[Treefence]

Footage from some of the ballsiest missions Ukraine has pulled off in the war, the helicopter resupplies to besieged Mariupol.

[Tweet]
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/153...LuFg9Je68g
[/tweet]

This whole thread is incredible. 72 volunteers including 9 doctors flew IN to Mariupol while it was besieged, along with supplies, while gravely wounded were evacuated. Those pilots and volunteers must be made of something strong, I really don't have the words. The link to the whole documentary is at the end, haven't had it in me to watch the whole thing yet.

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The video is good. None of the Azov volunteers, most of whom didn't know how they would get in to Mariupol until the day of the operation, had ever even been on a helicopter before. They ran several successful missions until the Russian air defenses figured things out and started bringing down too many helicopters to continue. The ops were apparently organized by Ukrainian defense intelligence, Ukrainian air force, and Azov battalion paramilitaries. Certainly not how the US would do it. Very cool to see this sort of first hand video. You do have to wonder if the looser opsec of these sort of semiofficial operations, in a world of social media and cell phones, can be a problem.

Everything about Mariupol is incredible, it's such a shame it eventually fell.  I remember in the first couple days of the war, military experts talked about how it would fall within a week.  The videos on the helicopter missions are amazing.  I can't imagine the bravery of those who volunteered to fly into the fully encircled city.  I hope all those who eventually surrendered from Azovstal make it home one day, but it's not looking good for them.

[Treefence]

Footage from some of the ballsiest missions Ukraine has pulled off in the war, the helicopter resupplies to besieged Mariupol.

[Tweet]
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/153...LuFg9Je68g
[/tweet]

This whole thread is incredible. 72 volunteers including 9 doctors flew IN to Mariupol while it was besieged, along with supplies, while gravely wounded were evacuated. Those pilots and volunteers must be made of something strong, I really don't have the words. The link to the whole documentary is at the end, haven't had it in me to watch the whole thing yet.

-------

The video is good. None of the Azov volunteers, most of whom didn't know how they would get in to Mariupol until the day of the operation, had ever even been on a helicopter before. They ran several successful missions until the Russian air defenses figured things out and started bringing down too many helicopters to continue. The ops were apparently organized by Ukrainian defense intelligence, Ukrainian air force, and Azov battalion paramilitaries. Certainly not how the US would do it. Very cool to see this sort of first hand video. You do have to wonder if the looser opsec of these sort of semiofficial operations, in a world of social media and cell phones, can be a problem.

Everything about Mariupol is incredible, it's such a shame it eventually fell.  I remember in the first couple days of the war, military experts talked about how it would fall within a week.  The videos on the helicopter missions are amazing.  I can't imagine the bravery of those who volunteered to fly into the fully encircled city.  I hope all those who eventually surrendered from Azovstal make it home one day, but it's not looking good for them.