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Russia has started an offensive at Kharkiv Oblast. The Ukrainians are saying they repelled the first attacks. Let's see how it goes.

Hmm. Wikipedia gives a 1946-1950 period for its design, not its production, which ran from 1951 to 1971 - there are armed forces which still use it. It seems reasonable to assume the Russians still have some 130mm ammunition at hand(whether the ammo is in good condition is another story, of course).

Minesweeping is dangerous work.

About mine disposal, I recall a comment, way before the current war(I think it was around 2017-8), that the Ukrainians were horrified by the EOD doctrine NATO instructors were teaching them. NATO doctrine, shaped by Iraq and Afghanistan experience, was to slowly and methodically clear a path(or...

It has to be a hub for the Russian equivalent to the AMC - there's an Airborne division stationed at Pskov(used as plot point in Red Storm Rising). Didn't know about any Tu-22Ms stationed there, though.

That one looks to me like at bit of trying to make the silver lining in the cloud bigger than it is. Yes, it may be so, but what he's not saying is how much of a delay changing the starting point will cause(not to mention how much time the flooded area will be impassable).

For all the headlines Bakhmut gets, Ardiivka and Vuhledar have been as hard or more on the Russians.

Wagner is also deeply concerned that the Ukrainians will pull a Stalingrad on them and surround Bakhmut while they attempt to capture the city, is what I hear. Whether that'll happen is anyone's guess.

They also saw what happened to every local political honcho in Donetsk and Luhansk(first, they lost power and became minions of the Russian State; then Russia started killing them off); essentially, their only way out is to defeat Russia.

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.

Had heard about the guy, not about the girl. There isn't much attention being paid to the volunteers(on both sides) here.

Ukraine('Ukraina') means 'frontier'(same as the 'Krajina' of Yugoslav Wars-era fame). The logic goes, by saying 'the Ukraine', you're not referring to a country but to a geographical region. While it is so in Russian, 'the Ukraine' doesn't have the same undertone in English at all, IMO.

Fielded? You can count all the Oplots in the in the Ukrainian in the fingers of one hand. I wouldn't be surprised if they were either in Kharkov or Kiev waiting for the Russians(just most of the best IJA tanks never saw action, being husbanded for the invasion of Japan).

Ongoing major airborne assault on Vasylkiv Airport, 22km south-southeast of Kiev/Kyiv. 150+ transport and attack helicopters, Ukrainians also claim shooting down an Il-76 in the area.