Why the pretense? Just paint the Reapers Ukrainian colors and have their regular U.S. crews fly them. The Russians will claim whatever they want to claim either way.
There’s nothing new about this. Their were plenty of Soviet pilots flying MIGs in Vietnam, too.
Ukraine has consistently taken a cautious approach to this war. Saving their men and resources wherever possible. The current counter offensive appears well planned. It’s smart to take it slow and keep their casualties low.
Cite Ukraine claims counteroffensive in the south – explained | Ukraine | The Guardian
Britain has been training Ukrainian troops. First on British weapons sent to Ukraine. They also are giving general training to fresh recruits. That was in the news a few months ago.
The wording here seems odd? training mission? Would that be inside Ukraine?
Guardian blog
Beyond that, it wouldn’t be a military problem in the first place, unless it was the US military having to deal with the capture or loss of a nuclear plant. If it’s something like that in a conflict between two third-parties, it’s absolutely a political problem- NATO countries’ leadership problem in fact. It’s only a military problem when they get orders to do something violent about it.
The Ukrainians are finding ways to make the Russians waste their armaments.
Ukraine Using Fake Rocket Launchers so Russia Wastes Missiles: Report (businessinsider.com)
Except for the very real horrors being inflicted on the Ukrainian people, this is like watching the Ewoks kick the crap out of the Imperials.
I think it should be the other way. US personnel pilot the drones and the Ukraine personnel engage the enemy.
When I say “атака” push this button.
At this point I’m wondering if the overseas training should focus on how to deal with captured soldiers.
It may be awhile before anyone knows if the Russians are fighting or surrendering in large numbers.
#kherson on twitter has reports of fighting inside the city. Could be partisans or maybe Ukraine special forces.
ISW warns Russia will claim success and exploit Ukraine staying silent for mission security.
ISW also says photos show convoys of Russian vehicles from Crimea and Melitopol reenforcing Kherson. It does not sound like a quick withdrawal.
Cite Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 30 | Institute for the Study of War
I wonder how Russia will attempt to save face if the Ukrainians manage to retake the city.
I think it is a slightly different use of the word ‘mission’ :
If they have the capability, possibly by bombing and shelling it into rubble and declaring victory.
By smoking lots of copium. “We still conquered a lot of the Donbas, and we also bled Ukraine a lot during their counteroffensive, so we still win and it’s still Ukraine’s pyrrhic victory!”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has a good Twitter game.
Ha!
I keep looking for that scene from Airplane! where he blows up a fuel dump by spitting at it but it doesn’t seem to have made it to GIF status yet.
A Russian soldier flips off/performs the bras d’honneur at a Ukrainian drone. The soldier is on an APC speeding away carrying soldiers wounded by munitions dropped by the drone.
From a longer video (spoilered for scenes of war):
Okay, I’m getting frustrated by the watercooler discussions at work where everyone is all fired up about the Ukrainian counter-offensive near Kherson. Seems like a lot of folks are expecting some sort of campaign where Patton’s 3rd Army breaks out of Normandy and tanks race to surround the objective. There are no map updates due to Ukraine news block out policy, but I don’t think we’d see big movement on the map if they did show up. We’re probably going to see a similar sort of grinding campaign that we saw the Russians use in the east where there’s artillery prep fire and incremental gains made with a combination of armor and infantry support. This is going to take some weeks.
Military summary channel is showing Russian map updates that are actually very favorable to the Ukrainian forces. More than the pro Ukraine one.
A few towns retaken. A Russian forward group almost encircled. Major road of supply to another Russian group under fire control. Doing pretty good. But are taking some heavy losses. Hopefully they can keep supply up. Russians have air superiority, so supply lines are at risk.
Also reports of very large numbers of Ukrainian military armored vehicles going into Kharkiv. Russians say they are hard to take out, due to extensive underground facilities to store them.
I think the Ukrainians will keep focusing on targeting logistics and cutting supply lines to Kherson. As the noose tightens on the defending Russian invaders, their military capability and resolve will weaken. This would be similar strategy to what worked in northern Ukraine, but using HIMARS strikes, rather than light infantry ambushes, to cut off supplies. So this will probably take weeks or months.
The initiative seems to have shifted away from the Russians. They know not where the Ukrainians might counterattack.