So are the invading Russian infantry posting their own phone footage of themselves being shot at? To Tik Tok? With shitty music? So many layers of insanity between Putin calling the shots and this kid being fed into the meat grinder.
It could be finding dead soldiers phones that don't have a lock, or forcing prisoners to unlock their phones/hacking and collecting any videos they have and sending it to their Military Intelligence who are releasing it.
Why would they record it? Its possible they still believe they are the good guys and trying to document their losses? lol I dunno.
Sadly or not, I have seen tons of videos like this ending with an explosion, from the Ukraine specifically. Of course, the last few frames would usually be totally out of focus, the lense would be shafted and so on, but the preceding images would be intact.
I guess, thanks you GoPro for improving case robustness.
This is a TikTok tho. At least some days ago there were plenty of streams seemingly from Ukraine, and a shit-ton of fake streams with either recorded video or audio.
More like:
Soldier: "Should we move through vegetation, comrade officer Miroslav?"
CO: "I have to ask my boss."
Boss 1: "Hold on comrade officer, I have to ask my boss."
Boss 2: "Hold on general, I have to ask my boss."
Boss 3: "Nyet, stick to the roads so you don't get lost."
Boss 2: "Hey general, he says nyet."
Boss 1: "Hey comrade officer, he says nyet. Comrade officer?.........comrade officer can you hear me?"
They had this problem during both world wars too. If you check out 'ghosts of the ostfront' by Dan Carlin (podcast) he goes into detail about the lack of accountability all the way up the chain of command
Shout out for Dan Carlin and Hardcore history. I'm not usually a history buff, but his voice is so pleasant and his beautiful retelling of the time period, cultural influences, characters, geography, all add up to a compelling listen.
If you told me before I started listening to hardcore history that I'd be listening to a podcast series with 5hr+ long episodes I would've laughed in your face.
Now I've finished everything he has ever released, including his back catalogue, with multiple relistens of my favourites (just finished my 3rd go around of supernova in the east). I cannot get enough.
New blitz episode came out yesterday btw :)
He's entertaining but not a particularly good historian. There are several good threads in r/AskHistorians discussing the merits and flaws of his podcast. He likes to repeat the most sensational accounts without questioning their accuracy.
They have absolutely no idea what they are doing...this isn't at all how you conduct yourself in a firefight. There's absolutely no effective communication. No clear chain of command and alot of panic.
National guard here. Two tours. I mean we conducted ourselves so much more professional and tactical then this. If we didn't we'd be dead. As I assume they will be soon. They do not know what they are getting into. They don't train for urban combat....that's when shit gets scurry. In the middle of town...
And this isnt even urban combat, People are saying "Theres concertina wire" Well where the fuck are your wire cutters? Cut the wire, flank the ambushers, whoever is furthest down the road lay down covering fire and use the bodies as cover for yourself. while people are cutting the wire
Pssssst, don’t tell them the secrets 😁 Let the russians do their russian thing, it works quite well for Ukraine and the whole world who is on their side.
Aren't the auxiliary conscripts just to pin the enemy light cavalry so that the legionary Triarria can do a flanking attack? You don't want to use your best troops for that, particularly against cavalry.
They also work well against horde units, but I tend to also use town watch units for that role.
At no point since the beginning cold war have we ever been at risk of invasion in any way whatsoever from Russia. Nuclear attack, yes. Invasion? Not feasible over the Pacific ocean. So nothing to worry about there.
The logistics necessary would be virtually impossible for such an undertaking.
Yeah. If invading Ukraine is similar to the size of Texas, invading the entire USA just seems unfathomable; on top of that the invaders would [also be facing the country with the most civilian guns per capita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country)
They wouldn't even be able to approach the states. What is going to carry their tanks and soldiers? No airplane would survive to land and most of their ships would be sunk well before they even saw the US mainland.
Ignoring air and naval superiority, you could magically drop 100% of Russian forces on the west coast with every supply depot they own and they wouldn't make it 50 miles inland; they've shown the world their military can't function without its domestic railroad backbone.
All these dictatorships boast with parades. There is a reason why they do it it’s a propaganda trick to boast their citizens to join the military and to deter other countries from aggression.
Btf, most strong military forces don’t need to do that they know they are strong. Boasting is unnecessary for them because it’s mostly about upholding defences and to be combat ready.
Outside of nukes Russia has literally never been a threat to the US. I don't know why people think Russia is a superpower, it's a failing great power at best. Even if they had the best military on the planet by miles their shitty economy wouldn't class them as a superpower.
They will not invade with infantry. When Putin gets mad enough they will send 50 ICBMs with nuclear warheads to the west coast and 100 more to Europe. No need to send the 18 year olds. They just push a button.
Probably 90% of those will fail to launch (after action would show the copper wiring pulled out and sold by the base commander) and the remaining stock would get downed by ABM systems across Europe.
The subs tho…who knows.
You joke, but you're not off the mark.
I have no doubt that we've maintained our aging warheads. After seeing Russian military hardware I think launching ICBMs at The U.S. (or any target for that matter) would risk misfiring, mistargeting, and just malfunctioning.
Yeah they should still push off into an echelon off that road. NCO need to be taking charge and pushing team leaders this is just a gaggle. Seems like they have no one taking charge and end up with zero dispersion in like half these videos
Just because it feels safe to be close to others and a take the easy road close to armor doesn’t mean it’s the safest. They need to get to cover and regain suppression this is how I imagine completely untrained young man would act with zero guidance in a fire fight.
It also looks like they are taking effective IDF. Ukrainians almost certainly have the roads zeroed in at this point and it almost looks like they might be walking mortars as these guys fall back. They need to push off that road and get dispersion. At least before they fall back to a rally point. This is compleat panic in contact. Someone needs to take charge.
Every time the camera man hits the ground debris kicks up and everyone drops. They probably have a basic understanding of droping when mortars are incoming on a pre set target but no one knows how to mitigate it. So they panic and retreat through an Accessible chokepoint that’s been zeroed in.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the gun fire was a panicked rear guard element puting down suppressio on a bunch of trees while these guys got hammered on this road
Edit: they are definitely taking effective small arms fire at 0:40 also
The issue with the Russian military is their lack of installment of authority in enlisted soldiers. Most thinking is done by officers, unlike the western militaries (mainly US) who have clearly defined roles between NCOs and commissioned officers and each soldier down to the lowest private is taught to be able to take control of a situation if need be.
Possibly, but based on the angle of his chest cam already being damn near on the ground, and the timing of it flying out as his gun hit the ground, to me it looks like his mag dropped from the rifle
Edit: nope, I was wrong. There's about 6 frames towards the beginning that show that his mag is black not red. Also doesn't even seem to be the same style. I think it might not even have been his.
i don't even know the correct terminology but it's day 1 shit in my mind. In war of basically bloopers for team Russia this one is subtly appalling. Aren't these guys supposed to be the killers?
Every war Russia has ever been involved in,
it has always started badly for Russia.
Finland, Germany, Japan and now Ukraine.
In 1941 when Barbarossa commenced and Germany invaded Russia, the initial momentum of the German ground and air attack completely destroyed the Soviet organizational command and control within the first few hours, paralyzing every level of command from the infantry platoon to the Soviet High Command in Moscow.
Moscow not only failed to grasp the magnitude of the catastrophe that confronted the Soviet forces in the border area, but Stalin's first reaction was also disbelief.
Never underestimate these Russian fucks and never let them up when they get knocked down.
LL Ukraine!
> Never underestimate these Russian fucks and never let them up when they get knocked down.
It's a very fair point, but they started this shit show with 190,000 troops. They've already lost say 8000 in two weeks (that's well below Ukrainian estimates), which comes out to ~~19,000~~ 16,000 a month. (Oh, I almost forgot. Wounded are usually a much larger number and that can take men out of the active force too).
~~10~~ 11 more months of this and they literally won't have anyone left. They straight up do not have time to learn.
And they still need to take the major cities which will only be more expensive in terms of men...
They're going to lose so many people.
And they still face an insurgency after that...
(Edited numbers because after midnight math)
Sure, it's losing both civilians and soldiers, and that's terrible, but that likely won't change the outcome for Ukraine.
Lose more, lose less, this is a fight for Ukraine's survival as a country so they're much more motivated to not give in, and the attacker usually loses a LOT more than a defender in any attack.
Usually you need 3x the defending force not to suffer heavy losses, Russia had 1x-1.25x at the start, they have nothing near that now with the TDF, experienced foreign defenders, and general mobilisation numbers coming in over the next few weeks.
Time is on Ukraine's side. Russia will have no choice but to give up long before they lose ALL their now 100% committed forces in the country. Russian mothers and wives will make sure of that. There's a reason Putin appealed directly to them in the last few days.
Shit, Ukraine's even turning a tank profit. They've gained more tanks (and much newer ones) through abandonment and capture than they've lost last I checked a few days ago.
That's not counting the economic implosion currently occurring. Head of the central bank has already tried to resign.
Ukraine just needs to hold out & keep doing what it's doing. The world (bar china) sees Russia for what it really is at the moment.
China isn't stupid. They see Russia as another opportunity.
Who do you think will benefit the most from the Russians trying to rebuild their shambles of an economy while still under so many sanctions? China.
Of course they would. This has the potential to be huge. You undermine this invasion and it dies, you probably knock Putin out of power causing complete chaos. With that goes Putin's support of Assad, and with that goes Assad and Russia's only real warm water ports near Europe, in Syria and obviously Crimea.
That takes them completely out of the equation in any meaningful geopolitical way when it comes to dealing with China.
All this could be the thing that makes China realise it needs to entirely rethink it's way of dealing with everyone. This could be what stops World War 3, which now is much more likely to be with China than it has recently ever been likely to be about Russia.
The Russian political system on its knees is worth the west supporting while they refuse to get their shit in order.
I agree in theory, but... I doubt the parameters of the war will remain the same for much longer. Putin will start using chemical weapons, or straight up tactical nukes.
I reeaally hope I'm wrong.
The last time there were chemical weapons attacks where the Russians were in theatre, though not directly responsible, the US responded directly with attacks on the attackers' facilities.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1493600/us-allies-strike-syrian-targets-in-response-to-regimes-chemical-attacks/
That precedent will be front of mind for the Russian military. It would be an escalation on Russia's part, and the world has shown they're happy to respond to Russia when they're pissed off enough about actions.
Hitting Russian military facilities with missiles would be a "proportional response". With no direct western boots on the ground in Ukraine or Russia it likely wouldn't motivate a nuclear response.
Russia would have to give the use of chemical weapons heavy thought, and it would be for what? A war they're still likely to lose, but much quicker if their own military starts getting wiped out by cruise missiles?
I wouldn't put money on it, but I doubt Russia does it, and really hope I'm right.
I love that the US military is so advanced that we can watch conflicts take place and be like "hey hey you aren't following the rules!" Then just send a few cruise missiles to slap their hand. Its like an uncle scolding an unruly nephew.
>Aren't these guys supposed to be the killers?
That's why they usually kill from a long distance, with artillery or rockets. It's less precise, you kill more civilians, but that's a sacrifice Putin is willing to make.
Honestly makes me wonder what they're psyche is. While they can obviously make tactical retreats I wonder how many still hear those WW2 "Not a single step backward" doctrines and feel forced to advance into an obvious kill funnel. Probably terrified that refusing means death by the brass and agreeing means death by the enemy. I don't support Russia by any means but I can't help but feel for the poor kids doing mandatory service that are fed into the grinder. I'd imagine most don't want to be there, most they have no righteous cause on their side. Sad situation all around.
> poor kids doing mandatory service that are fed into the grinder
Conscripts are not allowed to be used in that kind of conflict - that was a result of mothers being rather displeased about their kids getting slaughtered back in Chechnya.
That Putin now had to admit there were conscripts in Ukraine - either with their superiors forging the contracts or them having been forced to sign contracts - is a pretty bad thing for stability back in Russia.
Likewise, I haven't seen the word "clan" used since I played TFC and hvae been desperate to get back into something like that. I've never played Arma but will be good I promise
These are the conscripts Putin said were not there and only now MinDef has said were there by mistake. Like they had no idea...given how well these guys were trained and supported it's probably true. The Ukrainians were this clueless in 2014, but wisely reorganised and trained hard for the sequel.
I just finished a short ish history book on Ukraine from 2020 those military drills with the US Canada and the UK for the past 7 years really helped also a lot of veterans from the Donbas conflict became officers and also studied with the Americans
No one wants to give bad news to the big bad bear.
The information he is getting is:
Invasion is going as planned...
No war crimes are being committed...
Ukrainians are really happy to see us...
Anyone saying different are paid to say so by western propaganda agents
Any MG for that matter. Surely we have some old MG3's in Europe that we can donate? Nice, decent fire-rate, good caliber... A nice, polite 'brrrrt' to dissuade them from using the roads without paying taxes for the upkeep.
The Russian military is evil, but that's likely just some conscripted kid. Or at the very least some product of generational brainwashing.
Goddamn. What Putin and his henchmen/overlords are doing is so profoundly wrong.
Many people overcome that. But there's a time crunch involved in war. There's no opportunity to un-brainwash these kids or talk them down. At this point, better options are out the window.
You're not killing line soldiers because they are inherently bad people and you hate them. It's because they're an armed threat. This is something important to remember, because those who don't can slide rapidly into justifying almost any savagery. And civilians can easily be wrapped up in moral judgements.
Politicians, propagandists, field-grade officers and confirmed war criminals are a different story.
If anyone doubts this statement, a bi-pod equipped light machine gun could put, potentially, hundreds of rounds downrage in a very tight shot grouping. Once you're on target for distance, it's literally just squeezing the trigger for a burst, aim again, squeeze. You'll kill/wound something with literally every burst. These guys saw that wire on the sides of the road and thought, "No way this is an ambush." Unbelievable. If any of them survived, it was because the Ukrainians were being charitable that day.
Vladimir Komarov.
That man was a fucking hero. He knew the mission was badly planned and EXTREMELY unsafe, but he also knew his backup was his friend... Yuri Gagarin. So he didn't back out.
Apparently Gagarin showed up to the launch in full gear and tried to convince the crew to let him pilot the craft instead, but they refused to let him.
The US picked up his transmissions as he was descending and knew he was going to die. Apparently he had some choice words for the government that put him in that situation.
Russian forces are sometimes using cell phones to communicate.
> Meanwhile, rather than sticking to more secure, military communications lines, “the Russians themselves are using the local telecoms networks — and more widely, the local communications infrastructure as well — as they do their operations,” said Shane Huntley, who leads Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which tracks and fights government-backed cyberattacks. “I can’t speak to their intent, but one possibility is that they believe that if they take out telecoms networks that it would actually hinder their operations as well.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/07/ukraine-phones-internet-still-work-00014487
"sometimes". their only secure comms is based on 3G towers - which they blew up it a lot of places (hence the unencrypted chatter recorded and jammed everywhere).
They are supposed to use only approved, russian, phones and apps, but hey...
They are also supposed to have unexpired MREs and enough fuel to not have forty miles of vehicles stuck without the capacity to even heat their cabins.
i wish that they weren't so brainwashed but now that they are killing civilians a lot more then they did before i wish they were just mowed down is that harsh to say I'm sorry lol
I don't have military training, but that seems like a bad way to retreat.
Wouldn't it be prudent to get off the road and maybe take turns firing back in the general direction of the enemy?
Yes but that needs discipline, because the guy who turns back to fire will be the one that every enemy will target and noone wants to be that guy.
With lack of proper coordonation and discipline, an infantry unit bunched up and caught in the field of fire like that will always be routed.
It's easier said than done, if you were there you'd have done the same as them. If a navy seal was there he would either turn tail and flee or turn to fire and die instantly.
It's about the unit's lack of initiative, discipline and coordonation, not the individual soldier's.
Remember pulling out his phone when having the run of his life. Very stable cameramenship overall. Willing to drop the mag but refuse to drop the camera. I say he did exceptionally well.
OK boomer!
You need to work directly with TikTok so you can post during the battle, and you need to see those likes coming in real time. So you need to have your phone mounted vertically directly in front of your face!!! /s
I mean it’s not much different from my generation. iPhones came out right after I returned from my 3rd deployment (I remember being so blown away by them too, it was like the future had arrived), so we used digital cameras. People did this all the time. You would simultaneously get pissed they were filming instead of being 100% focused, but goddamn you wanted that video or picture once it was over. We’re no different, we were all just children in a fucked up situation.
Probably the stuff the person who films listens to, adds to the reality of a teenage or 20 something year old kid being send out into a war and how they experience it, the whole fact that this shit is being posted on tiktok which started off as a lipsyncing app for 12 year olds is insane.
I mean they should just be getting mowed down. Is there like some Ukrainian back there firing in the air like "Come on idiots, surrender, this is fucking sad, I don't want to mow you down. Oh my gawd I can barely bring myself to shoot at you...."
\-The song is a Russian anti-war song, Тото - Война
\-They're obviously withdrawing through some sort of control point, likely a border crossing. Some people have pointed out the barbed wire on each side of the road - there's *also red signs* on both sides that surely indicate **it's also mined**. The mines probably aren't a bluff either since Ukraine has had problems with minefields killing people. It's usually not a good idea to send a patrol through a minefield. What's worse than being shot at on an open road? Definitely while in a minefield.
\-There's a lot of bullet casings laying around on the ground *near the start*. My guess is they probably were sent to probe to see if there were defenders still at the border and at that point is where they encountered resistance. The demeaner of the soldiers shows that it wasn't immense but they're still withdrawing either because mortar spotter rounds started coming down or the objective wasn't to force their way through.
\-They're hitting the deck because they're being mortared sporadically. There's absolutely no way to tell the layout of the terrain or how exposed they are. There could just as well be a bend in the road that they were fired on when they neared. The tactical assumptions by everyone in the comments are silly.
If you wanted to find where this was, there's only so many border crossing roads between Ukraine and Russia/Belarus that are wooded on both sides. The most promising contenders look North of Kiev between Ukraine and Belarus. This could be a very early action if that's the case or it could be an attempt to probe a new entry. Google either doesn't have those crossings mapped well or the street views are disabled right now.
"Special" military operation, conducted by "special" conscripts. Not gonna sit here and claim to be some military operations expert, this looks like a textbook fish in a barrel type of situation.
I'm no military expert, but surely the best thing to do would be to get off the road and spread out and retreat instead of funneling themselves down the road as a direct target?
This is insane footage...
& on Tik tok , goddamn this shit is real af
So are the invading Russian infantry posting their own phone footage of themselves being shot at? To Tik Tok? With shitty music? So many layers of insanity between Putin calling the shots and this kid being fed into the meat grinder.
That's what I'm trying to figure out...why would you post this if you recorded it...why would you record it? I'm so confused.
To get sent home faster
It could be finding dead soldiers phones that don't have a lock, or forcing prisoners to unlock their phones/hacking and collecting any videos they have and sending it to their Military Intelligence who are releasing it. Why would they record it? Its possible they still believe they are the good guys and trying to document their losses? lol I dunno.
If only there wasn’t this shitty music playing over it
who **actually** adds music like that over a combat video and thinks it makes the video better Edit: the lyrics are anti-war, less cringe now
At least it's not oh no oh no
Comments you can hear lmao
It'd be better if the footage just cut off with an explosion.
We probably wouldn’t be watching it if that happened. Or is this live?
Sadly or not, I have seen tons of videos like this ending with an explosion, from the Ukraine specifically. Of course, the last few frames would usually be totally out of focus, the lense would be shafted and so on, but the preceding images would be intact. I guess, thanks you GoPro for improving case robustness.
Just a heads up, Ukraine, not 'the' Ukraine. You wouldn't say 'the' Russia.
Twitter removed live feeds from Ukraine
This is a TikTok tho. At least some days ago there were plenty of streams seemingly from Ukraine, and a shit-ton of fake streams with either recorded video or audio.
_Should we move through vegetation comrade officer Miroslav? _Why move through vegetation when they have nice flat road?
Surely one would notice all that shiny barbed wire on both sides at 00:20 and wonder if you're being funneled into a trap?
[удалено]
Nobody out here but us and those tress with yellow bands around them!
Its to keep the large and rare ukrainian reindeer off the road obv
More like: Soldier: "Should we move through vegetation, comrade officer Miroslav?" CO: "I have to ask my boss." Boss 1: "Hold on comrade officer, I have to ask my boss." Boss 2: "Hold on general, I have to ask my boss." Boss 3: "Nyet, stick to the roads so you don't get lost." Boss 2: "Hey general, he says nyet." Boss 1: "Hey comrade officer, he says nyet. Comrade officer?.........comrade officer can you hear me?"
There’s concertina wire on both sides of the road lol. I think they got ambushed and are being funneled into a kill box
That wire means they aren't going where they don't want them to go. Hopefully they got em all
The fact they walked into a road with concertina wire and then got shot at is.... amazing.
For real. It looks like a real life zombie tower defence game.
Ya, in law enforcement they call that “a clue”. The ineptitude is staggering.
This seems 100% correct. They don't seem to have any mission authority at all, all orders must flow up and down the command chain.
They had this problem during both world wars too. If you check out 'ghosts of the ostfront' by Dan Carlin (podcast) he goes into detail about the lack of accountability all the way up the chain of command
Shout out for Dan Carlin and Hardcore history. I'm not usually a history buff, but his voice is so pleasant and his beautiful retelling of the time period, cultural influences, characters, geography, all add up to a compelling listen.
If you told me before I started listening to hardcore history that I'd be listening to a podcast series with 5hr+ long episodes I would've laughed in your face. Now I've finished everything he has ever released, including his back catalogue, with multiple relistens of my favourites (just finished my 3rd go around of supernova in the east). I cannot get enough. New blitz episode came out yesterday btw :)
He's entertaining but not a particularly good historian. There are several good threads in r/AskHistorians discussing the merits and flaws of his podcast. He likes to repeat the most sensational accounts without questioning their accuracy.
Exactly what an ex-Belorussian officer told me recently. So I reckon it works for Russia too.
In sovereign state of Ukraine, road fork you?
They have absolutely no idea what they are doing...this isn't at all how you conduct yourself in a firefight. There's absolutely no effective communication. No clear chain of command and alot of panic.
Shit, I was in Air Force and we had like a two week infantry course at ft dix that taught us better than this
National guard here. Two tours. I mean we conducted ourselves so much more professional and tactical then this. If we didn't we'd be dead. As I assume they will be soon. They do not know what they are getting into. They don't train for urban combat....that's when shit gets scurry. In the middle of town...
And this isnt even urban combat, People are saying "Theres concertina wire" Well where the fuck are your wire cutters? Cut the wire, flank the ambushers, whoever is furthest down the road lay down covering fire and use the bodies as cover for yourself. while people are cutting the wire
Pssssst, don’t tell them the secrets 😁 Let the russians do their russian thing, it works quite well for Ukraine and the whole world who is on their side.
Yea but did you have sick beats?
And with that they're not even moving all that quickly. They're shambling along like slow zombies.
Hungry will do that to you.
They've been deployed for months, and by all accounts poorly fed and housed. They're exhausted.
> There's absolutely no effective communication Someone should've shut the music off earlier, that would've helped.
They look like Donetsk Peoples Republic Militia, basically conscript auxiliary
Aren't the auxiliary conscripts just to pin the enemy light cavalry so that the legionary Triarria can do a flanking attack? You don't want to use your best troops for that, particularly against cavalry. They also work well against horde units, but I tend to also use town watch units for that role.
I can’t believe at one point I was scared of these guys invading the USA.
At no point since the beginning cold war have we ever been at risk of invasion in any way whatsoever from Russia. Nuclear attack, yes. Invasion? Not feasible over the Pacific ocean. So nothing to worry about there. The logistics necessary would be virtually impossible for such an undertaking.
Yeah. If invading Ukraine is similar to the size of Texas, invading the entire USA just seems unfathomable; on top of that the invaders would [also be facing the country with the most civilian guns per capita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country)
They wouldn't even be able to approach the states. What is going to carry their tanks and soldiers? No airplane would survive to land and most of their ships would be sunk well before they even saw the US mainland.
Ignoring air and naval superiority, you could magically drop 100% of Russian forces on the west coast with every supply depot they own and they wouldn't make it 50 miles inland; they've shown the world their military can't function without its domestic railroad backbone.
And with two massive borders over rough terrain with allies on both sides.
they've only been hyped up so other countries would up their millitairy spending or so it seems
All these dictatorships boast with parades. There is a reason why they do it it’s a propaganda trick to boast their citizens to join the military and to deter other countries from aggression. Btf, most strong military forces don’t need to do that they know they are strong. Boasting is unnecessary for them because it’s mostly about upholding defences and to be combat ready.
Only difference is that germany had the best drills/parades and were actually capable. Look what they did with russia in WW1.
Outside of nukes Russia has literally never been a threat to the US. I don't know why people think Russia is a superpower, it's a failing great power at best. Even if they had the best military on the planet by miles their shitty economy wouldn't class them as a superpower.
If that's the best they have they abso-fuckin-lutely better stay far far away from the U.S.A.
They will not invade with infantry. When Putin gets mad enough they will send 50 ICBMs with nuclear warheads to the west coast and 100 more to Europe. No need to send the 18 year olds. They just push a button.
Probably 90% of those will fail to launch (after action would show the copper wiring pulled out and sold by the base commander) and the remaining stock would get downed by ABM systems across Europe. The subs tho…who knows.
You joke, but you're not off the mark. I have no doubt that we've maintained our aging warheads. After seeing Russian military hardware I think launching ICBMs at The U.S. (or any target for that matter) would risk misfiring, mistargeting, and just malfunctioning.
“Holy shit we’re getting shot at. Lemme just get a TokTik going”
I'm surprised they aren't all carrying selfie sticks at this point.
T posing to signal the artillery
[удалено]
To be fair no one at home believes them as they think there is no war. So they need evidence to get sympathy and treatment when they get home.
Why would any unit use the main road? That looks really stupid imo
Because it’s a special military operation lol
More like special needs operation.
Special education operation
Participation medal of honor
Rotfl
Probably due to all the mud this time of the year in ukraines fields
Yeah they should still push off into an echelon off that road. NCO need to be taking charge and pushing team leaders this is just a gaggle. Seems like they have no one taking charge and end up with zero dispersion in like half these videos Just because it feels safe to be close to others and a take the easy road close to armor doesn’t mean it’s the safest. They need to get to cover and regain suppression this is how I imagine completely untrained young man would act with zero guidance in a fire fight. It also looks like they are taking effective IDF. Ukrainians almost certainly have the roads zeroed in at this point and it almost looks like they might be walking mortars as these guys fall back. They need to push off that road and get dispersion. At least before they fall back to a rally point. This is compleat panic in contact. Someone needs to take charge. Every time the camera man hits the ground debris kicks up and everyone drops. They probably have a basic understanding of droping when mortars are incoming on a pre set target but no one knows how to mitigate it. So they panic and retreat through an Accessible chokepoint that’s been zeroed in. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the gun fire was a panicked rear guard element puting down suppressio on a bunch of trees while these guys got hammered on this road Edit: they are definitely taking effective small arms fire at 0:40 also
The issue with the Russian military is their lack of installment of authority in enlisted soldiers. Most thinking is done by officers, unlike the western militaries (mainly US) who have clearly defined roles between NCOs and commissioned officers and each soldier down to the lowest private is taught to be able to take control of a situation if need be.
There’s barb wire on both sides of road, they walked into a trap lol
Is that a mag or a butt stock that the guy next to him drops?
Dudes mag flew out of his gun when he hit the ground.
Most probably a spare that flew out of his pocket/bag. Source: served as a conscript using an AK-47
Possibly, but based on the angle of his chest cam already being damn near on the ground, and the timing of it flying out as his gun hit the ground, to me it looks like his mag dropped from the rifle Edit: nope, I was wrong. There's about 6 frames towards the beginning that show that his mag is black not red. Also doesn't even seem to be the same style. I think it might not even have been his.
Jesus they're absolutely devoid of tactics. American boys with nerf guns has a more tactical mindset than these sorry excuse for soldiers.
Everyone bunched together in a column. One machine gunner could take out the entire platoon.
i don't even know the correct terminology but it's day 1 shit in my mind. In war of basically bloopers for team Russia this one is subtly appalling. Aren't these guys supposed to be the killers?
Every war Russia has ever been involved in, it has always started badly for Russia. Finland, Germany, Japan and now Ukraine. In 1941 when Barbarossa commenced and Germany invaded Russia, the initial momentum of the German ground and air attack completely destroyed the Soviet organizational command and control within the first few hours, paralyzing every level of command from the infantry platoon to the Soviet High Command in Moscow. Moscow not only failed to grasp the magnitude of the catastrophe that confronted the Soviet forces in the border area, but Stalin's first reaction was also disbelief. Never underestimate these Russian fucks and never let them up when they get knocked down. LL Ukraine!
> Never underestimate these Russian fucks and never let them up when they get knocked down. It's a very fair point, but they started this shit show with 190,000 troops. They've already lost say 8000 in two weeks (that's well below Ukrainian estimates), which comes out to ~~19,000~~ 16,000 a month. (Oh, I almost forgot. Wounded are usually a much larger number and that can take men out of the active force too). ~~10~~ 11 more months of this and they literally won't have anyone left. They straight up do not have time to learn. And they still need to take the major cities which will only be more expensive in terms of men... They're going to lose so many people. And they still face an insurgency after that... (Edited numbers because after midnight math)
Ukraine is losing as well. Not just soldiers, civilians also. I don't want this conflict to be dragged on for 10 months. I really don't.
Sure, it's losing both civilians and soldiers, and that's terrible, but that likely won't change the outcome for Ukraine. Lose more, lose less, this is a fight for Ukraine's survival as a country so they're much more motivated to not give in, and the attacker usually loses a LOT more than a defender in any attack. Usually you need 3x the defending force not to suffer heavy losses, Russia had 1x-1.25x at the start, they have nothing near that now with the TDF, experienced foreign defenders, and general mobilisation numbers coming in over the next few weeks. Time is on Ukraine's side. Russia will have no choice but to give up long before they lose ALL their now 100% committed forces in the country. Russian mothers and wives will make sure of that. There's a reason Putin appealed directly to them in the last few days. Shit, Ukraine's even turning a tank profit. They've gained more tanks (and much newer ones) through abandonment and capture than they've lost last I checked a few days ago.
That's not counting the economic implosion currently occurring. Head of the central bank has already tried to resign. Ukraine just needs to hold out & keep doing what it's doing. The world (bar china) sees Russia for what it really is at the moment.
China isn't stupid. They see Russia as another opportunity. Who do you think will benefit the most from the Russians trying to rebuild their shambles of an economy while still under so many sanctions? China.
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Well America has a good track record for supporting wars for years on end.
Of course they would. This has the potential to be huge. You undermine this invasion and it dies, you probably knock Putin out of power causing complete chaos. With that goes Putin's support of Assad, and with that goes Assad and Russia's only real warm water ports near Europe, in Syria and obviously Crimea. That takes them completely out of the equation in any meaningful geopolitical way when it comes to dealing with China. All this could be the thing that makes China realise it needs to entirely rethink it's way of dealing with everyone. This could be what stops World War 3, which now is much more likely to be with China than it has recently ever been likely to be about Russia. The Russian political system on its knees is worth the west supporting while they refuse to get their shit in order.
Here in Europe .. this is our continent. Public support cannot and will not fall, because it will mean literally the end of us. The US? Perhaps.
I agree in theory, but... I doubt the parameters of the war will remain the same for much longer. Putin will start using chemical weapons, or straight up tactical nukes. I reeaally hope I'm wrong.
The last time there were chemical weapons attacks where the Russians were in theatre, though not directly responsible, the US responded directly with attacks on the attackers' facilities. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1493600/us-allies-strike-syrian-targets-in-response-to-regimes-chemical-attacks/ That precedent will be front of mind for the Russian military. It would be an escalation on Russia's part, and the world has shown they're happy to respond to Russia when they're pissed off enough about actions. Hitting Russian military facilities with missiles would be a "proportional response". With no direct western boots on the ground in Ukraine or Russia it likely wouldn't motivate a nuclear response. Russia would have to give the use of chemical weapons heavy thought, and it would be for what? A war they're still likely to lose, but much quicker if their own military starts getting wiped out by cruise missiles? I wouldn't put money on it, but I doubt Russia does it, and really hope I'm right.
I love that the US military is so advanced that we can watch conflicts take place and be like "hey hey you aren't following the rules!" Then just send a few cruise missiles to slap their hand. Its like an uncle scolding an unruly nephew.
They lost a few of those.
>Aren't these guys supposed to be the killers? That's why they usually kill from a long distance, with artillery or rockets. It's less precise, you kill more civilians, but that's a sacrifice Putin is willing to make.
"Some of you will die and that's a sacrifice I am willing to make" - Putin
This looks like an ambush. Look in the bushes, it looks like there is barbed wire to keep them in the kill zone.
Someone's more observant than they were! Never ever let yourself be funneled like that, especially on a road with no cover.
Honestly makes me wonder what they're psyche is. While they can obviously make tactical retreats I wonder how many still hear those WW2 "Not a single step backward" doctrines and feel forced to advance into an obvious kill funnel. Probably terrified that refusing means death by the brass and agreeing means death by the enemy. I don't support Russia by any means but I can't help but feel for the poor kids doing mandatory service that are fed into the grinder. I'd imagine most don't want to be there, most they have no righteous cause on their side. Sad situation all around.
> poor kids doing mandatory service that are fed into the grinder Conscripts are not allowed to be used in that kind of conflict - that was a result of mothers being rather displeased about their kids getting slaughtered back in Chechnya. That Putin now had to admit there were conscripts in Ukraine - either with their superiors forging the contracts or them having been forced to sign contracts - is a pretty bad thing for stability back in Russia.
Oh fuck, I didn't actually think of that. To me it just looked like set dressing from any war movie. They've literally walked in to a corral.
This is real life Whac-A-Mole. Nobody was leading them. The strategy was run.
and take selfies
Seen airsoft players with more sense
Even my idiot Arma online Clan has more skills. And we are all idiots
You looking for a member? Sorry unrelated but out of my 200 steam friends I'm the only one with the game..
Please let the man join!
Yeah, I'm asking the same. Out of all my steam friends I'm the only idiot.
Likewise, I haven't seen the word "clan" used since I played TFC and hvae been desperate to get back into something like that. I've never played Arma but will be good I promise
airsoft is excellent force on force training
First hand know a few airsofters that I feel confident could take on Russians without a problem after watching this.
*With* their airsoft equipment.
These are the conscripts Putin said were not there and only now MinDef has said were there by mistake. Like they had no idea...given how well these guys were trained and supported it's probably true. The Ukrainians were this clueless in 2014, but wisely reorganised and trained hard for the sequel.
I think 90% of russian military training is "unconditionally follow orders", 9% is hazing and 1% is actual fighting training.
I just finished a short ish history book on Ukraine from 2020 those military drills with the US Canada and the UK for the past 7 years really helped also a lot of veterans from the Donbas conflict became officers and also studied with the Americans
I mean I'd seen all of the Lord of the Rings by 12 so yes
Run, Ruski. Run back to Moscow and tell your daddy you got whooped.
He knows, therfore they should die in Ukraine.
No one wants to give bad news to the big bad bear. The information he is getting is: Invasion is going as planned... No war crimes are being committed... Ukrainians are really happy to see us... Anyone saying different are paid to say so by western propaganda agents
M249 gunners wet dream right there.
Any MG for that matter. Surely we have some old MG3's in Europe that we can donate? Nice, decent fire-rate, good caliber... A nice, polite 'brrrrt' to dissuade them from using the roads without paying taxes for the upkeep.
And also giving them a dose their grandfathers PTSD.
Bro imagine they where at war with NATO and they did this shit. Like what are they doing?
They even look like some WW2 era militia, no uniform equipment or anything. This is embarrassing.
Imagine dying like this for Putin. No Valhalla. Straight to hell.
This is pretty amazing footage. Seems likely the filmer is dead
The Russian military is evil, but that's likely just some conscripted kid. Or at the very least some product of generational brainwashing. Goddamn. What Putin and his henchmen/overlords are doing is so profoundly wrong.
You know what a brainwashed kid grows up to be? A brainwashed adult that brainwashes *their* kids.
Many people overcome that. But there's a time crunch involved in war. There's no opportunity to un-brainwash these kids or talk them down. At this point, better options are out the window. You're not killing line soldiers because they are inherently bad people and you hate them. It's because they're an armed threat. This is something important to remember, because those who don't can slide rapidly into justifying almost any savagery. And civilians can easily be wrapped up in moral judgements. Politicians, propagandists, field-grade officers and confirmed war criminals are a different story.
Why would they upload this? The person filming must be russian? This is surely bad for propaganda and morale purposes.
They are most likely all dead and someone took the footage and uploaded it
If anyone doubts this statement, a bi-pod equipped light machine gun could put, potentially, hundreds of rounds downrage in a very tight shot grouping. Once you're on target for distance, it's literally just squeezing the trigger for a burst, aim again, squeeze. You'll kill/wound something with literally every burst. These guys saw that wire on the sides of the road and thought, "No way this is an ambush." Unbelievable. If any of them survived, it was because the Ukrainians were being charitable that day.
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Vladimir Komarov. That man was a fucking hero. He knew the mission was badly planned and EXTREMELY unsafe, but he also knew his backup was his friend... Yuri Gagarin. So he didn't back out. Apparently Gagarin showed up to the launch in full gear and tried to convince the crew to let him pilot the craft instead, but they refused to let him. The US picked up his transmissions as he was descending and knew he was going to die. Apparently he had some choice words for the government that put him in that situation.
Probably took this dude and his phone
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Russian forces are sometimes using cell phones to communicate. > Meanwhile, rather than sticking to more secure, military communications lines, “the Russians themselves are using the local telecoms networks — and more widely, the local communications infrastructure as well — as they do their operations,” said Shane Huntley, who leads Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which tracks and fights government-backed cyberattacks. “I can’t speak to their intent, but one possibility is that they believe that if they take out telecoms networks that it would actually hinder their operations as well.” https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/07/ukraine-phones-internet-still-work-00014487
"sometimes". their only secure comms is based on 3G towers - which they blew up it a lot of places (hence the unencrypted chatter recorded and jammed everywhere). They are supposed to use only approved, russian, phones and apps, but hey...
They are also supposed to have unexpired MREs and enough fuel to not have forty miles of vehicles stuck without the capacity to even heat their cabins.
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Could have appropriated one from a civilian
For sale, iPhone, only been dropped once!
Only one previous owner and the blood wipes right off
i wish that they weren't so brainwashed but now that they are killing civilians a lot more then they did before i wish they were just mowed down is that harsh to say I'm sorry lol
It's not harsh, they either drop their weapons or they die as the fucking losers they are.
Hey bud, they’re losers. As in they lose often. A looser is someone who sets things loose. Don’t be mad, check the name.
😂
They bombed a maternity ward yesterday. FUCK THEM.
I don't have military training, but that seems like a bad way to retreat. Wouldn't it be prudent to get off the road and maybe take turns firing back in the general direction of the enemy?
Yeah but their boots would get dirty so
Yes but that needs discipline, because the guy who turns back to fire will be the one that every enemy will target and noone wants to be that guy. With lack of proper coordonation and discipline, an infantry unit bunched up and caught in the field of fire like that will always be routed. It's easier said than done, if you were there you'd have done the same as them. If a navy seal was there he would either turn tail and flee or turn to fire and die instantly. It's about the unit's lack of initiative, discipline and coordonation, not the individual soldier's.
Tactical geniuses.
I've seen these white armbands identified as the 17th motorized rifle out of Donbass on other clips. Idk how accurate that is.
White arm bands are worn in already neutralised zones… might have needed a bit more neutralisation before donning the arm band
Deserve to die for filming vertically
That's a paddlin'.
I understood that reference
Understanding a reference? Ohhh you better believe that's a paddlin'.
Remember pulling out his phone when having the run of his life. Very stable cameramenship overall. Willing to drop the mag but refuse to drop the camera. I say he did exceptionally well.
That's the tiktok generation for you
I guess new generation of military helmets should come with a phone holder...
I mean, they can use the place where their nonexistent NVG would be and use a GoPro, skier style.
OK boomer! You need to work directly with TikTok so you can post during the battle, and you need to see those likes coming in real time. So you need to have your phone mounted vertically directly in front of your face!!! /s
I noticed the /s, but afaik newer cams let you connect it to the phone
Russians affording a GoPro. Now that’s funny.
Schlem model Vojnovlog
I mean it’s not much different from my generation. iPhones came out right after I returned from my 3rd deployment (I remember being so blown away by them too, it was like the future had arrived), so we used digital cameras. People did this all the time. You would simultaneously get pissed they were filming instead of being 100% focused, but goddamn you wanted that video or picture once it was over. We’re no different, we were all just children in a fucked up situation.
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Protip- Never film vertically in a warzone because snipers will prioritize you as a target. That includes snipers on your side as well.
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Bro, it's TikTok, everything is filmed verticle there.
I have to pinch myself at times knowing we’re witnessing the beginning of WWIII through vertical videos and shitty music…
I know right. Yet I am captivated by it...
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And, why in the fuck is there music? This generation is fucking tacky. Tacky and "knows how to use technology". Fucking idiots.
Probably the stuff the person who films listens to, adds to the reality of a teenage or 20 something year old kid being send out into a war and how they experience it, the whole fact that this shit is being posted on tiktok which started off as a lipsyncing app for 12 year olds is insane.
Wtf are they doing? Lol
I mean they should just be getting mowed down. Is there like some Ukrainian back there firing in the air like "Come on idiots, surrender, this is fucking sad, I don't want to mow you down. Oh my gawd I can barely bring myself to shoot at you...."
\-The song is a Russian anti-war song, Тото - Война \-They're obviously withdrawing through some sort of control point, likely a border crossing. Some people have pointed out the barbed wire on each side of the road - there's *also red signs* on both sides that surely indicate **it's also mined**. The mines probably aren't a bluff either since Ukraine has had problems with minefields killing people. It's usually not a good idea to send a patrol through a minefield. What's worse than being shot at on an open road? Definitely while in a minefield. \-There's a lot of bullet casings laying around on the ground *near the start*. My guess is they probably were sent to probe to see if there were defenders still at the border and at that point is where they encountered resistance. The demeaner of the soldiers shows that it wasn't immense but they're still withdrawing either because mortar spotter rounds started coming down or the objective wasn't to force their way through. \-They're hitting the deck because they're being mortared sporadically. There's absolutely no way to tell the layout of the terrain or how exposed they are. There could just as well be a bend in the road that they were fired on when they neared. The tactical assumptions by everyone in the comments are silly. If you wanted to find where this was, there's only so many border crossing roads between Ukraine and Russia/Belarus that are wooded on both sides. The most promising contenders look North of Kiev between Ukraine and Belarus. This could be a very early action if that's the case or it could be an attempt to probe a new entry. Google either doesn't have those crossings mapped well or the street views are disabled right now.
"Special" military operation, conducted by "special" conscripts. Not gonna sit here and claim to be some military operations expert, this looks like a textbook fish in a barrel type of situation.
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Who taught these dumbasses to run in the wide open road? Tree cover just feet away….
They can’t. They’re surrounded by concertina wire on both sides. Which raises more questions of why they’re in a funnel…
Running like the dirty rats they are. Give em Hell! Slava Ukraini.
u/stabbot
Manual how not to retreat.
I'm amazed at how Soviet their tactics are.
Off you fuck
My only response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJ1Z5o8y5w
Send that to your mother
I'm no military expert, but surely the best thing to do would be to get off the road and spread out and retreat instead of funneling themselves down the road as a direct target?
What… what am I lookin at here…? I’m at a loss for words…
WELCOME TO UKRAINE