Russian Marines Slaughtered Trying To Stop Ukraine Huliaipole Attacks

Recently redeployed Russian naval infantry sent from Pokrovsk to the Huliaipole sector were slaughtered in what appears to have been a vain attempt to stop Ukraine's ongoing counterattacks there. 

Despite the 'elite's designation enjoyed by Russian marines and air assault forces, they do not appear to have been any more successful than their less exalted comrades have been in that area of the front. JL

 
Dmytro Shumlianskyi reports in Militarnyi:

Russian marines from the newly deployed 40th Naval Infantry Brigade launched an unsuccessful mechanized assault on Ukrainian positions in the Huliaipole sector. A Russian tank, an armored fighting vehicle, and two quad bikes carrying troops were advancing along the Malynivka–Zelenyi Hai–Huliaipole route. Operators of the 414th Birds of Magyar Unmanned Systems Brigade detected and destroyed them. Surviving troops who tried to hide in residential buildings were eliminated. Shortly before this assault, the Russian command redeployed several brigades from the Donetsk region to the Huliaipole area in the Zaporizhzhia region. This was a response to a series of counterattacks by the Ukrainian forces.

US and Gulf Allies Rush To Buy, Deploy Ukraine Anti-Drone Systems Vs Iran Attacks

As the US and its Middle Eastern allies find themselves in more of a fight than they bargained for against Iran, they are now rushing to buy and deploy Ukrainian anti-drone systems - as well as Ukrainian trainers to show them how to use the systems optimally (why they were delusional enough to believe that Iran was going to be as easy as Venezuela is a story for another day).

The Ukrainian systems, especially the AI-powered Merops anti-drone unit, has been particularly effective against Iranian Shaheds. And the contrast between Ukraine helping the US while Russia provides Iran with targeting information on US bases has been lost on no one - outside the White House, that is. JL

Michael Gordon and colleagues report in the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. Army is rushing to the Middle East counterdrone systems that have been battle-tested in Ukraine in an effort to thwart Tehran’s attacks across the region. Gulf states targeted by Iranian drones and missiles have traveled to meet with the Ukrainians and learn from their experience. “Everyone’s phone is ringing. Calls from Oman, Dubai, Qatar, U.A.E.” Ukraine's Merops counterdrone is small enough to be launched from a pickup truck. It can autonomously seek an incoming drone using radio waves, radar or the target’s heat signature. A mile from its target, it uses AI to lock onto the target and detonate nearby. It can travel at 180 miles an hour and reach an altitude of 16,000 feet. “The Shahed isn’t a simple target. Ukrainian forces learned how to intercept them effectively through hard experience, but that took time.”

Russia's Winter Bombardment Campaign of Ukraine Has Failed

Spring is beginning to arrive in Ukraine. The worst of the winter weather is over. And with it, the worst of Russia's attempt to freeze Ukrainians into submission has failed, like so many of its other military attempts.

Through a combination of heroic energy repair efforts despite Russian attacks on civilian energy workers, additional electrical power provided by Poland and Romania, as well as thousands of portable generators - many provided by Norway, Japan and other countries - the Ukrainians have largely restored their power grid and have again defeated Putin's efforts to defeat them. JL

Stefan Korshak reports in the Kyiv Post:

The Russian bid to defeat Ukraine by destroying power grid and heating infrastructure in the middle of winter and forcing Ukrainians to suffer sub-zero temperatures in unheated homes has failed. At the height of the Russian bombardment, in early February, Ukrainian power generation had fallen to 23% of normal. Blackouts and electricity rationing imposed nationwide left consumers with the lights off 8-12 hours a day. In the worst-hit cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, some were without power for 24-36 hours. Yet, in a little more than two weeks, Ukrainian generation capacity had rebounded to 73% of normal. The heroes were field maintenance teams: dispatchers, truck drivers, crane operators and supply chain managers repairing power line breaks and damaged equipment. Poland Romania surged power to Ukraine and other countries sent portable generators which provided 25% of electricity. 

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Assault Gains Force Russia To Redeploy Elite Troops South

Russia is being forced to redeploy elite paratroopers and marines from Pokrovsk to Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk as the surprisingly successful Ukrainian assault in those sectors takes more ground and overwhelms Russian defenses. 

Ukraine's own assault units have now broken through a series of Russian defensive lines and have yet to be stopped by the Russians. JL

Alex Stezhensky reports in New Voice of Ukraine:

South of Zaporizhzhia, a carefully prepared offensive has unsettled Russian defenses. Russia has redeployed elite airborne and naval infantry units from the Pokrovsk sector and  Dobropillia to southern Ukraine in response to recent Ukrainian battlefield gains in Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. During the first days of the offensive, Ukrainian assault groups infiltrated behind Russian defensive lines and positioned themselves inside Russian defensive areas. When the main Ukrainian assault began, those small units attacked Russian positions from within triggering panic as rumors of a breakthrough spread. Russian forces were fragmented and poorly coordinated. Neighboring units did not know the positions of adjacent formations.

Kremlin Kostiantynivka Assault Force Massacred, Driven Back

Attempting to take a previously unattainable fortress city in Donetsk, the Russians infiltrated a unit of assault troops, then blew up a dam (because who cares about longer term consequences, so why not...?) in order that Ukrainian forces could not reach them. But the Ukrainians were not so easily discouraged, infiltrated their own troops, massacring and ousting the Russians. The lesson, at this point in the war, is that there is little the Russians can do that the Ukrainians cannot undo. JL

Euromaidan Press reports 

On 24 February, the Russian air force lobbed a 3-ton guided bomb at the earthen dam across the Khrushchove Reservoir just west of the fortress city of Kostiantynivka flooding some areas. It was a key supporting effort for a Russian assault on the western edge of the city. The Russian 13th Assault Company infiltrated the Khutir neighborhood in Kostiantynivka. Luckily for the Ukrainians, the Russians were struggling to communicate after Elon Musk's Starlink blocked Russian forces' thousands of terminals. The Ukrainian 100th Mechanized Brigade, garrisoned between the shattered dam and Kostiantynivka, rolled into Khutir and drove out the Russian assault groups. The Ukrainian force counterattack pushed the Russians back. 

Ukraine's Southern Attacks 'Outran Original Scope, Wrecked Russian Plans'

When Ukrainian forces began their initial counterattacks in late January, they were taking advantage of an opportunity caused by the now famous Russian Starlink and Telegram cutoff as well as bad weather that grounded already hobbled Russian drones. 

But the original scope of the attacks was exceeded in a few weeks, permitting the Ukrainians to adapt, and resulting in far greater advances than had been considered possible. Ukraine's attacks, which are continuing at a more deliberate pace, not only gained unexpected new territory, but 'wrecked' Russia's own plans and forced them to react to the Ukrainians, who were then able to dictate both the timing and location of ongoing fighting, contrary to the Kremlin's winter and spring plans. In that regard, it has been an unanticipated double victory. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art, Yuri Zoria reports in Euromaidan Press:

The Ukrainian push on the Oleksandrivka-Huliaipole axis began in early February, exploiting the collapse of Russian Starlink terminals. By late February, the operation had outrun its original scope and was recapturing villages Russia once firmly held. February was the first month Ukraine recaptured more territory than Russia seized since the 2024 Kursk incursion. Before the operation, Russian forces were actively regrouping and moving in reserves on the Huliaipole axis. Those intentions have been wrecked by the Ukrainian attacks. Russia is now forced to react to what Ukrainian units impose on it, rather than execute its own plans

Don't Trust AI To File Your Taxes, New Research Shows

The more people use AI, the more they learn about what it is really good at - and what it is not so good at. Based on recent research conducted by the New York Times, add doing one's taxes to the latter category.

The issue appears to be, based on these test cases, that AI is good a predicting approximate outcomes. The problem is, as the old saying goes, that 'close enough is only works for (the game of) horseshoes and for hand grenades.' For taxes, precision is crucial. It is fair to assume that AI will get better at this as they absorb more training, probably based on tech companies use, without permission, of your tax filings. JL

Stuart Thompson reports in the New York Times:

The New York Times tested four A.I. - Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and xAI’s Grok - to see how well they fared with eight tax situations written as training materials by a tax-filing service. The AI miscalculated refunds or amounts owed to the IRS  by an average of $2,000. Even when provided with necessary materials, including all forms to fill out, chatbots whiffed on some calculations. AI do not understand the complex relationships among the information they process - and are exceptionally weak in remembering interconnected information without errors in their responses. Tax software is procedural, following ‘if-then’ logic built for precision.” Large language models, by contrast, are prediction engines that “ fail at tasks that seem simple to humans. With taxes, all those very small details matter."