that's a slight overkill

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1692174867414818908?s=20

This post has been edited by chaosneo: Aug 18 2023, 08:41 AM

Our drones are now working near Robotyne.

“Aragorn took it like a champ. We lost Pippin after a couple of flights for unknown reasons - he gained speed after take off and with no control crashed maybe 100 meters away but in heavily mined bushes so we tried to locate him carefully, but unsuccessful. After that old fella Aragorn did the job, got hit near the battery compartment - but managed to come back.”

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692...3263585368?s=20

Additional videos are emerging of the Russian withdrawal from Urozhaine over the past week, painting a fairly messy picture.

Seen here, a Russian BMP-1AM desperately tries to evade a Ukrainian FPV loitering munition while moving south from the town, eventually failing to do so.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1...2116354267?s=20

Video of the burning Ka-52 helicopter in the Zaporizhzia region today. The pilot reportedly ejected while the navigator died.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692...7462699465?s=20

Its really hard to believe russia saying that ukraine has more trouble with getting equipment (nato hasnt even finished delivering what they committed, and continues to commit more from time to time), when russia itself is reduced to raiding its old tank storage yards and importing weapons.

Wasnt there news that military expenses will be 1/3 of all public spending in russia's next budget?

After washing machines, toilets and other furniture the second army of the world started to loot bicycles from the local population. Being proud of it as well.

I am not even going to talk about how these bums are dressed.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692...6437452062?s=20

Our drone “Aragorn” working near Robotyne. It managed to find Russian positions which were hit right after with FPV drones. During his mission he was damaged near the battery compartment but came home safely.

Robotyne is heavily mined and fortified. Drones make the difference!

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692...3647429674?s=20

Ukraine taking heavy casualties 10 weeks into its counteroffensive
Friday, August 18, 2023 8:01AM

There is mounting evidence that Ukraine has been taking heavy casualties in its counteroffensive, which began roughly ten weeks ago.

ABC News spoke with two former U.S. soldiers who are contracted in a special forces division of the Ukrainian military and who were both injured during an operation in eastern Ukraine two weeks ago.

Both soldiers are currently in a hospital in Kyiv but said they hope to be transferred to Germany for surgery this week in order to remove shrapnel from their bodies.

The men said their team's mission was to seize control of a village on the outskirts of Donetsk city, which has been occupied by a Russian-controlled militia since 2014.

One of the men, a former U.S. soldier from Texas who goes by the callsign "Tango," said his unit of "dozens" of men took "85% casualties" and that two of their comrades were killed when the team was ambushed whilst advancing into Russian-occupied territory. Forty percent of the unit was so badly injured they were rendered "combat ineffective," he said.

The other U.S. army veteran, who goes by the callsign "Goldfish" said it was immediately apparent that they were up against "very organized resistance" from Russian troops.

"It was definitely a very professional force that we were fighting against," the U.S. army veteran from Alaska said.

He spoke to ABC News in his hospital room in Kyiv which he was sharing with three other wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

ABC News also contacted two other Ukrainian soldiers interviewed in earlier phases of the war and they said they have also been injured in the past few weeks.

A Western man, with years of military experience, who is also now contracted with the Ukrainian military, said he sustained a serious injury in the early phase of the counteroffensive in June.

Speaking to ABC News on the condition of anonymity, the soldier said offensive operations which he had been part of were disorganized, criticizing some tactical decisions.

"We lost three Leopards (advanced German-made tanks) in one day because they were just told to drive forward into a minefield," he said.

He added that newly mobilized Ukrainian soldiers often appeared to lack the necessary training for complicated offensive operations on the battlefield.

The soldier, who joined the Ukrainian military more than a year ago, said dozens of men from his battalion had been involved in offensive operations since the beginning of June and around 80% of those men had been injured. However, he added that there had been no fatalities.

He claimed western military equipment such as U.S.-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were not being used to their full potential because some Ukrainian soldiers didn't have the necessary training or experience.

"It seems like they (Ukrainian soldiers) have been taught to use them but not to employ them (effectively) in a tactical sense (on the battlefield)," he said.

However, the two Americans interviewed by ABC News disagreed with that assessment.

Despite their injuries sustained during their failed mission two weeks ago, they argued that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is being well-executed and heavy casualties in a major military offensive of this nature, against entrenched Russian defenses, are to be expected.

"It's not going to be quick and decisive", the soldier with callsign "Tango" said.

"That's not how counteroffensives work. They (the Ukrainians) are taking casualties. That is normal," he added. "I think it's going well and on pace."

His comrade "Goldfish" said it had been "a very hard fight" for Ukraine.

"But it's a fight that the Ukrainians are fighting very well," he said.

Ukraine has not published casualty figures since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February of last year.

However, a senior Ukrainian official described the situation as "really tough" with "very intensive fighting on the battlefield".

He added that 80% of casualties were being caused by Russian artillery.

The official said the war was now in a "decisive phase" and insisted that Ukraine needed even more military support from the United States and its partners, including American long range ATACMS missiles, which have a range of 190 miles.

Ukraine has promised the United States that it would only use the missiles to strike Russian assets in occupied parts of Ukraine, and not hit targets inside Russia. However, the Biden Administration has so far refused to supply the long-range missiles.

The senior official insisted that Ukraine urgently needed more military aid in order to help it achieve its goals on the battlefield, arguing that supplying more support now would be a more cost-effective way of holding Russia back and, in turn, guaranteeing security in Europe.

I thought Russia using shovels and sticks to fight?

not a good sign when your comrades bodies are being spotted by enemy drones.

Fresh delivery to the meat cube factory.
40+ dead Russians in the Bakhmut direction.

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1692493404360286330?s=20

hmmm... i wonder how far can travel.

The "Army of Drones" is sending more than 270 Ukrainian Vampire attack drones to the front, Minister of Digital Transformation Fedorov said.

According to him, these are Ukrainian-made copters. They can carry up to 15 kilograms of payload. The military will use them to destroy both armored vehicles and tanks, as well as enemy defense structures, fortifications, or ammunition depots.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692...8232679839?s=20

Orekhovsky area
situation as of 13.00 on August 18, 2023

Yesterday, assault detachments of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 82nd Airborne Brigade, with the support of aviation and artillery, attacked the positions of the Russian Armed Forces at the Robotyne-Verbove line.

Enemy units tried to break through to the northeastern outskirts of Robotyne and to strongholds to the east, but to no avail. The attacks were repulsed, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to rotate and replace the wounded under the cover of artillery.

🔻Russian troops responded by shelling Ukrainian positions. As a result of one of the strikes, the stronghold of the 82nd Airborne Brigade, including one Starlink terminal, was destroyed.

And in the morning, infantry detachments of Ukrainian paratroopers tried once again to wedge into the defenses of Russian fighters in Robotyne. Artillery worked on them, and, according to the Archangel of the Special Forces, the offensive was repulsed.

🔻So far, the activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains at the same level - infantry rolls with periodic sorties of armored vehicles. But this is more like exhausting the RF Armed Forces with grueling battles on the eve of a more massive offensive. The other day, a meeting was held at the headquarters of the Maroon tactical group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the upcoming operation in the Zaporozhye direction.

So many handsome young Russians men died unnecessary

EPIC Battle



1:23 RU tank arrives and destroys one of the vehicles with a direct hit.
2:53 RU tank destroys another UA BMP Ukraine, the other one runs for its life.

3:41 RU BMP fires its 30mm cannon at a UA tank, distracting it and buying time for RU tankers that are firing at other targets.

Train full of ammo goes boom @ Mezhevaya Railway Station, Dnepropetrovsk

what is surprising is russian forces deploy them so near the frontlines. these usually are at standoff range at most of the time.

Close footage of the Russian Ka-52 downed outside of Robotyne yesterday.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1...8301236226?s=20

A 🇺🇦Ukrainian FPV kamikaze drone attacks a 🇷🇺Russian BMP. The work of the joint tactical group "Adam"

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/...5501546616?s=20