You'll See
Conrad has long had an interest in Slavic culture, which is my cowardly way of saying Ruffian culture, which of course - obviously! - got turned on it's head circa 22nd February 2022. I now delight in using the Ukrainian equivalent of spellings for geographical locations that, for many decades post-Second Unpleasantness, used the Ruffian variant. Thus, 'Belgorod' becomes 'Bilhorod', 'Odessa' becomes 'Odesa' and, most tellingly of all, 'Kiev' becomes 'Kyiv'. Art!
No, that's not Kyiv. It's Lyman, pronounced 'Lih-Mon', a city that the orcs conquered in early 2022 and then lost in September 2022, and whom have been trying to re-conquer ever since. Unsuccessfully. One can only speculate at the orc losses, as they don't bother to inform anyone about them.
SO! I warn you that this may be another single-item blog as there's a lot to get through concerning Lyman, lying and lemons. I want to acknowledge Professor Gerdes, various Tweeters, the 'Daily Express', the Institute for the Study of War, Dagens and that bird outside that keeps going 'EEE-haw'.
So! The Prof did a vlog that claimed the Ruffian summer offensive had failed. He puts up detailed information to support his assertions, beginning with details of a collapse of the orc positions on the Lyman front. Art!
This is the Ruffian 'Lyman salient', and The Prof takes time to explain what a salient is: a bulge, basically. The Ukrainians have now destroyed it in a counterattack that has, to quote 'Chris0-wiki' caused the routing of Ruffian regiments, inflicted heavy losses and caused a partial collapse of the front. Ruffian forces west of the Zherebets River have been destroyed in a rout that took back in weeks what the orcs had taken a year to conquer. Ooops. Art!Thank you 'Tendar'
On a larger scale, this is the 'Deep State' map of the affected area. They word closely with the Ukrainian MOD, so don't update maps for at least 48 hours to prevent the orcs from gaining useful intelligence. The salient is still there, but The Prof added in a red line to show where things are on the ground. The orcs' chances of now capturing Lyman are thus reduced to 0%. Art!
That, lest ye be of defective vision, is 'Sviatohirsk'. Note how far behind the front lines it is. In late August Putinpot declared that it had been captured, in what would have been a major military victory for Mordorvia. Art!
It's hardly a city. More a large town.
Art!
Courtesy 'The Telegraph'
Capturing this town would enable the orcs to outflank and attack Lyman, putting it in the crosshairs of a pincer movement that would then threaten the Ukrainian 'fortress belt' cities in Donetsk.
What's that saying? "Huge If True".
Well, what is reality, papa? because it wasn't true. The Officer Commanding the Ukrainian 3rd Army Corps, one Andrei Biletsky, took a selfie video of himself walking around Sviatohirsk in broad daylight, also insulting Putinpot along the way. I love a chap whom can multi-task. Art!
He looks like three dockers welded together! Yes, he would make a juicy drone target but is miles behind the lines and thus relatively safe. Art!
The Prof put up a map of the 'fortress belt' cities that you can see here. With any threat from Lyman to the north eliminated, the orcses have been set back many months in their biggest defeat of 2026 (so far!). One feels as if looking at the maps of the Western Front in France and Flanders one hundred and ten years ago, wh
ANYWAY what was the cause of this ongoing collapse? O I thought you'd never ask - Art!
This is not mere hyperbole - a splendid name for a band, methinks - and is backed up by Ruffian milbloggers having an epic meltdown on their Telegram channels. Art!
'Two Majors' is a RUFFIAN milblogger, and he has to 'hint strongly' otherwise the FSB will be paying him a call. He should perhaps adopt the 'Fighterbomber' workaround and call the Ruffian army 'Laotian'. The sad fact of the orcs is that it is better for their commanders to lie upwards than report negative information or failure to meet targets. Or 'norms' as the Red Army used to call them. Art!
'Laotian', Artjockey, 'Laotian'. Art!
Here The Prof puts up illustrations made by 'Clement Molin', a French Youtuber who does excellent open-source intelligence work on Ukraine, and whom addressed the geography of the Ruffian salient at Lyman. Art!
The orcs are now back to where they were in May 2025 - 16 months of progress erased in just 3, with 200 square kilometres liberated by the Kozaky. 200 km² is verrrry small beer compared with the total geography of Ukraine, but it's negative mathematics that the orcs ought to be totally owning given their egos and ambitions. Instead the Ukrainians are looking to advance on Terny. Art!
I cannot see Terny on this picture, but bear in mind this is from two and a half years ago and the front lines have barely moved, and you're there.
More misery for the Mordorvians. Conrad rather doubts this will ever, ever, EVER get reported inside Ruffia, but one of the spearpoint units involved in the Kozaky Lyman counterattack is the 'RDK' unit, made out of anti-Putin Ruffians willing to take up arms on behalf of Ukraine. They must have testicles the size of Kherson melons to act this way, as the best they can expect if captured is a merciful bullet in the brainpan. Along with the Strugatsky Brothers, Kir Bulychev and Boris Akunin, proof that orcs are not beyond redemption. Art!
Not sure if we can count this, it's source is a Polish novel.
ANYWAY according to an orc soldier fending off his vengeful expatriates, "They're fresh, well-supplied and have armoured vehicles, whilst our own men are lugging shells on foot for thirty kilometres". Yes, this is what I would call the 'Full Monty' doctrine, after Field Marshal Montgomery, whom was a colossal bottomhole in real life but who knew how to win battles. Firstly, make the enemy dance to your tune. Secondly, attack with overwhelming force at the weakest point of your enemy's line. Thirdly, ensure your logistics are covered. Art!
A Ruffian regiment contains from as few as 1,000 men to as many as 2,000. So, between 3 to 6 thousand orc losses. On one stretch of the front. Over a few days. No wonder they're sending cripples into combat. Either that or the front collapses for dozens of kilometres to a depth of dozens of kilometres, and indeed this is what Ruffian milbloggers have been wailing about.
Art!
Only here because I want it to be.
We're still not finished on the orc subject matter but you don't want another 1,200 words on the same subject, do you?
