“For two months, Ukrainian Armed Forces and military equipment have been massing in that area, all Telegram channels have been writing about it. Where was our damn reconnaissance? All of their heads should be laying on Putin’s desk, hacked off at the base... Of course, this is a tactical defeat. I hope it will be very sobering.”
It would be worse if they saw and reported it, and command did not respond.
Which is more likely.
Russia’s combat commanders are some of the worst in history.
100s of thousands of tons of ordnance, relatively modern equipment...certainly better than the vast majority of Ukrainian equipment...TU-22’s by the dozens...superior training at lower levels.
Russia has over 3,000 combat aircraft...yet they never bothered to take out Ukrainian air defenses? It would have been easy early on.
Rail lines, roads and bridges INTACT to the West?
Criminal negligence.
Ukraine and the west better hope Russia does not find their US Grant.
Incompetence on a grand, historical scale.
Yes. But even in the republic the United States still was then, Grant became President. Putin, and his fellow oligarchs, cannot allow that. Putin is looking for a Zhukov.
Mech vehicles require a ton of maintenance, and even as well-staffed as our maintenance units were, and as superior as our parts system was, and with all the integrity of our maintenance inspection processes, we still had equipment down on a regular basis. Add to the huge number of Russian vehicles the lack of trained personnel, poor parts system, corrupt inspections, and massive theft, and you end up with a hollow military.
My guess is that the Russian generals had pushed as hard as they could because of the pressure for offensive success, until the troops and equipment was exhausted. And that left them ripe for the kind of counter-offensive the Ukrainians launched. The biggest problem for them is that there isn't any way to fix that in the short term. You could start mass conscription tomorrow, and that still isn't going to come close to solving the equipment issues. That is a very long term project.
It’s not 1950s Russia. The KGB-Federation Kleptocracy is Europe’s sick old crook.
It’s worse than 1917 actually. Think: coup, military invasion and ethnic republic revolt all at once. This is what the Russian TV commentators are afraid of. They see it.
Some Russian soldiers are deserting to join Ukraine.
The Kyiv Rus are the true Russians, not Moscow’s Bolshevik atheist thugs. The UKRs could march on Moscow and eject the atheist criminal interlopers then reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Many Russians would probably support them to restore a republic led by true Slavs rather than a multi-ethnic amalgam of power-seeking atheist thugs.
Reports suggest that Uke commanders may have told Russian troops that if they would bug out and leave the arms behind, they would not be attacked while fleeing. It is so handy for enemies to have common languages.
Orc combat aircraft are expensive, and Ukes have shot a number down, plus what they destroyed or damaged in Crimea a few weeks ago. In fact it was just reported that a plane taking off in Crimea suddenly went out of control and crashed spectacularly. Had this craft been damaged in one of those air strikes? How hard would it be to damage or remove some small part in a plane to cause it to crash. It is already suggested that it was not the Ukraine regular military that bombed the Crimean airports.
Putin hoped to take over most of Ukraine. Initially he did not want to destroy a lot of infrastruture. It was several weeks before he finally decided to destroy that huge steel mill to get the Azovs inside. Flattening cities in the East was not a problem since his interest was the oil, gas and other resources under ground. I only fear that when he looses all hope, whatever restraint remains will be forgotten. I doubt use of nukes because Russia is downwind of Ukraine frequently. Whoever takes over from Putin will not want to deal with major fallout headaches.
Grant was successful because he was capable of independent actions. Does any Putin commander have similar freedom? Success in a kleptocracy. Big guys steal big money and stuff, little guys steal computer chips. Then everyone wonders why nothing works, but is afraid to report the bad news.
the problem is corruption - and it starts at the top. Putin and his “elites” have not “skimmed off” profits at the top, they have grabbed it all.
Russians are smart - if given an opportunity. But that was wasted.
Russia can rebuild - it needs to give up its imperialist mindset and focus on soft power.