Russia-Ukraine War

[mr.WHO]

Not really. I don't see how you come to this conclusion. Cost intense (as in manpower intense?) is actual fighting for city blocks (urban warfare). But bypassing points of hard defense in order to be able to go after the focus point of offensive as fast as possible is staple of warfare at least 100 years back in time.Operation Barbarossa (invasion of SSSR by Third Reich) was (in)famous for this.

For each big city you need what?
Like 50km long circle around the city, with enough manpower and equipment to not let defenders break it, when things get desparate.
Then you need to hold it for long enough for defenders to starve or surrender.
That cost a lot, logistic wise.

Historically there were many campaigns, that went broke because the aggressor sieged wrong cities for too long.
In most military strategies, it's preferable to bypass the city, if possible.
Hell, the Art of War advice it for thousands of years already.

If I would be a psychopath, I'd first clean sweep enemy forces in open field and only when remains retreat to cities, go for siege.
Russians haven't brought down Ukrainian army, nor their Airforce, yet they are going for siege already.

This really suggest Russia is under time pressure - that 15 days operational time limit seem more and more plausible (we will be at it on 10.03).
Beyond that Russia will have to canibalize resources and units from other regions - like there are already footages of trains full of Shilkas coming from Syberia region (my first question would be, WTF? There are no working Shilkas anywhere closer? What about Tunguskas? oh wait, there are already a dozen photos of captured or destroyed Tunguskas already in Ukraine, this is really huge WTF).

However, to not be so hyper-optimistic, Ukraine Armed Forces stockpile estimate was for around 15 days as well.
Plus we have like a doze on videos of huge ammo dumb explosions as well.
I think it's on a knife edge and both side are close to breaking point.
Albeit Ukraine has slight advantage with home-advantage and supplies/volunteers/intel from the West.

Next week will be bloody hell.

[Warenwolf]

[
For each big city you need what?
Like 50km long circle around the city, with enough manpower and equipment to not let defenders break it, when things get desparate.
Then you need to hold it for long enough for defenders to starve or surrender.
That cost a lot, logistic wise.

I have been inside (as civilian) and have been part of encirclement (as something else) but obviously you have in depth knowledge of military operations on all levels. Carry on.

[fiksal]

more news from within Russia

In Russia, the first fine was issued under a new law banning public actions to discredit the RF Armed Forces.

A fine of 60 thousand rubles was received by a 49-year-old resident of the Kemerovo region. Yes, according to the investigation, he posted a video with a call to go to anti-war actions.

In relation to him, a protocol was drawn up under Part 2 of Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (the article was introduced into the administrative code only two days ago, on March 4). The maximum punishment for it is 100 thousand rubles, but a resident of the Kemerovo region was fined 60 thousand.

60,000 rubles is $620 USD at the present exchange rate, would've been about $1000 at the old rate
10,000 would've been $1600 USD at the old rate

[burger1]

AMD has joined Intel and Nvidia in stopping sales to Russia and Belarus. Epic Games, Steam and GOG, EA have all stopped Russian sales. Ubisoft?

[Tamina]

I have a question to the people with good military knowledge. It is the first time in my life hearing the term "column" in a military context. It seems to me this term is used by media to describe what I would call a convoy but I am actually not sure. Google tells me, it is a square-like formation consisting of only a couple units. So I was wondering where the "column" terminology was coming from and what it actually means. Is this a Russian specific term?

[Vertigo 7]

It's just a way to describe a line of equipment or troops moving. Multiple battalions or divisions or what have you can comprise a single column or a column can be only a fraction of a division and so forth.

[Alan Phipps]

A column often refers to a formation moving along a route that is constrained in width of advance, such as a single good road in poor terrain, a clear route through forest, or a steep-walled valley bottom, etc. Where multiple parallel such routes exist (or just are ordered for use), a large formation may split into several columns moving in parallel towards a common goal. Effectively a military column comprises units or sub units moving behind such others.

Convoys tend to be logistic or delivery by nature while columns can be advancing/withdrawing fighting assets (eg an armoured column).

[Warenwolf]

I have a question to the people with good military knowledge. It is the first time in my life hearing the term "column" in a military context. It seems to me this term is used by media to describe what I would call a convoy but I am actually not sure. Google tells me, it is a square-like formation consisting of only a couple units. So I was wondering where the "column" terminology was coming from and what it actually means. Is this a Russian specific term?

You have received the good answers already to what you are asking about so I will add just this bit - this is kinda dependent on the language used. In NATO parlance, convoy are ships that are sea going (duh...) and are traveling together from A to B providing mutual protection while column is land based group of vehicles or soldiers traveling in formation that is most efficient for moving along a road or terrain (but historically was used bit differently, depending on the time - in the age of musket it meant something differently).

But again - this is very much language dependent and that is why some of the answers above will differ somewhat without being "wrong".

[Cpt.Jericho]

The German translation for column in the military sense would be "Kolonne".

[notaterran]

NATO countries supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion have a “green light” to send fighter jets as part of their military aid, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.

Link

Hopefully this will help Ukraine turn the tide.

[Tamina]

Thanks guys So I was indeed a bit off

[fiksal]

AMD has joined Intel and Nvidia in stopping sales to Russia and Belarus. Epic Games, Steam and GOG, EA have all stopped Russian sales. Ubisoft?

re Ubisoft

We are devasted and heartbroken by the tragic events taking place in Ukraine. Many Ubisoft team members call Ukraine home, and the thoughts of the entire Ubisoft community are with them, their loved ones and all those affected by this war.

Our top priority is to take care of the safety and wellbeing of our teams and their families. Over the past months, Ubisoft has been closely monitoring the situation, and our primary focus has been the security of our teams. As events escalated in mid-February, Ubisoft recommended all teams take shelter in a place they considered safe. To support them as they made these difficult decisions, each team member was provided additional funds to help cover exceptional costs and paid their salary in advance to account for any potential disruption to banking systems.

Last week, when the unthinkable became a reality, Ubisoft worked to reinforce our support and assistance for our colleagues in Ukraine. We have set up alternative housing in neighboring countries where our colleagues and their families can take shelter if they wish and are able to do so.

To stay closely connected to all our team members, Ubisoft has created dedicated hotlines to provide them personalized support and aid. We have also put in place an emergency communication system to ensure we are able to keep in touch with our colleagues in all circumstances.

We stand by our teams in Ukraine and will continue to adapt and reinforce our support as the situation evolves.

Many people in Ukraine, including children, are in dire need of humanitarian support such as medical supplies, shelter and food. Today, Ubisoft is donating a total of 200,000 euros to the Ukrainian Red Cross and Save the Children to help meet the urgent needs of the Ukrainian population.

To all our Ukrainian community and everyone affected by this war, please take care. We are with you.

another update from the inside.

one of the biggest and maybe last prominent independent news channel has just been closed, a long running one. I think there's nothing maybe left to read in Russia. (Maybe one, but who knows how well they function)

[burger1]

No more Netflix in Russia.

China Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) mighty help to replace swift payment system.

Protests and beatings/interrogations in Russia.

Peace talks might have started for today. Probably will be stupid again.

[mr.WHO]

Russia has moved two of their AWACS to Belarus - it might be that good times for Ukraine airforce and drones are coming to an end.

Edit:
Seem like there will be freezing cold for days to come, which could help Russian advance.
I'm not sure, but it takes a few days to ground to freeze enough for heavy vechicles be able to travel easily. If Spring will not come soon it will get bad for Ukraine.

[clakclak]

Russia has moved two of their AWACS to Belarus - it might be that good times for Ukraine airforce and drones are coming to an end.
[...]

Do not really have a lot of knowledge about military matters, but isn't not having AWACS close to the fighting from the very beginning a massive oversight? I thought those were somewhat essential for a modern air war.

[pjknibbs]

Do not really have a lot of knowledge about military matters, but isn't not having AWACS close to the fighting from the very beginning a massive oversight? I thought those were somewhat essential for a modern air war.

Yeah, it's almost like the leadership in Russia assumed they'd easily steamroll any opposition and that they didn't need to worry about such things...weird, ain't it?

[mr.WHO]

Russia has moved two of their AWACS to Belarus - it might be that good times for Ukraine airforce and drones are coming to an end.
[...]

Do not really have a lot of knowledge about military matters, but isn't not having AWACS close to the fighting from the very beginning a massive oversight? I thought those were somewhat essential for a modern air war.

From what I read, initially Russia had only two of them assigned to the operation and seldomly used them (bad planing? technical issues?).
Now they will have 4, so this might plug the gap in their air coverage.

[Vertigo 7]

AWACS don't have to be too close to the front lines to be effective. The higher their altitude, the further their radar range extends (sorry, flat earthers!). Of course, there's a limit to how far out a target can be to generate a return signal as well as other factors like size, material composition, and reflective angles. They may have a difficult time identifying something as small as a drone if they're not close enough, but they would be able to spot a fighter at the same range.

But there's also the mobile EWAR and electronic surveillance platforms that AWACS provide. I have no idea how advanced Russian AWACS are but the US's are spook central with highly sophisticated jamming and interception capabilities.

[Warenwolf]

Do not really have a lot of knowledge about military matters, but isn't not having AWACS close to the fighting from the very beginning a massive oversight? I thought those were somewhat essential for a modern air war.

As pjknibbs indicated Russian expected this to be over quickly. And, excepting few cases, Russian air force have been missing in action early in the war so probably AEW&C (AWACS) assets had no role assigned to them.

[Gavrushka]

There are reports the Kyiv mayor has just been shot dead (assassinated?) - Are there any corroborating reports? (Source Sky News, breaking.)

And is he who I think he is?

*edit* it is the mayor of Hostomel. - Report just updated.