Contrast with this actual T-72

Notice the much larger road wheels.

This is a type of cope hitherto unknown to mankind.

Presented without comment

Here, some meek village called Andreevka has resurfaced in the news, evoking long-forgotten place names like Kurdyumovka, Kleshcheevka, Champagne, and Provence...

In general, the AFU launched an assault on the Andreevka farm. I'll be considerate in my wording, as in Ukraine, they described it as "tearing apart" an unknown motorized rifle brigade of the RF Armed Forces.

To the credit of that Russian brigade, I must mention that the siege of the farm lasted for 2 months.

During this time, the AFU advanced approximately 4 endless kilometers (averaging 60 meters per day), despite the presence of the most audacious Azov members on this front, who were joined by the entire Third Brigade (along with two more brigades).

However, there was a broader strategic context on this segment of the Eastern Front, with the AFU attempting to isolate the Artemovsk group of the Russian army from the Donetsk group.

Such was the situation for both sides in terms of their positions in this battle.

#source

@Slavyangrad

A second consecutive high wheat harvest strengthens Russia's position as the No. 1 exporter. The country is set to export record volumes of wheat for the second consecutive year.

Bloomberg
***
We are embarrassed to ask, where on the chart of top wheat exporters in 2023-2024 is Ukraine, the "breadwinner of Africa"?

@Slavyangrad

Apparently the US not pulling its weight agriculturally any more.

Night dudes and dudettes

Azov would apparently like it to be known that they are and remain judenfrei.

Commentors have complained throughout the Ukrainian War that the Russians are not striking enough "dual use" infrastructure - bridges, power plants, even hydroelectric dams. Allow me to explain why I believe they have avoided this war-shortening measure.

Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Colin Powell famously invoked the "Pottery Barn Rule" when discussing the war plan with then-President George W. Bush: "You break it, you own it." If the United States intended to conquer Iraq, it would have to take full ownership of cleaning up the resulting mess - and in the case of Iraq, that mess dated back to the first war in 1991. The US government would be on the hook for reconstruction. In the actual event the US let the country descend into chaos and pushed off those needs onto the Iraqi government after the situation finally stabilized years later, but that's besides the point - the Iraq War is not an example for anyone to follow, and the failures of the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 destabilized the Middle East for a generation.

The Russians do not want to repeat this debacle on their doorstep, let along within their own borders. Although the capacity of the Russian state is impressive, and far beyond what any Western commentators expected two years ago, it cannot be expected to rapidly replace capital infrastructure across the entire territory of an occupied or annexed Ukraine postwar. This infrastructure was constructed by the Soviet Union at enormous expense over the course of decades, and much of it is in bad enough shape already and will have to soldier on for some time still before it can be replaced in the normal course of national business. The Russians do not want to find themselves in a situation where they shortened the war by six months or a year by destroying infrastructure only to have to confront a decade of insurgency from angry, miserable locals and an enormous repair bill to fix this self-created problem.

Starting the clock until the next Storm Shadow attacks...

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ #Chronicle of the Special Military Operation for 17 September 2023⚡️

🔹In the SMO Zone, Ukrainian formations made another sortie near #Prityutnoye and #Staromayorskoye in the #Vremyevka sector. The raids were repelled by Russian servicemen. Meanwhile, the AFU command continues to build up forces in this direction for new massive attacks.

🔹In the #Soledar direction, fierce clashes continue near #Kleshcheyevka and #Andreyevka. At the moment, neither side is in control of the settlements that have been razed to the ground.

🔹The AFU once again attacked #Crimea. Russian anti-aircraft gunners shot down drones near Cape #Tarkhankut, #Portovoye, #Kirovskoye and #Feodosiya. By evening, the attacks resumed with renewed vigour. Several flying devices were intercepted near Cape #Fiolent, also the Russian Aerospace Forces intercepted several Ukrainian landing boats.

🔹In addition, the enemy attacked Russia's rear regions with drones. Air defence systems destroyed UAVs over the #Tula, #Voronezh, #Moscow and #Orlov regions.

🧾 Read More on our 👉 🇷🇺 Website

🗺 High Resolution: 🇬🇧 MAP; 🇷🇺 MAP

📜 RYBAR; 17 Sep 2023, 22:57

t.me/sitreports /@rybar/#smo/
Join SITREP🔺Map Reports - Top Videos - Analyses

>🔹In the #Soledar direction, fierce clashes continue near #Kleshcheyevka and #Andreyevka. At the moment, neither side is in control of the settlements that have been razed to the ground.

Okay, pet peeve - this is cope. Neither Klescheevka nor Rabotino have been so damaged such that there aren't distinguishable ruins left. Some parts of both towns seem fairly intact even. People really DO NOT appreciate the insane amount of ordinance it takes to completely destroy buildings.

💥💥💥The US is far behind China and Russia in hypersonic weapons that can evade air defense systems, the Wall Street Journal reports.💥💥💥

Apparently radio silence on a bunch of Ukrainian channels right now, for an unusually long period of time. Wonder what the Russians hit tonight?

The Intercept has obtained leaked documents showing how U.S.-brokered arms sales from Pakistan to Ukraine were used to facilitate a controversial IMF bailout that has allowed the Pakistani military to stall elections and crush dissent in that country. https://t.co/IAODoPbhtN