Ukraine defeats a Russian column in Kherson region

[blue-wave]

The Ukrainian military has defeated a column of Russian occupiers in the Kherson region between Radensk and Oleshky.

According to Ukrinform, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, announced this on Telegram.

"The complete defeat of a column of Russian occupiers between Radensk and Oleshky. Dozens of corpses of Russian occupiers. Those who were not destroyed fled into the woods. The search for them is underway," he said.

Short video in the link: (if you get an error with the link, keep trying, I sometimes have to try multiple times)

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3413646-column-of-russian-occupiers-defeated-in-kherson-region-interior-ministry.html

[Sherman A1]

1. Excellent! Hope that this continues

And the “F…………g” Russians are chased back to Moscow.

[SheltieLover]

2. Kicking for visability

[Lovie777]

3. K & R . . .

[gab13by13]

4. A Ukraine victory

would be the biggest since David v Goliath.

[brewens]

5. I wondered just how many well trained highly motivated troops Putin has. I keep hearing

Russia's economy is relatively small for a superpower. I'd love to start hearing about mutinies.

[oldsoftie]

7. Large force, but not a large WELL TRAINED force.

Most of Russias military consists of troops with only a few years experience. The special forces are different but they are also not terribly large. Sheer numbers can still overwhelm a foe, but severe losses will erode the effectiveness of troops who may not want to be there to begin with

[keithbvadu2]

15. Article about their training and experience

Who is the Russian Army? GREEN 1 year of service. A quick study thanks to a DU'er comment today

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216400601
---------------------------------

Excellent article about Senior NCOs.

https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20190612.aspx

[oldsoftie]

32. Thank you for that!

[BGBD]

35. Also

much of their enlisted force is conscripted.

So a lot of these guys are probably cold, hungry, don't understand what they're ven doing there, and never wanted to be coldiers int he first place.

Not that it should matter to the Ukrainians, they're still invading them afterall. My point is that defections shouldn't be a surprise.

[blue-wave]

8. There was one platoon that surrendered I believe, yesterday

And the conscripts are reported to be abused by drunken brutish officers. The officers are allegedly poorly trained. There are reports that their command also lied to them about the reason for going to Ukraine. They were told it is a training exercise. If you factor in the family and friend connections between the two peoples, the Russian morale has got to be at a low point.

[ck4829]

25. Maybe they need to say to surrendering troops "Here's a gun, if you fight for us, you are Ukrainian"

I wonder if these surrendering forces are shown some compassion instead of what they know what's going to happen if Russia gets their hands on them, this might lengthen the war to the point where Russia gets exhausted one way or another, and it might have other effects as well.

[anamnua]

12. About the size of Spain's NT

[OnlinePoker]

21. A retired U.S. general on CNN yesterday made an interesting comparison

He said of the 200,000 troops massed against Ukraine before the invasion, only around 60,000 would be fighters. The remainder would be support personnel. New York City alone has 50,000 police and can't stop all the crime going on, so it's unlikely Putin will take the country, let alone secure major cities.

[Wounded Bear]

33. Yeah, modern armies have about that ratio...

US Army would be about the same. A typical US Infantry division of say 15,000 probably has around 5-8,000 actual combat troops. The rest do support functions like supply and maintenance of all the vehicles. The bigger the unit/organization, the lower the actual ratio of combat troops assigned.

[mitch96]

29. I've read, think of Italy with nukes... GDP the same but pissing away $$$ on weapons..nt

[oldsoftie]

6. I really hope UKR is giving us true reports. Unlike Russia.

Its imperative that these stories be true. Everyone knows Russia will flood the news with false reports so that MUST be countered with truth.
This news would be great. And great for Russian troops to hear. Second thoughts begin.

[blue-wave]

9. I have confirmed some of the reports but

Last edited Sat Feb 26, 2022, 09:42 AM - Edit history (1)

haven't checked them all. From those I checked they seem to be accurate.

[oldsoftie]

14. That is great to hear.

[Irish_Dem]

10. I don't think this is what Putin had in mind.

I think he assumed it would be a slam dunk operation.

[Generic Brad]

27. He believed his own B.S.

When will authoritarians learn? Saying it doesn't make it so.

[Irish_Dem]

30. He must have ignored the intel from his own people.

[Igel]

31. Or maybe his own people gave him the intel he wanted to hear.

Stalin found out that certain tank divisions were non-existent only when he ordered them into battle. Until then, they'd been made and staged according to his 5-year plans. To admit that they weren't produced would have led to executions, so military officials played CYA.

[Irish_Dem]

34. Right, hard to tell what is going on.

I think I heard that recently Putin dressed down an intel agent in public, in a humiliating manner. Maybe the agent was giving Putin news he did not want to hear?

So yes that would make agents just do happy talk.

[tblue37]

43. Here's the video:

[Irish_Dem]

44. Bullies people into speaking the party line.

What a smug asshole.

[Polybius]

45. Hopefully, China takes note

Taiwan is no pushover either.

[Irish_Dem]

46. I am certain China is playing close attention now.

Taiwan is not looking like a slam dunk anymore.

[BlueWavePsych]

11. K&R

[The Unmitigated Gall]

13. The longer the Ukrainians draw this out

The worse it looks for Poot and the greater the chance his hold on power is challenged. He might have an iron grip there, in Russia, but maybe not. Poot doesn’t seem very well-hinged lately; I wonder if he might decide to escalate on the defenders of Kiev with a battlefield nuke or something. Does he have generals who would follow those orders? Joe Biden: “I’m looking into your eyes and I don’t think you have a soul…” Madeleine Albright: “He is small and pale…absolutely cold, almost reptilian…” seem to be the most accurate assessments at this point.

[gordianot]

16. Remember the lone Russian armored vehicle that ran into a civilian car?

How did it get separated? Why were they in a panic? There is more than meets eye.

[blue-wave]

18. There were a number of videos from different angles

The story goes that the Russian troops in that convoy hijacked two Ukrainian army vehicles to the north of Kyiv. They took the Ukrainian's uniforms and their trucks and had a convoy of Russian military vehicles following them into Kyiv city center. They never made it. The entire convoy was, as the Ukrainian military says "neutralized." One video from a different angle at the time the car got run over shows a gun battle (off to one side of the tank) with the Ukrainians neutralizing some of the Russians. So I think the tank Russians that ran over the car were either distracted by the gun battle off to their side or they thought some of the gun fire was coming from the car. BTW, everyone in the car survived with minor injuries.

I must say, I watched the Ukrainians and how they handled themselves in battle. It was impressive.

[Phoenix61]

28. Thanks for posting. It's amazing anyone survived. m

[Botany]

17. Think of it you are a 19 year old Russian soldier, alone, really cold, and lost in the woods. Your

... options are to fight the Ukrainian troops and or civilians, kill yourself, or surrender.

"The complete defeat of a column of Russian occupiers between Radensk and Oleshky. Dozens of corpses of Russian occupiers. Those who were not destroyed fled into the woods. The search for them is underway," he said.

[blue-wave]

19. It would be terrifying, wouldn't it?

[Botany]

22. They are running out of gas, food, and they don't know why they are there too.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216403074

I don't think Putin plans to roll over the Ukraine is going the way he wants.

The Cossack people have a history of fighting.

?fit=992%2C650&ssl=1

[peggysue2]

37. These young Russian soldiers caught up in all this . . .

Are between a rock and hard place. Nineteen-years old. Still boys really and without proper training, dragged into service, then loaded down with bad information? This is a frigging nightmare.

[Botany]

38. I don't know how much of what I read or hear is true but there are stories of Russian ...

... soldiers begging for food and running out of gas. I read that Putin is worried about the
truth getting back home and he has had facebook and twitter turned off in Russia.

[peggysue2]

39. I've read the same stories, Botany

And yes, it's hard to tell how much of the content is factual. We're not on the ground.

But I've raised sons. Eighteen and nineteen old kids are not fully hatched. Doesn't matter what side you're on, they've got to be terrified. At least the young Ukrainian soldiers know what they're fighting for--their homes, their family, their country's continued existence. The young Russian soldiers? I suspect the message is not that clear and they're the invaders. Whatever they've been told, they're certainly not being greeted with flowers and welcoming crowds.

[Botany]

40. Ukrainian Woman Gives Sunflower Seeds To Russian Soldier So It Will Bloom After He Dies There

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216396549

[peggysue2]

42. I caught that video earlier

Amazing!

[Lonestarblue]

20. I hope Ukrainians take photos of the dead Russian soldiers and blast them into Russia.

Putin will hide the bodies and claim that no Russians soldiers have died. People in Russia seeing that their sons have died may be more motivated to protest and rise up against Putin. Massive demonstrations would get Putin’s attention, but perhaps more importantly the attention of his top advisers and rich buddies. He is deranged and they and his immediate advisers know that. How long will they let the madman kill their citizens and, for the oligarchs, cost them huge amounts of money. It would be sad if someone in Putin’s immediate circle had access to Novichok—not.

[tetedur]

23. Weren't portable crematoria trucks part of Russia's entourage?

Are they going to cremate the Russian soldiers and say, "See no bodies!"

[peggysue2]

41. The one thing they cannot cremate?

Are the memories of mothers and wives and sisters and all the people who will grieve, bodies or not.

Then the lies, the subterfuge? They become an obscene reminder of who and what the men behind the grotesque fiction truly are.

Butchers.

[uponit7771]

24. TRUE !! Russia is reporting "bypassing" Kherson but it's a supply line path ! I don't know what

... the complete picture is but RA with no air sup UA can slap supply lines anytime they want

[blue-wave]

26. Yeah, the Ukrainians are fighting very well

[peggysue2]

36. The military successes the Ukrainians have accomplished are stunning

No wonder Putin has shut down social media inside Russia!

[Brother Buzz]

47. I understand armed Ukrainian grandmothers are patrolling the woods

[Aristus]

48. If the Russian Army is anything at all like the old Soviet Army,

then they likely don't have a dedicated, permanent, professional Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, like the U.S. Army has.

Career NCO's are the key to training and maintaining a well-prepared, fit, and motivated fighting force. Their years and years of experience on the training fields and the battlefields contribute to the knowledge, discipline, and elan of military units.

The Soviet Army didn't have professional NCO's. A 'sergeant' was just a run-of-the-mill conscript who had about six more months of training than a private soldier. They were, for all practical purposes, useless in helping to maintain a huge conscript army. Junior officers had to do most of the daily grunt-work of keeping the troops trained.

[BlueIdaho]

49. The more this invasion costs Putin in blood and treasure

The worse this idea will look back home. If his failures piss off the wrong people, he could be disappeared.

[crickets]

50. K&R for the post and the discussion.