Ukraine continues to be the center of the world’s attention — as it should be — and the whole show appears to be slowly sliding into an even more humane crisis as Vlad Putin’s shitty military has nearly collapsed. The war zone thus will become cities and countryside being blown apart.

Coupled with Russian cannon fodder with updates on that video I posted earlier today

#Russian military blunders, alongside modern comms and video tech, are providing a vast amount of classroom content for war studies and military colleges. An entire generation will study these videos of ‘what not to do’ and ‘how to slow a vastly more powerful enemy’… #ukraine https://t.co/ghOvUEXTdi

— Jane Ferguson (@JaneFerguson5) March 10, 2022

Apparently, because of dumb-shit, bad tactics, the Russian army is losing troops at a way-faster clip than anywhere normal (for a dim-witted invasion) — from CBS News late this afternoon:

Between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops may have been killed in just the first two weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official estimated Wednesday.
The official stressed, however, that this is a difficult number to assess in real time, and the number could be closer to 3,500.

Still, the official described the number as “very, very significant casualties,” comparing the tally to losses from some World War II battles.
The official did not give an estimate for the number of wounded Russians, but the figure in most wars is generally around three times as many killed, which would put that number at an estimated 15,000 to 18,000.

Supposedly, in two weeks Russia lost more troops than the US in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2001 and 2019 — and even worse on the scale of shit to shit, the number larger than the casualties in a decade while Russia occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s. Even with the low-sized figures.
Indications from all angles and directions, Putin shit in his mess kit with Ukraine.

And the further loss of military/czar asshole face — history repeats:

Satellite images show flooding north of Kyiv in possible sign of ‘hydraulic warfare’https://t.co/dXZephfxzl

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) March 10, 2022

Details/background via The Washington Post yesterday:

Photographs from Planet Labs PBC, an American firm, and other researchers appear to show a large expanse of flooded land north of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
In a pair of before and after images, taken on Feb. 22 and Feb. 28, the swath of territory becomes significantly more sodden.
…
The Washington Post was not able to confirm that the flooding was intentional, but Planet Labs said it consulted analysts who believe it was deliberate.
If so, it would be the latest example of a centuries-old practice.

“When you’re defending, you’re trying to use what you have,” said Marta Kepe, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp.
“Throughout history, we have multiple examples where countries or military actors have built fortification lines – walls, trenches, fortresses and bunkers. But often we forget that rivers, marshes and water-based defense lines can also be used.”

If it is intentional, Kepe added, “that may be what Ukrainians are trying to do — use water to prevent Russian forces from getting close to Kyiv.”

The inundated area is north of Kyiv on the bank of the Dnieper River, somewhat to the east of where a 40-mile convoy of Russian troops has been idling for days.
U.S. officials have credited this stall-out in part to Ukrainian efforts to slow it down.

Deliberate flooding during combat — either to erect a barrier or destroy an area — is known as “hydraulic warfare,” and it has often been used to supplement a defensive strategy, Kepe said.
“Ukraine is mounting a defensive operation in its own territory,” she said.
“Considering that, I would assume that they would be able to use their superior knowledge of the terrain to their advantage. Hydraulic operations would require such in-depth knowledge of the terrain.”

And the bottom line for the Ukrainians: ‘The tactic can be “integrated into your national defense planning,” Kepe said, “but it can also be used as a last resort when you’re really trying to use any means possible for defense.”‘

A ‘last resort‘ really sounds ominous and tragic.

Yet once again here we are…

(Illustration out front by Taylor Callery, and found here).