If I remember that map correctly, sometimes Russian forces are depicted as little pigs with helmets.  The strike mentioned was reported to have at least 200 casualties, so bacon was shown to show a mass casualty event.  

Edit, The answer Prime gave seems just as reasonable.

Sadly there is a pay wall.

My father was a Finnish Winter War and Continuation War vet.   At one point some Russians surrendered to his unit.   They just repeatedly said "Tajikistan".  My father always assumed Russia shipped them there and they really had no desire to fight for Russia.

I wouldn't have an issue with abolishing NATO in favor of defense pacts with the UK, the Baltics, Poland, Ukraine, etc. Those countries are actually our friends for the most part, unlike France and Germany. I honestly think that the French and German governments were probably more upset than Putin when Kyiv didn't fall in a matter of days, because that meant they'd actually have to do something. I highly suspect that they hoped Ukraine would get run over in a few days, that way they could slap some token sanctions on Russia and get back to business as usual. Plus, the two of them have a lot of culpability in terms of allowing this to happen. Both of them have let their militaries rot significantly post-cold war (Germany more so), and Germany willingly gave Putin the tools to hold them hostage economically.

How about some pulled Orc sammiches?

ISW assessment for June 14th.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-14-2023



These attacks are getting smaller each day.

Ha

That too.

Attached File

It seems “Russia” is really Moscow with a bunch of serf provinces. Regardless of nominal title, there is a tsar, surrounded by an elite nobility and functionaries. Everyone else is a commodity to be used for the enrichment of this elite class in Moscow. Fighting is done my the provincial peasants.  Any nasty work is fine on the provinces. The economy is based on pillage of one form or another. There is no concept of increasing one’s productivity and therefore wealth. Instead, to increase wealth you find some more provinces to add to your kingdom to be pillaged.

“It’s cold in Moscow, throw another serf on the fire!”

The Bears are graceful and beautiful airframes, but I would still prefer to see a flaming ball of metal plummeting to a watery grave.

Attached File

My Finnish father was 15 when the Winter War started.

Although he was considered too young to fight, he was given the job of transporting Finnish war dead back from the front lines.

Needless to say, that was quite a load to bear for a 15 year old, and his hatred of the Russians was off the chart.

Wish he would have lived long enough to see this evil, pernicious country reduced to third world status.

It seems strikingly similar to Panem in the hunger games books. A centralized capital (Moscow) and a well to do district (st. Petersburg) and all of the surrounding districts exists purely to fuel a decent lifestyle for those 2 place. No one else gets much food and electricity and people are regularly sent to die an the off chance they can make a few bucks.

Is Sweden's membership in NATO a military defense issue or a completely unrelated political issue?

Fuck Putin and his generals.
Fuck Biden, the senators, and the congressmen who have slow rolled lethal support to Ukraine.
Fuck the worthless

Godspeed to the good people of Ukraine and may God protect and guide them to victory over the evil that has attacked them.

Russian tanker captain says: Hold my beerski!

Two oil tankers have collided in the Irkutsk region in Russia's thanks to a captain operating under the influence of alcohol, causing oil spillage into a local river. https://t.co/WyiElB3xN1

OilPrice.com  (@OilandEnergy) June 13, 2023

Oil accidents are pretty common in Russia, but the Norilsk oil spill is considered the worst of its kind in the country

With video hilarity

Sorry to barge in!-NOT the words you are hearing in the clip as two \uD83C\uDDF7\uD83C\uDDFA oil tankers collide on Lena River outside of Irkutsk.  No, what you hear is bit closer to "that motherfucking tanker is gonna hit us!".  Source says one of the boats was badly damaged??https://t.co/Hzv4CpFmy9 pic.twitter.com/gscu3wlwTr

Ukrainian Ministry of Accidental Russian Fires  (@EPICGOPFAIL) June 12, 2023

I think Biden was right there with them...

I assume the former, there have been a handful of videos of guys rubbing fat on bullets.


LOL, I like AT’s answer better
They do use pigs a lot on maps. In that case, it could have a dual meaning, but “fried pig” meaning seems more likely.

It's an orban is a dick issue.

That does sound the same!

Pretty much sums it up

Worthy synopsis. Should be repeated weekly.

It would be hard to tell we are the world’s lone superpower by the relatively paltry sends we’ve done compared to our ability and surplus.

Who's making these?? Lol

10/10 geopolitical rant.  Extra credit for rational strategery

New Michael Kofman appearance on War on the Rocks. Going to copy and paste the synopsis from elsewhere.

Notes:

. "It's far too early for any kind of assessment."

. Fighting resembles Kherson rather than Kharkiv, as expected.

. The counteroffensive will play out over the next weeks or two months. Typical campaigns play out over two to three months and cycle between attritional and maneuver phases.

. Early gains so far are not insignificant, though still short of Russia's defensive lines.

. Ukraine has yet to deploy the bulk of their forces, likely awaiting lucrative opportunities to exploit.

. Plenty of visual evidence of Ukrainian losses.

. Excessively optimistic expectations have been falsified.

. Zapo is defended by a "reasonable density of Russian forces". Ukraine is up against 58th army ("not been particularly exhausted"), 7th guard air assault division as the main reserve force, and the remnants of the naval infantry.

. Western-trained and -equipped brigades have since appeared. Based on limited evidence, main advantage of western equipment is enhanced survivability. Despite equipment losses, casualties are relatively lower.

. Nonetheless, western equipment is still vulnerable to Russian measures. Scarce breaching equipment is first to be lost.

. Many of the newly trained brigades are still green. Ukraine is trying to attach experienced units to them and employ veteran brigades on the offensive.

. However, impressions are based on the few brigades that have appeared while many are still held in reserve.

. Images on social media should be treated with caution, as the same tactical events and losses are repeatedly amplified for effect.

. Ukraine was provided with a large amount of artillery for this offensive, likely giving them an advantage over Russian artillery in the south.

. Ukraine likely no longer suffering from shell hunger as it had been earlier.

. Results so far have been mixed. Further results will depend on how well Ukraine can exploit a breakthrough and whether Russian forces can counteract a breakthrough.

. Ukraine still has a shortage of short-range air defense, vulnerable to rotary aircraft.

. Minefields are a significant obstacle. Russia is also laying down more mines with rockets.

. Bakhmut is still a grinding fight. Ukraine is making incremental gains, but at a price.

. Some activity around Kreminna. "I wouldn't be surprised if we see something emerge in Luhansk", possibly a limited attack.

. Two Weeks at the Front in Ukraine in The New Yorker is a "great article", sobering and realistic, matches his own experience in Ukraine.

. Romantic impressions of the war are distortionary.

. What the Ukrainian Armed Forces Need to Do to Win is a "great read", independently corroborates his own impressions.

. The Ukrainian military is still evolving from its Soviet roots to western-style practices. Impressions that it is largely the latter are premature.

. You should be careful about assessing the counteroffensive so far when you don't even know what Ukraine's internal expectations are.

. "I'm going to leave my own assessment criteria a little in the dark".

. "Commentators in the West have grossly overhyped expectations", which is unhelpful.

. While western equipment has many advantages at the tactical level, the main thing that matters is force employment and aggregate numbers, not "game-changers".