Ukraine invasion a poorly planned and shambolic disaster (so far)?
Does any one else get this impression?
shareDoes any one else get this impression?
shareOnly in the media!
shareSo, which media outlets are reporting Putin's great military victories in Ukraine, and where are they to be found?
shareHistorically Russia are keeping their military & defense, war strategy, victory, losses quiet unlike Western Media Outlets.
"Russia’s communications watchdog warned media outlets they would be “immediately blocked” and fined 5 million rubles ($59,000) for spreading “deliberately false information” surrounding Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
“We emphasize that it is the Russian official information sources that have and distribute reliable and up-to-date information,” said the watchdog, Roskomnadzor"
So, you don't have any actual sources (Russian or otherwise) to throw at me?
shareAll official news are basically blocked as cyber attacks against the Russian government sites continue : https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-02-26/card/russian-government-websites-suffer-disruptions-UpQXfZO7yIMCDR5yY4g9
"AmericaILoveU"... lol, what a joke.
shareLOL Putin got this!
shareIf you love America so much, what the hell do you care? Unless you aren't really as American as you claim. Anyway, I'll go ahead and do your work for you. Here is a mainstream media account of Russian forces getting their act together: https://youtu.be/_gDmMVzjIVw
shareThis could end up being one of the biggest military blunders in the history of warfare.
Or it could be that Russia takes Ukraine but loses out on the world stage in which they will be seen as pariahs by most western nations. But it appears to be a risk that Russia is willing to take. It's a big gamble and I don't think it's going to pay off.
When the US invades countries they at least gain support of the UN before doing it. lol... Putin failed to learn this vital lesson.
Ukraine is a very large country, and (in the Western part, anyway) not very sympathetic to Putin. I'm really not sure what the plan to permanently subjugate the entire country via a proxy puppet government would be. Seems to me this was already tried and failed.
shareI am starting to feel this way too. Unless Russia has something up their sleeve that we just don't know about, I am not so sure that military action is going to solve anything for Russia. Seems almost like a pointless operation.
However, as some might say, if you have big weapons but never use them, then what's the point of having them? To some degree, I feel this way about the US invasion of Iraq. They just wanted to test their weapons on real targets. As messed up as that sounds, I could see a government doing it to keep their military industry useful.
And yes, western Ukraine is not sympathetic to Putin but I do think some of the old soviet blocks could be swayed in Russia's favor. I think there are still plenty of commie ideals that are embraced by many in eastern Europe. We'll see how this plays out, especially now that it looks like Germany and the Netherlands are basically going to get involved in this militarily.
Maybe it's like Israel and Lebanon in the past few years. They go in militarily every so often just to prove that they can.
shareYeah, use your big guns to kill the population that you want to bring under your control.
Sure it will work gaining popularity ...
asom,
From what I've seen so far, it doesn't look like Russia is deliberately targeting civilians. The thing is, there is a pretty big population of Russian supporters in the Ukraine right now. So, they've already got a certain number of people that would swing their way if they can establish a stronghold in Ukraine.
And it looks like Belarus is going to support Russia. Not sure how much of a difference this is going to make but at this point, Russia could use any support they can get.
"From what I've seen so far, it doesn't look like Russia is deliberately targeting civilians."
That would change if they bring in "the big guns". The big guns are named "big guns" not because they are "big" but because their destructive range is huge.
As the Russian joke would be: "TOS-1 is so precise that it would kill an ant in the middle of a corn field. Along with the corn field and the closest village"
So for Russians to use the big guns would mean to use all the support.
Plus: they don't want to destroy strategic or industrial targets either, the goal is to absorb at least the east part of Ukraine, not to destroy it.
I think it's fair to say he didn't expect his forces to face the level of resistance that they have. I also think he's probably surprised at how much the rest of the world have taken Ukraine to their hearts since this started.
shareYou mean like EVERY SINGLE war the US started (and finally lost)?
shareAt least we secured Baghdad in a timely fashion. The Russians aren't even showing basic competence at getting from Point A to Point B. I also didn't see the average citizen of Iraq taking up a gun and fighting the oncoming U.S. forces. It also took us 20 years to meet our demise in Afghanistan... it's taken Russia 20 hours. We're talking about competence here, not morality, although I think Russia comes up short in the morality department as well.
sharewe secured Baghdad in a timely fashion
They secured Baghdad because they first secured the loyalty of high Shiite Mullahs and promised them complete control of post Saddam-Iraq (big mistake...they allied themselves with Iran).
The mullahs in Iraq issued a fatwa (religious decree) forbidding Shiite Iraqis from fighting US-Coalition forces, that's why there was no fighting, most of the none-Saddam backing soldiers just fled or surrendered.
Same happened in 1991, the Iraqi-soldiers simply surrendered because the last thing they wanted is to die for Kuwait and Saddam's ambitions.
Well, Putin didn't even do that. Anyway, nothing you've said contradicts my original assertion that this Ukraine move is a poorly planned and shambolic disaster.
shareAbsolutely. It's Soviet Finish War 1939, Afghanistan debacle, Chechnya all over again. It puzzles me how these incompetent, demoralized and mainly drunk Russians could have ever defeated the Germans in 1945.
shareHordes of expendable soviet soldiers who rather fight instead being shipped to the Gulag. The USSR didn't have highest rates of deaths in WW2 just because the Axis were very good at shooting down Russians.
shareTrump says it was a very smart move by the brilliant Putin, though.
https://twitter.com/axios/status/1498334945378451468
Well, Trump is a "very stable genius", so how can he be wrong?
shareThe invasion started less than a week ago.
They are advancing in the capital. Kharkov, the biggest city in East-Ukraine is close to fall. Mariupol in the south is about to fall. Ukraine troops are retiring while Russian ones advance. And again: less than week.
Only a fool would think the attack is being a disaster.