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/
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>🔹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

🇷🇺🌍 A map with Wagner's alleged troops count and dislocation has started to circulate on the internet again.

The picture looks interesting. However, it is fake.

The map was made by Prigozhin's Troll Factory back in 2021 and was published on the "join-wagner.com" website. It is already dead, but the internet remembers everything.

Why was it made? Maybe for fun. Maybe to intimidate Western countries and PMCs. But the truth is, overall, there are around 5,000 Wagner troops in Syria, CAR, Mali and Libya.

#Wagner #Africa

@africaintel

⚡️The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the battles for the village of Kleshcheevka near Bakhmut continue.

Let us recall that yesterday the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Ermak, followed by President Vladimir Zelensky, announced the capture of this settlement by Ukrainian troops.

It seems someone is lying again.

@Slavyangrad

Details of the death in Ukraine of the leader of the English-speaking mercenaries "Dark Angels" have become known

The fact that the body of the British “volunteer” Daniel Burke had been found was reported the day before. As it became known later, the body of another mercenary, Jordan Chadwick, was also found.

Both were found in the lakes of the Zaporozhye region with their hands tied behind their backs. According to the BBC, they were killed in the rear. The Daily Mail claims that the reason was "money disputes".

Daniel Burke is the organizer of his own PMC "Dark Angels", operating in Ukraine since the spring of 2022. The unit he created includes the same “volunteers” as he — former officers from the armies of different countries of the world. He disappeared in August in the Zaporozhye region.

@ukr_leaks_eng

The Azov Brigade has been touted as an elite formation since their inception in 2014. Talking to Banderites, you would think they are the second coming of the SS-Das Reich Division. Let’s see if they are an "Elite unit".

1st Mariupol: Did play a role in the city's capture but one of their officers was arrested and they left. Returned to Mariupol in June and was Spearhead of the assault. Did well it seems. Minor W
Battle for Saur-Mogila: Russians claimed they lost 70 to 80 percent of their ranks, denied by their deputy. July 7th. L
Battle of Ilovaisk:They were the support of the main Ukrainian attack by the Donbas Battalion. Heavily Criticized by the Donbas Battalion for not supporting them, being late and undermanned. Suffered heavy losses. Ran away to Mariupol in humiliation. Major L
Second Mariupol: Stopped the DPR advance and by most accounts fought “heroically” against the DPR. W
Shyrokynein: Did well against the DPR but suffered heavy losses in their defense.
Mariupol 2022: Got utterly humiliated by the Russians and DPR. Perhaps the most humiliating defeat of the 21st century considering that they had their countrymen beg on Eurovision for their rescue as they sat in Azovstal rotting.
Bakhmut: Has been failing to capture Kleshcheevka since April.

Their actions, especially in Mariupol in 2022, have decidedly put them into the bottom tier of "SS units" record wise. They are not as bad as the infamous Dirlewanger Brigade combat wise. Ironically, they are around the same as their idols: 14th SS-Galicien who were destroyed at Brody in 1944, and after that fought rear guard anti-partisan actions in Slovakia and Austria.

The irony is rich, but even richer when you consider like the 14th SS-Galicien, they are a better unit for PR and ideological measures than actual fighting. Azov should be remembered more as a unit who achieved great success in regards to its non-combative roles that it did and still does in radicalizing Ukraine. The 14th SS-Galicien is also held highly today because of the massive PR work to portray them as heroes in Ukraine. In that sense, Azov is indeed a true successor of that unit in nearly all regards.

But any talk of them being an elite formation is ludicrous. They are cowards that used women and children as shields at Mariupol, and have committed many war crimes in the Donbass. Press S to Spit on Azov and their defenders!

💥💥💥💥 The Turks report that the Ukrainian army has begun stockpiling critical weapons such as HIMARS, SCALP, Storm Shadow missiles, various Kamikaze UAVs and depleted uranium munitions at Khmelnytskyi and Rivne nuclear power plants in western Ukraine and neighbouring regions.

Since Russia did not strike the nuclear power plants, the most important weapons and ammunition systems began to be placed there in large depots.💥☢️💥

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇸 Sergey Lavrov's answer to the question of the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin".

Question: The United States has again announced that it is ready to supply long-range missiles with depleted uranium to Ukraine. What's next?

Sergey Lavrov: I am not able to comment on their statements. They keep making empty promises. Maybe they are preparing the public. But the fact is that it will not change the essence of current events. What is happening is that Ukraine was prepared, and they have been preparing it for many years, to fight with their hands and bodies in order to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia.

No matter what they say, they are running this war, supplying weapons, ammunition, intelligence and satellite data.

They are waging war against us.

@antinatocoalition