There are numerous things Ukraine can do though, in the event of a major Russian military push. They can start getting the roadside bombs ready. I remember in Iraq, the insurgents managed to stop entire convoys of trucks and even heavy tanks by merely putting suspicious looking devices on the side of major roadways. Snipers are also effective. The Ukrainian military can get out of their uniforms and go full blown insurgent mode. That with funneled in surface to air missiles and other assorted nasty surprises we learned the hard way to deal with in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Russian military can once again be forced to reevaluate what they are doing like the Mujaheddin forced them to do at earlier point in Russian military history.
I’m active duty, and you’re recent military, so I would rather engage here than with some of the other nonsense I’ve seen thus far.
I think that you and I can both agree that what you are suggesting is sound logic, but I think that what you are mentioning will never happen in Ukraine. Iraq, Afghanistan, etc are all areas with a high desire to become martyrs for whatever ill-conceived reason. It is literally a cult of death, built on pure hatred and sustained by high birthrates.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. They can sit in a square in Kiev, they can cry for government intervention, but they won’t fight Russia. Despite all of the Orthodox priests at the protests, a vast majority of the population is Atheist. Their birthrate is one of the lowest in Europe, and they are an economic basketcase due to ongoing Soviet attitudes of pure laziness. They can’t even create a functional government. Remember, before Yunukovych, we had the backstabbing alliances of Yushchenko and Tymoschenko.
Moral of the story: they don’t have the “fire in the belly” of the people you and I have fought. Insurgents made us bleed over Fallujah with nothing more than homemade explosives, 30 year old assault rifles, and Chinese hand grenades. Ukraine had a multitude of military bases in the Crimea equipped with naval vessels, fighter jets, APCs, and tanks. They literally gave it up WITHOUT A FIGHT. Troops stayed in their bases, and then sang their national anthem while being overrun.
The point? Ukraine won’t fight for itself. Like every other weak-willed country in the world, they want America to come fight for them. Or the EU. Or anyone else.
America doesn’t need to shed blood for a country that let an entire region be annexed by “irregulars” or unsupported light infantry, because they were too weak to defend themselves. Any country who’s idea of independence starts with “let the Americans come save us” are not worthy of Independence.
Moral of the story: I don’t like the people you and I have fought against, but I respect them. They’ll die for what they believe in. They might fight dirty while doing it, but at least they fight. Ukraine is full of weak-willed pansies. If they can’t fight for themselves, then they deserve to live under the Russian boot.