News from Ukraine from The Other McCain

The Other McCain has been doing a great job of keeping me informed of what's going on over there. I don't have much stomach the regular news, and I have been trying to avoid the political side of social media, since it is infuriating.

The first story is that a Guards regiment has been destroyed. UKRAINE: Most Shocking News So Far

Multiple outlets are reporting that an elite Russian airborne regiment, the 331st Guards, has been wiped out in the fighting near Kyiv. Both the regimental commander, Col. Sergei Sukharev (pictured above) and his deputy, Major Sergei Krylov, have been confirmed by the Russians as killed in action, which lends credence to the otherwise unbelievable claim that an entire regiment of paratroopers is now hors de combat.

As in the old Soviet Union, in the Russian military only the elite units are given the "Guards" designation.

Russian casualties are quite high. From Bad to Worse for Russia in Ukraine

Supposedly, a pro-Putin tabloid in Moscow published (and then deleted) an official tally of Russia’s casualties in Ukraine — nearly 10,000 killed and more than 15,000 injured/wounded as of Monday. Do the math, and they’re suffering casualties at the rate of about 400 KIA and 650 wounded daily.

That is about 10 times the rate of casualties as the US suffered in the worst year in Vietman. That is a severe level of killed and wounded.

Another important bit of news from The Other McCain - Key Victory for Ukraine?

The “fierce battle” that drove the Russians out of Makariv almost certainly added to the death toll for Putin’s army. The Ukrainians have wiped out entire regiments of the Russian army, and killed a half-dozen of their top commanders, and the higher the price the Russians are made to pay in blood, the more likely they are to decide that their invasion is a bad bargain.

The Ukrainians are doing much better than most people expected.