JUST IN: UK military intelligence says so many Russian troops are dying by the Ukrainian resistance

[Yorkie Mom]

Link to tweet

JUST IN: UK military intelligence says so many Russian troops are dying by the Ukrainian resistance that it's likely struggling to conduct offensive operations and is seeking replacements...

"Russia is redeploying forces from as far afield as its Eastern Military District, Pacific Fleet and Armenia. It is also increasingly seeking to exploit irregular sources such as Private Military Companies, Syrian and other mercenaries." - UK defense attaché to the US embassy

[Wingus Dingus]

1. Keep bleeding them, Ukraine.

[roamer65]

2. Hopefully Georgia and Azerbaijan open other fronts.

South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh are ripe for the picking.

So are Chechnya and Tartarstan.

[WarGamer]

3. And yet... reporting 20,000 Ukrainian casualties in Mariupol

Hard to believe numbers but that's why they're claiming.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I think those are civilian casualties, not military ones

It's horrible, but it's a different matter.

[dem4decades]

7. Casualties are both dead and wounded correct?

[WarGamer]

9. yes.

[herding cats]

11. These are the civilian casualties?

If that's what you're speaking of it's because Mariupol has been severely decimated since the war on Ukraine began. They're honestly not sure and are guesstimating based on collapsed buildings, food and water supplies and how few vehicles they know escaped.

I read this about it earlier:

Officials in Mariupol struggle to account for the dead.

LVIV, Ukraine — With some residents crushed in the rubble from a relentless two-week onslaught by Russian forces, and others dying in freezing conditions with no heat, food or clean water, officials in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol are struggling to account for the number of dead and missing.

Officially, 2,400 civilians killed in the city have been identified, but Pyotr Andryushchenko, an adviser to the city government, said he believed the toll was far higher.

“We have inaccurate data on civilians killed,” he said in an interview with Current Time, a Ukrainian radio station. He said the official figure represented a “small handful” of those killed and estimated that the actual total could be as high as 20,000.

In a telephone interview with The New York Times later, Mr. Andryushchenko said that 2,000 vehicles had managed to escape the city on Tuesday and that another 2,000 were packed and ready to leave. Officials told civilians hoping to leave to “delete all messengers and photos from phones” in case Russian soldiers tried to search them for signs of support for Ukrainian forces.
A battleground since the first hours of the war, Mariupol is under an increasingly relentless assault that is taking an unspeakable toll. Ukrainian estimates for the number of civilians trapped in the city have ranged from 200,000 to 400,000, with the latest estimate being 300,000.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/world/europe/mariupol-death-toll-ukraine.html

It helps to explain why they're just not sure how many are still alive there.

[WarGamer]

12. It's terrifying. War sucks.

I want it finished up like yesterday.

Even 2400 confirmed is a monster number.

[herding cats]

16. I completely agree.

Mariupol Is one of the most horrifying of tales to come out so far from Ukraine. It's almost impossible to process what they're enduring there.

[Blue_playwright]

36. Isn't that about the 9/11 total?

It just astounds me. I don’t understand this war. I mean o get how it happened but I don’t get it.

[WarGamer]

38. it's crazy... to see THIS kind of destruction in such a short period of time...

Not in the Tet Offensive

Maybe similar to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir?

Or certainly back to WW2.

[maxsolomon]

4. I believe nothing about this war.

There aren't any reliable numbers.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

5. You make a good point,

but I tend to believe this because it's coming from British Military Intelligence, not Ukrainian Military Intelligence.

[maxsolomon]

10. I'm not surprised that Rusher is re-deploying troops from elsewhere

200K isn't enough to pacify a Ukraine that fights back with top-grade Western weapons.

But what are the Russian losses? No one has a clue.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. I agree that nobody knows, probably the Russian High Command doesn't even know,

but western intelligence agencies can make educated guesses, there's also the reports of low morale among the Russian soldiers, captured Russians, Russians that have surrendered, etc.

Bottom line is that the Russian Army isn't having a good time like they thought they would.

[mitch96]

8. "seeking to exploit irregular sources such as Private Military Companies"..Hummm

Blackwater??? Eric Prince loves to make bucket of money selling his "unique skill sets"..
m

[Pinback]

23. Exactly what I was thinking.

And it wouldn’t surprise me a bit. Although I think I remember that they changed their name to one of those fake corporate-y monikers like “Remergent” or “Aquilant,” or maybe something totally benign like “Smilin’ Bob’s Security.”

On edit: Blackwater is now known as “Academi,” and Prince is no longer affiliated with it. More info:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(company)

[halfulglas]

27. I don't trust any company to be completely "no longer be affiliated with it." He's such a snake.

He founded the company and oversaw its operations for so long he might have left some eggs behind in the nest.

[MiniMe]

13. We need to find a different abbreviation for UK

I always have to think twice between Ukraine and United Kingdom

[MarineCombatEngineer]

17. UKR is short for Ukraine, not UK. nt

[MiniMe]

18. Good to know but...

in this post are they talking about UK or UKR?

JUST IN: UK military intelligence says so many Russian troops are dying by the Ukrainian resistance that it's likely struggling to conduct offensive operations and is seeking replacements...

[SickOfTheOnePct]

19. United Kingdom n/t

[MarineCombatEngineer]

20. If you look at the bottom of the article,

it says UK defense attaché to the US embassy, UKR doesn't have any defense attache's in US embassy's.

[mwooldri]

24. I hear you...

United Kingdom often also gets called "Great Britain" (but that leaves out Northern Ireland). Internet domain is .uk. Ukraine's internet domain is .ua

Best to use three letter abbreviations - UKR for Ukraine, GBR for United Kingdom.

[speak easy]

33. What could be the name if Scotland leaves to join the EU?

[mwooldri]

34. For Scotland?

Abbreviations would be SCO or SCOT. Scotland has the present top level Internet domain of .scot

A two letter initial for Scotland would only be decided on when Scotland does become independent. I say "when" because the way things are going I can see an independent Scotland in my lifetime.

[bluestarone]

14. So sad doing all this when

Maybe, disposing ONE man would solve the whole problem!!

[Grokenstein]

21. Let's send 'em Tucker and the Trump boys!

You know, just to help even the odds! /sarcasm

[dchill]

32. Now why didn't I think of that!

[iemanja]

22. Says a guy on Twitter

[L. Coyote]

40. The good news, lots of guys on Twitter to select from. Estimates really vary.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[SergeStorms]

25. How long before....

Erik Prince is involved and we have American mercs killing Ukrainians?

No money to pay Prince and his mercs? Putin has oil, and oil is money - big money right now - and with his connections I'm sure Prince could find buyers without ever having to touch the oil.

Just wondering out loud, sort of.

[Aussie105]

26. In war,

it's considered normal to under report your losses and over estimate those of the enemy.

It matters not, each death, be they a soldier on either side, or a civilian, is a tragic loss.

Russia must have some battle hardened soldiers from previous wars fought across Asia that they can throw at Ukraine, though? Or are they all too old, or dead?

It may be that previous wars have seriously depleted the Russian army in terms of man power and hardware.
Hopefully.

There have been so many.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Russia#

[lastlib]

28. Paging Erik Prince! Take ALL your boys and go to Ukraine...

We need you to fight and die for your country.

(and get the hell out of ours!)

[Gore1FL]

29. I was just about to post a Blackwater comment, and saw you bested me by 3 minutes! nt

[lastlib]

30. (there were some others before me...

...that I didn't see before posting. Oh, well, I like mine... me)

[dchill]

31. Are we sure he's not already there?

[Justice matters.]

35. Syrian fighters and mercenaries get paid in rubles?

Guess they don't know how much they're worth...

Get killed or maimed for life for pennies, anyone?

[lpbk2713]

41. Maybe Putin told them whatever they get from looting is theirs.

How they get it home is probably another matter.

[left-of-center2012]

37. Take claims with a grain of salt

May require more than one grain.

Unclear how real claims are that are being made by either side.

[capechacon]

39. 'Glad the 'Ukes are doing so well, but it's also.....

worth remembering that many (most?) of those dead Russian soldiers would almost surely never have chosen to be in Ukraine and likely wanted nothing more than to live a quiet, enjoyable life in their home country.

The image last week of a slight, captured 18-19 yr old Russian prisoner crying his eyes out as he sat under guard was haunting. A true tragedy on both sides generated by a single autocratic nut case who should rightly be in a dingy jail in remotest Siberia.

[Justice matters.]

42. Should be 12 feet under

To make sure the devil will reach to him faster...

[capechacon]

43. That too!!!

[TeamProg]

44. Gettng paid in Rubles !!