“Panicked Russian soldiers are abandoning their tanks, weapons and even clothes as they “literally run from their positions” in the face of a shock Ukrainian offensive, soldiers have told The Telegraph.
A Ukrainian intelligence unit on the front line said the Russian chain of command was broken and soldiers were fleeing without putting up a fight, many of them changing into civilian clothes to avoid detection.
A drone operator returning from the front line on Sunday also told The Telegraph that the speed of the offensive had even taken their own army by surprise, with troops struggling to recover the mountains of Russian ammunition and armoured vehicles left behind.
Watching the battles through reconnaissance drones and listening to Russian communications, the soldiers said Russian units were being obliterated before they had time to identify their enemy, while survivors fled amid the chaos.
In one intercepted communication, a commander with the callsign Birdie described hearing a Russian tank unit desperately asking what had happened to their command. “‘We are totally f—ed’.
“Then they fled. Later we found their burned tank.”
The first counter-offensive by Ukraine was a failure. Not many reports on that one from the media. This one however they can’t shut up about it but they do shut up about the dead Ukraine it took to push through a thinly defended area…meh. It was over 2K from non pro Ukraine media but disregard anything not saying Ukraine SUCCESS. Ignore all of it. Also ignore the energy crisis in Europe and more lockdowns in China.
We will see where this goes when winter kicks in. Napoleon did take Moscow then he kinda a didn’t then he really kinda didn’t when he ended up in exile. Hitler just committed suicide and said screw it.
Two despots are duking it out. It would behoove the US to secure their own border and stop the drugs but that is obviously not going to happen when they are raiding the home of the former President and cranking up the printing press to support this BS.
Thanks, Babeltuap, for your dispatches from Planet Bongo. We on earth are always pleased to enliven dull reality with a bit of fantasy from the other side of the galaxy.
Planet Bongo is lucky, because if Trump was still in office, Russia wouldn’t invade Ukraine.
Bbtp your remarks re the American So. border are spot on. So too your comments on hounding Trump while ignoring Clinton, Sandy Berger eg. But that isn’t the issue. What is? I think it’s Putin going up top, making this a long ball game with bombs right down the middle of the field and there is nothing NATO can do to stop it. He is telling all the Slavic world “see, watch what I do. I will destroy Ukraine b/f I let her have independence.” This is the same msg the Czar sent in ’14, Lenin sent in ’22, Stalin sent in ’31, 39, 40, and ’52. Putin is sending it again today. Wanna talk about “behooven”, it would behoove the Slavic world to ask themselves if they are willing to rtn to the role of Russia’s bitch. I know, that offends the Russophiles on this thread but its the truth. Putin is putting that marker down.
“A Ukrainian intelligence unit on the front line said”…. well, I’m convinced.
But this nagging thought keeps returning: if events did play out as “said by the Ukrainians” then where are the prisoners of war?
Where are the garrisons that were too slow to move and are now trapped inside that village?
If things really were as chaotic as this guy says it was then entire units would have been cut off by the advancing Ukrainians, yet I haven’t heard of the Ukrainians bagging so much as a wayward platoon.
Odd. Very odd.
WPO
Perhaps they ran faster than they could be caught.
Against a Ukrainian army that advanced 70 miles in three days?
In a situation where TTG is claiming they were caught totally by surprise?
You really believe that a routed, dispirited and leaderless army can outrun – to a man, apparently – an attacking force that can travel that distance that quickly?
wpo
yes. that much fear and panic are great motivators
I am contemplating the possibility of a military coup in Moscow.
I confess to being puzzzled by the Russophilia of Tucker Carlson and Macgregor. There are dark possibilities.
Well, it’s a theory, at least. Just not a very good one.
I’m inclined towards a far simpler explanation: those Russian troops reached the Oskil River first because they started a week earlier than the Ukrainians did.
As in: the Ukrainians attacked expecting to face Russian regular troops, and found none.
If this was a pre-planned 64D chess withdrawal why did the Russians leave behind so much of their weapons, ammo, clothes, etc? Especially when they’re apparently reaching out Rocketman Kim for some hardware.
blue peacock
It is pretty clear that the withdrawal was not 64D chess. The pro-Russian shills who are not completely out of touch with reality are saying “it was a disaster but at least we had few of our guys killed or captured”.
I think it is time to retire the term “near-peer competitor”. The US has no near peers.
Tally ho!
Zelensky needs to march these Russian PoWs through the streets of Kyiv, like Stalin did in 1944 to German soldiers on their way to prison camps — street sweepers and all.
Trigger a post-Mukden 1905 revolution before the Ukrainian economy collapses and, sadly, DeSantis, gets to the White House.
“Zelensky needs to march these Russian PoWs through the streets of Kyiv”
What PoWs would those be, Scott?
Read the piece again: it doesn’t claim that the Ukrainians managed to bag any Russian PoWs at all.
Apparently we are meant to accept the proposition that the Russians all ran away in panic, and the Ukrainian army – being such jovial fellows that they are – just stood there and waved them bye-bye as they fled.
The Russophiles here are akin to Wile E. Coyote, suspended in mid-air, about to look down, with the Road Runner soon to speed away.
Reports have the Ukrainians massing at Vuhledar to get to the Sea of Azov (through Volnovakha and Mariupol).
Beep, beep
Scott, when the Ukrainians started their offensives a very wise old veteran said this: “IMO opinion the Ukies should aim at forcing surrenders”
I forget his name, silly me. But I do remember it being posted on this site.
Actually, there were TWO grizzled veterans who shared that opinion. The other guy said this: “With a few more speedy thrusts, perhaps we’ll see mass surrenders rather than mass slaughter.”
So the Ukrainian objective of this offensive is clear: to surround the Russian forces that were facing them, and force their capitulation.
Well, if that was the aim – and I have that on the very best of authority – then it has demonstrably come up empty.
Indeed, if those two gentlemen were correct then the main aim of this Ukrainian offensive must have been to encircle Izyum and force its 10,000 strong Russian garrison to surrender.
Now, not only didn’t that happen, but I have it on very good authority that at the time this offensive was lauched the total size of the Izyum garrison was less that 2,000 men.
Where did the other 8,000 go?
Well, they had already withdrawn over the Oskil River over a week before the Ukrainians even launched this offensive.
Simple facts, Scott: the Ukrainian bagged almost no prisoners of war. Did not manage to cut off a single Russian platoon, let alone large units. Instigated not one siege of even the smallest of villages
That is indisputable, and the only plausible explanation for that oh-so strange happenstance is that the Russians had already withdrawn their regular forces.
You can call that copium if you like – feel free – but to me the coping appears to be coming from the other side.
From spinning a massive victory out of the Ukrainians waltzing into an uncontested territory.
Color me unimpressed.
I am certainly no expert, but displaying POWs in that fashion easily could be a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Scott K
“a post-Mukden 1905 revolution” – do you mean a post Tsushima 1905 revolution? Mukden was the Japanese Gleiwitz incident that set off the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The loss at Tsushima was what led to the 1905 revolution, the precursor to the 1917 revolutions.
Oddly enough one heavily ‘upvoted’ comment on a Russian military blog I saw today simply read “Tsushima of the 21st century…”. The years 1905 and 1917 occurred in one or two other comments too. As Col. Lang says, the probability of a coup in Moscow would seem to be non-zero. That would send the neocons into a state of ecstasy.
Uhh, the Battle of Mukden handed southern Manchuria to the Japanese and resulted in 90 thousand Russian casualties and PoWs in the spring of 1905.
A coup de main at Mariupol which led to a coup d’etat in Moscow wouldn’t just please neocons, no?
Scott K
You are absolutely right. Back to history class for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mukden
Scott k,
A month after Mudken the Czar lost his Baltic fleet at Tsushima. It should not be forgotten that the Japanese declaration of war came 3 hours after Togo attacked Port Arthur a year earlier. Putin’s government, and Ukraine’s for that matter, still hasn’t declared war.
https://tass.com/world/1505871
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said on Saturday that on orders from Zelensky Ukraine is ready to consider Poland’s request to provide coal quotas for exports to Poland, starting with 100,000 tons in September. These statements come after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited Kiev on September 9 for talks with Zelensky and Shmygal. Zelensky promised to help with Warsaw’s energy problems.
—–
He denies she’s my gal. De Nott Sees Shot my gal. Denise She’s my Gal. The noise is my gal. Denial She’s .. .? One thing is undeniable though, some fine lady Backed into an athletic face Sillyly. Den is daily in Eastern Duke Rainy, don’t forget.
This must bring great joy to all those who met at Ramstein to celebrate more than half a trillion dollars in gifts to Ukraine. I wonder what they’ll have to do to get more.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3152582/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-sta/
Russia is fighting the US/Israel, not Ukraine per se. Given past Russian commentary, the next phase is probably to just let Winter roll around and then foment social unrest in the EU to try and break NATO.
Delusional but par for the course for the Putin/Xi uber alles crowd.
blue peacock
Yves Smith – one of the few commentators who called the 2008 financial crisis before it happened – is warning of energy companies in Europe facing 1.5 Trillion in margin calls.
https://twitter.com/yvessmith/status/1567454524364963840
I am not sure that Russia can win the economic war – but just because Putin was stupidly overconfident does not mean that we have to be as well.
JamesT,
Just like what happened after the GFC, when there were trillions in credit default swaps and other derivative instruments floating out there with so many caught off-side including the AIGs, Goldman Sachs, et al, the Fed and in this case European regulators can come in and net it all out and if necessary shaft the speculators.
They’ll keep the energy companies – utilities, generators, distributors – largely whole. The energy traders on the other hand…are easily demonized and screwed over with great public approval.
Sorry – I should have included her headline:
“Lehman Event” Looms For Europe As Energy Companies Face $1.5 Trillion in Margin Calls
… and a link to her article rather than her tweet:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/09/lehman-event-looms-for-europe-as-energy-companies-face-1-5-trillion-in-margin-calls.html
Go ahead and listen to the Israeli run Ukraine bot army where you get your news rather than listen to what the Russians have been talking about for the past decade +.
Either Russia is weak and can’t hold a piece of Ukraine, or it’s so powerful that it’s a threat to take over all of Europe. Breaking them in Ukraine is admirable, but it won’t change the fact that temperatures dive and costs will go sky high. There will be a fallout from that economically. Many people will not sit quietly and watch their heating bills go up 10-20x.
A rigorous and highly informed analysis.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/09/12/pers-s12.html
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Russia’s Debacle in Kharkob:
The military collapse is not a tactical, but a strategic failure. It has exposed the total bankruptcy of the Russian government’s response to the US-NATO war drive, and the Putin government’s catastrophic miscalculation in launching the invasion of Ukraine on
Doug McGregor vs Russian talk shows edition.
Here’s Doug saying Ukrainians are losing:
https://twitter.com/noahpinion/status/1569359175171604481?s=21
And then the Russians saying something different like the situation doesn’t look good:
https://twitter.com/juliadavisnews/status/1569070513909022720?s=21
Who should one believe? I suppose it is whatever one’s own preconceived notions are. It appears that the judgment of many, especially in media are clouded by their alignment with “their team”. There’s the anti-American contingent for whom Putin & Xi are the heroes and anything that shows the US in a bad light is cause for jubilation. Then there’s the other side who believe that the East Europeans and Taiwan have every right to their sovereignty and should be protected from an irredentist Putin and Xi. And then in the US there’s a segment who believe that the US should not interfere in world affairs and let the Eastern Europeans fight their own battles and even be a Russian statelet. And then there’s the neocon contingent in the US who believe we should militarily intervene everywhere.
We have had a situation where propaganda trumps reporting in all aspects of discourse for a good long while. And the war between Russia and Ukraine is no different than the covidian authoritarianism or Trump or whatever topic.
IMO, not having any military experience, it appeared to me that the Russians had a military with supposedly superior weaponry and military on par with the US as so many who claim such military knowledge were promoting. The reality over the past 6 months is that this supposedly superior armed force could not swat down a supposedly weak, corrupt, nazi-infested Ukrainian military. And now had to “tactically withdraw” its forces from the north-east after months of grinding battles.
One thing is clear, Col. Lang and TTG have had contrarian opinions relative to the consensus on Russian strength and Ukrainian weakness. And they’ve been proven right so far. Maybe we’ll see in the months to come the “true” strength of the Russian military as its supporters claim, which hasn’t been shown for the past 6 months.
Ukraine deserves a great deal of praise for their grit and determination. It’s quite an achievement. The US, Britain and NATO did well to support and advise them.
Zelenskyy deserves a lot of credit for choosing to stand up rather run into exile.
I hope a rational solution prevails and that this will serve as a strong deterrent against further war and aggression elsewhere.