Ursula von Der Leyen’s did the unthinkable today — she told the truth. During a speech condemning Russia for committing war crimes, she noted in passing that 100,000 Ukrainian “officers” (sic) have been killed since the start of the SMO.
Ukraine was not happy:
Ukraine has hit back at a claim by the European Commission’s president that 100,000 of Kyiv’s troops have been killed since Russia’s invasion in February
Ursula von der Leyen used the number in a video address, prompting Kyiv’s armed forces to state that the death toll was “classified information.” Footage of her speech has since been edited to cut the reference.
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-russia-von-der-leyen-death-toll-1763553
The European Union stupidly tried to walk this back by erasing von der Leyen’s claim from the internet. That “walk back” failed. Which raises the question — who is a better Moon Walker? Von der Leyen or Michael Jackson?
I know. Michael Jackson of course. I do not believe that von der Leyen misspoke nor did she fabricate the number. If it really was an error of fact all she had to do was issue a statement to that effect, e.g., “Mea culpa, I meant to say 10,000 not 100,000”. She did not do that. She pretended she never said what she said.
If the 100,000 dead number is true, then that means Ukraine’s total casualties — i.e., killed and wounded — is approximately 400,000. In other words, Ukraine has suffered almost 40% casualties since the start of the fighting. During the 20th Century, this type of modern warfare normally saw 3 wounded soldiers for every man killed. Using that ratio we get the 400,000 number for total casualties.
When the war kicked off in February, Ukraine’s total manpower for ground forces was 1,125,000:
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Ukraine has 196,600 active military personnel.
This breaks down into 125,600 ground troops, 35,000 airmen and 15,000 naval troops.
It can also count on 900,000 reservists although, as recent images of civilians holding wooden rifles suggest, not all of these forces are necessarily well equipped.
https://ukrainewar.info/russian-ukrainian-war-how-big-is-the-ukrainian-army-size-of-the-armed-forces-compared-to-russia-uk-usa-and-nato/
Ukraine’s state of emergency is still in effect and the reservists have been called to duty. In fact, Ukraine has gone beyond its normal reserve force strength and has been compelled by necessity to dragoon middle aged men into service. These are the “territorial defense” forces.
Is the 100,000 number of fatalities credible? Yes. If you consider that 275 days have come and gone since the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation on 24 February 2022, there must be an average of 364 KIA to reach the 100,000 dead figure. If you have followed the daily Russian MOD briefings, you would realize this is an accurate number. Here is today’s report, which reports approximately 190 KIA:
In Donetsk direction, as a result of offensive actions by Russian troops, near Belogorovka and Pershe Travnya . . . up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, 4 armoured fighting vehicles, 3 self-propelled artillery units and 6 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
In Kupyansk direction . . . Firepower’s operation has resulted in halting and driving the enemy back to initial positions. Up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, 10 tanks, 1 infantry fighting vehicle, 2 armoured personnel carriers, 1 self-propelled artillery unit and 1 motor vehicle have been eliminated.
In Krasniy Liman direction, three AFU company tactical groups, reinforced with tanks, unsuccessfully tried to attack Russian positions towards Ploshchanka, Chervonopopovka and Zhytlovka (Lugansk People’s Republic). . . As a result of the shelling, the enemy’s losses in this direction amounted to over 40 Ukrainian servicemen, 1 tank, 4 infantry fighting vehicles and 1 munition vehicle.
In South Donetsk direction, three AFU company tactical groups attempted to counterattack Russian positions near Novomikhaylovka, Novodonetskoye and Novosyolka (Donetsk People’s Republic). The counter-attacks have been repelled as a result of gunfire and active actions by Russian units. . . More than 50 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 armoured personnel carriers, 1 MT-LB, 1 armoured motor vehicle and 4 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
As I have discussed previously, Russia’s current military leadership is not following the tactics Soviet generals employed in WW II (i.e., mass troop assaults). Russia primarily has relied on massive artillery and rocket/missile strikes before launching a ground offensive. The Russian rate of artillery fire is unlike anything we’ve seen in history. More importantly, the accuracy of the artillery is enhanced by the use of drones and satellites to adjust fires, with updated coordinates relayed in real time to the artillery units.
Another factor contributing to Ukraine’s horrendous casualties is its lack of air power and effective air defense systems to counter Russian batteries. If Ukrainian troops try to attack a Russian fixed position, their movement by foot or vehicle is unprotected and vulnerable to Russian artillery or combat air.
It appears that some Western analysts who previously pooh-poohed the Russian tactics, are finally beginning to realize that Russia is serious about de-militarizing Ukraine via methodical, grinding tactics. There will come a point when Ukraine runs out of men and cannot field a combat effective force. It appears that day is approaching.
The number of casualties suffered by Ukranian forces is not a surprise. Few in the West can conceptualize this as it goes against all claims in the Western-fake-media. The media in the West is more trusted than Holy Scripture.
Russian MOD does not include any stats from the Contractors, like the Wagner Group. Therefore 100k figure seems right.
No it doesn’t, not at all.
The media in the West is more trusted than Holy Scripture. — A. Perovich
Virtually every American watches the One-Eyed-God — television — for hours every day. Plenty of time for programming…
With today’s media you can almost write yourself a part in the holy scriptures.
Passive consumption of social media allows for self directed programming mostly through confirmation bias.
Add to that AI directed deep flakes that can pass the Turing test and one can see a whole new arena for Psyops. This might be a case in point.
“As the variety and scale of these so called “deepfakes” expands, they will likely be able to simulate human behavior so effectively and they will operate in such a dynamic manner that they will increasingly pass Turing’s test”.
https://fsi.stanford.edu/publication/preparing-age-deepfakes-and-disinformation
Always consider the source and the intention.
“Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see.”
Benjamin Franklin
True, social media and confirmation bias is a powerful combination. TV, talk radio, and social media — father, son and holy ghost…
Biden was recently overheard lamenting the lack of editors. And, most conspicuously, a lack of editors is exactly the problem with social media. Social media is a one-to-one, and one-to-many, direct message exchange, no editors required.
Which is why Jack Dorsey’s Twitter 1.0 maintained a large, and to the naked eye, completely unnecessary, workforce — to supervise, edit, and censor one-to-many messages, thereby influencing public opinion and manufacturing the appearance of political consent.
Editors in the legacy media serve the same purpose as Twitter censors — both are narrative gatekeepers. Don’t kid yourself, there were no Norman Rockwell good old days except that we, ourselves, were young and inexperienced, seeing the world through fresh eyes.
Criminal, corrupt and greedy — the dark side of human nature is always with us. Every day, in every age from antiquity til now, the shadow play between that dark and the better angels of our nature defines our future.
This is one aspect of how a small, well-organized minority can politically dominate an unorganized majority. The obvious solution? Get organized. But how? What is the lesson of the Tea Party?
Well said.
I’m an American who never watches television. Well, I do watch DVDs.
Well, that makes two of us. I reckon that’s a pretty good start.
I, an American, trust the Media….to lie. Also to be simply incompetent as to not understand what’s going on. An error to the second power as in math. First they do not understand, then they lie about whatever they are pretending to cover.
Unfortunately, American liars are much more sophisticated than Soviet Russian liars. You can’t just read between the lines, or take the opposite of what the media is saying as truth. Its more complicated than that.
As a result, I don’t know what’s happening. I am pretty sure Russia exists however.
Same here. Haven’t watched for 30+ years and don’t miss it one bit.
Wrong!
Prove it…
Your correct!
The Western media is more like a cult pulling in the masses like a super magnet.
Ursulla is obviously misinformed. Firstly, she said 100,000 officers and as we previously know, AFU officers only lead the grunts to the trenches and then skedaddle back behind the front lines, so if 100,000 officers have been eliminated, then 10,000,000 grunts have definitely preceded them.
I think Ursula has fallen victim to the Zelensky habitual lying syndrome. Its virulence is only surpassed by the bubonic plague of the 1300’s.
The fight to the last Ukrainian continues.
do not forget ..polacks….will do same
“We’ve been preparing Polacks and Ukrops as cannon fodder for decades.”
The Pentagon and EU have been preparing for 8 years for exactly that, yesterdays war. ( or last century)
Mohammad Ali danced like a butterfly and stung like a bee, however for a rumble in the jungle he leaned back on the ropes and let his challenger punch his own arms to jello against his rock solid midriff.
Ali spent 3 months having a heavy medicine ball dropped on his guts……Russian 8 years!
This winter Russia will be skating on thick, solid ice. Then giving a master class demonstration of skatings “Forward outside and inside 3 turns.”
However…..Americas 4th turning is going to be the real doozy.
You vote for what you want , then when you get it, you blame Putin. Go figure!
“You vote for what you want” …
Says who? I seldom get a candidate in an election that I wish to vote for. The lesser of two evils is still evil.
Where I come from they just promise and promise. Moar welfare etc. anything you want.
They get elected and start telling different lies then nothing gets done but the welfare remains. No one cares about the lies.
Example in the USA, “ America First.” The entire democratic process is destroyed. Nothing is permitted too be done. It’s a Police state! Every government department is armed to the teeth. Locked and loaded with thousands of ex hero’s from wars they didn’t win.
BUT for some reason at one school shooting : no police responded , stood around as little children are shot dead. Who said?
If I have that wrong , Putin did it ! Everything else included, except if it’s the dead economy then it’s the sneaky Chinese fault.
Lot of Americans are too dumb to vote anyway, millions more know it’s been rigged for decades and pointless participating. That is how the American Aristocracy made it happen.
Putin bad? But the Russian elections are not rigged, year after year people vote and accept the results. ( CIA payroll crowd not included)
2024 will not happen, it’s baked into the party plan. Interesting to find out if they succeed : Nazi Ukraine today Nazi America tomorrow.
Bug food apps, electronic chips inside your head, annul sex in the streets and little children’s classrooms. Satan wins and the “end times,” for the USA and the creepy West.
Who says? Raise your right hand up to your face and look at the screen, it’s all there to see evolving day by day.
Ukraine Army 50% dead, Larry 100% correct. That’s why l read his blog.
I said.
The lesser of two evils is still evil. — Jean-David Beyer
Could not have said it better myself…
And Democrat or Republican, lesser evils are often the only choice on the ballot. Who owns my vote. Why can we not reject all candidates running for an office if we consider them evil?
We have every reason to believe that the number cited by Vandercrazy is accurate. The only real question is why she let this cat out of the bag. She’s neocon – level crazy but not stupid like Truss, for example. What exactly was she up to, then?
“not stupid like Truss” – This is a remarkable claim, do you have any evidence?
Why did she let this cat out of the bag? Maybe stupid is as stupid does.
What exactly was she up to? A politician shooting off at the mouth only to realise afterwards that it didn’t go down well with a vociferous minority. All the tact and diplomacy one expects of someone like, say, BoJo or Truss?
And in typical 21st century doublethink, they cut the offending words from the video and transcript, heads in the sand (or somewhere darker) to pretend it never happened. Move along folks, nothing to see here…
As a failed ex-defence minister, Fondoff Lying was a perfect candidate with all the competence needed to implement Victoria Nuland’s policy for the EU. Between the covid catastrophe and sanctions success, she’s going to leave Europe a legacy long remembered.
There is a concept of E. A: Poe, called THE IMP OF PERVERSITY. It is most likely the answer to your question. Look it up. It is not a Freudian slip…
She is simply stupid and utterly incompetent. Period. Don’t give those sociopaths in EU any credit. She was also MOD in Germany, where she destroyed what was left of the force anyway. People like her should never get any power, they are not fit to rule or lead.
EU is doomed. They want to install tribunals to punish Russia for standing up and defending Russian speaking people in the eastern parts of Ukraine. This seems to me as a red line. This will not end well. Enough is enough.
Russia has apparently become anti-fragile once again… This war in Ukraine instead of weakening Russia is making it stronger by giving hundreds of thousands of its soldiers High intensity combat experience… Only ifficers proven in battle will now advance up through the eanks and officers who prove not up to needs of war can pursue other endeavors..
Russian artillery men and attached foreword observing elements may now arguably be the best in the World.
She was just reading the script. The writers were probably trying to shock the public by telling in numbers how bloodthirsty Russians are.
Stories she probably heard on her grandpa’s nazi knee no doubt.
Then the Pope chimed in with “It’s all them buddhist heathens”. 😉
Western civilization has its ups and downs but, man….stop digging such deep holes or we’ll never be on the up and up again.
I don’t believe for a minute this was a “flub” or that she “misspoke.” Speeches by people at her level are carefully scrubbed by staffers to ensure nothing untoward is said, especially about a such a sensitive subject as Ukrainian casualties. No, under the tightly scripted Western narrative control over statements released about the war in Ukraine, this was a planned “leak.”
My guess is that the EU recognizes its European members are staring down a coming Russian offensive, a European recession, de-industrialization, and a flood of millions of Ukrainian refugees this winter, all the while the US is making a killing off Europe’s misery. So, “inadvertently” make a statement about how Ukraine is suffering in the hope that perhaps the European public might start to demand a negotiated end to their self-made nightmare.
Believe me, she is as stupid as Truss.
I am European and I know well, she was retarded as a Defence Ministry of Germany and she is retarded now.
Baerbock is also short as a monkey with half a brain.
The only EU official who was kind of brilliant in the past is Borrell, but now he is more deteriorated mentally than Biden.
EU politicians are by far the most stupid in this planet
JG,
I think she told the truth hoping to elicit sympathy from the masses for sending yet more money and weapons to the Ukrops. When that backfired, well, here we are.
Mr. Johnson- am wondering if this 100,000 kia only includes the ukrainian soldiers or also includes the total number of foreign fighters kia also in the grand total.
If the 100k number is only ukrainians- then you could perhaps add an off the cuff figure of 20k foreign fighters killed also which would make this total even higher.
Mr Johnson ; i just saw this. if what this soldier said is true; then my blood is truly boiling and justice on a massive scale needs to be served. there is a saying that when the blood of the innocent is not avenged; it becomes a curse upon the land and we are definitely at that point in my opinion. Ursula the vampire talking about russian war crimes is truly an incredible hypocrite with the below, bio labs, ukraine child sex traffiking etc being done by the homicidal regime she supports.
Soldier Devastated After Liberating Child Organ Harvesting Factory in Ukraine
https://www.bitchute.com/video/DxrXS7HodyUg/
https://www.bitchute.com/embed/DxrXS7HodyUg/
regards,
ralph
Number of dead foreigners is closer to 2K than 20K. Most of them are Polish, and some estimates say that they have about 1200 dead.
The Russian MOD reports leave 2 questions unclear.
Words like “eliminated” and Ukrainian “losses” are generally interpreted (by me too) as meaning dead. But it could be dead or seriously wounded (ie not coming back to the battle field). I’m guessing at ratios here, but perhaps 1 dead to 1 seriously wounded to 2 partly wounded and returning would imply only half the MOD numbers.
I like reading the MOD numbers – at the least it is clear that Ukraine is attacking in much smaller waves in the last few weeks.
On the other hand the MOD statements also report large numbers of hits on artillery and other targets.
So:
“Operational-Tactical and Army Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery have neutralised 97 AFU artillery units in firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 157 areas.
A large warehouse of missile and artillery weapons of the AFU Khortitsa group of troops, where HIMARS, MLRS, Uragan and barrage munition have been stored, has been destroyed near Dnepropetrovsk.”
implies more deaths, just that the MOD is unable to count them. I guess they can report deaths counted by their eyes in the sky – the drones. But they can’t count deaths where local spies have sent them target co-ordinates such as the warehouse even if the spies send in follow up reports.
Still I reckon 100k is on the low side.
But 3x for wounded is a high ratio.
Ukraine has a low respect for its soldiers – they don’t even collect their dead.
Lives are saved by prompt action, surgery and blood – I doubt Ukrainians are getting this.
It is easy to call up 1 million unskilled soldiers. It is not easy to call up 1000 skilled surgeons.
The US Medical corps has 4400 active duty physicians*, 1% of the army and their soldiers rarely fight.
Their soldiers are poorly prepared, with little experience and so little training that I doubt they really know how to treat a severely bleeding wound. And anyone travelling in open territory is an open target.
* That is more US doctors the US generals!!!!
It’s some translation problem. In Russian, MOD uses the word “уничтожены”, which means “destroyed”. Just because in English this term is not being used for people, it’s being translated as “eliminated”.
For internal battlefield communication, 200 = dead, 300 = seriously wounded. No room for misinterpretation.
Although no one can accuse Eurocrats of possessing even moderate intelligence, one would expect the President of the EU, a former Defense Minister of Germany to boot, to know that setting a Tribunal under the UN requires the approval of the UNSC of which Russia is a veto-wielding Permanent Member.
How do they plan to persuade the Russians to commit judicial harakiri, or is this another example of EU officials shooting their mouths of before they engage their brains?
Pure incompetence and propaganda. Same as all those remarks about that Ukraine is winning and that this is the only way for peace. All they do is pure PR BS, because they cannot change what is going on on the ground. I say, just send in Nato and be done with. Russia will annihilate Nato and real peace will follow. But Nato is too chicken to do that. What are they waiting for? They have all those shiny planes and tanks, they are always so eager to destroy other countries?
EU/Nato are only BS, but no real action. So far they lost everything. Proclaiming stealing Russian assets and setting up fake tribunals is their desperate way to make some headlines like they are in charge, which they aren’t and never were.
I forgot to say that it is enough to look at the shareholding structures of the interests of the aristocratic family of the President of the Executive Body of the EU to understand which interests Ursula defends. After 10 years of doctrine at Stanford to transfer European Industry to the US there is no better! The first minister of the EU… The great move of the globalists in Europe was the placement of senior staff in key places! Like Macron who is also the closest thing to De Gaulle! It is no coincidence that Russia is the only country in Europe that defends a new European security architecture. With a European Defense Alliance for Europeans. Including as the ultimate goal of the conflict in Ukraine! Which today already certainly requires the implosion of NATO and the EU!
Why does Brussels always dance to the tune of Washington?
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/11/13/how-the-cia-created-the-eu/
It’s total despair! They can only say shit now! It’s like Russia’s missiles have been running out since March. Or a much bigger infamy of the Russophobic campaign in 2019, blaming Russia for WWII?! Only from the head of a nazi like Ursula. Notice how, in terms of the rest of the world, nothing has so much impacted various decisions towards accelerating the de-dollarization of the global economy as the theft of Russian reserves and Ursula is talking about Russian reserves again?! She must have forgotten what she heard in India when she went to ask Modi not to support the Russian economy and stop trade. It was even Modi who insisted that Russia carry out all exchanges in rubles and rupees. Or Biden with the Saudis. They know that the conflict is lost, they know that since all the economic sanctions and the theft of Russian reserves they have nothing to hit Russia hard and they don’t even think that if Russia left the reserves in the West it was for a reason. A big Russian trap that completely destroyed all the credibility of the global financial system based on the dollar and US rules. Like cheese for mice. And in the EU some very fat don’t even realize they are being hunted by the US!
The word for right for Brussels bureaucrats is really stupidity! And as a European I can say that it’s not new. Without great leaders it’s like in Nations… Ursula was probably the worst Minister of Defense in Germany. She became incompatible with all branches of the armed forces and was promoted to Brussels…. As head of the EC. My idea is that she’s a Nazi aristocrat and a perfect lobbyist for interests that often conflict with the institution she serves. A perfect trojan horse that did not appear by chance at this stage of the CE. The US has finally managed to infiltrate a Mata Hari on them! Just don’t dance. Before her, Barroso in the EC also became persona non grata in the EC. At the height of the crash. Today he’s the “Minister of Foreign Affairs” at Goldman Sachs. Most likely one of the best jobs in the world! Most of the times conflicting with EU interests! Where it should have come from in a tar barrel with feathers! Like Ursula!
She had nowhere else to go because the CDU did not want her running the party – https://twitter.com/MartinSchulz/status/1146075889916096513. The Peter Principle in action.
She was going home to ride a horse or under the bridge, which is where everyone who loses their job goes! But Ursula only went to the highest political office in Europe! Which shows well the power of those who appointed her as EC President! The executive bureau of the EU! I’m fed up with the EU and the EURO without fiscal and banking union . And since there is no way for going out of the EURO, the EU is either refounded or it could end! See how all of Europe is turning right with this war. Even Sweden?!
And Sholz is another piece of shit! Castrated at a White House press conference by an old man with Alzheimer’s. The highest political moment of this war. Straight into the political history books! In fact, in Germany today you can only listen to two political parties. Die Link that basically says what the SPD said in the 70’s and the AfD. Which is also very frequented poorly with a neo-nazi wing! Politics is completely turned upside down! With the greens that have their genesis in the pacifist movements where the only weed that was talked about was the weed to smoke, today crying for war?! And with one of the bloodiest wars we have ever seen due to modern weapons there is not a single pacifist movement today against the war in Ukraine in Europe and the US!!! We are given over to the animals of interests like the WEF. That no one elects.
i am old enough to remember the Viet Nam daily body count game.everyday the american media would report the Viet Cong casualties.In the end it was all irrelevant.Have we all become ghouls?There is far more to this war than corpses,far more.
Except you forget one of the three initial objectives of the SMO, demilitarization of Ukraine. When a nation no longer has soldiers it is effectively “demilitarized.” One way to know if Ukraine still has soldiers is to count its casualties and then subtract them from estimates of enrolled combatants.
Hi all, May I recommand your attention on this fantastic article (very, very long) but with a fantastic collections of little knowed data?
Fantastic work, only official data and a personnal opinion as conclusion, very pessimistic for the World(mainly Europe).
https://www.leftbrainwave.com/2022/11/the-coming-european-economic-apocalypse.html#TOC1a
This is amazing. Many thanks.
Hmmmm they should have a look at the figures they have used eg debt to GDP ratio. They look incorrect for some countries. Overall I would agree with most of it however
That was quite the article. Thank you!
Some people have been citing this figure for quite a while. Col. MacGregor is one of them. It’s not a secret. What’s with all the fuss?
Because Ukraine is winning …
They either have to let the number stand there, but then they have to up the number for Russian losses to 1’000’000 … because you know … Ukies are winning.
But they can’t do that, so their number has to go down again. They can lie and cheat as long as they like to … but what happens on the ground (reality) is something they can’t change. At some point they will have to face this reality. Lying won’t change anything happening on the ground.
So while EU/Ukies are having a good time lying about whats really happening on the ground, Russia is moving forward with their goals and grinding Ukie/Nato military into fertilizer. The bigger the lie on EU/Ukies side the bigger their agony about what’s what. This already tells us a lot.
“It appears that some Western analysts who previously pooh-poohed the Russian tactics, are finally beginning to realize that Russia is serious about de-militarizing Ukraine via methodical, grinding tactics. There will come a point when Ukraine runs out of men and cannot field a combat effective force. It appears that day is approaching.”
They have always realised it, at least the competent amongst them. It has been obvious from the first day that Russia will collapse the Ukrainian state in its entirety and will go to war with anyone that interferes with that objective within the present borders. Why is this so difficult to believe with so recent an example in Caucasian Georgia as proof? Russia is the dominant military in the region. There is no one with sufficient power to challenge it on its border. It will impose its will, the west will grumble and threaten, and today’s young will come of age with a Russian-Polish border. Again, why is this so difficult to believe when there the Soviet example in eastern Germany is still part of the historical memory?
It is hilarious to see both of Ursula von der Leyen’s admission videos side by side. Took a page from the old school communist propaganda organ Pravda on that one. But perhaps, we are being too harsh as she sort of decided to tell the truth for once. Since she has maybe turned over a new leaf perhaps she will release the private txt messages between her and the CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla during the negotiations for the “Vaccine”. A lot of people are curious.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-JsxaQD1zGs
They obviously know “communist propaganda organs” insufficiently, or from the narratives of the West.
We did not even begin to lie in the way we are experiencing today…
Moreover, what we said about the West eventually turned out to be the bitter truth …
My apologies to Pravda. Of course there was more pravda in Soviet era newspaper Pravda than today’s Western TV news!
USA is the best in everything, and one should expect it to outsoviet the Soviets.
The number of dead Ukrainians is of no more interest to the US/EU/NATO than the number of dead Iraqis, Afghanis, Libyans, Syrians, etc. These are “collateral” at best. At worst just an industrial byproduct of the MIC.
You are right, nobody in NATO or the Zelensky regime really care about the mass deaths of Ukrainians (Armed forces or otherwise). You know what is really important…….?
Zelensky Offers Ukraine As 2030 World’s Fair Host Despite Ongoing War
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nzbtnBZFIjc
This Zelensky guy is such a forward thinker he is already planning the trillion dollar contracts for the world fair in Odessa 2030. Probably already wants an advance as well. Kind of reminds me of addicts I’ve known over the years.
You are right. They removed the number because it’s bad for the morale of those that are next in line for the slaugter.
Gee, which is worse: Acknowledging 100k Ukies have snuffed it in an ill-conceived war with Russia that is already leading to the de-industrialisation of the EU as collateral damage to ill conceived EU sanctions, or acknowledging that the vaxxes she ushered into emergency use in the EU have killed more than 50k EU citizens in addition to the tens of thousands that current ill-conceived EU eco policies and sanctions will kill in the coming year.
If there are going to be tribunals in Den Haag, maybe they should be conducted by the Russians on behalf of the EU and Ukie citizenry.
Either the Ukranians forces are strung out in a line or massed (how else to break through a defensive line). If strung out, they are getting and will get piecemealed. There are videos that show how this is done in an’integrated’ fashion. Instructional, but absolutely horrific. Drone footage documents the count.
The number itself in the midst of the fog of war and the many false numbers that one hears is nothing new in the face of what was always possible to check with some reality. and I even suspect that it does not tell the whole truth about the numbers of KIAs. But roughly what it means is what we all already knew, Ukraine is already demilitarized. Ukraine per se no longer poses any threat to Russia. Ukraine’s army never had more than 300/ 400 000 trained men. And it is already a considerable number for Ukraine. Then talking about reservists and signalmen just for cannon fodder. How even most of what Ursula talks about died. Those who ensure the military operation in Ukraine have been foreign troops for a long time. And besides Poland, Romania and the Baltics, many more US contractors than you think.
But as I already said in the summer The former deputy head of the US European Command (EUCOM), Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Twitty, said in early June in an interview with Linke Zeitung that “ 200,000 fighters have mysteriously disappeared from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and no one will say where they are today.” “I think the war in Donbass is developing in favor of the Russians. They don’t put the whole fighting force there with infantry and tanks. They gathered their artillery and that is the reason for their success. Russia has much more fighting power than the Ukrainians. And there is no way for the Ukrainians to destroy or defeat the Russians. And I’ll say more: Ukrainians will never have enough combat power to drive Russians out of Ukraine.” completely Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Twitty!
And at the end of October independent open intelligence data, specialists from OSINT (open source intelligence) on the rise in this conflict studied data from funeral homes, extracted from morgues, analyzed information from the exchange of radio, cellular and satellite forces of The Armed Forces of Ukraine, assessed the size of Ukraine’s real losses and amounted to 402 thousand people. Of these, 387,000 were killed. and among mercenaries and volunteers from Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries: 54,000 – of which 31,240 died.
And the Committee of Mothers of Soldiers of Ukraine has filed over 320,000 appeals “on the fate of missing soldiers”; but the SBU banned all these appeals!
So about the number of casualties in Ukraine, KIAs, MIAs and WIAs we are more than clear. An authentic carnage at the hands of Russian artillery. Since little infantry has been seen and hence also a much lower number of Russian casualties. The last number of the Russian MOD I believe was 5 000/6 000 KIAS and approximately double the militias of the two Republics of Donbass. It remains to know the future of Ukraine until the end of the year. Negotiations or no future! The end. And then ask MSM what happened to Ukraine’s victory in the meantime.
As of 29 Nov, RuMoD briefings claim totals of:
81,748 Ukr troops eliminated, mostly in combat actions at the front, relatively few claimed in deep strikes.
In addition, at least:
4,150 command posts,
7,097 strongpoints
1,639 ammunition/POL/logistics targets,
62,712 artillery/MLRS targets,
59,068 concentrations of manpower, weapons and equipment
Total 216,414 targets behind the front lines for most of which there has never been any estimate of Ukr casualties.
I wrote about the Russian estimates several days ago. Considering the level of detail, the qualifications of the estimate for each action, “more than”, “at least” or “up to”, and allowing for not all action being reported, 80,000 appears to be a reasonable estimate for combat KIA.
If, in addition, we assume an average of only 1 KIA for every 5 deep strikes, that would be another 43,000 bringing the total KIA to 123,000.
I suspect the average KIA per strike is higher than 0.2.
Interestingly, Russia claims 8,830 Ukr “eliminated” during November.
Ukraine claimed 17,060 Russia KIA in the same period.
Yes I agree, >0.2 and probably 1 for most strikes.
On top of that there have been some deep strikes where people were the military target so it could be much higher.
An average of 1 KIA per deep strike would bring the total Ukr KIA to about 300,000 which is in the ballpark of the high range of estimates. Could be, wait and see.
the 87,000 claimed to date includes several thousand KIA in strikes at mercenary/foreign volunteer assembly areas and other identified concentrations.
And it is also necessary to emphasize that in an artillery war many more wounded die than in a traditional infantry conflict. The holes are bigger and only one projectile can kill more than a dozen men. Allied to the news that was read throughout the conflict, Russian troops managed to remove more Ukrainian wounded from the battlefield than the Ukrainian forces themselves… And it would not always have been disagreements or ill will. Few ambulances and transport in general. As well as a lack of hospitals at the peak of deaths! Associated with many poorly trained and poorly equipped people from Sverodontesk, we have arrived at yet another warlike human catastrophe in the 21st century. In the easiest war to avoid ever as it was also repeated many times by various protagonists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meIoJAslcm0
Yep, it’s all about fast medical aid and evacuation. You can not evacuate wounded with helicopters if you lack helicopters, and your enemy does not lack AA missiles.
While I watched von der Lugen’s performance, to quote an old song, “my hands were clenched in fists of rage…”
How dare these fuckers (and that includes the fuckers in my own government) continue to pour gasoline on the fire by supporting & promoting war. Per a recent posting, they have absolutely no skin in the game. If their own children were sent to the front line you can be sure there’d be an immediate cease-fire.
It disgusts me to my core.
The behavior of the EU is truly disgusting. After having done nothing to prevent yet another war in Europe. In Ursula’s case, it can only be in honor of her grandfather! As a European I am still much more disgusted than the US who provoked the conflict! I would like to understand what harm Russia did to Europe for the Russophobia campaign launched from 2014. When Vitoria Nuland told the EU to fuck off!
Russia did no harm to them. Everyone just have to take a look at the US military doctrine to know what is going on. This also goes for the USD as the reserve currency. Anyone threatening imbalance to that structure is their enemy.
Russia and China won’t play by US rues anymore. Hence all that bad propaganda and all that hate against them. But US has not thought this thru. Russia has already all the means to level US and NATO to the ground. They are just to friendly to do this. But a few red lines more and this will become reality. Lets see what happens with the tribunals that c**t from EU has proclaimed to come. They might get wiped out for that injustice towards Russia already. Enough is enough.
At some point you have to take out your crazy neighbor, if he posses a real threat to you and your family. There is no other way around.
The world is not blind to what has happened in the last 70 years. They know what is going on and they did not align (even under pressure) with the wrong side.
It’s not that the those controlling the US had not though it through, they believe their own BS.
Well, that is maybe the difference between theory and reality. In theory this might have worked, bun in reality this went terrible for their side. I can’t say. It is like chess to me. If you can hide your intentions and make your opponent blind to your real strategy you have a chance to win quick. In the same time you have to be careful and try so think ahead what your opponent is up to and incorporate that into your strategy.
”the US military doctrine”
Isn’t that to carpet bomb any country they feel, like and ignore civilian deaths?
Who cares, they are not domestic?
Trust me, as an American, I can assure you that our (lying and corrupt) government also does not care about we “domestics” either.
“During the 20th Century, this type of modern warfare normally saw 3 wounded soldiers for every man killed.”
It’s a trully erratic stat Larry, wounded to killed ratios, and three to one is too generous it would seem, if we were to use the official numbers of the US in its principal wars as a model.
https://stats.areppim.com/stats/stats_afghanxdeadxwound.htm
I think it is fair to say the US does battlefield medicine as well as anyone in history, yet at least according to the “official” numbers, we never did achieve a 3 to1 wounded to killed ratio until the recent Afghanistan and Iraq wars, when the ratios jumped to 4.5 to 1 and 7.3 to 1 respectively.
This is shocking to me, actually, as I thought with the introduction of blood plasma at the end of WWII, and the MASH units and choppers and advancing medical knowledge over the next twenty years, already had us at a 7 to 1 ratio by Vietman.
But no, apparently not. In Vietman, for instance, the American wounded to killed ratio was still below 3 to 1 (at 2.6).
That said, I’m gonna stick with my numbers for this war, because why not? In this strange day in age, when it’s pick a number out of a hat (!), I consider my numbers as good as anyone’s.
Based on my video analysis of this war, what I’m seeing resembles nothing more than an exermination of ants from up on high, and these particular ants seldom have the time or the resources to bury their dead, let alone take their wounded back to the nest for rest and recuperation.
I think the fighting men of the Ukraine are approaching 200,000 killed, with slightly less than that wounded.
For the Ukraine Army, in other words, we are back to American Civil War type wounded to killed ratios (0.8 to 1), and it makes sense, when you consider, the most available video from this war is of Russian artillery batteries drone hunting small units of men, until all of them are dead.
Max424,
I’m thinking the same way. Ukr med evac and medical treatment of wounded isn’t anywhere close to US standards from what I’ve read here and there. 100K KIA is probably a fair low-end estimate (backed by the both Russia’s and the Kiev regime’s own statements about daily casualties) and wounded and evacuated (not returned to duty) is probably about the same figure. Wounded and returnable to duty is probably twice that number. So, minimally 200K troops permanently removed from combat and 200K in some stage of recovery. Don’t know if that includes foreign fighters.
At some point there is a natural tension between the official narrative (Ukr is winning/Russians incompetent) and the reality of Ukr desperately needing more of everything to keep going. The official narrative has to be sacrificed to some extent in order to keep more funding flowing in b/c if Ukr is winning, then it doesn’t need so much from the west. If Ukr is getting slaughtered, then military aid is critical. Von Der Leyen has to walk a tight rope. She became conflicted, wiggled, and fell off for a moment.
“If Ukr is getting slaughtered, then military aid is critical.”
Exactly.
Same thing happened back in July. The Ukraine Ministry of Defense put out a statement they had suffered 90,000 killed and more than 100,000 wounded, which were probably not only fairly accurate numbers, but a desperate plea for help.
We are getting slaughtered, save us!
Zelensky immediately walked back the numbers killed all the way to 10,000 as I recall, and claimed it was all a bureaucratic foul-up. What the Ministry meant to say, it was the Russain forces that had suffered 90,000 killed.
You’re right, the propaganda aspect of dead and wounded numbers is befuddling action for the Ukrainians. Which way should they go? Numbers too high and the West might abandon them as a lost cause, but make up numbers too low, and the West might tell them to stop the incessant whining and complaining, or else the “aid,” as we euphemistically call it, might just dry up.
Aid. The Western word for backsheesh.
My brother, the one who denounced me as a Putin Puppet at the start of the SMO, when I told him recently that the Ukraine Army, in its original form, has been exterminated in the field, and no longer exists, called me delusional.
He thinks the Ukraine is dominating and is about to march on Moscow. Where is he getting this shit? CNN? I told him not to watch that g*ddamn channel!
Too funny. What a time we live in.
Von der Leyen’s Numbers are a minimum, if we consider that many of the dead are listed as “missing in action” so that the Kiev regime doesn’t have to pay out death benefits to the soldiers’ families. Underreporting will also occur because the field commanders — who disperse soldiers’ pay and rations — can simply pocket the cash of the dead.
Happy St. Andrews, one of the patrons of Russia. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hHz1k4emu1I
It appears to me and IMO that the highest priority of the EU rulers, after the retention of their own positions as “elite leadership” (sic), is to destroy, genocide, freeze, starve, steal from, and otherwise murder the defenseless, men, women and children that they have undertaken to protect. IOW Fill their boots for their own sake.
But alas there is justice which it seems to be making it clear that the EU, and allies, Israel, Nato, UN and the West will not be in any position to implement anything by the end of January 2023, or thereabouts. Good riddance.
Ursula is a Grifter like the rest of “elite leadership’ that infest the western nations of the World; and by virtue of being without credibility, integrity, and humanity, are not even comparable to Mr Putin and his government; nor China.
The EU is Low Life territory set for extermination by their own ‘Chosen’.
This Ursula person (/) appears to be corrupt and unscrupulously incompetent dependant upon Pfizer cash and perhaps even Epstein stealth photography; even Mrs Merkel was desperate to rid Germany of her.
To me she comes across as a really dumb b$tch, who is especially hateful, evil and ignorant.
Creepy broad, this Ursela. She’s quoting 600 billion Euros to restore Ukraine, but she only has 319 billion to steal from Russia and the oligarchs. Hilarious. And it hasn’t started yet. It’s moot, because Vlad isn’t going to ALLOW it to be rebuilt. Look at her with her 1000 dollar haircut and Armani attire. She thinks she’s Lady Di. As if she knows anything about any of this. She sounds determined to fight it out to the last Ukie and then collect from Russia afterwards? She’s high. And they actually listen to her. To their extreme misfortune, not that SHE will experience any of that.
Meanwhile, I see the U.S. DOW back up 750-odd points today. Bet yer ass a lot of this is Euros coming here because the U.S. is “safe”. I’d bet the DOW rises to 40,000 on Euros coming here before the sharpies sell and we see a real drop.
Casualties? Crunch the numbers all you want, to see this Ursela broad celebrating all this when she has no skin in the game is sickening. I hate elites pushing wars when THEIR children aren’t fighting and dying. Especially when she acts as if she and the West had no role in staring this going back 30 years. I’m sorry for Ukie dead. So unnecessary, but I’m hoping that somehow Nuland, Blinken, Biden, Obama, the Clintons, the whole filthy crew are somehow held accountable.
“I hate elites pushing wars when THEIR children aren’t fighting and dying. ”
Me too.
But see this from Russia:
Why regional politicians are being sent to the front line
“This week, several regional politicians joined Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. Among the volunteers was the mayor of Chita Alexander Sapozhnikov, who was a paratrooper in the past. What calls them to the front line, why people who have made a successful political career change their office to an army trench – they told the newspaper VZGLYAD about this. ”
https://vz.ru/society/2022/11/23/1187819.html
What a contrast!
As some have asked, are the KIAs only AFU, or also territorial defense, the militias (Azov), & foreign fighters?
Have also heard an association of Ukrainian women has organized itself to pressure the Kiev regime to investigate the 340,000 who they assert are missing (and who have to presumed dead or fled).
340,000
Miss U. she is not dumb. May be with ‘strange behaviour’, but with solid rock on his real wallet. I think this is a polite way to push 404’s leaders (Real And Showing) to the Negotiating s table.
Europe is tired of the war and wants it to end soon. Now Europe has to balance two things. On the one hand it has to pretend to fully support the war to keep its face among the allies, on the other hand it has to push for peace because the war is obviously lost.
I think that von der Leyens citing the number of fallen soldiers is just the first step of a slow and gradual u-turn Europe is taking from supporting the war to pushing for peace. The new truth and the new course will be introduced gradually. In a few month every major European politician who once called for the war to be decided on the battlefield will openly promote peace talks.
The major news is not that von der Leyen admits 100.000 dead AFU soldiers, the big news is that Europe officially started to take the off ramp from the current war policy.
I suspect it’s far worse than 50%, Larry.
They can’t even find 300,000 Ukranian troops. Also there are more and more reports are coming in of ‘Ukrainian’ soldiers speaking foreign languages, in particular Polish.
Assuming 100,000 IDd KIA and say 200,000 IDd injured and unable to fight any further, we could be looking above 500,000 Ukrainian KIA and injured.
I think Ursula admitted to the lowest number of KIA that was high enough to make her point- whatever her true motivation. The number floating around in Brussels is probably 150-200k.
What was once the mighty standing Ukranian army of over 250K men is long gone. It was by far Europe’s biggest and most equipped albeit with mostly Soviet era weapons but deadly nonetheless. The Territorial Defense forces numbered well over 350K and we can safely assume that most of those second-string troops are either now dead, wounded, or MIA, deserters, which leaves the current Ukranian Army leaning on transvestite NATO troops trying to salvage the salvageable. In a nutshell, it’s not looking pretty at all for the despots in the Occident so they are beginning to leak the truth as to mentally prepare their citizens for the inevitable outcome.
An even starker breaking development are the reports that bombs have been sent to the Spanish embassy in Russia and yesterday, it seems the Spanish secret services located another bomb parcel one at their Torrejon air force base. I’ll point out that Spanish fans were recently seen in Qatar’s world cup holding up an Azov flag! Just a coincidence? More and more, it appears that the bloody hammer sent to the EU parliament by PMC Wagner was a very very dire warning to the Bruxelles psychopaths currently in power: We will come after you!
Your explanation that Ursula and company are preparing delicate, misinformed Western opinion for the coming shock of defeat for the all-conquering Ukrainazis makes great sense; the notion that she blurted it out because she’s stupid is silly, especially since she was clearly reading the statement from a teleprompter. Like Obama and several other infamous one-worlders, she’s not especially intelligent but she’s corrupt and crafty.
Von Der Leyen is lost in fantasy about stealing money to give to Ukraine (and cronies, of course) for reconstruction and justifying it – as if Ukraine is going to be a country and under EU control, nonetheless, when then dust settles. She told something like the truth about Ukr casualties to bolster her case for the theft and transfer. She’s between a rock and hard place when it comes to funding Ukr. Sometimes the truth sells, sometimes it doesn’t. When you are looking for money and amplifying Russia’s evilness, the need must appear desperate and situation vile. So 100K KIA. What a crazy idiot that bitch is.
That said, I still do not like Russian strategy, though, recently, they are doing better by taking out infrastructure across Ukr. I think Russia’s approach has been disorganized and demonstrates a lack of will to win against a foe that they failed to realize is implacable, irrational and willing to self-destruct. I think they still entertain their own stupid fantasies about accomplishing this mission on the cheap and causing the west to negotiate a peace settlement. Furthermore, I remain on the fence as to whether or not Russia will actually unleash a decisive winter offense. If they don’t get serious (e.g. winter offensive, etc.) soon, the west will have time to develop some kind of counter. The counter will represent a serious escalation. I do not believe the pro-Russian/anti-west narrative that the west has no appetite for putting boots on the ground or going nuclear, especially with that evil little toad Zelensky whooping them up with false flags. The west will not take its beating like a dog. It should, but it won’t.
“Von Der Leyen is lost in fantasy about stealing money to give to Ukraine (and cronies, of course) for reconstruction….”
While Russia is already doing reconstruction in the areas it controls. Less talk, more action. The very definition of leadership.
There’s no stomach among the West’s masters in Washington for nuclear war. That being the case, opposition to Russia in the field cannot be serious. NATO hasn’t sufficient equipment, ammunition, or production capacity to make a non-nuclear response credible.
Jack, these things have a way of taking on a life of their own. There will be a crisis of the world order if Russia really does jump off a massive offensive this winter that eliminates whatever is left of the UKR military and that threatens the survival of the Kiev regime itself. The US/NATO either has to surrender or escalate. They are NOT going to surrender. I guarantee it. There is too much at stake for them. Can you imagine even the basic political ramifications of conceding a Russian victory after all of the funding and rhetoric? But there is so much more beyond that that the west would really hate.
I don’t understand how so many people don’t understand the moral dimension of war. What you are leading is a war of aggression! Which soon left Russia completely isolated as the West so wanted! There was no need for a Russophobic campaign. Even the mere fact that Russia thought of annexing some territory on the westbank of the Dnieper produced this result. Will not happen! Russia entered Ukraine after triggering UN art.51 to prevent the attack on Donbass and that’s what got the support of 85% of the world! Russia is a great country but it is not a super country with an immune cover to everything! It had never weathered economic sanctions without China or India. That they will never support a war of aggression. Russia has already demilitarized Ukraine, guaranteed the independence of Donbass and the consolidation of Crimea and now it has to expel NATO from Ukraine. In principle with the change of proxy regime in Kiev that caused all the harm with the US. A war that the rest of the world sees as a defensive war! More than that will never garner the support that Russia needs. And argue with your allies every day! They also no longer advocate wars of aggression to change borders in the 21st century for a number of reasons. Mostly economical!
I think realistically if they are admitting 100,000 dead ….and they are “winning” then multiply that by 2 and we are in the ballpark of reality. With the massive artillery expenditure and resultant casualties from high explosives….we can figure on 1 to 1 ratio of wounded….so I guess 400,000 incapacitated or a 9 to 1 casualty rate of Russian and Allied forces. Heartbreaking actually…these hardy Slavs being used by Western bankers as Cannon fodder to deplete Russian resources
I just saw the video now. More than any number is above all a declaration of defeat!!! Finally! Just missed to cry!!! And is so stupid that still don’t realize the monumental mistake that was the theft of Russian reserves?!?!?! It even pity!!! Better only the embargo of scarce commodities like oil! It’s impossible that lady attended any school. For some reason she doesn’t practice the profession they say she has. Ride a horse!
Larry,
“There will come a point when Ukraine runs out of men and cannot field a combat-effective force.”
and the west will have to put up (escalate) or…. Russia will escalate (economically? militarily?), to get the new security arrangements with NATO out of eastern Europe.
PS such a shame (crime) that the Sackler family / opioid crisis killed the best moonwalker.
The most belligerent countries of Eastern Europe (and in this, I primarily mean the Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Poland) are going to end up renamed the “Land of the 45 Million Widows” by the time demilitarization and denazification are finally complete. All the young and middle-aged men will be gone, leaving unbelievable numbers of women without mates.
As for Ursula, it wouldn’t surprise me if she nominates Adolf Hitler for a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. Character rehabilitation is a serious endeavor among European Nazis these days, and they certainly don’t lack gall.
“During the 20th Century, this type of modern warfare normally saw 3 wounded soldiers for every man killed.”
It has been suggested by many military analysts that this ratio is not valid in Ukraine as artillery and missiles strikes cause death vs wounded in a much larger ratio than previous armed conflicts.
The dead are outnumbering the wounded for the first time.
The really important thing is:
This is a tragedy – not only for Ukrainians, but also for Russians.
Because it is not only real “Nazis” who have been dying here for a long time, but rather ordinary people like “you and me” …
And the West has organized this disgusting game and once again sits on the sidelines and watches with due interest … and cheers on his “favorite team” …
And I am increasingly busy in view of this to prevent, that my anger from turning into blind hatred …
Ukrainian losses may be even dramatically higher. it Telegram channel (strategika51.org) , an ex-intel french officer say that the death toll of the Ukrainian force are 220 thousands.
The number of Poles killed in Ukraine is in the thousands. The same source speaks about 12 thousand. The scale of the funeral ceremonies in Poland began to cause local political problems.
There is no small war in Europe. The very high level of hatred against Russia may make fear that it is not over. The biggest reservoirs are in Poland and Ukraine where the identity manipulations of the Latin papacy have historically been the most prevalent.
I agree. 100k KIA already had in the summer. Ursula would never tell the truth and most likely doesn’t even know the right number. And the number she said was most certainly with some intention that, without us knowing more, could have several intentions. But it was above all a declaration of defeat for the EU. Europe now only wants negotiations! Not even the US knows the true numbers. Confirmed by the former deputy head of the US European Command, Lieutenant General Steven Twitty who in the summer spoke of 200K MIA but said that the world needed to know the true numbers of the tragedy!
I believe in the 200K KIAS which objectively projects the same scenery/result as Larry. about 400K out of combat. The number I believe. Hence the need for so many foreign mercenaries from September onwards. Ukraine is demilitarized. And although the military command has always been from the US, today with much more responsibility. The drones that set fire to the deposit of derivatives deep inside Russia yesterday is much more serious than the missile from Ukraine in Poland. I don’t see the US today as having any capacity to enter the theater of operations in Ukraine, but a desperate country can do a lot of shit. I believe that the US never thought of finding itself in the economic situation in which it finds itself today in recent decades. And more than the economic situation in the loss of hegemony. I’m being honest when I say that I’ve never been so afraid of the US. And it can happen in Europe or in the China Sea. The US will not deliver the unipolar Order without war. Probably worldwide. Only a few years from now will it be safe to say whether we are already in it or not!
Clown Arestovich announced at the end of the day and said that they had about 10K KIA. I am from the Balkans, where people are bitter and critical of politicians. But when I see these Ukrainian clowns, the worst among the Balkans seem much more reasonable and acceptable to me.
Zelensky is in the business of “ethnic cleansing” Ukraine of Ukrainians, for the benefit of his people. I seriously doubt many of his people are in the front lines, particularly given the economic imbalance that has been noted in who gets to fight and who gets not to fight.
Russia won’t let them enjoy that intended gain, but all those Ukrainians will still be dead and maimed.
Ursula is the wife of Heiko
https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/514567/Ursula-von-der-Leyens-Ehemann-ist-seit-dem-C
can be read in English
the man must be a great scientist and manager for this great promotion, the purchase of “vaccines” by EU is not related
When undesirable truth comes out:
– August: CBS tweet, saying that only 30% of the arms given by Nato arrives in combat zone.
– September. Polish politician Sikorski tweeting “thank you USA” after destruction of north stream
– November: Von derLeyen talking of 100.000 Ukrainian Solders kiA
in all 3 cases, message pulled back or deleted very quickly
Ursula tries to deviate attention from her own 100.000 (i.e. the useless vaccines ordered by her personally at Pfizer) and draws attention to a different 100.000 (i.e. the UAF KIA). What is missing in her speech is consideration for the triple number (3x 100.000) of life-long injured, crippled, shell-shocked, who are now changing Ukrainian streets into a depressive post-WW 1 scenery. So many young men with a devastated future! This is oblivion is typical for the spin doctored way of how the EU is governed. In the Czech Republic people are complaining how their school system and health-care system is collapsing under the overload by Ukrainian children (who are often analphabetic) and Ukrainian war-injured. The analphabetism of many Ukrainian children is not new, but the result of the utterly failing Ukrainian civilization. Instead of learning basic skills Ukrainian children are being brain-washed with anti-Russia hatred. The European civilization falls apart.
Sooner or later the numbers of dead and wounded Ukrainian soldiers is going to increase to a unbelievable number. The Ukrainian force’s have had 8 years to build their defensive lines. Usually 3 lines of defense, 1st line the primary with 2 fallback line’s. What happens when Russia break’s through the 3rd line. Now the Ukrainian defensive lines are facing the wrong way and the Russians are coming up to them from behind. This winter we are either going to see a mass casualty event or a mass surrender. I hope it’s the latter.
Van der Leyen has this old icy school principal look. It’s easy to mistake her for being smart. Sorry, I’ve never heard her say anything that required any brain work. It’s just parroting like that Nato guy.
Concerning the kill-to-wounded ratio, the Ukrainians said straight out in the beginning that there were surprisingly few wounded. This is primarily an artillery war, not a small arms war. If you’re close to a landing shell you die, if you’re outside its effective circle you survive.
The estimates I believe in are 150k dead and 150k wounded.
The fight to the last Ukrainians still continues. This is the real tragedy for Ukraine, but when you play stupid games you win stupid prizes.
Although no one can accuse Eurocrats of possessing even moderate intelligence, one would expect the President of the EU, a former Defense Minister of Germany to boot, to know that setting a Tribunal under the UN requires the approval of the UNSC of which Russia is a veto-wielding Permanent Member.
How do they plan to persuade the Russians to commit judicial harakiri, or is this another example of EU officials shooting their mouths of before they engage their brains?
…and that’s when we start to send our own kids… that day is coming.
I estimate Russia’s trained manpower pool in comparison to Ukraine is 10 to 15 million.
Thats based on 600 000 conscripts (Russia still has conscription) times anywhere from 20 to 25 years.
I believe von der Lyin’ is right in that 100000 Ukranazi officers were killed.
Including other ranks it’s a hell of a lot more than 100000.
And is Ms. von der Leyen right in that 20,000 civilians were killed, too?
Yes.
By the nazis.
Since 2014.
So she knows… and always knew…
Well of course.
Only if you include 8 years of Donbass shelling.
Applying reason and probabilities to the Russian MOD reports, there are between 125,000 and 150,000 Ukraine KIA’s. Western mercs KIA’s are additional to this figure. Now Poland “merc” KIA’s adding up as well. The fact that Ukraine is in its 8th mobilization and conscripting men up to 60 years old confirms the shortage and desperation. Very unlikely Ukraine has more than 200,000 soldiers left, of which at least 50% are unsuitable for fighting. They are circling the drain.
I tend to think the 125,000 to 150,000 KIA is a more accurate picture. Then as you say, add in the mercs from various nations. I would doubt the Russia KIA is more than 10,000 and I think that is even high. But…Russian KIA is a hard number to determine unless given by the Russian MOD.
I wonder about the 1:3 rule of thumb in this conflict. There were early reports that most deaths were by artillery. That you were either nicked or you were dead. Add that the Ukrainians were said to have left their seriously wounded to die. And in September Shoigu announced 62,000 Ukrainian dead and 50,000 wounded. So, the 100,000+ killed could translate to under 200,000 out of action. This would explain why Ukraine still seems to have a lot of juice.
Agree with commenters above that, first, Ukrainian deaths are likely in six figures, and likely much higher than 100k and, second, that the wounded:dead ratio is probably much lower than 3 to 1. Seems likely medical treatment is neither prompt nor particularly high quality by modern military standards.
Also, there seems to be an understandably lax attitude to collecting, recording and burying the dead, and give the massive use of very heavy and incendiary artillery by the Russians, a lot of the remains will be hard to dig out and identify easily.
Which raises the also interesting issue of just how many NATO “volunteers” have been killed. Consider Moon Of Alabama’s recent reference to a plan for new graveyards in Poland:
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/11/ukraine-war-a-contentious-graveyard-in-poland.html#more
How many NATO “volunteers” have been fighting and how many have already died? We may not know for decades, especially considering most of the dead will likely just go “missing” and never be reported as dead for years, and information about those that are known will be systematically suppressed for as long as possible.
The Ukraine tragedy is stomach churning.
When you factor in that the Minsk Agreement would have been perfectly agreeable to the vast majority of Ukrainians, ensuring them a bright future with cheap energy and a good neighbour. And that the deal on the table in Istanbul in March was still acceptable to most.
Instead, we have the latest handiwork of the cancerous neocons destroying yet another country for profit.
Sickening!
I think the number of wounded is apt to be well below 400,000. Recall the articles saying that a high percentage of Ukrainian soldiers were dying because of inadequate or delayed medical care.
Also recall Mr Ritter’s comment that the number of civilian deaths is generally about in line w the number of military ones, so 20,000 such would be a testament to Russia’s efforts to be careful & humane.
Two days ago , Ursula was asking for yet another sanctions package , I lost the count , was it eighth or ninth ?
The westerners have gone to far and RF is gonna taking care of the business they way whatever anyone is saying.
Right now , governments around the EU are issuing official statements to their institutions on how to behave during power outages.
Winter is near and Miss U just remember winter come back every year or so … and, unfortunately, lifting sanctions might NOT give back EU an access to cheap Russian energy. Not even an expensive one. Let that sink.
That tremendous number of deaths is because today those who do business with the war keep at a great distance from the combats; Napoleon had to go to the front of his army and in the end he paid for his crimes. Today the negotiators with death do not leave their bumker-office, they enjoy total democratic impunity and only count the money without facing any risk.
Another great article. I’ve carried a gun as a soldier and as a police officer. And here is a comment. There are only so many “soldiers”. You can put a uniform on a man. You can force him at bayonet point into the line. You can shoot him if he deserts. But you cannot make him kill. You cannot make him show initiative and walk into the dark room by himself. Now factor this into the Ukraine debacle. Mariupol was the first sign. The true hardcore Nazi lunatics decimated and captured. Then Bakhmut, where Ukrainian elite troops have been sacrificed. Ukraine may be able to maintain a “number” of soldiers. You run out of killers. The dedicated. The crazy. The ones that God help me, because I was one, enjoy it. I might suggest “On Killing” by Dave Grossman. His research from the Civil War showed muskets with 8 or 9 charges rammed down the barrels. It was first thought that shell shock or excitement led to this. It was not. The soldiers did not want to be castigated. So, they “appeared” to be firing. They did not want to kill. Due to video games, and our general degeneracy? Coupled with violence in every aspect of media? People value life less than they used to. But. There are only so many killers. And when Ukraine runs out the bath water starts running out the drain. A matter of time. As the USA continues its blood-soaked path of foreign policy.
I see two reason for von Der Leyen’s slip. The first being a mental slip, evidenced by her use of “officers”. One of those occasions where you are speaking and have a thought in your mind you know you should not speak, and can only successfully suppress a part of that thought. In this instances von Der Leyen, suppresses a part of the thought only to spurt out “officers” instead of “officers and troops”. Or similar.
The second reason is one where von Der Leyen intentionally tosses the stat out and intentionally pulls it back. Why? Because the western war lords will use that stat as a reason to drum of additional support Ukraine. But first they want to give the TV watchers something to mentally chew on for a week or so.
I expect the EU will soon come out with that number again, and then emboss it with the casualty numbers. All this in an effort to vilify Putin and Russia in an effort to drag the conflict on with additional weapons and sections.
In the end, Russia will come out on top of this conflict and the Western powers will lose their uni-polar world…as well as their attempt to colonize the world in the image of the U.S.
My word, it’s a veritable mountain of bones.
100K UKR KIA is probably a low estimate given what I’ve read and analyzed.
21st century warfare lethality has gone through the roof, and it’s only going to get more lethal. Massing lethality (fires), not massing troops, is now the objective. Massed troops will get rapidly annhiliated by massed fires.
“Massing localized lethality from disbursed locations is now the objective.” My words… from analysis of mathematical simulations which I wrote. You don’t mass troops until you’re confident that you won’t be annhiliated. Russia is executing the tactics much more correctly.
Very sad. This did jot have to be. Victory Nuland must be very proud. I’m sure she will say a prayer for all the fallen this Hanukkah season before shoveling spoonfuls of kugel into her voracious mouth.
The boy could dance…..
Michael Joseph Jackson (R.I.P.)
The choices for the actions of European leaders seem to be:
1. Stupid people who believe their own propaganda, who keep shooting themselves in the foot.
2. Smart people who are pursuing an agenda of some kind.
Here is a 3rd option:
EU leaders are continually spied on, their personal phones tapped and who knows what else. Maybe these leaders spent too much time on the European equivalent of Epstein Island, or some other honeypot fed to them on a corporate sponsored junket. These are compromised people making decisions under blackmail, whether it be sexual, financial, drugs, personal, family, history, anything and everything. No doubt the professionals in this game can compromise pretty much anyone.
“There will come a point when Ukraine runs out of men [and women, children, and old people] and cannot field a combat effective force.”
Yeah, but Ukraine has all these mercenaries. And when the day comes, when all these mercenaries are all wiped out, the United States will formally announce that the US, NATO and another “coalition of the willing” will be coming to Ukraine’s aid.
You know, the 7TH Calvary, and all those Russian Indians.
English is not her first language; her point was creating energy for war crimes trials against RF.
In western context, everything is RF fault; blame them; — see fact west says missile killing two in Poland was, in the end, RF fault even while west acknowledging Ukraine shot it there.
And so the 20K civilian deaths is, perhaps, all civilian deaths in Ukraine since 2014 — most of which caused by Ukraine, particularly in Donbas.
Police Officer refers to all police of all rank; it would seem military officer could as well.
Neither 100K military officers [officials] nor 20K civilian deaths — these numbers have NOT been denied; rather, Ukraine said it is for them to announce those figures, etc. [And they can someday disclose # military officials killed from ‘friendly fire’ including those shot in the back or in the face, etc., trying to retreat, etc. by their own government officers.]
The actual reason this could have been pulled back by dear Ursula and her overlords: is this was western acknowledgement that 20K civilians dead since 2014! Recall 2022 Feb: these deaths [including Odessa Massacre] were among key reason voiced to start MOA. Others can say whether there is any irony in the fact EU and RF on same page on this key fact: massive civilian deaths.
On face of it, it seem to me 20K civilian deaths acknowledged by west: are evidence of war crimes, and . . . there is no way dear Ursula or anyone else in west would be able to avoid public questioning of this, as obvious question would be: ‘are you admitting Ukraine killed most of the civilians from 2014 to now?’
Which doesn’t mean this exact question should not be asked, rather, deleting it, from their criminal perspective, was making a virtue of necessity?
-30-
i’m sure someone else has pointed this out, but look at the wording: it wasn’t “incorrect” or “falsified”…it was “classified”. sounds like one of those “of course it’s true but don’t say it out loud in public” things. odd that they got so defensive when they make up “atrocities” out of thin air on a daily basis. you’d think “100,000 ‘martyrs'” would be a great PR card to play for more glorious vietnam-era weapon shipments.
i’d guess the number could be even higher when you count missing soldiers and bodies that are in russian-held territory that can’t be confirmed dead until they’re safely recovered.
Polacy następni w kolejne aby umierać za Kijów.
Dear Larry,
Can’t always reply to another commenter. Many times the reply does not work and then the comment is not well aligned. As other users may have already noticed.
By the way, another fantastic feature was the ability to edit comments, if possible.
Thank you so much for your attention and all the work Larry has done. And for patience with the comments.
If Vanderlying says it’s 100,000 the real number is probably much higher.
The number of casualties only matters in terms of the impact on military capability.
The demographic potential of Ukraine is 8x less than Russia. The military Industrial potential of Ukraine is 0. The Military industrial capacity today of Russia is likely greater than all of Nato.
It seems apparent that Russia is making an effort to limit their own casualties. However they are certainly taking losses. The most startling thing about the ugly videos of the murder of 10 Russians who surrendered, is to wonder how they came to be in a position where they were forced to surrendered. So lets kid ourselves that there are not problems in the Russian Army.
However, we can say just as much certainty that there were great problems in the Army of the Patomac and yet in the end the South was defeated. The fact of that war was that over time, the Army of the Patomac grew stronger and stronger and more effective on the battlefield, while the Army of Virginia was slowly ground away to a shadow of it’s former self.
We have have been conditioned to focus on casualties as the critical metric in war, but it’s not. This is the first real war that the west has watched in 45 years. This is a war where the technical balance between attack and defense has shifted back toward defense making the battle field much less open that it has been. The mere fact of constant satellite surveillance means that the days of surprise, big arrow attacks may be over. Lots of innovation is occurring on both side.
We have not seen a successful general breakout attack by either party in this war. People mock the Russians slow and incremental gains, but those are the only advances that have occurred by either side (other than when the Russians opt to simply leave).
In the mean time, the Ukrainian economy no longer exists. Even it’s ability to support it’s population in it’s cities may be coming to an end. Europe is likely heading into recession with the US to follow while the Russian economy appears to be stablizing and on the road to expansion in 2023.
Russian arms production is ramping up. Russian forces are filling up with men and experience.
All the metrics suggest decisive defeat for Ukraine.
It’s time to start considering what that will mean geo-politically for the future,
” The mere fact of constant satellite surveillance means that the days of surprise, big arrow attacks may be over. ”
It does seem that way, but I for one haven’t forgetten how impressive the original gains of the Russians were in the first two or three weeks of the war. Maybe there weren’t any “big arrows,” but there dozens of long, skinny arrows that made deep penetrations into Uke territory. I called it the “Spiderweb by Battalion Offensive,” because that what it looked like on a map, and because it was small, mobile columns racing seemingly way beyond the end of their tethers, that were creating the webbing.
Never seen anything like it.*
It does seem looking back that is was mostly bluff, but the Russians take did shit-ton of objectives, some of which they still hold, like the NPP at Zaporizhzhia, which a flying column took on Day 8, and as many of the bio-labs as were within range.
And let’s not forget, Kiev was surrounded on three side by the middle of March, and that lazy column that rolled down from the north and sidled up to the west of Kiev, although it wasn’t the longest arrow ever, was a Big One!
And the Rooskies also set the table in those early weeks for the taking of the “land bridge” to Crimea, and the destruction of the southern Nazi’s in Mariupol.
So all in all, not a bad offensive (not bad at all!), considering the force strength involved and the reluctance of the Russians in the early days to fight as if they were in existential war to the death, which to their surprise, and horror (?), they now find themselves in.
Macgregor tells me the Russians have amassed 500,000 men and WWII levels of mobile firepower on the borders of Ukraine, in three seperate army corps, and will soon roll over this nearly defunct Ukraine Army with some big arrows at some point after the ground freezes.
And I never question the Colonel, even when he gets wrong, like he did August, when he thought a big Russian offensive was about to commence. .
*Except perhaps for the horse armies of Ghengis, who spiderwebbed their way out of Mongolia to near control of entire universe.
Good points. I would just counter that early in the war, much of the Ukrainian army seemed to be concentrated for an attack into Donetsk. The Russians did not encounter a lot of organized resistance in those areas of advance during the first days and also appear to have taken their heaviest casualties of the war – probably nothing like the Ukraine press wants to believe.
On the other hand, supporting your argument, the Russian Army itself is more experienced, organized and better manned now and has learned a lot. It’s soldiers now realize this is not an exercise and those who want to survive have their heads screwed on tight.
“The Russians did not encounter a lot of organized resistance in those areas of advance during the first days … ”
It was weird. I kept thinking where is this vaunted 600,000 strong Ukraine Army? It seemed like the Russians were free to waltz about the country with nary an interruption.
But then again, it’s been a weird, weird war, the weirdest in history in my opinion. We will all have to wait for the histories to written to make any sense of it I suspect.
Note: Personally, I think Macgregor’s right this time. Clearly, he has access to intell he didn’t have back in August. The massive Russian build-up is nearly complete, and they are going to steamroll this place.
“The Aristocratic Ineptitude of Ursula Von Der Leyen” (April 30, 2021)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/30/aristocratic-ineptitude-ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-europe-vaccines-pandemic-response/
I think the correct word is “turpitude”.
I wonder if anybody had the time to put on the spreadsheet the daily KIAs and MIAs reported by the Russian MOD.
A simple estimate gives 2022/Dec/01 – 2022/Feb/24 = 280 days
100,000 KIAs / 280 days = 375 KIAs per day, which is around the number of Ukrainians KIAs reported by the Russian MoD (200-500) per day.
However, a nice daily count like I’ve asked above, it’s a better figure. Maybe somebody has/had done this exercise, already, and wants to share it with us.
https://youtu.be/mfmWvfU3dNw
Will the real oligarchs please stand up!
The meat of that speech wasn’t the death toll, but Ursula’s breathless mention of Russia’s billions in confiscated funds along with the mention of a special court whereby, few if any of that money will ever make it back to war torn Ukraine.
The war is almost over, time to make money disappear.