That sounds overall reasonable. I just doubt Russians have the ability to actually create, train, equip and properly use such units.
I really wonder what became of all the German specialists who were in high demand after the Wall came down. Their work was very different, of course, but nevertheless I would hope they now help training Ukrainians, too?
Zoinks! It’s a g…g…g… ghost!
This image looks like Sokolov went to an Adena Health System facility, and now the doctors have his body propped up to fool the rest of us into thinking he’s not dead. /s
All the officers who were attending by videoconference had flags in the background to make their locations unidentifiable. No way to tell if they were in their usual offices, other offices, bunkers, hospitals, etc.
Analysts have pointed to a weaker ruble, rising global oil prices and repair work at refineries curbing supplies.
Seems Russia’s infrastructure is suffering. Perhaps they can’t get parts or have the manpower for some reason. 
Farmers in some regions have been unable to harvest grain due to a shortage of fuel needed for agricultural machinery, local media outlets have reported.
Red Lines & Escalation: A Tale in 3 Russian Foreign Ministry Briefings
A year ago in September, after HIMARS first proved useful to Ukraine and people started vague discussions about providing even longer range weapons like ATACMS or Storm Shadow, Russia issued a fiery warning:
Even just supplying long-range missiles would mean that NATO countries are directly attacking Russia, and it would basically start WW3. Scary!
Then in May UK went ahead and sent some Storm Shadows to Ukraine. Russia responded:
So - escalation, and Britain is somehow involved, but no suggestion that Russia would actually retaliate. And the “red line”, once passed, turns out never to have existed.
Last week Ukraine used those Storm Shadows to destroy the Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol. This got two sentences in today’s briefing:
No escalation, no retaliation, no WW3, and the strike turns out to be just one of many “once again”. We’re down to background level grumbling about the “unfriendly West” that we got even during peacetime.
Note the timing. Russia eagerly jumped in with its aggressive stance when the preliminary discussions were still months away from any concrete decision. When Storm Shadows were supplied, Russia responded the next day. But when Sevastopol got hit, that was apparently too embarrassing to even mention for most of a week.
This is of course just an illustration of a general rule. When it senses weakness - and diplomacy or public debates are signs of weakness in Putin’s mind - Russia moves in with aggression and threats. But when it is checked by force, Russia retreats, forgets all the bombast and tries to brush it off as insignificant.
The typical behaviour of a bully.
BBC News - Russians queue up to see Barbie film despite sanctions
The ISW noted that on October 18, the U.N. Security Council’s ban on Iran legally exporting missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers is set to expire, which would allow Iran to sell Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles to Russia.
Kicking ass!
