Looks like Ukraine tried to bait the Russians on Kharkiv (likely Ukraine’s strongest point by manpower) and Russia didn’t fall for it and instead just pulled back to the border and river tonight
Not really. I remember my buddy telling me about the holes they would dig in the snow and sleep in overnight as part of his FDF training. The foxhole / tent story rings true in that context. The Finns are conditioned to embed themselves in the elements. They hear the stories from their grandparents about repelling the Russians with nothing more than rifles (heard these stories and saw photos 1st hand in the late 90s from several Finnish grandparents). Certainly they have gotten a bit soft (joke about it with my Finnish buddies) but it’s amazing what 9 months of universal military training can do. We should have it here for sure!
This was shared earlier ITT but it seems topical given recent posts. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/adventure-red-dawn-lapland/
at this point what’s left of the Russian army vs an ROTC troop and some suburban kids with paintball guns would be even money. i hope Ukraine decimating Russian steel makes Russia look weak to all the world and causes them to be bullied in every possible manner.
Russian rail lines supplying donbas are now exposed so I don’t know how strategic that pull back was. Sounds like it was a necessity.
One of the pods I listen to was saying every Finn has a switch in their head and if you flip it they think the only way to get into heaven is my killing Russians, and the more Russians you kill the better heaven you get
Why? What possible fucking reasons do we have in America to universally train our population for war?
I'm of multiple minds about this, but honestly a universal 6 week course concentrating on keeping your stuff clean, how to shower, basic first aid, and safe operation of a fire arm could do some good. At Air Force basic, we spent two days at "the range" and most of those two days was spent on safety and like two hours on actual shooting. Plus basic is the first time a lot of people live with anyone outside their social, economic, political, or racial classes.
It's not a terrible possibility; 18 year old kid learns how to wear a suit, basic grooming, first aid, sex education/STD safety, gun safety, gets a medical exam, all their vaccines updated, and makes about $3000
Plus America will then have a chance to not get slaughtered if we ever go to war with the super soldier Finns whom are objectively the best hole diggers in the world.
great article. I'm surprised they let them keep in the parts talking shit (truth) about Trump in Outdoor magazine.
All the Baltics, Finns, Poles, Chechnyans, Hungarians (ironically given what they're currently doing), Swedes (older beef but still there), Georgians, Turks?
Well, yeah, but the only way to get things done in this country is to sell fear and get people to think they’re preparing for the next big evil or whatever
Georgia's current government is back to having a pro-Russia lean. Although, that may change depending on when the next set of elections are. Georgia is the easiest country for a Russian to run away too (no visa needed and you can stay for a year at a time). It's being flooded by Russians wanting to avoid military service, scared they may be picked up by the government as they have spoken out against it before, etc.
I did a project with Wartsila (Finnish Reciprocating Engine Company) 8 years ago. Spent 18 months with about 15 Finns. If you called them Russian, they would try to fight you. Lots of hate there
The Georgian housing market is just crazy now. Prices for housing of any type have skyrocketed as Georgia has been flooded with Russians wanting to escape. So if your a pro-Russian politician in Georgia, you are not too eager for any new elections happening right now.
Just in those cropped photos, I'm counting 26-28 vehicles that are total losses. That's well over half a battalion tactical group. Grouping all your vehicles together like that and forcing a crossing without counterbattery set up (or air support) is basically ignoring idk 400 years (well, 100 since airplanes started showing up on battlefields) of basic military tactics.
That looks pretty devastating. I read this pontoon bridge was a point of concern if they were able to cross...they didn't.