Nice find. I ran a search before I posted but my Google skills must be weak. Not sure what is up with Russian TV towers, they seem to have regular fires in them. Maybe they work better as beacons of Gondor.
Acceptable and possible are two different things.
I’m a way it makes sense. Invite Russians in. Then get the tanks out of Belarus so that the tanks won’t be available to the Belarussian forces in the event of a coup by his own troops.
I was going to comment that the history of the now famous “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster was not applicable, as the original poster was not displayed in public during WWII !
https://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com/history/
With a bold coloured background, the posters were required to be similar in style and feature the symbolic crown of King George VI along with a simple yet effective font. The first two posters, ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory’ and ‘Freedom is in Peril’ were produced by His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO).
These two were posted on public transport, in shop windows, upon notice boards and hoardings across Britain. The third and final poster of the set was again very straightforward and to the point - it simply read ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. The plan in place for this poster was to issue it only upon the invasion of Britain by Germany. As this never happened, the poster was never officially seen by the public.
But it is frighteningly more valid now, as it was originally planned to be used if the enemy had invaded…
~80-120, likely more with the new missile ammo (if any is available) - Tornado-S. Thankfully it is new tech and Russia doesn’t have much money for new tech so there aren’t many in service. Also no doubt precision ammo for them is as short as precision ammo is everywhere for Russia.
That said it doesn’t pay to be over-confidant. Crippling Russian corruption, incompetence and low morale among the grunts are the main reason this war has gone badly for Russia. Not tech.
I’m sure you are better informed than I. But I’ve read reports suggesting Russian tech is up to a 1990s standard, surprising many. I couldn’t say whether this is true or commonplace in the industry. However, I agree it is less important than competence, morale and corruption. The latter point is of concern if maintaining simple vehicles is an issue, and one has nuclear weapons. I doubt they will be used, but perhaps enough crazy exists.
After today’s Putin attack I’d finish destroying the Crimean bridge and vow the next rounds go directly to Moscow. the gloves come off. Putin needs to go. Now. He’s earned his dinner of Polonium 210.
Since when has Putin ever cared about having an excuse to commit war crimes?
Combining this with Russia’s use of Iranian made drones really highlights how far Russia has fallen. Once upon a time, they were the ones building weapons for export to other countries, and now, if they didn’t have these outside suppliers, how much worse off would their war effort be?
Given the demonstrated levels of Russian competence, we’d end up with a army of guys with extremely long beards, instead.
is there anybody on the board who can make an armchair-civil-ing. assessment of the bridge?
Bendy rails are bad.
yeah - thats evident … but those are easily swapped out within a day or 2 …
how about the “belly of the beast” … any educated guesses on how structurally sound this thing is?
would you send your MIL over it? … your firstborn?
Is best bridge for glorious leader of Russia! Is perfect bridge! Any person who says nyet will fall out window!
No engineering assessment from me, but if I was Russia I’d be worried about how a sensitive detailed video can be leaked so easily.
The bendy track is likely from the fuel fire, not the explosion. Track is easy to replace.
The heat of the fire may have weakened steel supports, but we can’t tell from the data we have.
The explosion itself could have put cracks in the concrete pilings and such, but again without knowing exactly where the bomb went off we have no idea.
If this were a civil bridge in peacetime, it would be closed until thorough engineering analysis could be done, and questionable components being replaced. But since this is warti…er, Special Operation Time, my guess is that they’ll just fix the tracks and test the bridge by driving trains over it, like they did with the road bed.
Well, the ISW says this:
The explosion will not permanently disrupt critical Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to Crimea, but its aftermath is likely to increase friction in Russian logistics for some time. The road bridge appears at least partially operational, and the railroad bridge did not suffer significant structural damage according to Russian reports that generally seem plausible based on the available video evidence. Russian footage shows people walking on the damaged road bridge and a train moving on the railroad bridge.[7] The Head of occupied Crimea Sergey Aksyonov claimed that the remaining lane of the road bridge opened to cars and buses after a rigorous security check, but that trucks must move by ferry.[8] The collapsed lane of the road bridge will restrict Russian military movements until it is repaired, forcing some Russian forces to rely on the ferry connection for some time. Russian forces will likely still be able to transport heavy military equipment via the railroad. Russian officials will likely intensify security checks on all vehicles crossing the bridge, however, adding delays to the movement of Russian military equipment, personnel, and supplies to Crimea. Putin has already signed a decree strengthening the security protocol on the bridge under the supervision of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).[9]
I was thinking that due to the demonstrated levels of Russian competence, we’d end up with the ZZ backwards. Think about it.
The Russians hit the German embassy in Kyiv.
In the immortal words of Stephen Colbert, “Is potato.”