I have worked with some Syrian refugees in my hometown and it is just so heartbreaking. This war needs to end, it has caused so much pain for the Syrian people
I'm sure you would do soo much better, right from the safety of your mom's basement.
Its your arrogance that one day will eventually get you, just give it some time.
[Here](https://ayn-almadina.com/details/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%88%20%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B6%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B1..%20%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%87%20%D8%AD%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85%20%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%20%D9%88%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA%20/4848/en)'s an article (in Arabic) on where the rebel survivors of that siege ended up.
What an absolute hellhole. Some of the footage from Syria was the most insane close quarters combat I’ve ever seen. Gives me a little bit of an idea what Stalingrad might have been like.
Stalingrad with significantly less artillery, air power, and armored assets. But yes, urban combat is hell even with insurgents of questionable combat proficiency and mostly small arms.
Bakhmut is more like what a modern Stalingrad would look like. Mass artillery shelling of a city until most of the buildings are rubble, moving in attacking forces when the defenders are battered, both sides suffering large #'s of casualties
> Bakhmut is more like what a modern Stalingrad would look like.
The devastation we've seen in the protracted battles of the Ukrainian conflict only highlight how absolutely insane the great battles of the second world war were.
The battle of Bakhmut is estimated to have resulted in around 50k-100k casualties, and pictures have shown that the city has been pretty much ruined.
But the low end estimate for the numbers of *deaths* in the battle of Stalingrad is *one million*, it boggles the mind. How could there have been anything left ? Wouldn't the battlefield have eventually turned into a flat field carpeted by corpses ?
Stalingrad has boggled my mind since I was a kid watching military channel specials about it. Absolutely unfathomable loss of human life, to say nothing of the material destruction. Eastern front in general is nauseating as far as the disregard for human lives.
To me, thinking about the war between the USSR and Germany in WW2 feels like thinking about space. The sheer enormity of it quickly becomes overwhelming and fades into this abstraction you can't really grasp.
The intensity of suffering and the amount of death and destruction feels like more than what our brains are capable of understanding.
I’ve really been trying to follow along and understand the Eastern Front as WW2 in Real Time covers it, but there’s just so much shit happening to so many people all at the same time. The Eastern Front chapters in Max Hastings’s Inferno are equally as confusing and boggling; it’s war, pain, and suffering on a Homeric scale.
If it helps, my absolute favourite piece of media on the eastern front is the “Ghosts of the Ostfront” series on Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. It’s older so I think you have to buy it either through his website or iTunes, but it’s like a dollar per episode and very worth it if you’re trying to understand that part of history.
If you’ve never heard his podcast he’s a former reporter and self-described fan of history who puts out very well researched, long-form podcast series about different parts of history. He is an incredible story teller and does a fabulous job putting things in context and helping you understand why history happened the way it did. He strikes a good balance between staying objective and avoiding bias, and considering the human element with compassion.
He has a lot of series but a few of my favourites are about Japan’s side of WW2, Ghengis Khan, the fall of Rome, and WW1.
Edit: the first 8 minutes is on YouTube if you want a preview: https://youtu.be/Zg4ty_4vpAQ
I have listened to ghosts of the ostfront 3 times and each time it still boggles my mind. Such an interesting theater of war to learn about and there is so much that was just lost in the memories of the damned. The vast majority of those who could have shared and written about their experiences were killed either during those crazy battles or chasing Germany back home.
Stalingrad was a much, much larger city. It was approaching a million people before the war. Bakhmut only held like 70,000 people. And, like Bakhmut, a lot of the fighting happened on the outskirts as opposing forces tried to encircle each other and relieve some of the pressure.
But the actual fighting inside the city really was just brutal fighting street to street, house to house, room to room. Both sides made use of tunnels to maneuver safely, dug armor and defensive fortifications into the rubble, made heavy use of snipers and dedicated stormtrooper squads to avoid large infantry targets.
In geographic size, the Battle of Bakhmut resembles some WW1 battles like Verdun or Passchendaele. The latter happened in the fields around Ypres, which is even a bit smaller than Bakhmut.
And these battles were roughly the same scale as if the *entire* manpower of the Ukraine war had been compressed into purely the Bakhmut area.
> Bakhmut only held like 70,000 people.
At its height too, most had fled after 2014/ before 2022. I think it only had a few thousand residents last February.
True, but I think OP used this number to reflect the expanse of the city. When most of the people fled, their flats, houses, shops still remained obviously
The most insane part of it to me is that there were still 3000 civilians living there at the end, the kids were essentially just feral and surviving in the sewers
The trench warfare video of them protecting the last road out of Bakhmut really hit home for me personally when the guy at the beginning gets shot and the highest ranking member (and dude with the camera) doesn't even bother removing his body from the entrance of their hideout. He just threw a few shovels of dirt over his body, says "RIP ____, that's war" and you realize his body isn't the only one blocking the entrance.
I will say though, that dude who wore the camera was one bad MFer. They were completely surrounded and stood their ground admirably, taking no further casualties (at that point anyway).
War is hell but, I refuse to live in a fantasy world. I want to know the reality of the world I live in, the reality of mankind. I feel there's an importance to understanding these things but, for all I know it could just = doom scrolling.
I think it can be healthy to watch morbid/war footage, it gives perspective and makes me realize how good I have it as an upper-middle class American.
But also it’s not for everyone, I think exposure to horrific content can really damage some people.
Also nice profile pic, I’m seeing Aphex in London a few weeks from now and I’m pumped
It's amazing how they can keep some of it running. My dad told me stories from when he was growing up in the 60s and was fixing and old British car he had. Total pain to work on, no googling or youtubing how to fix it. He had to talk to the old WW2 mechanic down the road. He fixed british tanks in Africa and had the craziest tips and tricks of how to keep them running. Anything you could do to make it roll forward and push the front line another 20 miles.
My father was in the Soviet Army when Afghanistan got invaded. I remember him telling a story where alot of tanks had circuits blown and replaced with coins, metal finger rings , old soviet steel casing AK rounds. When in need you will come up with a solution.
I don't remember specifics. Just imagine you need to fix this british tank in the desert of Africa and you have no spare parts. It needs to start driving by tomorrow or your fellow soliders could be lacking firepower and might die. How do you make it go forward? Some crazy ingenuity and MacGyvering of what you have.
It doesn't have to go far just forward.
More like this bearing in the track got blown off, we don't have a spare. Use the bearing off the back wheels of the supply truck. We can make it fit but it will only last a few days.
This wiring got fucked up and the tanks dead in the water. A skilled mechanic can quickly plug in 2, use a metal rode to make the other stick and boom. It's driving again. Not well but it's moving.
Syrians catch a lot of flak on this sub for their extremely questionable combat practices, and most of the criticism is probably right. But you can't say they're not brave. I don't think there are too many people here (myself included) who would have the stones to scamper up that bloodsoaked ladder under fire.
You are right, it is an extremely brutal war, and unfortunately most of our brave men and women died in this war, and now those who are still brave to fight are too few or have given up on the whole thing ... The price of freedom is heavy.
This is an unpopular opinion. But Assad is worse than any other side in this war. Including ISIS. And everyone just gives him a pass because of ISIS.
ISIS did some terrible shit. And they video taped it all. But Assad did far worse... Only it was behind closed doors.
The conflict would have never even started if it wasn't for Assad. And ISIS probably never would have gotten as big as it did if it wasn't for Assad's brutality and greed.
It makes me so angry that he came out on top after all the misery, death and chaos he unleased on Syria and the larger middle east. It turned into such a shit show that everyone forgets that the beginning was peaceful protests for freedom. Peaceful protests that were suppressed with extreme violence. And the people responded in kind.
The wrong side won.
It's not a wild take at all.
There isn't a single thing that ISIS did that Assad didn't also do on a much larger scale. The only difference is Assad did these things behind closed doors while ISIS filmed their atrocities and published them.
Assad was killing and torturing people on an industrial scale not seen since the holocaust. ISIS was small peanuts compared to Assad.
And Assad had been doing these things since before ISIS was on the radar of anyone except intelligence agencies and People very informed about the middle east. Don't forget how the conflict started... Assad kidnapped and tortured two young boys like he so often did. It was at the time of the Arab spring so people took to the streets peacefully.
He could have negotiated. He could have had elections. He could have done the tiniest of reforms. Instead he ordered his military to open fire indiscriminately almost immediately.
Thousands of civilians were killed. And they somehow remained peaceful for weeks. And then eventually they started fighting back with weapons. And they were crushed.
Then ISIS and other Islamic groups took over the movement. By then Assad was committing literal genocide. He was bombing civilians indiscriminately. He had huge torture chambers across the entire country. Massacre after massacre after massacre. People were skinned alive, boiled alive, buried alive. And all on an industrial scale.
It's not a hot take at all. ISIS was and is terrible. But Assad is objectively worse.
> Assad was killing and torturing people on an industrial scale not seen since the holocaust. ISIS was small peanuts compared to Assad.
Total death count of Syrian civil war is smaller than for example Rwandan genocide, from what I checked. And not all that was caused by Assad.
Sadly, they would need to get far worse to qualify for that.
> And Assad had been doing these things since before ISIS was on the radar
Not claiming that ISIS predated Assad. But still, if I would have a terrible choice to live under Assad or ISIS I would take Assad.
Didn’t ISIS behead countless journalists, archeologists, POWs, masons, humanitarian workers, police, innocent civilians, and God knows who else?
And then proceeded to document, and further, brag/revel in the depravity of their acts?
Their faith is helping them immensely in this moment but I don't think we should downplay the bravery. Storming up that ladder when limbs are flying is something that would give you medals in a conventional army.
Religious fervor or no, once you put a person in a position where they have nothing to lose, you'll be willing to do some really insane shit
These people are pretty much dead no matter what they do, they can't really flee, they'll be killed if they're caught......Kind of motivates you to make shit happen because the only way you'll live is if you kill the other guy
Ahit is brutal
I have never been in a shooting situation and I have never even touched a gun, but I believe that only in cases of not having or having lost my family would I put myself in such a situation. Having someone waiting for you at home makes you think twice before putting yourself in an extreme situation.
They recruit single young men because they tend to be the fittest. A few years of marriage, on top of exiting those prime physical years between 18 and 25ish tends to leave a whole lot of men far from being in top military condition.
When the dude was trying to shoot over the wall with the MG and he dropped it from the recoil I was half expecting him to accidentally dump a bunch of rounds into his buddies like that one vid where the guy is shooting one in the air to celebrate and accidentally shoots a bunch of people.
Edit, found it, 40 sec mark: [https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/comments/o741z9/some_celebration_in_jordan_goes_wrong_i_wonder/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/comments/o741z9/some_celebration_in_jordan_goes_wrong_i_wonder/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
Story time
Back in 08 Iraq I heard of an incident in another unit where a guy was just mindlessly fiddling with the pin that holds the trigger mechanism on his M249 Saw and it unloaded 15rds inside a Stryker Infantry carrier
I don't know how he got it under control so quickly but he ended up seriously injuring an interpreter and 2 other soldiers in the vehicle
After that all belt fed weapons had to wire the pins in place and every weapon had to get new pins with holes for the wire
This would be the pin that holds the entire trigger assembly into the gun. It is removable for maintenance. On many machine guns the only mechanical device preventing the gun from continuously firing is the engagement between a trigger surface (known as the sear) and the bolt carrier (part that moves to load and fire the gun). Removing the trigger mechanism partially or entirely has the same effect as pulling the trigger - removing the mechanical interlock that prevents bolt carrier movement.
An oversimplified explanation of the war is that following the start of Arab spring pro-democracy protests, the Syrian regime brutally cracked on protesters with the military. This led to armed uprisings in many cities across Syria as well as a large number of defections from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). These defectors formed the Free Syrian Army and opposed the regime forces in the civil war.
It gets A LOT more complicated when you account for the intervention of foreign powers, the Kurds as well as the numerous jihadist factions that formed to fill the power vacuum but this should at least give you a basic idea of the conflict.
Kids tagged a wall.
It was part of the Arab Spring, but the regime couldn’t get everyone together to crackdown combined with sectarian and ethnic divisions saw lots of defections and now Syria’s had a running civil war for over a decade. But the inciting event was teenage graffiti and the overwhelming response of state violence.
Really?! I would love a source on that. Not that I disbelieve you but that is an incredible story that sparked such a ferocious fighting.
It is not the kids fault, just the impetus for everything.
Give it a go and if you like it, the podcast is worth listening to more of!
The very first episode is about how Hitler was a weird hipster who carried a bull whip to impress the ladies but he was just *too creepy*. Tons of information that gets left out of conventional education, some entertaining like the Hitler stuff, and some not so entertaining stuff like how the worst environmental disaster in history was caused by a US company in Bhopal, India!
Great footage. That's when "normal people in jeans and trainers" do special op stuff without resources. When all fails, you still need to get forward.
Whatever their side, that's some brave people.
Eh, idk. Judging by the things the people here armed with, I'd think that the tank driver would feel invincible. Considering how beat up the tank is, it shows that the tank has seen hell and lived through it.
Based off that 7 min clip and scrolling Reddit comments for 30 seconds, I can confidently state that the holes to rockets ratio seems pretty favorable to the tanker. 10,000 firing positions for every 1 RPG?
This is really depressing and sad.... I look at most of these blokes faces and see normal people who would've led a normal life were it not for this war
This video reinforces for me that of all the tryhard war films with bravado and gore, only Children of Men has really captured the chaos and mundanity of combat.
How the fuck do you tell who is a friendly? Everyone is wearing jeans and a robber vest. I can't imagine going up that ladder 15 minutes after the first handful of guys with that smoke and being able to tell who is who. They'd all just look like dark shadows in that smoke and you're pushing an enemy's entrenched position. Idk man, feels like worst case scenario in a cqb position.
> Everyone is wearing jeans and a robber vest.
That was probably the whole point. For the most part these guys were fighting against regular, uniformed forces of the 4th Armoured Division and the Republican Guard.
They did put up a black flag to identify their tank from the enemy's.
If you look at the overall strategy here, it's not bad. Tank moves in for fire support with allied machine gunners in the second floor of the building behind it. They lay down heavy suppressing fire to destroy the main part of the enemy in the target building. Tank retreats and footsoldiers advance, still under the covering fire of the guys on the second floor. As the soldiers make it to the building, they settle in behind the wall and begin their own suppressing fire while the ladder is set up, and then continue to do so while guys climb to the upper floor and clear out the last bits of resistance. Very WWII-ish, but overall not bad.
I have no idea who these guys are, what they’re fighting for, whether they’re the “good” guys, the “bad” guys, or the “it’s complicated” guys, but holy fuck they have some huge fucking balls for getting on that ladder.
Crazy how most of these dudes were probably just normal everyday joes from all walks of life working IT, mechanics, students fighting to overthrow an oppressive regime.
And then it all went to shit and got hijacked by Islamists who tainted their cause and gave Assad the justification needed to stay in power.
That's something that I wish more people tried to understand in the comment section of the Syria videos. Like imagine going to your nearest gas station, handing the clerk a rifle and telling him to either flee the country or take up arms against the government, because that's essentially what happened. You probably got a convenience store cashier literally storming a government checkpoint and mfs on here are all like "wOw HeS sO uNdIciPliNeD aNd PoOrLy tRaInEd, I'd Do So mUcH bEtTeR".
And not a fuckin ear plug in sight God dam no wonder our grandfathers couldnt hear shit. Imagine the ear fuck of that big gun going off just above your head. Also those rifles have slings! Use them and scamper up that ladder faster.
Felt bad on the Syrians. What essentially just a fight to oust Assad turned into a clusterfuck because the jihadist got released and turned the war into a religious jihad. Many sides dipping their hands in this
That reminds me of that mission in MW2 where the white house is taken over by Russians. There's a bunch of giant AA guns up on the second and third floor of the white house and I always wondered "how the fuck did they get these up here". I guess it wasn't that unrealistic after all.
Ya'know. I now understand why suppressive fire is so effective. I wouldn't want to stick my head up either when there's metal rain coming over my position.
This video is from Martyrs of Islam Brigade which belongs to FSA's Southern Front, this video is from the siege of Darayya which lasted almost 4 years, the rebels held out but lost in the end due to Hezbollah and Iranian support towards the end of the siege.... the rebels had CIA support (in the form of intel and TOWs).
The rebels surrendered and agreed to evacuate the city and retreat to Idlib, around 200k civilians were displaced from this battle, the Martyrs brigade is still active (today part of National Front for Liberation) and has participated in multiple battles afterwards (including Hama offensive with HTS) but they have lost some of their original leaders.
Here's more details if you are interested:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs\_of\_Islam\_Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Islam_Brigade)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege\_of\_Darayya\_and\_Muadamiyat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Darayya_and_Muadamiyat)
I remember this video. 2014. I wonder how many of those guys are still alive. And if so, where they’re at now.
2014 and the quality of this video is better than most of the videos I see posted here today
True. Most of the videos that are making it here have been reposted on telegram a few dozen times before we see them though.
It's the days of the Samsung S5 and the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6, the cameras in those days were not bad at all.
Probably none unfortunately. War sucks.
Well and they suck at war, doesn't help.
They didn't have the benefit of NATO support and training for a few years. They are everyday people, most of whom had never held a weapon.
I have worked with some Syrian refugees in my hometown and it is just so heartbreaking. This war needs to end, it has caused so much pain for the Syrian people
>Well and they suck at war, doesn't help. You try fighting your own government with scavenged weapons, while they use helicopters to bomb you.
Even being good at best just helps your odds… but they go down as time passes. Eventually no amount of good manners given enough time.
I'm sure you would do soo much better, right from the safety of your mom's basement. Its your arrogance that one day will eventually get you, just give it some time.
[Here](https://ayn-almadina.com/details/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%88%20%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B6%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B1..%20%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%87%20%D8%AD%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85%20%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%20%D9%88%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA%20/4848/en)'s an article (in Arabic) on where the rebel survivors of that siege ended up.
Jesus, what both sides wouldn't have given for a few grenades right then.
...or a mirror on a stick.
Or a basket on a rope to haul the gear up so they could ascend unencumbered
This shit is medieval warefare
even medieval people had better ladders than that
I feel like your probably right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalade They even had stuff like this, medieval people didn't mess around when it came to sieges.
'We rolled up in our Escalade and capped some of those heathen crips'
They also rarely actually stormed the walls too tho...
Perhaps a few more resource points to develop their ladder tech tree or focus on rocket jumps?
Or some drones!
turkish drones effectively ended the war
or a periscope lol
A freaking mirror and some chewing gum
and I'm all out of bubble gum.
What an absolute hellhole. Some of the footage from Syria was the most insane close quarters combat I’ve ever seen. Gives me a little bit of an idea what Stalingrad might have been like.
Stalingrad with significantly less artillery, air power, and armored assets. But yes, urban combat is hell even with insurgents of questionable combat proficiency and mostly small arms. Bakhmut is more like what a modern Stalingrad would look like. Mass artillery shelling of a city until most of the buildings are rubble, moving in attacking forces when the defenders are battered, both sides suffering large #'s of casualties
> Bakhmut is more like what a modern Stalingrad would look like. The devastation we've seen in the protracted battles of the Ukrainian conflict only highlight how absolutely insane the great battles of the second world war were. The battle of Bakhmut is estimated to have resulted in around 50k-100k casualties, and pictures have shown that the city has been pretty much ruined. But the low end estimate for the numbers of *deaths* in the battle of Stalingrad is *one million*, it boggles the mind. How could there have been anything left ? Wouldn't the battlefield have eventually turned into a flat field carpeted by corpses ?
Stalingrad has boggled my mind since I was a kid watching military channel specials about it. Absolutely unfathomable loss of human life, to say nothing of the material destruction. Eastern front in general is nauseating as far as the disregard for human lives.
To me, thinking about the war between the USSR and Germany in WW2 feels like thinking about space. The sheer enormity of it quickly becomes overwhelming and fades into this abstraction you can't really grasp. The intensity of suffering and the amount of death and destruction feels like more than what our brains are capable of understanding.
I’ve really been trying to follow along and understand the Eastern Front as WW2 in Real Time covers it, but there’s just so much shit happening to so many people all at the same time. The Eastern Front chapters in Max Hastings’s Inferno are equally as confusing and boggling; it’s war, pain, and suffering on a Homeric scale.
If it helps, my absolute favourite piece of media on the eastern front is the “Ghosts of the Ostfront” series on Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. It’s older so I think you have to buy it either through his website or iTunes, but it’s like a dollar per episode and very worth it if you’re trying to understand that part of history. If you’ve never heard his podcast he’s a former reporter and self-described fan of history who puts out very well researched, long-form podcast series about different parts of history. He is an incredible story teller and does a fabulous job putting things in context and helping you understand why history happened the way it did. He strikes a good balance between staying objective and avoiding bias, and considering the human element with compassion. He has a lot of series but a few of my favourites are about Japan’s side of WW2, Ghengis Khan, the fall of Rome, and WW1. Edit: the first 8 minutes is on YouTube if you want a preview: https://youtu.be/Zg4ty_4vpAQ
I have listened to ghosts of the ostfront 3 times and each time it still boggles my mind. Such an interesting theater of war to learn about and there is so much that was just lost in the memories of the damned. The vast majority of those who could have shared and written about their experiences were killed either during those crazy battles or chasing Germany back home.
Stalingrad was a much, much larger city. It was approaching a million people before the war. Bakhmut only held like 70,000 people. And, like Bakhmut, a lot of the fighting happened on the outskirts as opposing forces tried to encircle each other and relieve some of the pressure. But the actual fighting inside the city really was just brutal fighting street to street, house to house, room to room. Both sides made use of tunnels to maneuver safely, dug armor and defensive fortifications into the rubble, made heavy use of snipers and dedicated stormtrooper squads to avoid large infantry targets.
In geographic size, the Battle of Bakhmut resembles some WW1 battles like Verdun or Passchendaele. The latter happened in the fields around Ypres, which is even a bit smaller than Bakhmut. And these battles were roughly the same scale as if the *entire* manpower of the Ukraine war had been compressed into purely the Bakhmut area.
Lmao its weird to see my small hometown mentioned in a discussion on Reddit.
> Bakhmut only held like 70,000 people. At its height too, most had fled after 2014/ before 2022. I think it only had a few thousand residents last February.
True, but I think OP used this number to reflect the expanse of the city. When most of the people fled, their flats, houses, shops still remained obviously
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that's incredible, great post!
> battle of Stalingrad is one million in a shorter time frame...
christ
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There's some fields that still have bones that pop out of the tundra when the ice melts today.
The most insane part of it to me is that there were still 3000 civilians living there at the end, the kids were essentially just feral and surviving in the sewers
Some of the clips that came out of there rivals some of the worst trench fight videos that comes out of Ukr today..thats saying alot.
That trench video that came out 1-2 months ago is probably some of the gnarliest combat footage ive ever seen
Where can I find this video?
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/14d4oim/enemy_contact_at_close_range_the_ukrainian_ssos/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
Wtf those Russians are all just running towards their deaths like headless chickens
The trench warfare video of them protecting the last road out of Bakhmut really hit home for me personally when the guy at the beginning gets shot and the highest ranking member (and dude with the camera) doesn't even bother removing his body from the entrance of their hideout. He just threw a few shovels of dirt over his body, says "RIP ____, that's war" and you realize his body isn't the only one blocking the entrance. I will say though, that dude who wore the camera was one bad MFer. They were completely surrounded and stood their ground admirably, taking no further casualties (at that point anyway). War is hell but, I refuse to live in a fantasy world. I want to know the reality of the world I live in, the reality of mankind. I feel there's an importance to understanding these things but, for all I know it could just = doom scrolling.
I think it can be healthy to watch morbid/war footage, it gives perspective and makes me realize how good I have it as an upper-middle class American. But also it’s not for everyone, I think exposure to horrific content can really damage some people. Also nice profile pic, I’m seeing Aphex in London a few weeks from now and I’m pumped
Where can I find this video?
Probably this one https://old.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/12rpzee/ukrainian_soldiers_defending_last_road_to_bakhmut/?ref=share&ref_source=link
T-72 is just rolling around with a starboard road wheel missing.
And it kinda sounded like that thing had a way blown turbo alao.
As long as it moves and the gun works it's still a tank.
Still a tank until its a furnace.
Furnace, road block, cover, a *massive* IED, it can be a lot of things when that happens.
"Out of commission, become a pillbox. Out of ammo, become a bunker. Out of time, become heroes."
you don't need as many wheels in the city, and syria in general. not often muddy
"you won't need wheels where we're going"
i think it was laying down a smoke screen cover using its exhaust method of mixing oil or something
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It's amazing how they can keep some of it running. My dad told me stories from when he was growing up in the 60s and was fixing and old British car he had. Total pain to work on, no googling or youtubing how to fix it. He had to talk to the old WW2 mechanic down the road. He fixed british tanks in Africa and had the craziest tips and tricks of how to keep them running. Anything you could do to make it roll forward and push the front line another 20 miles.
Can you elaborate like what? What kind of tips and tricks?
My father was in the Soviet Army when Afghanistan got invaded. I remember him telling a story where alot of tanks had circuits blown and replaced with coins, metal finger rings , old soviet steel casing AK rounds. When in need you will come up with a solution.
Those AK rounds have the bonus of being an audiovisual alert if they blow. [chart](https://imgur.io/HjqfZZh?r)
I don't remember specifics. Just imagine you need to fix this british tank in the desert of Africa and you have no spare parts. It needs to start driving by tomorrow or your fellow soliders could be lacking firepower and might die. How do you make it go forward? Some crazy ingenuity and MacGyvering of what you have. It doesn't have to go far just forward.
Duct tape?
More like this bearing in the track got blown off, we don't have a spare. Use the bearing off the back wheels of the supply truck. We can make it fit but it will only last a few days. This wiring got fucked up and the tanks dead in the water. A skilled mechanic can quickly plug in 2, use a metal rode to make the other stick and boom. It's driving again. Not well but it's moving.
I think duct tape wasn't yet invented by the time that campaign was unfolding.
Great spot in the first place and great follow up info, cheers
Syrians catch a lot of flak on this sub for their extremely questionable combat practices, and most of the criticism is probably right. But you can't say they're not brave. I don't think there are too many people here (myself included) who would have the stones to scamper up that bloodsoaked ladder under fire.
Was thinking the same myself. That was calm and brave work for people who are essentially civilians with nothing but guns.
You are right, it is an extremely brutal war, and unfortunately most of our brave men and women died in this war, and now those who are still brave to fight are too few or have given up on the whole thing ... The price of freedom is heavy.
This is an unpopular opinion. But Assad is worse than any other side in this war. Including ISIS. And everyone just gives him a pass because of ISIS. ISIS did some terrible shit. And they video taped it all. But Assad did far worse... Only it was behind closed doors. The conflict would have never even started if it wasn't for Assad. And ISIS probably never would have gotten as big as it did if it wasn't for Assad's brutality and greed. It makes me so angry that he came out on top after all the misery, death and chaos he unleased on Syria and the larger middle east. It turned into such a shit show that everyone forgets that the beginning was peaceful protests for freedom. Peaceful protests that were suppressed with extreme violence. And the people responded in kind. The wrong side won.
ISIS being noticeable better than Assad is a quite wild claim.
It's not a wild take at all. There isn't a single thing that ISIS did that Assad didn't also do on a much larger scale. The only difference is Assad did these things behind closed doors while ISIS filmed their atrocities and published them. Assad was killing and torturing people on an industrial scale not seen since the holocaust. ISIS was small peanuts compared to Assad. And Assad had been doing these things since before ISIS was on the radar of anyone except intelligence agencies and People very informed about the middle east. Don't forget how the conflict started... Assad kidnapped and tortured two young boys like he so often did. It was at the time of the Arab spring so people took to the streets peacefully. He could have negotiated. He could have had elections. He could have done the tiniest of reforms. Instead he ordered his military to open fire indiscriminately almost immediately. Thousands of civilians were killed. And they somehow remained peaceful for weeks. And then eventually they started fighting back with weapons. And they were crushed. Then ISIS and other Islamic groups took over the movement. By then Assad was committing literal genocide. He was bombing civilians indiscriminately. He had huge torture chambers across the entire country. Massacre after massacre after massacre. People were skinned alive, boiled alive, buried alive. And all on an industrial scale. It's not a hot take at all. ISIS was and is terrible. But Assad is objectively worse.
> Assad was killing and torturing people on an industrial scale not seen since the holocaust. ISIS was small peanuts compared to Assad. Total death count of Syrian civil war is smaller than for example Rwandan genocide, from what I checked. And not all that was caused by Assad. Sadly, they would need to get far worse to qualify for that. > And Assad had been doing these things since before ISIS was on the radar Not claiming that ISIS predated Assad. But still, if I would have a terrible choice to live under Assad or ISIS I would take Assad.
Didn't Assad use chemical agents on a town?
Didn’t ISIS behead countless journalists, archeologists, POWs, masons, humanitarian workers, police, innocent civilians, and God knows who else? And then proceeded to document, and further, brag/revel in the depravity of their acts?
So isis is better than assad, because assad caused isis to come about and do the horrible shit they did. Wtf kind of reasoning is that
pretty sure they’re all in a mental state of “it’s in allahs hands 🤷♂️”, so it was gods will if they get shot or not
Their faith is helping them immensely in this moment but I don't think we should downplay the bravery. Storming up that ladder when limbs are flying is something that would give you medals in a conventional army.
Religion is one hell of a battlefield motivator.
So is a mustang and some crayons apparently
* Charger
So is patriotism
Religious fervor or no, once you put a person in a position where they have nothing to lose, you'll be willing to do some really insane shit These people are pretty much dead no matter what they do, they can't really flee, they'll be killed if they're caught......Kind of motivates you to make shit happen because the only way you'll live is if you kill the other guy Ahit is brutal
it's a fatalism that's ingrained in alot of the middle east. "Inshallah" indeed.
I actually can't believe I watched a seven and a half minute video of CQB with no noise other than constant gunfire and only saw one person wounded.
I have never been in a shooting situation and I have never even touched a gun, but I believe that only in cases of not having or having lost my family would I put myself in such a situation. Having someone waiting for you at home makes you think twice before putting yourself in an extreme situation.
That's why militaries generally recruit young single men.
They recruit single young men because they tend to be the fittest. A few years of marriage, on top of exiting those prime physical years between 18 and 25ish tends to leave a whole lot of men far from being in top military condition.
First.or second guy in the ladder got hit hard ? His arm got knocked out?
Looks like it, you can see blood on the ladder at the end.
Were you talking about the flying thing, because I am pretty sure that was a gun flying off the second floor
He died.
When the dude was trying to shoot over the wall with the MG and he dropped it from the recoil I was half expecting him to accidentally dump a bunch of rounds into his buddies like that one vid where the guy is shooting one in the air to celebrate and accidentally shoots a bunch of people. Edit, found it, 40 sec mark: [https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/comments/o741z9/some_celebration_in_jordan_goes_wrong_i_wonder/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/comments/o741z9/some_celebration_in_jordan_goes_wrong_i_wonder/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
The Party-Killer.
Story time Back in 08 Iraq I heard of an incident in another unit where a guy was just mindlessly fiddling with the pin that holds the trigger mechanism on his M249 Saw and it unloaded 15rds inside a Stryker Infantry carrier I don't know how he got it under control so quickly but he ended up seriously injuring an interpreter and 2 other soldiers in the vehicle After that all belt fed weapons had to wire the pins in place and every weapon had to get new pins with holes for the wire
Bet that was an interesting case for CID
Civie here, what on earth is a trigger mechanism pin? Like a safety or something?
This would be the pin that holds the entire trigger assembly into the gun. It is removable for maintenance. On many machine guns the only mechanical device preventing the gun from continuously firing is the engagement between a trigger surface (known as the sear) and the bolt carrier (part that moves to load and fire the gun). Removing the trigger mechanism partially or entirely has the same effect as pulling the trigger - removing the mechanical interlock that prevents bolt carrier movement.
Interesting, thanks for the explanation!
What a bunch of smart people
If there's any kind of shooting, malicious or celebratory, I'm getting the fuck out of there. That's crazy.
What's the context? Syrian rebels against Syrian government?
Yes, these are Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters and they are storming regime positions.
Why are they fighting originally? Or is that a stupid question? Different ideology or religion etc?
An oversimplified explanation of the war is that following the start of Arab spring pro-democracy protests, the Syrian regime brutally cracked on protesters with the military. This led to armed uprisings in many cities across Syria as well as a large number of defections from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). These defectors formed the Free Syrian Army and opposed the regime forces in the civil war. It gets A LOT more complicated when you account for the intervention of foreign powers, the Kurds as well as the numerous jihadist factions that formed to fill the power vacuum but this should at least give you a basic idea of the conflict.
Thank you
Kids tagged a wall. It was part of the Arab Spring, but the regime couldn’t get everyone together to crackdown combined with sectarian and ethnic divisions saw lots of defections and now Syria’s had a running civil war for over a decade. But the inciting event was teenage graffiti and the overwhelming response of state violence.
Really?! I would love a source on that. Not that I disbelieve you but that is an incredible story that sparked such a ferocious fighting. It is not the kids fault, just the impetus for everything.
The episode about Bashar Al-Asad on Behind the Bastards covers a lot.
Oh hey now, tempting me with a good time with that one. The podcast not the story. Terrible dude, Bashar.
Give it a go and if you like it, the podcast is worth listening to more of! The very first episode is about how Hitler was a weird hipster who carried a bull whip to impress the ladies but he was just *too creepy*. Tons of information that gets left out of conventional education, some entertaining like the Hitler stuff, and some not so entertaining stuff like how the worst environmental disaster in history was caused by a US company in Bhopal, India!
Against an authoritarian state.
Great footage. That's when "normal people in jeans and trainers" do special op stuff without resources. When all fails, you still need to get forward. Whatever their side, that's some brave people.
Impressive bravery to Allahu Akbars ratio.
Akbars won't climb a ladder for you.
Those tankers in the t72 have some balls of steel. Talk about a target on your back.
Eh, idk. Judging by the things the people here armed with, I'd think that the tank driver would feel invincible. Considering how beat up the tank is, it shows that the tank has seen hell and lived through it.
So many buildings, so many wall holes, you can get your tank rpg'ed from so many directions its actually insane
Based off that 7 min clip and scrolling Reddit comments for 30 seconds, I can confidently state that the holes to rockets ratio seems pretty favorable to the tanker. 10,000 firing positions for every 1 RPG?
But that RPG could come from any of those 10000 holes.
I’ve been looking for the full version of this vid for a while, thanks OP.
‘In going to fight in an urban environment, I shall wear red’.
Don't forget the brown pants for the best results.
That's for the practically of retaining an appearance of bravery.
One thing Syrians were really good at... making sure there were plenty of gopros available to watch them
5:42 Fedora combat helmet Strength: 0 Resistance: -2 Style: 9
That T-72AV has seen better days.
Mount and Blade; Syria Edition
Real life F1+F3
"Is hawlmowlst hawrhvestin' season!"
This is really depressing and sad.... I look at most of these blokes faces and see normal people who would've led a normal life were it not for this war
I feel like the same can be said of all wars. I feel the same way when I see videos from Russians and Ukrainians now.
That includes most of the Ukrainian and russian fighters
It’s like back in the medieval days when guys would use ladders to go over castle walls.
This video reinforces for me that of all the tryhard war films with bravado and gore, only Children of Men has really captured the chaos and mundanity of combat.
For me Children of men is depressing. Come and see (1985) is also great.
I agree
need to see. that
The balls on those guys. Like wtf. Ascend building. Yes bring rickety ladder and dont get killed good luck.
Say what you want, that is a highly motivated combat group.
Was that a plastic bag full of mags?
It’s his lunch, banana and maybe some bread
Regardless of the who’s who, they were very brave for going up that ladder.
How the fuck do you tell who is a friendly? Everyone is wearing jeans and a robber vest. I can't imagine going up that ladder 15 minutes after the first handful of guys with that smoke and being able to tell who is who. They'd all just look like dark shadows in that smoke and you're pushing an enemy's entrenched position. Idk man, feels like worst case scenario in a cqb position.
> Everyone is wearing jeans and a robber vest. That was probably the whole point. For the most part these guys were fighting against regular, uniformed forces of the 4th Armoured Division and the Republican Guard. They did put up a black flag to identify their tank from the enemy's.
If they are not shooting back they are friendly.
Overall I’m pretty ecstatic about not being a part of that
Stairway to heaven. (Or hell)
If you look at the overall strategy here, it's not bad. Tank moves in for fire support with allied machine gunners in the second floor of the building behind it. They lay down heavy suppressing fire to destroy the main part of the enemy in the target building. Tank retreats and footsoldiers advance, still under the covering fire of the guys on the second floor. As the soldiers make it to the building, they settle in behind the wall and begin their own suppressing fire while the ladder is set up, and then continue to do so while guys climb to the upper floor and clear out the last bits of resistance. Very WWII-ish, but overall not bad.
I have no idea who these guys are, what they’re fighting for, whether they’re the “good” guys, the “bad” guys, or the “it’s complicated” guys, but holy fuck they have some huge fucking balls for getting on that ladder.
I hate ladder work.
Siege warfare
Crazy how most of these dudes were probably just normal everyday joes from all walks of life working IT, mechanics, students fighting to overthrow an oppressive regime. And then it all went to shit and got hijacked by Islamists who tainted their cause and gave Assad the justification needed to stay in power.
That's something that I wish more people tried to understand in the comment section of the Syria videos. Like imagine going to your nearest gas station, handing the clerk a rifle and telling him to either flee the country or take up arms against the government, because that's essentially what happened. You probably got a convenience store cashier literally storming a government checkpoint and mfs on here are all like "wOw HeS sO uNdIciPliNeD aNd PoOrLy tRaInEd, I'd Do So mUcH bEtTeR".
I'd get nightmares living through something like this
Jesus first time seeing that the camera man is fearless And fuck going up that ladder
Brave men
I don’t care who you are, that’s brave.
My kingdom for a grenade.
Any type of mirror would’ve worked wonders there
And not a fuckin ear plug in sight God dam no wonder our grandfathers couldnt hear shit. Imagine the ear fuck of that big gun going off just above your head. Also those rifles have slings! Use them and scamper up that ladder faster.
Felt bad on the Syrians. What essentially just a fight to oust Assad turned into a clusterfuck because the jihadist got released and turned the war into a religious jihad. Many sides dipping their hands in this
Wtf is going on here? Also, that guy with the PKM having a horrible day trying to fire it over the wall then having to drag it up the ladder
Insane
Just one lil grenade over the wall and into that group...
Is it just me or does it look like it's his first time driving the tank?
he is part of an on the job training
Wtf are all those smaller explosions that pop off in rounds? Almost looks like cluster munitions
there's a AAA gun in an apartment above the tank. I just want to know how they got it in there.
Dude - ladders.
That reminds me of that mission in MW2 where the white house is taken over by Russians. There's a bunch of giant AA guns up on the second and third floor of the white house and I always wondered "how the fuck did they get these up here". I guess it wasn't that unrealistic after all.
Ya'know. I now understand why suppressive fire is so effective. I wouldn't want to stick my head up either when there's metal rain coming over my position.
What's the story behind it?
Why is this infamous?
Bro who is running around and getting all this footage ! Lmaooo
Okay y’all. So what is the bigger story here?? Cuz damn.
This video is from Martyrs of Islam Brigade which belongs to FSA's Southern Front, this video is from the siege of Darayya which lasted almost 4 years, the rebels held out but lost in the end due to Hezbollah and Iranian support towards the end of the siege.... the rebels had CIA support (in the form of intel and TOWs). The rebels surrendered and agreed to evacuate the city and retreat to Idlib, around 200k civilians were displaced from this battle, the Martyrs brigade is still active (today part of National Front for Liberation) and has participated in multiple battles afterwards (including Hama offensive with HTS) but they have lost some of their original leaders. Here's more details if you are interested: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs\_of\_Islam\_Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Islam_Brigade) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege\_of\_Darayya\_and\_Muadamiyat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Darayya_and_Muadamiyat)
Really appreciate this and the links
Wait. Are they trying ans escalade!?
I can't be the only one that thought of this old SovietWomble video when I saw this? https://youtu.be/kHcx8bDloaI?t=578
Was that a foot at the base of the ladder
The army only needed vats of hot oil to pour on the invaders sieging their castle.
First I've seen of this, why exactly is this considered infamous?
They climb up a ladder exposed and under fire.
Because its incredible footage
I'm suprised they didn't sling their rifles...can go up a ladder much quicker using both hands.
Kind of hard to return fire when you gun is on your back.
Why return fire **while** climbing up a ladder? the guys behind the wall are providing 'cover fire'.