’s key for the counter offensive. But I don’t understand why?
Another Scott
Tactics and competence still matter a lot, even as the hardware changes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Yutsano
I only wish the people of Iran would be allowed to see Zelenskyy’s speech. That sort of criticism definitely won’t make it past the mullah’s censors. But considering how Iranians use social media, it might just spread around. I only wish I had someone I knew there to start the process.
Manyakitty
@Andrya: thanks for saying this better than I could. And yes, whatever his substantial shortcomings, Sunak has definitely been a friend to Ukraine.
oldster
Reports out of Moscow that the Ministry of Defense building is on fire.
Also, denials out of Moscow that the Ministry of Defense building is on fire.
We’ll know more tomorrow. I hope it’s true.
Another Scott
@oldster: https://twitter.com/nexta_tv has some clips – it just looks a little smoky to these eyes.
Further down the page, there’s video of a large fire at the “Akos construction market”. That’s a fire!
Cheers,
Scott.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Also posted up on the open thread [oops, I bypassed this one]: Fresh From Attack on Russian Soil, Raiders Taunt the Kremlin
[gift link]
Kyle Rayner
@Andrya: Good catch! Absolutely.
Bill Arnold
@Yutsano:
It’ll spread around; the Iranian people are adept at evading censorship. Some of those people will also know about the constant sabotage in Russia by Russians, mostly unsolved at least from public reports. 88 million Iranians.
jonas
@Anoniminous: The Russian casualty numbers are simply mindboggling. Russia was already at the edge of a demographic collapse. It’s incredible to think what killing off something like 1 out of every 10 males between the ages of 20 and 40 (who haven’t already fled abroad) is going to do to that country in the long term.
Anoniminous
@Devore:
Artillery is central to the Russian way of war. They rely on fixing their enemy and then pound them with shells, rockets, and mortars. Take that away and they are lost.
Sebastian
@oldster:
official statement is a teapot on fire.
A hardware store with a lot of building materials is on fire in Moscow, too. Big fire.
Traveller
@Devore: I would venture to guess that Russian Artillery has become much less mobile and on the defensive is being placed behind fixed defensive earthworks and what not.
When the US agreed to send M777 155mm howitzers with counter battery radar, I thought or hoped, that this would be the end of the Russian advantage in fires.
Not so, I was quite disappointed, but war is full of strange yet powerful currents that are, at first, hard to see. The Russians have upped their game and become much more proficient in many aspects of this war fighting business…they have done well from where they started. Not good, but far better, more intelligent.
Likewise, the Ukrainians have picked up lots of skills also…I tend to think that if Russian Artillery is being atritted as you seem to note, there are two factors, Ukrainian acquired skills, and, I think the Russians simply now have fewer truck and other vehicles to move their Artillery from place to place.
With the Artillery fixed for defensive purposes and also fixed because they are unable to move it…counter battery fire has finally become more effective. (I think; I’ve always been Infantry with no Artillery experience, {except in war}, so take what I say with a grain of salt…but this is what makes sense to me. I hope what you are seeing re Russian Artillery is true). Best Wishes, Traveller
Sebastian
@Traveller:
a not insignificant factor might be barrel degradation, especially at the Russian rate of fire.
Traveller
@Sebastian:
@Sebastian:
Yes, and yes again…not so amusingly, I worry and have thought about our lack of tube replacement and refurbishing….never once thinking this might very well be more so for Russian tubes…(slap my forehead, shows how a person can overlook the obvious, or being fixated on their own issue, not seeing the broader field), you are probably more correct than I. Best Wishes, Traveller
Miss Bianca
@oldster: If it were just the denials, I would be inclined to think it was true.