Malazan Empire: Werthead - Viewing Profile - Malazan Empire

Russia launched a massive push on the Zaporizhzhia front with over 300 troops and 40 vehicles. Ukraine's 128th Mountain Assault Brigade engaged the Russians when they were still 8km from the front, with drones and artillery. By the time the Russian forces reached the front, Ukrainian infantry, mortars and tanks were ready to attack. 29 Russian vehicles were destroyed and around 140 Russian troops were neutralised. No Ukrainian positions were lost. This seems like a particularly stupid attack, but not surprising.

A Russian armed attack has also taking place near the Dnipropetrovsk border. Russia spent three days assembling a formation of IFVs, amour and infantry which were spotted by recon drones. The advance was eliminated by a mixed formation of Ukrainian drones, artillery and snipers. The Russians lacked heavy vehicles so tried to use bikes to make up for the deficiency. Failing, obviously.

In one of the weirder engagements of the war so far, Russian forces welded armour plates to a train and accelerated it down the track to, presumably, try to smash through the Ukrainian front (in a place where the front crosses a rail line. The Ukrainians simply hit the train engine with a single drone, that disabled it and left it rolling to a stop miles from the front.

Ukraine seems to have launched a concerted assault using drones and artillery in Kherson Oblast, targeting enemy drone positions. Russian drones are causing havoc for civilians in Kherson city (resulting recently in some Kherson police and civilians being issued weapons specifically to engage drones), so Ukraine seems to be trying to push back Russian drone operator positions from the south bank of the Dnipro, which would limit their range. At least one Russian-controlled building in the targeted area was levelled by a pair of French Hammer bombs back in February. Over a dozen Russian UAV operators were also killed when their operating headquarters in Kursk Oblast near Tyotkino was destroyed.

Some more footage of Russian Buk-M2 SAMs being destroyed, by artillery and possibly by air-launched missile. Russia seems to have pulled its heavy-hitter AA systems back from the front, allowing Ukrainian air power to deploy more closely to the front. These medium and closer-range AA systems are vulnerable to being attacked from outside of their own engagement range.

Ukraine's drone upgrade programme has allowed its lighter FPVs to engage Russian Forpost-R high-altitude recon drones at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Previously drones operating at this height were impossible to target with other drones and had to be taken out with much more expensive AA missiles.

Russia and Iran have ratified their strategic partnership. The final text is underwhelming, with both countries only agreeing "not to aid the aggressor" in any attack on either country.

Ukraine joining NATO prevents Russia from annexing it piecemeal, because Russia cannot win a conventional war against NATO (it's barely "winning" one against Ukraine, and that's "winning" by "losing half the territory it captured in the first three months of the conflict and obliterating its economy in the process whilst losing 1 million casualties, probably a third of them killed or maimed for life") and can't really afford to risk it.

From the US point of view, adding Ukraine to NATO gives them more territory to have to watch over, more directly exposed to Russian positions. They traditionally think Ukraine (and Belarus) is better-used as a buffer to Russia. The current US administration seems a bit dense, thinking of Ukraine as a minor power, and they've not taking on board that adding Ukraine to NATO would add a huge, well-trained military with capabilities nobody else in NATO - not even the US - has in terms of drone warfare. It also massively dissuades future Russian adventurism: Russia won't be able to attack the Baltic States without considering the risk of Ukraine launching an attack to reclaim its lost territories. It forces Russia to either commit to a future war on a broad front across the Baltics, Finland, Poland and Ukraine simultaneously, which is likely beyond its capabilities, or a future second assault on Ukraine (which may go no better than this one and possibly far worse) before taking on the rest of NATO. Ukraine inside NATO is better for NATO and permanently dissuading Russian aggression. Ukraine outside of it without comparable security guarantees likely encourages future adventurism.

Rheinmetall is planning to produce 1.1 million shells a year once its new plants in Spain, Germany and Ukraine are all up and running (an ad hoc facility in Ukraine already is, the others are on their way). That's the sort of numbers we should have been talking about in 2022, but better late than never.

Ukraine has achieved a surprise counter-offensive on the Luhansk front (where Russia controls the overwhelming majority of the oblast). A Russian attack was defeated, Ukraine achieved artillery supremacy and devastated the Russian defensive lines, and then retook the village of Nadiya. This may be older news from a couple of weeks ago, not widely circulated until now.

A Russian offensive in Zaporizhzhia was defeated with heavy losses, including 320 soldiers neutralised and 40 armored vehicles destroyed. Another assault on the Siversk front saw a tank and infantry formation using motorbikes all destroyed. A further attack on the Kharkiv-Luhansk border saw 2 IFVs destroyed and several buggies coming to assist eliminated.

Ukrainian aircraft using guided and glide bombs have conducted a systematic series of attacks on bridges in Russia's Bryansk and Belgorod Oblasts. Two were destroyed completely, others appear damaged. The point of the attacks is to severely complicated resupply efforts closer to the front. This also confirms a growing absence of Russian AA over the front, with S-400 and S-300 assets now pulled further back (and Buk and Pantsir replacements are not as effective, though more numerous). This allows Ukrainian aircraft, including F-16s and Mirages, to start hitting targets at greater range.

Ukraine has increased domestic missile production by 2100% since the start of the conflict. They also report that this year they expect to hit a 40% domestic production rate for all war-related requirements, and increase that to over half in 2026. This is a massive increase from 2022. Ukraine estimates it will construct at least double the number of domestic drones in 2024 versus 2025, including supplies from allies that might get closer to triple (they'd previously hoped quadruple, so we'll see how that goes).

One Russia unit apparently rebelled after being told to go to the front without body armour, weapons or ammunition and "take what you need from the dead." A Russian PoW says his unit was sent into battle by charging straight at Ukrainian positions without drone or artillery cover, and his commanding officer was permanently drunk. He also says that Russian soldiers have been tied to trees as part of disciplinary procedures and deliberately left to be killed by Ukrainian forces (apparently the number who aren't killed but instead taken captive was a surprise, they'd been told they'd be killed on sight by Ukrainian forces).

100 Russian soldiers detained for going AWOL have broken out of a military police holding facility in Krasnodar, and apparently rioted. Unclear what the current situation is.

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a prisoner swap tomorrow, 246 on each side.

Poland and Lithuania have agreed to reinforce and fortify the Suwalki Corridor.

Kharkiv was hit by 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, with over 110 civilians injured. The missiles hit urban areas and apartment blocks, with no viable military targets nearby. Only one person was killed, which seems incredibly lucky for the people. Kherson city has also been hit by four glide bombs.

Russian positions around the recently-retaken town of Sudzha, in Kursk Oblast, are massively exposed to drones and air-launched missiles. The Russian forces there are taking huge losses, and have asked for body bags to be sent in large numbers from volunteer efforts.

Ukraine continues to reject the USA's more insane demands for a minerals deal, but instead signed a memorandum of understanding that negotiations would continue.

Japan has released $3 billion in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

President Meloni has apparently "convinced" Trump that Zelensky was not responsible for starting the conflict, since he was working as a comedian in 2014 and was not in public office.

Russia was assembling a mechanized convoy in Belgorod Oblast that was hit by drones and artillery. Russian sources indicated 60 KIA and a substantial number more injured, one of the most damaging strikes on a Russian formation in a while.

The barracks of the Russian 112th Missile Brigade in Shuya took a very heavy hit, with dozens at least injured. This is the unit which is believed to have launched the Iskander attack on Sumy last week.

Several downed Shahed drones recovered by Ukraine have been tainted with chemical compounds designed to injure anyone trying to handle them. Ukrainian sources have issued guidelines to be careful handling debris.

Danish soldiers will be trained on Ukrainian soil, learning modern warfare techniques including drone use. They will not be deployed close to the front.

Ukraine has unveiled a low-cost cruise missile called "Bars" with an 800km range.

The US-Ukraine mineral deal is back on, after the US agreed to reduce its estimates of US aid to Ukraine from a preposterous $300 billion to around $100 billion, which is more adjacent to reality.

The Ukrainian 82nd Air Assault Brigade defeated a Russian attempt in Kursk Oblast to break into the last bit of Ukrainian-held territory. The attack was one of the most mismatched we've seen, with tanks and APCs accompanying Russian soldiers riding golf carts. Six vehicles were destroyed during the attack.

115 Ukrainian drones targeted Russian military targets across Kursk and Moscow Oblasts overnight.

One estimate is that Russia has lost just under 10,000 vehicles involved in resupply efforts in just the last three months, including tankers, cars and vans.

UEFA banned a minute's silence for the war dead before the start of a futsal game between Romania and Ukraine. Instead, the players tapped the ball once and then remained silent for one minute before resuming the game.

A Russian Borisoglebsk-2 electronics warfare station has been destroyed, worth over $200 million. Russia does not have a lot of these.

The US blocked a G7 statement condemning the Russian terror attack on Sumy, saying it might disrupt peace talks. The death toll has risen to 35, with 119 injured. Russia launched a second drone attack on Sumy the following day.

Ukraine launched a significant drone attack on Kursk Oblast, targeting ammo depots, fuel storage systems and mustering points that the Russians had brought forwards for their recent offensive. It's unclear why Russia hasn't dropped them back out of short-range drone range. The HQ of the Russian 448th Missile Brigade was also destroyed. This is the unit believed to have launched Iskander missiles at Sumy.

The UK has transferred an extra $1 billion from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

Ukraine has offered $15 billion to the United States to purchase 10 additional Patriot air defence systems.

Russian TV posted a video showing drone operators working out of residential buildings in Moscow, with enough information to be geolocated. Russian TV deleted the video quickly, but not before screengrabs could be obtained.

Fighting around Pokrovsk continues, with Russian forces back in Shevchenko (yet again) but Ukrainian forces continuing to fight off a Russian attack on Pischane just to the west.

The European Union has told President Vucic that Serbia's EU accession process will be indefinitely halted if he attends Russia's May 9 parade. Fico of Slovakia has said he will be attending no matter what.

Ukraine has retaken Dniproenerhiya on the Novopavlivka front following several engagements. The Russians attempted to attack the Vesele-Skudne line with a massive assault involving 25 vehicles, but the Ukrainian counter-attack was so successful it was able to roll back the Russian line behind it and establish more favourable positions.