"Ukraine War About To Escalate" Topic

"The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) recorded 143 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 31 in Luhansk region between the evenings of 12 and 14 March.

The OSCE SMM said this in a report issued on 15 March, based on information from the monitoring teams received as of 19:30 on 14 March 2021, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 12 and 14 March, the SMM recorded 143 ceasefire violations, including 33 explosions (one airburst, two impacts and 30 undetermined)," the report reads…"
Main page
link

Also…
"Ukrainian soldier killed as Russia's war in Donbas escalates"

link

" Frozen conflict brings economic stagnation to Ukraine's Donbas region"

link

Armand

The Russians (of course) say the Ukr are preparing to overrun the places, being saying so for weeks. 2 videos at .east of one bn each at most T64 and godziya moving by train, taken by Ukrainian civies.
Can't imagine them going in and getting then chewed up as AFAIK they just cannot hope to fight the Ru innevtable reaction…unless pushed to and supported by the US. But why? That would be scary. ( and stupid).

I suspect the Ukrainians feel emboldened by the changes in US government.

Though I doubt the US will stop Russia from curb stomping Ukraine if it feels like it. Even current US administration won't want to start WWIII over this.

Ha, the new US regime will probably only give them MREs, blankets, and band aids like the one before last.

The last guy gave them Javelins to take on the Russian tanks and IFVs.

Interesting that things are heating up again though, since I was under the impression things were relatively resolved there, since there haven't been any news reports of conflict there in quite some time.

Are those Ukrainian T-64s moving to the front, or Russian ones?

Could be either, since the Russians probably have large numbers of T-64s in storage.

Damon.

Thresher,

I don't think the Ukrainians would do any better if you gave them F-22s, M1s and ICBMs. Their military is largely garbage and the most effective fighting units are neo-nazi militias of the kind the west really doesn't want to associate with.

Just last week they lost another MiG-29 when a drunken pilot crashed his Volkswagen Touran into it.

Glup!…

Armand

Europeans tend to label anyone that isn't far left as a "neo-Nazi".

Thresher01,

These guys are actually full fledged neo-nazis and use swastikas, SS runes and support nazi ideology.

They are anti-Russian but also anti-NATO and anti-EU and espouse values of white supremacy.

Eg Azov Batallion (actually a regiment) is the most effective unit in the Ukrainian "National Guard" and its insignia includes neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Black Sun is also used). It's members are festooned in nazi tatoos and they parade with swatikas. They have openly admitted that their membership includes a large number of neo-nazis.

The unit has attracted neo-nazi recruits from across the world.

Azov Battalion insignia openly displays the Wolfsangel:

By the way actual real neo-nazism is also growing rapidly in Eastern Europe.

Battalion (now regiment) "Azov". Taking the oath, 2014.

At the front:

On a rest:

Pay attention to the identification mark of the armored vehicle:

In fairness, it must be said that the Nazis met among the militia of the South-East. But this was never a widespread phenomenon, and even more so from them they did not create official state armed units, did not assign military ranks to frank Nazis, recognizing them as officially civil servants and part of the official armed forces of the state.

You need to understand that with these people and with the government they represent, no one from the Russian inhabitants of the South-East of Ukraine will ever reconcile.

Wow ! I did know they went full-tilt Nazi. Very scary … But as long as they just keep it there, and they are not that widespread. Let them be Putin's problem. But more of Eastern Europe going Nazi could be a problem ? For the rest of Europe and in turn NATO. If NATO get's involved … the USA will have to do something …

At this time … I have no idea what the new US leadership will do in this situation … neither … wait … never mind …

Thanks for the info and pics.

I appreciate it.

I imagine and hope that they will remain fringe elements, though of course with the rise of communism/socialism in many countries and around the globe, other equally radical forces will be created to oppose them, as we've seen throughout history.

It is unlikely that this is Putin's problem))) I think that just the opposite is the problem of his opponents.
By the way, many Nazis from Russia left to serve in this regiment (although this is not the only Ukrainian regiment overrun by the Nazis, this one is the most visible). And many of these Russian Nazis have already gone to their Nazi hell – which is great)))
It is bad that these people are part of Ukrainian politics, part of the Ukrainian power structures. It's bad that Nazis from all over Europe are being trained and gaining real combat experience in this unit.

Hmm … But they are not fighting against socialism or communism now. Are they fighting for democracy and European values?

They now look like this:

I imagine and hope that they will remain fringe elements

They're the main shock troops of the Ukrainian military as the mainstream Ukrainian military is a Soviet era has-been of dubious fighting quality.

The Ukrainians have actually made rulings that only volunteers can fight in Donbass.

Thus normal units sit in their barracks whilst the fighting is done by increasingly well equipped and trained volunteer units of the National Guard such as these Nazi units.

And there's been allegations of them committing war crimes.

Thus US supporting these guys raises a lot of questions. And you can't guarantee that any weapons or equipment goes to the regular military. Indeed remember how many US weapons ended up in ISIS hands!

In fact, there are no volunteer battalions left in Ukraine for a long time – they have all been reformed and integrated into regular army units, which have become full-fledged standard combat units of the Ukrainian army and the National Guard.
Also, not only volunteer units, but also ordinary military units created long before the "revolution", in which conscripts and reservists called up from the reserve serve, took and are taking part in hostilities. But each such unit included large contingents of volunteers who were responsible for motivation in these military units.

The militias of the South-East (pro-Russian forces) have also long ago been reorganized into two regular army corps on the Russian model. All irregulars were abolished.

Oh yes … In Soviet times, there was no Ukrainian army))) After the collapse of the USSR, there was a Ukrainian national army. And its quality really was not high.

Thanks Cuprum.

My info is old though to be fair it's hard to find reliable info on this (or at least English language stuff).

I had plans to create miniatures of this conflict. Therefore, I have collected a lot of information on the appearance and organization of both sides of the conflict.
Although after the intensity of the conflict decreased, I do not believe in the commercial success of such a line and I also stopped following the current process.

Interesting intel Cuprum … Seems a lot of things are more "complex" then I remember …