Dear Readers:
You may recall some antics that took place much earlier in the war, when the Azov Battalion was holed up in the tunnels beneath AzovSteel in Mariupol. While Wagners and Chechens were busting their humps trying to root out those Nazis. During that distant era, the bigwigs in NATO were extremely nervous about the situation. Seems they were concerned, not so much about the fate of the tattooed Naughties, but rather about some more important people and objects also trapped below. Readers may recall, and I think I even did some posts about this, how daredevil Ukrainian helicopters kept persistently zooming in below the radar, trying to whisk some people and other things (for example, incriminating documents) out of the tunnels and back to safety. Most of the helicopters were shot down, but a few got through. The pilots and crews of those helicopters were very brave men indeed, let us give them that, these jaunty daredevils go by the moniker of the “Mad Ducks”.
Today I have this piece by reporter Alyona Zhilina. Who informs us, or rather, relays the news from a Telegram channel called “Shopot Fronta” (“Whispers from the Front”) run by a blogger named Tatarinov, that the Mad Ducks have been roasted once and for all. Or at least, one of the crews.
This happened last month, in March. The crew of one of the Mad Duck MI-8 helicopters was destroyed, along with its commander, who went by the call sign Petrovich.
This is a tactical and emotional loss for the Ukrainian side, which took great pride in the heroic feats of these half-mad daredevils. Legendary were their exploits in rescuing high-ranking Azov officers and secret documents that should not fall into the hands of the Russians. Tasks of particular complexity and secrecy were entrusted to these men.
Nor were the Ducks modest about their feats: Petrovich and the others gave an interview to the German press last year, in which they boasted of their achievements.
People say one should not speak ill of the dead, one should try to find something nice to say. So, here it is: These guys were damned good pilots! And they were not afraid of death, which was their eventual, inevitable, fate.
Awful Avalanche 
What kind of documents are so special that they must be retrieved by helicopter (and risking lives) rather than simply destroyed in the tunnels?
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That’s an excellent question, Tom!
Documents that are not stored on a hard-drive somewhere and have no carbon copies? Like, we’re back in the 1960’s?
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Meanwhile, from RussianNews.com we get some common sense advice mixed with high praise of today’s Russian youth, their fighting spirit and discipline as soldiers:
Deputy Gurulev a Reserve Lt. General…presented his arguments on “whether it is advisable to liberate Kharkov…storming Kharkov is a very difficult matter…the city can be bypassed and blocked.” Gurulev emphasized that “no one knows the real plan”
“..this will move Belgorod away from shelling. We will gain operational space, which opens the way for us [but, we must have additional] firepower [it is] directly proportional to our losses.”
Reserve Lt. General Gurulev praised “today’s young generation in the army [they are] brave, proactive, smart, already with the experience of a very serious war, they are growing up…war is the work of the young”.
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I remember the Mariupol hijinks much as you relate. US, er, NATO, er, humanitarian “generals” were supposedly living underground in the ironworks “directing freedom and democracy against autocractic fascism and thuggery” and fighting off mad-dawg Chechens above, who had also brought along field bakeries to feed the civilian population. Damnably fine-looking bread as I remarked at the time. Crusty artisanal bread in big hearty loaves, mmm mmm. Schoolchildren were back in Mariupol last fall – remember that video? Bet Ukrainian is the language of instruction, LOL.
So the mighty Ducks have been all shot down — perhaps. Oh well. That’s war. Heroic fame is fleeting and where is Surovikin anyway? Working as a supply coordinator for Wagner which still feeds all the RF Armed forces? Russia is not without its own strange contradictions.
My battle plan for the Kharkov area involves getting the civilians out of the two east-west valleys lying between Kharkov and Belgorod, and FABing what’s left, which will be only drone-wielding Ukies and the few mercenaries/NATO troops/specialists dumb enough not to have figured out they’re dead men walking. So mostly Polacks and Frogs. Then with Kharkov essentially surrounded, send in the Chechens to root out the essential Ukies and NATO mercenary what-have-you dolts. I believe the Chechens are already in the Belgorod area ready to bite some Ukie heads off when the time comes.
And this time in Kharkov, there won’t be any mighty Ducks flying in on slow Mi-8 ‘copters to get the Westerners out. Really the only reason Ukraine keeps fighting is that their Western masters won’t let them stop — continuing is sheer madness unless you’re Biden and Blinken and the CIA/MI6 and the aristo Brit David Cameron who was the bloke who allowed the Brexit vote question as PM and is an austerity nitwit and all-around gonzo tool with connexions.
My favourite target for the Iranian resonse following the Israeli attack on its Damascus consulate is in fact in Northern Gaza. From what I understand, US/Israeli hucksters are already flogging off lots to “settlers”. Put a few missiles through the For Sale Beach Lots banners and watch the realtors hightail it out for Brooklyn. Those that can still walk after their tin trailers get blown up, that is.
And to get back to British pronunciation of Featherstonehaugh as Fanshaw and Marjorie-Banks as Marshbanks and Saint-Clair as Sinclair, why do Americans persist in calling the capital of Russia Moss-cow, when it’s closer to Moss-coe? Don’t worry, the only coward I know is “Moo”.
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“…with Kharkov essentially surrounded, send in the Chechens”
Yeah…well..I’m with Lt. General Gurulev on this one “…the city can be bypassed and blocked“.
The US, in the Pacific Theater, saved many soldiers, both American and Japanese, by successfully employing this tactic. Kharkov, for the time being, can be made into an open air prison…when their supplies run out, they’ll surrender without destroying the city.
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Bypassed and cut off should include the countryside from Kharkov to the Russian border. If one doesn’t clear out those valleys from where drones are launched, and merely waits for Kharkov to starve, we could be talking many months, if not years. Do it before or do it after the Kharkov area is surrounded, it has to be done one way or the other. Belgorod citizens are NOT happy with the continual bombardment.
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One of those hucksters trying to flog Gaza beach-side real estate, is none other than Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner! Guy is a sleazy real-estate broker, just like his pop-in-law, with the added attractive feature of genocidal Zionist.
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Rather than mockery, think about what that kind of competence and courage (let’s face it, an Mi8 is not something you’d want to take into a combat zone, as the Russian Air Force discovered in the first weeks of the invasion) could have accomplished if it had been applied to something positive.
It’s horrifying how much damage the Ukraine is doing to its own people and its prospects by continuing the war.
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So true. Pilots with those kind of skills could be doing something good for humanity, like flying food aid in to starving communities, that sort of thing.
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