why do you think that?
… for me it was completely assumed that a weapon’s transport is “fair game” (as the looooong convoy was also fair game for the Ukr.), and was a bit surprised that this was news at all, esp. coming from the people that shell hospitals and nuclear plants …
“we reserve the right to shoot at everybody within the territory of Ukraine” ™
Yeah, the surprising thing is that Russia didn’t move to cut off supply from the West on day one. That should have been the priority of the northern force; not Kyiv.
I did link to an article upthread which said the Russia tends to use conscripts with little training in their logistics divisions, but that’s different from untrained troops in the front fighting lines.
Started reading the article then saw the byline.
I guess we should assume the opposite for most of his predictions, given his track record. 
What is a “Battalion Tactical Group”, please? It’s referenced in this article and in others recently.
A BTG typically comprises a battalion (typically mechanised infantry) of 2–4 companies reinforced with air-defence, artillery, engineering, and logistical support units, formed from a garrisoned army brigade. A tank company and rocket artillery also typically reinforce such groupings. BTGs formed the mainstay of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine from 2013–2015, particularly in the Donbass war.[2]
Our version is the Brigade Combat Team, which has more infantrymen but without the heavy weapons support. Faster, but with less punch.
The article says that Russia has about 170 BTGs in total. From other sources, about 120-125 of those have already been committed to the war in Ukraine.
As I posted above, Ukraine is saying that 18 battalion tactical groups have completely lost their combat capability, and 13 have been completely destroyed. So 31 are out of action.
The heirarchy of miulitary units, roughly speaking, and going from smallest to largest:
Section/squad/stick/crew (in infantry, typically 8-10 people)
Platoon - typically 3 sections, plus a commanding officer and maybe a heavy weapons team
Company - 3 platoons
Battalion
Regiment
Brigade
Division
Corps
Army
Not everyone is exactly the same but that’s the general jist of it.
As you go up you typically have 2-4 of the smaller unit, but this is a huge simplification. As you increase an infantry unit, you can’t just have more infantry. You need supporting arms. So as I note, an infantry platoon will not just have three infantry sections; you will have a platoon commander, a platoon sergeant, and perhaps some guys with a mortar or a heavy machine gun. When you put three platoons together, now you need another commander plus more stuff. By the time you have an infantry division - a huge organization ranging from 10000 to 20000 soldiers depending on type - you’ve added a divisional artillery group, reconnaissance units, engineers, a field hospital, a motor pool, a huge headquarters group, electronic warfare, embedded helicopter units, an intelligence company, antiaircraft batteries, logistics, and so on.
A Battalion Tactical Group, or any similar sounding thing, is basically that size of unit but with many attached assets to make it independently capable of fighting on its own, with appropriate support from higher echelons.
Thanks, all. Interesting.
Latest summary from the Institute for the Study of War:
Apparently there is some gloominess on Russian state tv:
I wonder if she’s aware that the only permissible description of this invasion is “special military operation”. Putin enacted a law that provides for 15 years imprisonment for anyone referring to it as a “war” or “invasion”.
Probably a “false flag” translation by the folks at Daily Beast to get her off to the gulags.
Interesting article, from before the war, about Russia’s poor logistics and heavy reliance on supply by rail.
Ukraine railroads use the same gauge as Russia, making control of them particularly crucial to Russian advances into Ukrainian territory.
It’s interesting to therefore compare a map of the war with a map of Ukrainian railroads.
Apropos of nothing whatsoever, the lady’s a dude:
Who should probably have others taste his food first for a while …
ETA: somewhat interestingly …
In March 2014 he signed a letter in support of the position of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on the situation in Ukraine and Crimea.[6] For this he was banned from entering Ukraine.[7]
Thank you for that. I had assumed female as well.
Roger Stone and Karen Shakhnazarov: separated at birth?
After referring to Ukraine as a war on TV, this is one Karen who does not want to see the manager.
This. The Russians had an impressive army on paper, but many if not most of the papers were forgeries designed to cover the diversion of military budgets into mansions and megayachts.
It is 1939 and the Soviet army is marching onwards to Finland.
As they pass the border, they hear a Finnish voice over the hill: “One Finnish soldier is better than 10 Soviet soldiers!”
The Soviet general laughs, as he sends 10 men on the hill to capture it. There is gunfire for a minute and then everything goes silent for a moment, and they then hear the same voice:
“One Finnish soldier is better than a hundred of yours!”
Annoyed, the Soviet general sends a hundred men to capture the hill. There is gunfire and bombs going for ten minutes, and everything goes silent again. Suddenly, the same voice yells out;
“One Finnish soldier is better than a thousand Soviet soldiers!”
Enraged, the general sends a thousand men, accompanied with tanks, artillery, mortar teams, and tells them to not return until the hill is theirs. For half an hour hell breaks loose, bombs and explosions, gunfire, screams and death all around, and then it goes silent again. One Soviet soldier crawls back, severely wounded and battered. Before the general could say anything, the soldier says;
“Do not send more troops, comrade general, it’s a trap! There are two of them.”
