>

True - Ukraine forcing Russia into untenable positions, resulting in ~~hundreds~~ thousands of KIA and WIA, loosing moral and just about everything else.
Wish we could provide more.
No country should suffer Russian aggression. >

Who didn't see that coming when June HI:MA:RS got going.  Plenty of cope on Russia's supposedly unlimited ammo stocks and how cheap/easy to make shells - ignoring logistics of supply and use.
Same goes for missiles. Same goes for trucks.  Same goes for mobiks.
Ukraine doesn't have to beat the entirety of Russia. Just carve them out of their country one slice at a time. >

For those who say "Iran is already sanctioned enough":
This is nonsense, sanctions (especially from Europe) are actually pretty lenient. >

Also this is a typical "argument" by people who fundamentally do not understand diplomacy and politics.
For each perceived mis-step there has to be a specific sanction. This sanction is the cost that has been attached to misbehaviour. All existing sanctions are in response to past misbehaviour. Therefore it doesn’t matter if existing sanctions seem to be high already. >


For each perceived mis-step there has to be a specific sanction. 

It's clear that specific sanctions for particular mis-steps were not punishing enough >

Interesting that they mention that replenished VDV units are being thrown at Soledar. I didn't hear that. So it's Wagner reserves at Bakhmut and the best military units at Soledar. Really does sound like a last-ditch effort to make progress. >

Reports last night were that VDV were pulled in to Bakhmut to maintain pressure and frontline Wagner troops, rather than prisoner Mobiks, were involved in the frontal assault on Soledar.  
​
The one disappointing element is that everything appears to be coordinated for the first time across most of the front with pressure maintained on Bakhmut, advance attempts in Adriivka direction and increased shelling around Kremmina. So they are really throwing everything at the Soledar push and trying to tie up UA reserves elsewhere. I can't really remember seeing any such coordination previously. 
​
That level of coordination is doubly surprising to see with Lapin, who both Wagner and the Chechens have openly mocked, being appointed head of the Russian Army Main staff today.  Hopefully this was coordinated before his appointment and it will be back to one upmanship attempts and infighting from now. >

I suppose Russia was bound to get better at this eventually. It's just weird how often they follow that pattern, suffering some of the most lopsided defeats in history early in a war, and then completely flipping the script later on. 
But of course Ukraine has gotten more competent too, so as long as Russia doesn't achieve great success here the Russians will probably go back to throwing each other under the bus for awhile. >

With other words: Soledar has not fallen and people can stop dooming. Also shows how pathetic Russia has become: sacrificing thouands for places with no tactical importance. >

And also even if it falls it’s because Ukraine is playing it smart keeping their soldiers alive while Russia throws them in the meat grinder giving them a pyrrhic victory. >

United24 - donate directly to government of Ukraine
Support Ukraine Now - other ways to help >

You just know when they announce they "killed" 600 Ukrainians they were all but admitting that was their loss count.  Because they can't allow themselves to be shown as incapable of tit-for-tat. >

The fuck is a "foreign intelligence provocation" in this context? >

Can't allow the foreign intelligences to demand we pay the promised compensation to relatives. So much better when people just disappear. >

Ah, I see >

Every responsible country should be looking at this war and thinking, "holy shit, we need a procurement plan to massively increase our ammunition stockpiles or an industrial plan to scale up production within a few months. >

They said that after WW1.
And WW2.
And the Korean War... >

What’s old is new; flak cannons command and conquer style >

There are a lot of early cold-war era AA guns that I feel like are probably just a radar upgrade, a raspberry pi, and a good algorithm away from being drone swarm obliterators. >

That’s the spirit! Plug them in to network with the patriot radars for bonus points and away we go >

Good news, hopefully the Greek offer to wait with their deliveries of Marders is still on the table. That would help out a lot. >

"Nazi's have little love for Jews"
"KKK members not too fond of black folks" >

It's so sad too... they're missing out on all these great friendships because of hate. Only hurting themselves in the long run. >

Add to Cart: U.S. Missile Defense System
Quantity: 1
Shipping: Ukraine
Giftwrap: Yes >

Returns accepted until Jan 30th, 2023.
Would you like a gift reciept? >

It seems to me that the only real guarantee of Ukranian security is Ukranian military assets. Substantial deterrence on the ground ready to go.
If I was any neighboring country of Russia I'd be working on the same thing to remain autonomous. Or working on becoming a good puppet. 
A bully like Russia won't stop after they get a bruising in Ukraine. They'll reconstitute and pick a weaker target next time, with less support. >

Absolutely! Russia is a bully that only understands strength. This is something that some countries still don't understand. Diplomacy is for Russia only a ploy to buy more time to plan their crimes.
Ukraine (and all of the neighboring countries of Russia who don't want to get gobbled up) needs a military large and strong enough so that Russia won't even contemplate attacking them again. >

There was an agreement recently to aquire 88 F-35s in Canada to replace our old CF-18s. Also, Canada has a number of Leopard 2s. Hoping it's one of these or both. >

If I remember that story right, the first of those planes won't be delivered until 2026.
So while Ukraine may eventually get some free-or-almost-free, long-in-the-tooth jets from the Canadians, that could take quite a while. On the plus side, by the time they might get them, they'd be very much up to speed on NATO kit. >

I'm saying Canada might offer some CF-18s in the near future if they're in decent condition. >

This is a good update. The situation is still fluid. Sounds like the Ukrainian defenses held well enough, and hopefully reinforcements and new plans are ready.

The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The overall Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi is in Soledar himself. He took some photos yesterday and there are some photos just coming in from today showing him in a "bomb shelter in Soledar". 
If Syrskyi is personally supervising from a bunker in Soledar, I suppose the chances that Soledar will surrender are rather slim. >

Hmmm, he's a really good general - would prefer for him to be out of personal danger. >

agreed, but having a general that close is great for morale and he might be able to call in support that otherwise wouldn't have been an option. >

We have many many programs which generally boil down to "Train the Trainer".
We have been doing this for quite some time. >

I just wish that wolfhound was a Bradley. >

They have different uses, pros and cons.
The wolfhound is better armored, more likely to survive mine, ied, and RPG attacks.
The bradley would be more capable in terms of firepower, especially anti-tank. >


...wolfhound is better armored,..

I do not believe that is correct.  
MRAPs have great armor protection compared to a Humvee or truck/bus.  Also great compared to a ballist vest or helm.  
Bradleys have fragile lingerie armor when compared to a main battle tank like the M1 Abrams.  
Armor being "good" or "bad" is relative to the class of vehicle and what weapons you expect to defend against. >

I found no mention of the number of donated AMX-10 RC. Is that a significant one or just a symbolic one ? >

In French here
Nothing official yet but it would be 10 first then 30 total for the first wave.
The French army is waiting for the periodic delivery of the Jaguar to the active unit in order to free some AMX-10 RC. >

I heared  the number 30 on France24 too. >

Strelkov is a dead man walking. He'll never get what he wants, which is a great thing all around. He's pissing off a lot of people and must be becoming a liability for whoever it is that's protecting him. He might be Patrushev's creature. >

The 80 civilian contractors that were killed by a HIMARS strike on a school in occupied Lantrativka on December 16th were not there to rebuild infrastructure as LPR officials have claimed, but rather to dig trenches.
Source: Radio Svoboda investigation | Google-translated >

Any person with half a brain sees the similarities between Putin and Hitler’s personal histories.
Grew up during a patriotic time and early in adulthood experience the collapse of that system. 
Proceeded by years of hardship for their entire nation and a reduction in it’s total territory.
Became fervently ambitious about re-establishing the glory that the weak leaders of the past had destroyed, that an outside force had deprived them of. 
Quite literally, Putin, Hitler and many other people across history and across the entire world have developed this same deluded view of the world due to their personal history.
It’s a psychological development effect that happens when certain people go through nationalistic indoctrination and then in early adulthood experience the collapse of that system and the longing for the re-establishment of the past glory.
In many ways it resembles WWII. Putin invades Chechnya, but it’s pushed aside because it isn’t important and the territorial dispute is “reasonable”. 
Putin invades Georgia. OK, 2nd invasion, but still seems reasonable-ish and what can you realistically do about it anyway?
Putin invades Crimea and the Donbas… OK the pattern is emerging and encroaching further into Europe.
Putin stages a blitzkrieg of the entire nation of Ukraine… OK, now we’re at the “France never could have seen it coming!” Phase and it finally clicks that Putin won’t stop until he has East Germany back under Soviet rule. >

Well said >

Ukrainian MoD update from just now seems to have good news

The enemy is conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Avdiiv and Lyman directions, and is trying to improve the tactical position in the Kupyan direction. He concentrates his efforts on capturing the Donetsk region within the administrative border, without success.

And according to faux-Girkin:

Soledar - critically difficult, to the end.
46th Airmobile Brigade at the moment practically recaptures the heroism of 36th and Azov from this spring.

[Edit] Ukrainians apparently now claim to be in control of Kuzmine, last village on the road to Kreminna. >

I think Kuzmine happened some time back. It was posted then that Russia was shelling it and Ukraine repelling attacks there. The conclusion then was that yes they have it and are now outside Kreminna. Ukraine didn't announce it, so it's unnoticed. Though this front doesn't seem to get any attention, I'm not even sure there have been any map changes to reflect this. 
But there's a reason Russia moved their administration staff out of Kreminna and supposedly added reinforcements. >

I thought they removed him after the last debacle but he's back and with more power. Amazing.
Btw not connected or anything but didn't France get rid of their head of intelligence because he failed in his job about this war. >

We did. >

I really like one of the reasons given for sacking him: "lack of mastery of subjects". Such an understated way to put it. >

No I think this is right. We had the intelligence, but the interpretation was invalid because it was estimated that it would make no sense to launch the attack when acting rationale. The issue was that Putin acted irrationally based on our intelligence data, which is something that surprised us. This interpretation factor turned valid data into a wrong conclusion. >

Daily DefMon3 update >

From 24.02.2022 to 10.01.2023 (Day 321) estimated Russian losses so far (change since previous day):
112470 (+710) Personnel
3084 (+4) Tanks
6154 (+7) Armored Personnel Vehicles
2073 (+4) Artillery Systems
434 (+0) MLRS
217 (+0) Anti-aircraft Warfare Systems
285 (+0) Aircraft
275 (+0) Helicopters
1860 (+4) UAV operational-tactical level
723 (+0) Missiles
17 (+1) Warships / Boats
4817 (+8) Other vehicles
183 (+0) Special Equipment >

I wonder what the boat is. If raptor class or something smaller. Anything bigger I feel we would have heard about. They don’t have many of those raptor class boats left. >

Im guessing it’s a raptor, but I’m giddy at this point to see any new boat loss, I missed them >

Putin is a man with no conscience. His eyes show he is loooooong past the point of human connection.
The way he casually lies, the complete lack of care for even his own associates, and the sarcastic way he communicates. Like everything is some kind of joke to him. He doesn't take anything seriously. People are literally killed in front of him and he just shrugs as if someone told a flat joke on a sitcom and goes right back to eating a fancy dinner. Casually threatening the nuclear death of billions as if he was ordering a cheeseburger. 
I agree with the Japanese foreign minister. There needs to be a defensive alliance for all of the world's democracies (as well as holding each other to a high democratic standard to prevent backsliding) NATO should be reformed to include countries outside of Europe. As long as monsters like Putin and Kim Jong-Un exist, then that is an existential threat to democracy. >

Yep. 
The world needs to move on from dictators. >

Non democracies are all illegitimate governments. The power to govern comes from the consent of the governed. >

I agree.
That is the definition of democracy.
Demo = the people >

Cracy = not crazy. Unlike dictators >

How the “patriotic” education system puts pressure on Russian schoolchildren: so that children are not forced to support the war, families sometimes have to simply leave the country
Another look at the creep of propaganda (masked as Patriotism .. what is the difference?) into the Russian education system.  It's in Russian, so hit that translate button >

Latest General Staff update from 6:00 today, in relation to Soledar, mentions the following:
- "the enemy continues attacking in Bakhmut, Avdiiivka and Lyman directions"
- "AFU repulsed attacks in the areas of [...] of Luhansk region and Soledar, [...] of Donetsk region".
Since there hasn't been any definitive footage from either side or information about AFU pulling out, I'd judge the current situation as inconclusive. >

On ISW it said the reason why Wagner is focusing on the salt mines is because Prigozhin wants to seize them to house troops in them (as well as some disproven theories about old WW1 weapons being there). 
If that's true and Wagner takes the mines then I reckon that there will be a new headline not long after about a HIMAR hitting the mines, collapsing it and trapping hundreds of Russians inside. >


as well as some disproven theories about old WW1 weapons being there

well this might as well be true, given the state of Russian weapons.
they are scrapping the barrel so low that they will need WW1 weapons soon >

I still really don't know where all the fires are coming from. It's not Ukraine, that makes no sense. Is everybody in Russia trying to cash in their insurance at the same time? >

Russia has terrible fire safety, so frequent fires are fairly normal. We are just paying more attention. There have been rumours that a few fires set a more strategic locations are from an internal Russian resistance, but hard to tell if that's true. >


are from an internal Russian resistance, but hard to tell if that's true.

And if it is: Bravo to them! >

Warships/boats?! What did I miss?! Stupid sleep keeping me outta the loop… >

Ukraine sunk a Russian cutter near the Dnipro delta. So definitely a smaller boat, designed for river warfare instead of open water. Still, a good boat to sink as that’s the type of boat you’d use for a cross river raid or to interdict traffic coming out of the river. >

Absolutely. They’ll need to get across en masse at some point. The destruction of any potential impediment is a plus! >

The Dnipro delta. Hmm. Russia is trying to keep its hold on the mouth of the river and Ukraine is fighting back. >

Do not lose hope against Putin. His entire image, both inside his own country and the one he projects to the world, is that going against him is hopeless. 
He, and his bots on social media, blackpill you into a sense of nihilism, hopelessness, and powerlessness. People in Russia are completely zombie-fied by this, so don't let this take root. He has this air of casual inevitability. 
This is just a pot of crap. 💩
The response of "nothing matters" or "this changes nothing" is their standard answer to demoralize you. Russian forces failing to capture Kyiv and leader Zelenskyy? All part of their master plan of course! Western weapons that are causing major damage against their vehicles? Didn't feel a thing! 
See through that crap. They ARE hurting. Ukraine IS doing serious material and morale damage. The Russian economy and industry IS straining under the sanctions and war. There IS unrest, and these DO change their plans! 
Remember that, and keep up the donations and cheerleading. Every bit helps. >

Agreed with everything except the unrest - what gives you that idea? >

Several high-ranking military and government leaders dying over the past year. Mass desertions by conscripts. Recruiting stations being attacked. Mass exodus by Russians trying to leave Russia. VPNs selling like crazy (and Russia is only blocking the internet that is negative of their invasion. So more VPNs = more people looking at info that Putin doesn't approve of). 
I am not suggesting that Russia will collapse or anything, only that there is unhappiness that can impact the war directly or indirectly in a number of ways. Mass desertions being chief among them. >

I can understand that every such act matters, but all of those things are not nearly enough to put any real dent in the war effort. The "exodus" of some hundreds of thousands who only want to escape fighting is the most overrated of them all - what gives you the idea that they are really against the war? All we can say for sure that they want is for someone else to fight - to stop a war in this way there needs to be millions escaping, and that is not happening.
The war has gone on for this long for a reason and that is because Putin still enjoys a huge level of popularity and population lethargy (in practice the same thing) so that there is no real prospect of this insanity being stopped by Russians themselves.
The only thing that will really work is for Ukraine to get more and more weapons until they liberate their entire territory and then Russians (commoners and oligarchs) can deal with Putin, or not, it's their decision finally. >

True, they may just be saving themselves, but that still has an effect. It removes them from the Russian workforce. It removes them as possible Russian military recruits. It removes them as a source of taxes. By simply being a "zero," they aren't a "plus."
Combined with Russia's losses and the sanctions, it is still hurting them. It's just another punch, a cumulative effect. It will take many "punches" to make Russia stop attacking, but it is still progress toward a free Ukraine. 
I am not an expert or analyst at all, I am a regular person, so I can be completely wrong. This is just what I think by reading these news stories and press releases. >

Yuri Butusov who is currently in Soledar posted this in his Telegram channel about an hour ago:

Our troops are doing everything possible, and some units are doing the impossible. Several paratroopers of the 46th Airmobile Brigade got frostbite, one of the soldiers will have ten toes amputated tomorrow, as they have been fighting in the cold for many days and remain in their positions for as long as possible. The brigade is well managed and motivated, many fighters have opened their personal count or significantly increased the number of enemies eliminated, and the 105 mm artillery is very accurate.
Our command pays great attention to this area.
The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine in this area is in contact with every unit, this is crucial for control and coordination. 
Not everyone is performing well, but we will talk about problems later. Now it is important that we have significant forces in the area and every opportunity to act in accordance with the situation. >

RU: Look at UA killing all these civilians too! Both sides!
World: What were those civilians doing, going to market or dance class in their hometown in Russia?
RU: No, they were digging trenches in UA for our war... but they're civilians!
World: Riiiiight /s >

That goes in line with all the "humanitarian aid" gathered by Russians. While the kind of things being sent to the occupied territory may count as humanitarian aid. The moment you hear that they're sending the goods to soldiers, the aid is no longer humanitarian. >

I'm surprised the Ukrainians aren't already training at Ft Sill. Unless the ones there were only training on m777 and HIMARS. >

Yeah... This is not that surprising, but still disappointing. People keep saying things like "If they said they are sending X then it is already on its way into Ukraine with Ukrainians already trained how to use it."
If only we were that proactive. >

Operator Starsky going live in 8 minutes
Live Q&A: Day 321 | russian brainwashers went nuts >

Russia and Wagner likely in control of most of Soledar, says UK defence ministry

Russia and Wagner have made tactical advances in the last four days, the ministry says, in what it described as “highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt lines of communication”. It adds that Russia is, however, “unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes”.
US considering sending Stryker armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine - report
Russia and Wagner 'likely in control of most of' Soledar, says UK defence ministry
Almost no walls left’ in Soledar, says Zelenskiy, as fierce fighting continues >

I hope UKR was able to retreat. >

It's disconcerting how the Russian ethos is that collapsing standards of living and hundreds of thousands of dead are a price worth paying so long as you destroy the neighbor you invaded.   A cancer on the face of the planet. >


Their losses in the last 24 hours are HUGE and if this major attack fails they are checkmated in the area.

Let us hope so! Slava Ukraini! >

Honestly the second the onslaught stops, Ukraine should slam reserves into them and push them back in a counterattack. At some point the Russians are going to break again like they did in Kharkiv. >

I'm sure Ukraine is weighting all the options. No one is more eager to kick out Russia than them :) >

Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on them not knowing. >

Yes and no. I think Xi was indeed well aware of the invason but from what I read it seems Putin lied to Xi's face and "sold" him a limited invasion of the Donbass, not of the entirety of Ukraine. And it's pretty obvious China has been very pissed at Russia since then. >

I might be able to believe that if it wasn't shouted prior to the invasion by US intel what was about to happen. Sorry. >

Why exactly would China listen to US intel if they believed that they got the right information from Putin directly? >


if they believed that they got the right information from Putin directly?

You believe that that was the intel they got from Putin. >

I really like that news about Russians burning their own camps. >

Armchair General thoughts: Today's tactic from Russia appears to be, "Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks." That is a move that screams desperation. >

It has been their approach since the failed in the first 3 days of the war. >

Their approach has changed from throw all the tanks at the wall, to throw all the artillery shells to the all, to throw all the convicts to the wall, and whenever you have them, throw all the drones and missiles at random civilian areas. >

Well there’s an evolutionary dead-end if I’ve ever seen one. >

I'd rather shit in my hands and use it as face cream than stick my dick within a hundred feet of that monstrosity.. >

ikr!
My dick would pop off and run away! >

In slightly stale, putrid news, Russia confirmed some very interesting casualties today that took place on Aug 4th somewhere in Ukraine. These are the first ever Spetznaz GRU casualties confirmed by Russia, and both are high-ranking officers. ~~They're both~~ All three are from Special Operations Center "Senezh" military unit 92154, Russia's preimere special forces outfit, a rough equivalent of Russia's Delta Force. 
The first meaty casualty is none other than the Commander of the Special Forces GRU Special Operations Center "Senezh" himself, a Lieutenant Colonel Mikheev Boris Vladimirovich. Born in 1985, graduated special forces 2003, served in Russia, 'middle East' and Syria, and received multiple awards. 
The second casualty from the same day is a major Aseev, also from GRU Special Operations Center Senezh, military unit 92154. Described as having "served abroad for 12 years" and being wounded in action multiple times, the "fighting major" from Buryatiya was buried at the unit's top secret base near Moscow. 
[Edit] Oh apparently there's a third Major from the same special forces unit that died on the same day, but that one was announced back in August. Major Shtepa was buried in his hometown on Aug 12th. His 33rd birthday would have been on the 8th. 
Russians provide scant details about how they died. Lt Col Mikheev apparently died of blood loss in the hospital after supposedly "selflessly risking his life, he held the line of defense. Having been wounded, until the end of the battle he led the personnel and supporting fire weapons". He received the Hero star posthumously. The fighting major "died in battle saving wounded friends".
On August 4th Ukraine was close to retaking Izium as well as probing around outer Kherson defenses. There were also various artillery and HIMARS strikes all over the place. Hard to say which was responsible for decapitating Russia's premiere special forces unit.
[Edit] Now that we're seeing three high-ranking commanders, my guess is they were all hit in a headquarters strike instead of dying heroically in battle. >

Quality soldiers is perhaps the resource that Russia can replace the least. There is no real training anymore. Mobiks aren't learning in an effective way, they're just sent out to die. >

yup - a last desperate attempt to make a doomed strategy work. Losing your skilled training officers and NCOs are just about the dumbest thing you can do at the start of a war. They are LITERALLY the whole future of your conscript army >

Dude on the right doesn't look thrilled to be standing out in the open trying to look relaxed.  Fighting must be somewhat close. >

You mean the Russian guy without any identifying markings wearing a Ukranian uniform? He looks nervous? I wonder why. >

Why is nothing happening on Zaporizhie front (the one in the south, between Dnieper river and the north of Mariupol)?  
Not sure this has been answered 'officially' in any way.  
You would think that after the liberation of Kherson (city) Ukrainian forces might have more troops to deploy there and even have a breakthrough on that front, specially because it is so vast that I doubt russia could have serious defenses anywhere there. >

Its currently being softened up with HIMARS hits, i think Ukraine is waiting for the ground to harden. >

That and I believe UAF are gathering troops, equipment and everything else required before major push some time this year. >

He’ll just keep throwing bodies at it until Ukraine is exhausted. He really doesn’t care. As far as he’s concerned this is a valid strategy. >

Russian military strategy as old as time >

Wow.  He's been well fed on corpses, I guess.
Is that too dark? >

Why call it a joke if it is the truth? There are reports of dogs feeding on Russian corpses. In a way it is fitting: that the only worth these fascists have is as dog food/shit. >

It's ironic considering there were reports of Russian soldiers eating dogs earlier in the war. >

In Ukraine, dog eat YOU! >

There's no snow on the ground, so for sure not from the most recent battle. >

Vlad the Diddler >

British ministry of defense tweeted that likely most of the town is captured today. >

Yeh they are always a few days behind. The salt mine is town the back of the town. So they are confirming what we already knew >

For those who are interested, 1420 is back after a pause they've taken:
1420: What young Russians in Saint Petersburg think about Putin? >

Summary: interviews of young people in St. Petersburg.
Almost everyone is apolitical.  They don't care.  They don't want to get involved.  It's not their problem.
Some of them are clearly afraid to talk.
A couple of them speak freely and say Putin needs to go. >

The full Zelensky quote:

The free world has everything necessary to stop Russian aggression and bring the terrorist state to a historic defeat. And it is important not only for us. It is important for global democracy, for all those who value freedom. It is even more important now, when Russia is gathering forces for another escalation.
Together with our partners, we must do - and we are doing! - everything to make it clear to Russia's masters that no escalation will help them. The defeat of the Russian aggression must remain unalterable, no matter who and what Russia tries to throw into the battle. 

Sounds like he's not talking about anything new or specific. >

Guess the defense of Soledar is to buy time and maintain as much strategic depth as possible even though it'll be costly. Esp with the coming months with new types of aid. >

Yes/No.
Russia has thrown large elements of its "SF" GRU Spetsnaz units and equivalents and VDV elite forces into the Soledar fight. These are likely the troops that were sitting in the Kherson direction. 
UA has an uphill battle ahead of them to either retake Soledar in its entirety or to stop potential continued breakthrough.
I have immense faith in Ukraine to win the war. What this battle should be displaying is that Russia is willing to throw what left of its trained contract troops just for a win on the television of a pretty insignificant city but also that the West needs to deliver modern weapons to Ukraine. Or.... really start to consider that its defence could require offensive measures. >

So, I watched a bunch of video's on the YouTube channel 1420, and I wonder whether I'm the only one who is so f*cking tired of a certain portion of the people answering questions regarding Putin that they do not care and that they are a-political. For some reason, they irk me more than nationalists being all happy with their psycho-Nazi leader. In the latest video, this guy just answers that as long as he lives well, he has nothing bad to say about Putin. And he also did not say it in a depressed way or something. Only cared about himself and his friends. How selfish and self-absorbed does a human have to be to think and feel along these lines? Right across the border your leader is organizing the mass destruction, rape, and genocide of a country that had around 40 to 45 million people, and there you are sitting on a bench being okay with Putin, b/c you are relatively well off (and how well is that if we compare it to western countries or oil-rich countries in the Middle East?). How will his logic work out, btw, when he or his friends are called up for mobilization? One would almost wish that on these apathetic folks, but that would also mean more dead Ukrainians, and that is the last thing I want. I see brave and fierce people in Iran fighting their regime, and then I see these guys giving their egotistical answers, and it irks me so much. >

Everyone can be a hero from a reddit comment. I fully understand them. They are not doing anything because they believe it is meaningless. If I were living in Russia at this moment the only thing that would be on my mind would be how to find a way out for me and my family and nothing else. >

It was apparent even before the war. They didn't care which COVID vaccine was approved by the government and why only that one, who is the MP from their region and what laws does he vote for, why is a high-profile crime not investigated and why the suspect got released on bail. Their frequent answer was "It's all politics and for politics we have politicians, I am not politician". Well, I guess be careful what you wish for. >

More evidence of bot use.
It's not the first time either. >

I love the prosecutor bullshit. Like, the govt of Ukraine fired the prosecutor who was famously not going after corruption and somehow they think they were fired to "do some corruption."
Not a bright brunch. >

But Hunter ... something... something... DemocRAT... something... something... Biden... something... something... BUTTERY MALES!!!! >

Slava Ukraini! >

Heroiam slava! >

I wish the west would hurry the hell up and provide Ukraine with Tanks and combat vehicles, Plus more modern longer range weapons. Fuck Russia, what are they going to do about it, die some more....... >

Well there are also only so many Ukrainian soldiers to crew these. You've gotta train them all (and the mechanics) and the more variety of vehicles you have from different countries the harder it is to field them. >

I imagine if we announce abrams or leopards for Ukraine there would be no shortage of volunteers to train on them. >

Still waiting on Wagner PMC being designated an international terrorist organization. >

Sometimes I have no idea what the Russians are up to. Why is he praising the Ukrainians all of a sudden? >

Because, "the enemy is both strong and weak". A typical and well-documented feature of fascist rhetoric. >

It's usually not "strong" as in "They're honourable and effective fighters." It's "strong" like "They're sneakily and wily bastards who will backstab you." >

Either way, they are a pain in the ass for the cause, something that needs to be dealt with in a collective effort. >

I'm wondering if Russia is launching this offensive to try and spoil the incoming Ukrainian offensive.  Seems odd that the entire frontline lights up right as the ground is about to freeze enough for mechanized warfare. >

Russians throwing themselves into the meatgrinder still seems like a Ukrainian offensive.