History in the Making: Russian Invasion

Russian TOS-1 Buratino thermobaric capable rocket launcher systems have been reported spotted crossing the border from Belarus.   









I truly hope this isn't the case.  Molotov Cocktails are no match against this.

In reply to Cooter :

Ugh.  Those kill by pressure shock, very difficult to defend oneself against.  Basically a huge overpressure causes your chest cavity and sinus cavity to implode, and I'll stop the description right there.  It's basically the same effect a nuke has minus the heat and radiation.

If you take one out with an antitank missile, better hope there was only one, because the second one has your number and the crew is suddenly very motivated.

It's absolutely horrific.  

With a two mile range and a 1,000ft blast radius, there really isn't much defense against them without getting up close and personal with weapons that can take out the launchers themselves.   They are devastating, and kill indiscriminately.

Speculation is that this may well be a thermobaric rocket attack at the Mykolaiv Air Base


 

Time for friends with benefits and precision strike capability?

A little more info on the weapon.


 

QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:

Time for friends with benefits and precision strike capability?

I know protocol dictates no, but suppose a well guided missile just appears and blows them up. They can't prove it came from something non Ukrainian, but even if they accused us, who cares given that they blamed the invasion on Nazis!?

Side note, Nazis initially autocorrected to nachos. 

Chechen general and right hand man of president of Chechnya killed near Kyiv while leading troops on behalf of Putin.

Hope he had his seeds.

Mr_Asa said:

Chechen general and right hand man of president of Chechnya killed near Kyiv while leading troops on behalf of Putin.

Hope he had his seeds.

Ha!!

Mr_Asa said:

Chechen general and right hand man of president of Chechnya killed near Kyiv while leading troops on behalf of Putin.

Hope he had his seeds.

Magomed Tushayev.  I believe he had been on several international wanted lists for various war crimes.

Mr_Asa said:

Chechen general and right hand man of president of Chechnya killed near Kyiv while leading troops on behalf of Putin.

Okay, send THAT sentence back in time ten-fifteen years...

Also, this is the future Ukrainians are fighting to prevent.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Mr_Asa said:

Chechen general and right hand man of president of Chechnya killed near Kyiv while leading troops on behalf of Putin.

Okay, send THAT sentence back in time ten-fifteen years...

Also, this is the future Ukrainians are fighting to prevent.

Right? Its kind of amazing how twisted up this world has become.

Interesting that we're still buying oil from Russ today.  

I have been following Life of Boris on YouTube for a few years now.  He is (apparently) Russian but has lived and worked and grew up in many different Slavic countries. His cooking videos remind me of my (Polish) grandma's cooking and his cold remedies are 100% what I have learned as a child (except the vodka) and his travel videos are entertaining, visiting many different countries but mainly Eastern European ones.

Today he posted this.

Without speaking Russian, but knowing a small amount (thanks largely to Boris teaching us what "idi nahui" means), that last bit is probably the Russian phrase for the "Nuts!" moment from those men on the island.  (Not translating for ya)

Ukrainian refugees are still lined up on the border and coming across, and lots of organizations are headed that way.  Most hotels in that area have canceled their bookings and are taking people in.   Lots of Hungarians in POV's have been giving rides to people crossing on foot.  I'm starting to see Hungarian speaking Ukrainians post in my feed sharing their thanks for the help they've received from locals.  I'm also seeing lots more from Ukrainians asking for assistance for themselves or for family they have coming this way (these posts are usually met with dozens of offers). 

Life here couldn't be said to be completely normal anymore.  There aren't lot of people out and about, and those that are are talking about the fighting (Mostly talking about how bad the Russians are doing).  Some are afraid that the base (adjacent to the town) will be a valuable location for the Russians to attack, I still think we'll have a fair bit of warning beforehand even if NATO gets involved.  Seeing things like Russian armor driving over old men in POV's hasn't done much to ease the locals concerns.  Leadership is still silent.

If you watch local news, the Russians are all but dead in the water.  Looking to western news, it looks more like they're still very much in the fight.  The only thing that's consistent is the reporting of how much absolute butt kicking the Ukrainians are doing.

A donation station was opened in town yesterday and we made our first drop off.  They're asking for the usual stuff you'd need while fleeing on foot (baby stuff, warm stuff, quick eating stuff, and hydrating stuff), and we were happy to see a fair bit of traffic there when I dropped stuff off.  They're going to finish filling the truck today and send it to the border tomorrow I think.

I tried reaching out on FB as Papa is host to a small number of migrant Ukrainian workers, but it seems that no one I know has any direct contact with them.  I only know of one other Ukrainian in town, and I'll talk to him tomorrow when he opens his store.

I may or may not have bought one of these stickers for the 4-Runner.  I wouldn't cry one bit if this all ended before the mail could deliver it.

Ukrainian Sunflower Curse

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you for your posts Bill, your perspective from your vantage point is extremely valuable.

I read this bit from The Guardian today:  

"And a Ukrainian company in charge of building and maintaining roads said it was removing all road signs that could be used by invading Russian forces to find their way around the country. The company, Ukravtodor, said in a Facebook post: The enemy has poor communications, they cannot navigate the terrain. Let us help them get straight to hell."

I remember reading about doing that in Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising" so many years ago. 
 

It's hard to comprehend that this is still a needed thing to do in today's world. 

In reply to eastpark :

Isn't that the case in Cuba?  No road signage so as to confuse an invader?

That was supposed to be the "place where the streets have no name" from that song.

More info and explanation on what the sanctions on the Russian Central Bank mean. TL;DR is that it's much harsher than kicking them off SWIFT and it's very seldom done against a country.

From David Frum: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/how-russian-sanctions-work/622940/

Putin has put Russia's nuclear forces on high alert: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/russia-hits-ukraine-fuel-supplies-airfields-in-new-attacks/2022/02/27/761e5432-9791-11ec-bb31-74fc06c0a3a5_story.html

Lots of back and forth regarding negotiations but I can't find anything definitive.

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

Hopefully someone on the inside realizes this is crazy and takes him out for us now.

johndej said:

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

Hopefully someone on the inside realizes this is crazy and takes him out for us now.

That's a likely scenario I think. How many people in positions close to putt putt think this is a good plan? I'll bet someone is planning it, but Russia has a pretty stout history of spycraft so I'm not sure any will get something done. It sure would be sweet to see putt putt in handcuffs on TV with a new leader pulling the troops out. 

anybody else buying a 2-week supply of potassium iodide?

Putin painted himself into a corner.  Invasion's not going well, he's about out of options but if there's a bright side he's two years shy of the lifespan of the average Russian.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-spacex-kyiv-business-united-nations-c5b7eb2355aff4f7f6c18b4c705dbe08

Basically every European country is closing its airspace to Russian airliners