• Ukrainian forces took out more than 100 Russian soldiers with an ATACMS missile, per OSINT analysts.
  • Four ATACMS were used to target the group, one analyst said.
  • The soldiers would have been out of reach of Ukraine’s shorter-range ATACMS missiles.

A Ukrainian ATACMS long-range missile strike killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in an occupied region 50 miles from the front line, according to OSINT and military analysts.

Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian military training area some 50 miles behind the front line in the occupied Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, per an assessment by The Institute for the Study of War.

According to two aerial geolocated videos posted on Wednesday by X user Osinttechnical, an account affiliated with the Centre for Naval Analyses, Ukraine appeared to strike the training area with three US-supplied M39 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Sure. And they’d be alive today if they were slightly to the left or right of the blast zone. But their deaths won’t bring us any closer to Putin not invading Ukraine.

        We’re going to see a hundred dead Ukrainians in a retaliation strike. And then another hundred dead Russians in a retaliation for the retaliation. Etc, etc, etc.

        All this death isn’t achieving its end goals. Its just piling up more and more corpses.

        • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          But their deaths won’t bring us any closer to Putin not invading Ukraine.

          The only way for Ukraine to win this war is to destroy Russia’s ability to wage it. This means destroying Russia’s troops, destroying Russia’s vehicles, destroying Russia’s factories, and destroying Russia’s oil and refinery production.

          Destroying the invader demonstrably brings Ukraine closer to ending Putin’s invasion.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            The only way for Ukraine to win this war is to destroy Russia’s ability to wage it.

            The Ukrainian economy is utterly exhausted. Its operating entirely on the credit from its western allies (who are - incidentally - keen on carving up and selling off what’s left of Ukraine once the war is over). At best, Zelensky can stop the bleeding of territory to Russian creep. But unless they want to fight this war for the next 20 years (a la Vietnam / Afghanistan / Iraq) they’re not going to end a country 10x their size. Certainly not when the MIC they’re relying on demands giant profit margins for every rocket launched and bullet fired.

            Destroying the invader demonstrably brings Ukraine closer to ending Putin’s invasion.

            Not when Ukraine is cannibalizing itself in the effort.

            • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              As you note, Afghanistan beat the Soviet Union, there is no reason to believe Ukraine cannot beat Russia. It is also unlikely to take 20 years given how deeply Russia is expending their Soviet inheritance. We are actively watching Russia drain this one-time resource as their storage yards deplete every month. We have watched the Black Sea Fleet sink and the remnants relegated to the furthest coasts of Russia while Ukrainian grain shipments have recovered. This war is winnable, and Ukraine intends to do just that.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Afghanistan beat the Soviet Union, there is no reason to believe Ukraine cannot

                Afghan Taliban fighters had big mountain ranges to hide in and retaliate from. And the USSR had no real objective in Afghanistan. It wasn’t a frontline of conflict in the Cold War, just an expensive distraction.

                Ukrainians have nowhere to hide. They’re defending cities not hiding in rural highlands. And they’re not fighting the USSR for religious reasons, they’re fighting a turf war for economic reasons.

                They’re in the same position as Germany at the end of WW2, defending thousands of miles of flat muddy countryside against layers of mobile artillery.

                We are actively watching Russia drain this one-time resource as their storage yards deplete every month.

                Russia has the world’s second largest arms industry. They aren’t working off a one time resource, any more than America was in the South Pacific in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

            • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
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              7 months ago

              Then tell us what Ukraine and the west should do.

              If it is giving up and letting Russia seize control of the entire nation, then you I have fundamentally different world views.
              If it is negotiating with Putin, we are again in disagreement. We don’t bow down to bullies. When we do, they end up taking our lunch money again and again.

              So really: please tell us what the best alternative is.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Then tell us what Ukraine and the west should do.

                Broker a ceasefire, to start, as that ends the immediate loss of life. Begin negotiations for a permanent peace settlement. Establish terms for repatriating land to displaced refugees and compensation for death and destruction of property.

                Then hold elections in Ukraine to establish a new postwar government that can continue the peace process.

                letting Russia seize control of the entire nation

                The only way to prevent Russia from furthering its march into Ukraine is to establish a ceasefire.

                Ukrainians had that chance in 2022 and they choose counteroffensive. It failed and they lost territory.

                In 2023, they tried again and failed, and lost more territory.

                Now Kyiv is under regular bombardment from fortified Russian positions in the North and the entire Donetsk line is under unsustainable pressure.

                Either Europe enters the war to bail out Ukraine, Russia accepts a ceasefire and begins a peace settlement, or you’re looking at another big line collapse and retreat, with commensurate territory loss all through the East and South.

                • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Begin negotiations for a permanent peace settlement.

                  Ukraine is willing to end the war today, unfortunately Russia actively rejects returning Ukrainian lands. Until Russia is prepared to accept peace, the only path forward is to destroy Russia’s ability to wage war.

                  Ukrainians had that chance in 2022 and they choose counteroffensive. It failed and they lost territory.

                  ??? In 2022, Ukraine pushed the invader away from Kiev, out of Kharkiv, and out of Kherson. Ukraine holds significantly more of their own land today than they did before their counteroffensives in 2022. The entirety of the green shaded area is land Russia once occupied that Ukraine liberated.

                  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                    7 months ago

                    Russia has rejected returning Ukrainian lands.

                    All the more reason to call for a cease-fire and prevent them from taking any more.

                    There is no peace settlement possible until Russia’s ability to wage war is destroyed.

                    There is no end game for Ukraine that has them securing Vladivostok. They’ll be lucky if they can put boots back into Donetsk.

                    Ukraine pushed Russia away from Kiev

                    While giving up Khereon in the process.

                    Ukraine holds significantly more of their own land today than they did before their counteroffensives in 2022.

                    They contest more land, thanks to longer range munitions.

                    And they never succeeded in ending bombardment of Kyiv or Western infrastructure. The Ukrainians power grid is poised to collapse and force millions more to flee westward.

                • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  There is no permanent peace achievable now. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and there was 8 years of peace until they attacked again. They used the peace to re-arm.

                  The actual solution is escalating sanctions slowly, like a python, to demonstrate to the Russian people that Putin is not in control. A sustained quagmire and waning domestic support is a recipe for Russia pulling out of Ukraine on its own.

                  It’s been done many times: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan (twice!), Iraq. And those are just the ones that involved the US. Authoritarian regimes have to deal with domestic support too. They don’t just magically have unlimited resources to stay in power, especially when their army is outside the country.

            • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Western allies (who are - incidentally - keen on carving up and selling off what’s left of Ukraine once the war is over)

              Da, komrade. It will be sad day when glorious ruzzia NATO breaks up and redistributes land once this war is over.

            • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
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              7 months ago

              And Russia is going to North Korea and China for shits and giggles becase they too need help as well as selling thier fossil fuels far and wide.

              The issue isn’t Russia stops at Ukraine and it’s happy families, that can’t occur, millions of Ukranines will conduct partisan operstions for decades if they did take Ukraine at all.

              The issues are many, an example, do you help your friends in times of need if they ask ? The US did sign a treaty in '91 saying they’d come to Ukraine’s defence if Ukraine gave their nukes up. Another issue, do random countires get to invade other countires and we’re all just meahhhh. It will also embolden countires to just say, no one will care and invade a neighbor (China, North Korea are watching) The US is sending a token amount of military, getting rid of their old shit and refreshing thier weapons systems, spending huge amounts of money in the US to do it. Simialry.otjer nations, like the Netherland, Denmark etc was getting rid of the F16s to replace them with F35s etc. The tanks gifted we’re old ones as another example…

              Russia has already said they won’t stop there, so when they take Lithuania, what then ? Try it with Finland and what then ? What if they decide they want to take Poland, what then ?

              Fuck Russia, give Ukraine what they want and need. We should be putting boots on the ground ) not at rhe front perhaps but logistics, mechanised repairs etc and military jets in the air.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              Its operating entirely on the credit from its western allies

              Nope. It’s aid, not loans. At least by and large, that is, some small amount of loans might exist. You might be confused by the US passing lend+lease but that was more of a political signal to the Russians.

              Certainly not when the MIC they’re relying on demands giant profit margins for every rocket launched and bullet fired.

              Generals don’t give a fuck about the military-industrial complex they care about whatever resource they have getting used efficiently because you don’t win wars by being wasteful: You don’t suddenly start shooting ATACMS when artillery will do and is available for the simple reason that artillery shells are easier to get, more abundant.

              Not when Ukraine is cannibalizing itself in the effort.

              Have a look at Ukraine’s demographics. Have a look at which age range is exempt from the draft. The reason is quite simple: Ukraine is a democratic society, not run by a little man and his viceroys for their own personal benefit. The only country cannibalising itself here is Russia, Ukraine is surviving.

        • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Alternatively… if the Russians occupy more cities and towns, bodies of people executed with their hands tied will fill the streets untill they can get mobile crematoria there to burn them.

          So only a Russian defeat will result in less bodies.

      • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
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        7 months ago

        That’s not that the commenter said. You can abhor the death of 100 people, and still commend Ukraine for defending itself.

        • rayyy@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Those soldiers were most likely high value targets. They aren’t going to wast high value weapons on grunts. Their elimination would likely save the lives of many Ukrainian civilians.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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          7 months ago

          You can but they didn’t. Sometimes it’s worth the extra effort to also write “Putin is dumb.”

      • venusaur@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        a lot of these Russian soldiers don’t want to fight. when you hear 100 soldiers dead, it’s not 100 Putins. it’s just 100 regular people like you and me in a fucked up situation. good for Ukraine for protecting themselves, but “wiped out 100 russian troops” sounds like you’re killing ants. they’re still people.

        • snooggums@midwest.social
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          7 months ago

          Right now we should care about the Ukrainian casualties because they are the ones defending themselves against Russian occupation. Russian soldiers are part of an invading force and the fewer Russian troops the sponer the war will end. It does not matter how many are there willingly or not when they are part of an occupying force.

          We can care about the conscripted Russian soldiers who were forced to fight against their will after the war.

              • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
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                7 months ago

                I don’t have a direct line to Putin to take it up with him.

                Valuing human life isn’t coming across as approval of Putin’s actions, is it? Cause that would be a weird conclusion to draw, imho.

                  • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
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                    7 months ago

                    Yes, I think it is weird. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unconscionable and tragic. This view does not conflict with expressing remorse that 100 human beings were killed in the blink of an eye. The fact that you think holding the latter opinion means the person must be making a political statement is sad.

            • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I care quite a bit about the Russian soldiers who left Russia.

              I care quite a bit about the Russian soldiers who waved the white flag.

              I care quite a bit about the Russian solders who refused their orders and stayed in Russia.

              I do not care about the Russian invaders. They made their choice, they will now live (or die) with them.

        • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Only professional and volunteers in Ukraine… contractniki. Conscripts are used to fill homeland positions.

          Granted… some are voluntold… but I would not characterize it as “a lot” but “some”…

          Counting the volunteers who went to war willingly only to find themselves as cannon fodder and now regret their decision as “don’t want to fight” is not correct… because if properly supplied or when easily winning these guys would be wiping out ukranians with a smile on their face.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          If they don’t want to die they’re free to march on the Kremlin, instead. Kremlin guards have fewer weapons than the Ukrainian army.

          • venusaur@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Imagine you’re in Russia. You see every person who was ever a real threat to the government die or disappear. You can’t flee the country. A coup is highly unlikely; Prigozhin just tried it and the plane he was on mysteriously blew up. You don’t have a lot of options. Makes sense to take your chances against Ukraine than try to overthrow the Russian military/government.

            What really needs to happen is for war law to be changed to allow heads of state and government buildings to be targeted. Then they’d be a lot more careful about going to war.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              You don’t have a lot of options. Makes sense to take your chances against Ukraine than try to overthrow the Russian military/government.

              Not in a strategic sense, no, because Kremlin guards are still less well armed than Ukraine. The trouble, of course, is that people are too scared to make that kind of cool-headed analysis but as soon as there’s a crack in the regime because, say, Omon can’t respond to lesser incidents because they’re lying in a ditch in Ukraine the dam would break. Which OTOH is rather unlikely to happen because regime security is Putin’s #1 concern, he’d let go of Ukraine before risking it, so he won’t kill off their response capability like that. He may be mad but he’s not crazy.

              What really needs to happen is for war law to be changed to allow heads of state and government buildings to be targeted. Then they’d be a lot more careful about going to war.

              Bad idea. If Putin loses, the Siloviki have a good justification for a coup. If Putin gets assassinated, they’d be forced to declare him a martyr and continue the fight.

              And Ukraine thinks the same or the SBU would already have gotten to him. They’re also not touching the likes of Shoigu, they only target competent people: The more of a clown show the Russian regime is the easier the war becomes.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Okay, but what if I told you the missile guys were the Good Guys and the dead guys were the Bad Guys?

      Maybe I could even establish that Good Guys got more points, so they are now Winning?

      Are you against Good Guys Winning?

    • venusaur@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      sad how easily people can be made to celebrate the death of 100 people they know nothing about.

      • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        While I agree with your point in general, I too «celebrate» russian soldiers being eliminated.
        The pure, evil brutality their countrymen have shown the world in the last two years is beyond comprehension.

        So I guess it’s more celebrating every Ukranian who gets to live because these men died, if that makes sense.

        I’d much prefer they get to go home of course. I think most of us do.

        • venusaur@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          lots of US soldiers have innocent blood on their hands. you happy if US soldiers die?

          • Bronzie@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            If they imperialistically invade Canada/Mexico and rape and torture both civilians and military alike, then of course I would.

            And before you ask: I’d wish the same if my country ever did the same to one of our neighbors. My principles are the same regardless.

            Did you expect a different answer?

            • venusaur@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              yeah i expected you to say that you would celebrate the deaths of any soldiers who kill innocent people, but you very specifically only care about those who invade neighboring countries.

              do you celebrate the deaths of the some 15k US soldiers who died in the Mexican-American war?