International Russia/Ukraine Megathread V15

[Strychnine]

Why has Ukraine lost 250,000 soldiers to desertion?

IF Ukraine lost 250K soldiers to desertion, that's not the flex you think it is...

You mean to tell me that the SECOND greatest military force on the entire PLANET, couldn't conquer Ukraine within three years of total war as Ukraine has lost 250K troops to desertion?

Spoiler

 

[SandisLL]

Putin is confident about win.
He does have and / or will create funding for small special operation at least till end of this year, more likely even till 2027 th sad reality.

 

[shinkyoku]

And Putler won't even talk about "peace" until his goals are achieved. Does he think his economy can wait until he has taken over his 4 oblasts? Does he know the true story of what's going on and the timeline he's looking at to get these? The man truly is insane and more then willing to end Russia rather then to admit he fucked up .

Putain is caught in a trap of his own making. He will not be able to afford to fight much longer. And the longer he tries the worse it will be -until the house of cards crumbles
But he cannot stop! The only thing that keeps russian economy up right now is that they are running a war-time economy. If the War stops -the house of cards crumbles!
Not that he would see it, because if the war stops, he will most likely fall out of a windows accidentally. He would show weakness, and that would be lethal to him.
Not only that. If the war stops, all those troops on the front will go home -or not as the case may be. Both the people returning and the people NOT returning would be a huge problem for Putain and peace time Russia.

No. Putain is damned if he do and damned if he don't.

 

[GhostZ06]

Ambassador Myroshnychenko confirmed there was interest in acquiring the four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter, manufactured and maintained by Airbus, which originally entered deployment in 2003 and are due for a withdrawal from service in 2028.


Ukraine has previously made a request for access to the Australian Defence Force’s now-scrapped MRH-90 Taipan helicopter fleet in late December last year but was denied by the federal government.


“I mean on the Taipan (helicopters) it was a decision of the government not to supply them. There might be some other helicopters or some other capabilities which may become available sometime soon. And if those could be provided to Ukraine, we’ll be thankful,” the ambassador said during a recent media conference regarding a shipment of Kord Defence equipment to Ukraine, held on 19 June.


“That would be the Tigers; we’d be interested in having that conversation and about something that will help.




“In terms of the Taipans (helicopter) we just have to move on. At the end of the day, it’s a decision that has just been made, things have happened and at the end of the day, it’s up to the Australian government to decide what they can do, what they cannot, and we fully respect them.”


Defence is also currently undertaking scrapping of the retired F/A-18 Classic Hornet aircraft fleet, which were originally withdrawn with their support equipment from January 2019 to December 2021.


Ambassador Myroshnychenko confirmed there was little interest in those aircraft.


“In terms of the F/A-18 (Classic Hornets), I mean there were some discussions. There never was a kind of a clear request from Ukraine,” he said

Let’s talk: Ukraine interested in acquiring Australia’s retiring Tiger helicopters

The Armed Forces of Ukraine has an interest in the Australian Defence Force’s retiring Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter fleet, according to ambassador of Ukraine to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

www.defenceconnect.com.au

TBF they are kinda of trash...


They might be better off with Vipers or cobra attack helicopters

 

[SandisLL]

F 18 are more suitable for harsh airfields than F 16 with 0 question here.
They also does suck in lesser dust and shit and are not more difficult to use than F 16.

F 16 does have more experienced technicians and shitload with spare parts than F 18.
Grippen are better than these both for Ukr by magnitude ....more designed to use quick refueling and re supplies, better for improvised airfields than even Mig 29 best versions.
Drawback is spare part supplies and experienced technicians awailable to get used...
Mirage does suck in lesser dust than all these : this been assumed to be used from improvised " airfields " parody in North Africa...worked well.

 

[San Marino]

How many tanks do Russians have left? Currently they are using motorcycles and civilian cars.

As of early 2025, Russia is estimated to have around 3,463 tanks in storage at main storage bases, with an additional 1,253 tanks at armored vehicle plants.

How much of that ~21% land did the Russians capture in the last 3 years?

As of July 2022? About 7%. ...and the number keeps rising.

There are Russian apologetics and then there's you ... What's funny is that most Russians are forced to spout this insane shit.

What is funny is how many here and the media only focus on what is going on with Russia and not Ukraine. Here is what is being left out:
. How Ukraine is losing this conflict.
. How the Ukrainian Army is diminishing.
. Ukrainian casualties.
. How new weapons for Ukraine will not make a difference because what Ukraine really needs is new soldiers for its ranks.
. Ukrainian desertions.
. Dissent among the Ukrainian military ranks.
. How corrupt the Zelensky government truly is.
. How teenage Ukrainian boys and girls are now being trained to defend the nation.

* Believing in a Ukrainian victory at this point is like believing Santa Claus is real. Russia Deranged Syndrome (RDS). Even Ukrainian soldiers in the field are admitting only a miracle will save them.

 

[San Marino]

Putin is confident about win.
He does have and / or will create funding for small special operation at least till end of this year, more likely even till 2027 th sad reality.

Bravo!
You are finally making sense. Maybe your little friends will also see the 'light.'

 

[San Marino]

Let’s talk: Ukraine interested in acquiring Australia’s retiring Tiger helicopters

The Armed Forces of Ukraine has an interest in the Australian Defence Force’s retiring Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter fleet, according to ambassador of Ukraine to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

www.defenceconnect.com.au

TBF they are kinda of trash...
They might be better off with Vipers or cobra attack helicopters

Ukraine can take any helicopter and turn it into an attack helicopter.
This was done with the Bell UH-1, the UH-60 Black Hawk, and the MH-6M Little Bird.

 

[GhostZ06]

F 18 are more suitable for harsh airfields than F 16 with 0 question here.
They also does suck in lesser dust and shit and are not more difficult to use than F 16.

F 16 does have more experienced technicians and shitload with spare parts than F 18.
Grippen are better than these both for Ukr by magnitude ....more designed to use quick refueling and re supplies, better for improvised airfields than even Mig 29 best versions.
Drawback is spare part supplies and experienced technicians awailable to get used...
Mirage does suck in lesser dust than all these : this been assumed to be used from improvised " airfields " parody in North Africa...worked well.

i think theyll standardize around the F-16 maybe gripen ?

Gripen specs wise is a hard counter to the Flanker

 

[SandisLL]

i think theyll standardize around the F-16 maybe gripen ?

Gripen specs wise is a hard counter to the Flanker

Grippen IMHO is easier to use from improvised airfields cos it was designed for this in general unlike F-16 and MiG 29.

Big con is that for Grippen there are xx lesser spare parts and technicians awailable than even for F 18, not even to talk about F16 ...
F 16 does have more tested in real life additional fuel tanks dropping mechanisms...more battle tested.

 

[San Marino]

ISW, 20 July 2025

Key Takeaways:

• Russian officials continue to publicly reiterate that Russia is uninterested in a near-term solution to ending the war in Ukraine that does not acquiesce to Moscow’s demands.
• German and Ukrainian officials assessed that Russia continues to expand its production of Shahed-type drones in order to launch even larger long-range drone strike packages that include up to 2,000 drones in a single night. Russian forces may be able to strike Ukraine with up to 2,000 drones in a single night by November 2025 should the current pattern of growth in nightly Russian drone usage continue.
• Russian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy Oblast and near Lyman and Novopavlivka.

* 2,000 Russian drones in a single night? I thought Russia was aiming for 1,000. This in 4 months? To be done once a month?
That is it! An end game to Ukraine and this conflict.

Russian forces will likely not be able to sustain such large strike packages every night but will likely launch large strike packages followed by days of smaller packages as they are now. -- Patriot interceptors, are not well-suited as an anti-drone air defense strategy.

 

[Strychnine]

Ukraine gains ground in Zaphorizia.

 

[Devil's_Advocate]

US, Germany agree to deliver five Patriot defence systems to Ukraine

The Patriot missile system can detect and intercept a wide range of oncoming air targets, high-end ballistic missiles in particular, and is regarded as one of the world's best. #EuropeNews

www.euronews.com

 

[SandisLL]

Germany and Poland will not deplete their stockpiles in no case...in no case, point is here.
And yes, German offcials had told that will help but didn't had mentioned...terms and/ or timeframe...

This absolutely doesn't looks good for ukr.
It is decision not to deplete stockpiles de facto.... so will supply if will have replacement delivered de facto, not earlier.

It is very bad for ukr in short term.

 

[SandisLL]

IF ukr really will have any notable success, russian friendly NATO will cry....

I clearly remember how hestitated were westerners to start implement sanctions, also slow and small supplies with delays, especially when ukr had showed some success phases. NATO friends politicians worried what will happen with their comrade Putin when prigi started to yell.
West and NATO are russia's bottlemates and ukr are dreaming to join this club? Maybe better more openly to join China or Russia?

Mineral deals memorandum with North Korea definitely had been more worth than with U.S.
North Korea is supplying their ally in Russia smoothly, without scenes and a lot of scandals and delays. Definitely more trustable weapons supplier / seller than U.S.
Unfortunately Ukraine didn't had developed very good relationships with North Korea.
Lukashenko maybe properly had told that North Korea is trustable and diligent partner and might be beautiful ally.

 

[Strychnine]

Russian airports in lockdown..




Ukraine says they will cripple Russian logistics.

 

[San Marino]

 

[San Marino]

 

[San Marino]

Germany and Poland will not deplete their stockpiles in no case...in no case, point is here.

Yes. That is why they are purchasing more weapons from the US.

And yes, German officials had told that will help but didn't had mentioned...terms and/ or timeframe.

The timeframe should be a couple of weeks if they are giving Ukraine from their own stockpile. The stuff is in Europe. Replacement from the US will take months.

This absolutely doesn't looks good for ukr.

No, it does not. You are right.

It is very bad for ukr in short term.

It is bad for Ukraine both short term and long term. We are witnessing the beginning of the end of this conflict.

 

[San Marino]

You are not winning when your capital is on fire every night.

...but wait. Ukraine (propaganda) said they shot all those Russian drones and missiles down.
...are Ukrainians setting fire to their own city?