Russian Invasion of Ukraine 2022

[Husky_Khan]

European Union to Start a Large Training Mission for Around Fifteen Thousand Troops starting mid-November.



HARM Missiles Evidently Used in Strikes in Belgorod Oblast Yesterday.



Details on the HAWK SAM Systems Donated by Spain to Ukraine.



Ukrainian Air Defense Against Iranian Drones.



Russian T-90M Tank Damaged by a Land Mine.

 

[Bacle]

Russian head of mobilization, for one region, seems to have 'killed himself'...

 

[Scottty]

Chinese nationals in Ukraine sign up for evacuation after call from FM - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

 

[ATP]

Chinese nationals in Ukraine sign up for evacuation after call from FM - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

Moscov would use nukes?

 

[lloyd007]

You'd almost think this was poorly made obvious Ukrainian propaganda if not for the confirmed death notices coming in on the Russian mobilized

 

[Bacle]

I fear Putin is going to try a tac-nuke from a Belarusian jet, to use Belarus as a political meatshield to create some level of 'nuclear plausible deniability' in the act. Russia and Belarus have sort of nuclear sharing agreement, and pushing to arm CAS aircraft with tac-nukes is not something you do on a whim.

 

[Sailor.X]

I fear Putin is going to try a tac-nuke from a Belarusian jet, to use Belarus as a political meatshield to create some level of 'nuclear plausible deniability' in the act. Russia and Belarus have sort of nuclear sharing agreement, and pushing to arm CAS aircraft with tac-nukes is not something you do on a whim.

If he does this Kalingrad burns. NATO will have no choice but to eliminate all of the Russian Military assets there. That and the Belarusian Military goes the way of the Dodo

 

[LordsFire]

The scary thing, is that Belarus is the logical place to launch a nuclear strike towards Kyiv.

If the Russians actually nuke a city, even with 'just' tactical-grade weapons, then the entire world is going to have to make a decision about whether or not a rogue state willing to do that can be allowed to continue to function.

 

[Sailor.X]

The scary thing, is that Belarus is the logical place to launch a nuclear strike towards Kyiv.

If the Russians actually nuke a city, even with 'just' tactical-grade weapons, then the entire world is going to have to make a decision about whether or not a rogue state willing to do that can be allowed to continue to function.

Every Black Budget tactical asset that NATO has will be used at that point. I am pretty certain nuking a city would call for the use of such assets.

 

[Scottty]

Moscov would use nukes?

I don't think a war needs to involve nukes for the area to be a dangerous place to be.

 

[Husky_Khan]

NATO Promises to Upgrade Ukraine's Counter-Drone Capabilities Significantly.



Recent German Donations and Pledged to Ukraine. 5 Bergepanzer 2 ARVs, 13 Heavy And Medium Bridge Systems and 167.000 Rounds Of Small Arms Ammunition went from pledged to delivered apparently in addition to large quantities of Winter Clothing and Supplies.



Russian 122mm Tornado-G MRL Captured in Kharkiv Area.



Ukrainian Air Surveillance Radar Taken Out By Russian Lancet Loitering Munition.



Russia Tor SAM System Struck by Ukrainian Fires.

 

[Bacle]

Hearing rumors that Russia is running out of ball beardings that are railroad grade, and that the last two ventures that made them were joint ventures with the US and Sweden, which ended in late April or so.

If this is true, every train axel/hub Russian loses is one it can no longer domestically replace, and will have to start from scratch or do smuggling/sanctions evasion trickle feeds.

Or buy from Iran, like with so many other things. They Ayatollah having this much leverage and power over Russian supply chains should be rather humiliating to Putin domestically, but the Russia media obviously tries ignore/playdown this angle.

Edit: Here's a link with some sourcing.

 

[Scottty]

Hearing rumors that Russia is running out of ball beardings that are railroad grade, and that the last two ventures that made them were joint ventures with the US and Sweden, which ended in late April or so.

If this is true, every train axel/hub Russian loses is one it can no longer domestically replace, and will have to start from scratch or do smuggling/sanctions evasion trickle feeds.

Or buy from Iran, like with so many other things. They Ayatollah having this much leverage and power over Russian supply chains should be rather humiliating to Putin domestically, but the Russia media obviously tries ignore/playdown this angle.

Edit: Here's a link with some sourcing.

How hard could it be to make a ball bearing?

 

[Bacle]

How hard could it be to make a ball bearing?

China Couldn’t Make Its Own Ballpoint Pens—Until Now

After five years of research, manufacturers in China have finally cracked a skill that eluded them for 5 years: the making of ballpoint pens.

fortune.com

China only managed ballpoint pens 5 years ago.

Russian rail was dependent on joint ventures with the US and Sweden till last April, so they didn't have a domestic knowledge base ot produce railroad grade ball bearings it seems. And let's not forget most of Russia's WW2 rail engines came from the US under lend-lease, so it's not like Russian's have been great about manufacturing a lot of the rail bits they are so dependent on for logistics.

I'll admit I too was surprised to learn Russia cannot domestically manufacture heavy duty ball-bearings; that seems like something rather basic to keep in the domestic knowledge/production base, if at all possible.

 

[gral]

How hard could it be to make a ball bearing?

Very. It also is one of those industries that tend towards monopoly or a very small oligopoly, given the economies of scale involved - IIRC, there's only 3 or 4 big players in the world, and they divide between themselves the whole market.

 

[lloyd007]

Hearing rumors that Russia is running out of ball beardings that are railroad grade, and that the last two ventures that made them were joint ventures with the US and Sweden, which ended in late April or so.

If this is true, every train axel/hub Russian loses is one it can no longer domestically replace, and will have to start from scratch or do smuggling/sanctions evasion trickle feeds.

Or buy from Iran, like with so many other things. They Ayatollah having this much leverage and power over Russian supply chains should be rather humiliating to Putin domestically, but the Russia media obviously tries ignore/playdown this angle.

Edit: Here's a link with some sourcing.

According to twitter and reddit, Russia 'should have' run out of pretty much everything by now... but... they haven't... so it pays to take anything like expecting a nation whose primary mode of transport is its rail network somehow running out after less than a year of war with a Rock of Gibraltar sized grain of salt.

Will Russia pay (and probably dearly) for this disruption down the line? Almost assuredly... but considering just how much rail stock they probably have, I wouldn't bet on them running out of wheel cassettes anytime soon.

 

[Zachowon]

According to twitter and reddit, Russia 'should have' run out of pretty much everything by now... but... they haven't... so it pays to take anything like expecting a nation whose primary mode of transport is its rail network somehow running out after less than a year of war with a Rock of Gibraltar sized grain of salt.

Will Russia pay (and probably dearly) for this disruption down the line? Almost assuredly... but considering just how much rail stock they probably have, I wouldn't bet on them running out of wheel cassettes anytime soon.

I mean, it has been suffering
You won't hear about it from them because then it doesn't paint thw picture they want

 

[Megadeath]

According to twitter and reddit, Russia 'should have' run out of pretty much everything by now... but... they haven't... so it pays to take anything like expecting a nation whose primary mode of transport is its rail network somehow running out after less than a year of war with a Rock of Gibraltar sized grain of salt.

Will Russia pay (and probably dearly) for this disruption down the line? Almost assuredly... but considering just how much rail stock they probably have, I wouldn't bet on them running out of wheel cassettes anytime soon.

I mean... They're buying drones from Iran, using SAM systems and anti-ship missiles as ground attack cruise missiles, refurbishing decades obsolete tanks, sending others out without ERA, requiring infantry to provide their own armour and medical kit, training with rusty weapons, reducing their mobilisation because they can't even minimally equip their target force level, possibly buying artillery rounds from NK... They might not have "run out of pretty much everything" but they really are hurting for a lot.

 

[Scottty]

China Couldn’t Make Its Own Ballpoint Pens—Until Now

After five years of research, manufacturers in China have finally cracked a skill that eluded them for 5 years: the making of ballpoint pens.

fortune.com

China only managed ballpoint pens 5 years ago.

Russian rail was dependent on joint ventures with the US and Sweden till last April, so they didn't have a domestic knowledge base ot produce railroad grade ball bearings it seems. And let's not forget most of Russia's WW2 rail engines came from the US under lend-lease, so it's not like Russian's have been great about manufacturing a lot of the rail bits they are so dependent on for logistics.

I'll admit I too was surprised to learn Russia cannot domestically manufacture heavy duty ball-bearings; that seems like something rather basic to keep in the domestic knowledge/production base, if at all possible.

Dude, your link is paywalled.

Very counter-intuitive that something as simple as little metal spheres would be so hard to mass-produce. Economics of scale meaning it's more cost-effective to have a few big players do it is one thing... those big players being the only people who can do it at all is quite another.

 

[Bacle]