If it’s hard for Russia, think about how hard it is for Ukraine. Don’t you think it should surrender ?
Ukraine update: Losing this war is destroying the Russian 'mythos,' and could destroy Russia Daily update. Looks like Ukraine hit another airport and are continuing heavy offensive operations.
Russia advancing on all fronts now. Ukraine is losing a battalion a day in Bakhmut alone. Much of Ukraine is without power, low on water and short on food. The economy is in free fall. The nation is entirely dependent on largesse that the West can’t afford. Millions are expected to flee to neighboring countries, sparking crises there. Ukraine is dying.
Hilarious. You cite an article by a couple of political hacks with no apparent military experience on the subject of warfare that goes back to the U.S. Civil War to try to make a point. They are practically repeating Kremlin propaganda, with comments like the conscripts having the latest weapons, which contradicts all the reports of conscripts being issued rusty old rifles that don't work. No mention of the lack of experience of the conscripts or the lack of training for the conscripts, either. Russia's draftees are given one week to learn how to dig a ditch, and then they are sent to a battalion that only has three shovels for 500 men. No mention of the food shortages that Russian soldiers seem to always be complaining about. No mentions of the chaos caused by having hardened criminals serving alongside the Russian troops. No mention of the desertions, and the self-inflicted wounds that the Russian army is dealing with. No mentions of the officers running away before the battle starts. No mention of the shortages of precision missiles. No mention of the shortage of uniforms that is causing Russia to issue used uniforms from dead and wounded soldiers. The people with actual military experience are leaning towards Ukraine winning this war by summertime. And, no, the Russian-Ukraine War in 2022 has little in common with the Civil War which ended a century and a half ago. Get real.
If the U.S. can afford a few trillion to invade Iraq, the U.S. can certainly afford a few billion to support Ukraine. Ukraine is starting to strike bases within Russia (not far from Moscow, in fact), so their capabilities are improving. And if the U.S. starts sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, it will accelerate Russia's death spiral. Ukraine has the home-field advantage. I would bet the average Ukrainian eats better than the average Russian soldier in Ukraine, based on the reports I've been reading. Millions of Ukrainians are expected to party like it's 1999 after they defeat the Russians. Ukraine is living. Russia is dying, and may fracture into several countries when they are finally defeated.
Russia shells eastern front, Ukraine says, as war aims appear to shift Russia doesn’t even have obvious plans to recapture the lands Ukraine has reclaimed. Seems like the plan now is to just try like hell to take and hold Donetsk and Luhansk
Desperation —> ad hom ... I’ve already posted a plethora of military types on the desperate plight of Ukraine. Ironically, I disagree with these two guys on significant points, conscripts being one of them. There are no Russian conscripts. Or if they are conscripts, they are conscripts in the way that 300,000 US troops in the Iraq War.
Retired US Marine Colonel Andrew Milburn, the guy who’s organized Mozart Group, his counterpart to Wagner Group, confirms that Ukrainian losses in Bakhmut are horrific and that the vast majority of replacements are conscripts who’ve never fired a gun. Russia is clearly in no hurry as it’s strategy appears content to eliminate as many Ukrainian troops who are prepared to resist. After all, they did state the aim of “demilitarization.”
The problem for the US is not so much money (that you and I have to shoulder) as it is limitations on the numbers of Ukrainians it can throw into the meat-grinder as hegemony slips through its fingers as another (and the largest) proxy war ends in defeat.
It’s all the same thing ... Stay Home, Save Lives —> I Can’t Breathe —> Orange Man Bad —> Buffalo-Horned Eccentrics Grave Threat To US —> Take Your Spot, Get The Shot —> I Stand With Ukraine ...
They’ve changed their “objective” yet again. From cleansing Ukraine if Nazis to protecting the rights of the Donbas, they now claim their goal is to liberate the Four regions they illegally annexed. I read this as a tell that they are begging for an exit strategy.
I hope you’re right. I don’t think Ukraine can afford to think that way, though. I say again, historically Russia always gets its […] together at some point and starts translating its massive resource and manpower advantages into successful destructive force. I truly worry that we are going to regret not taking advantage of this period that Russia was still reeling.
I don’t see a change in goals. If they kill all the Ukrainian troops that are willing to fight, and Ukraine dies as a viable nation, Russians will probably regard that as denazification.
Why the US can’t quit Ukraine ... SUNK-COST FALLACY noun the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.
