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Russia/Ukraine conflict
- Thread starter amolina
- Start date
When Germany in invaded in 1941, the Germans were seen as liberators. Stalin caused one of the worst famines in history in Ukraine in the 1930s. When the Ukrainians figured out the Germans were worse, they threw their lot in with the Russians and conducted one of the largest insurgencies of WW II.
Most countries don't want to depend on a foreign power to completely defend their airspace. National pride plays a role here.
The US does not completely have clean hands, but the eastern European countries were clamoring to join NATO from the moment the USSR fell apart. The expansion of NATO has been a balancing act between the desires of Russia and Eastern Europe.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Thinking more about the mud/trees.
It is a problem this time of year because there is a lot of mud and the trees are bare...
I imagine in summer, the trees will provide a lot more cover and the ground will be drier..
That is in addition to any insurgency opportunities in cities, under bridges, etc.
Who knew financial sanctions would be that effective.
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A visual SAM system would miss most of the time. Jets are hard to hit with manual aim. Flares and chaff to distract missiles have been around almost as long as guided missiles have been around.
The Russian army today is nowhere near large enough to have the largest surrender in history. I think that goes to the first Battle of Kiev in 1941 when around 650,000 Soviet troops ended up surrendering after being encircled and starved out.
Blaming the US for this situation is like laying the complete blame for Pearl Harbor on the US embargo of oil to Japan. That embargo led the Japanese to attack the US so they could capture the oil in the Dutch East Indies without the US interfering.
In the days after Pearl Harbor the criticisms of US foreign policy evaporated.
The mud this time of year in that region is epic. To anyone who hasn't experienced Russian/Ukrainian/Belarusian spring mud, it's hard to comprehend just how crazy the mud is in the region. It's the worst spring thaw in the world.
so the twitter pic of the APC and 2 t80 tanks stuck in mud. Very nice to see my Ukrainian friends building a corduroy road, a road made of logs (famously used by sherman moving through SC during US Civil War, and by loggers everywhere). Hope they get them out and back on dry ground and fighting.
Yes the mud is epic and will favor the defense. Armor will be stuck on roads. I thought all along that Putin had waited too long
Yes the mud is epic and will favor the defense. Armor will be stuck on roads. I thought all along that Putin had waited too long
There is a reason nobody moved in the war in the east in the fall and spring in WW II. From late spring to early fall, the Germans were on the offensive in 1941 and 1942. They tried an offensive when the weather cleared in 1943 (Kursk), but the Russians had gotten too strong at that point.
The Russians owned the winter. Frozen ground is great for tanks and they knew how to keep their troops warm.
Launching this invasion right after the spring thaw is the height of hubris. I'm sure Putin knew the trouble his army was going to face and his generals definitely knew. Western Russia is the same terrain as northern Ukraine with the same spring conditions. The Russian army has engineering units trained to partially deal with the muddy conditions, but there is only so much they can do. It's obvious trying to move almost the entire army at once is way too much for their engineering corps to handle.
This winter never had a hard freeze which worked against the Russians. The original plan was probably to launch while the ground was frozen, but they waited too long.
BTW, I found this Twitter feed for all the Russian weapons that have been found around Ukraine. There are some Ukrainian losses too, but most of it is Russian.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons
Coincidentally many members of this forum are so rich that they could make their souvenir.
This is madness, even crazier that the previous madness:-
Considering 4 Russian fighter jets recently entered Swedish airspace.
EDIT: Hopefully the reports of letters are not true...
Considering 4 Russian fighter jets recently entered Swedish airspace.
EDIT: Hopefully the reports of letters are not true...
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I guess there is someone who periodically polls Russians about whether they are thinking of emigrating. It was steady around 10% before the war, but now it's around 50%.
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
In case anyone missed it:
China asked Russia to delay Ukraine invasion until after Olympics, Western intel shows
China asked Russia to delay Ukraine invasion until after Olympics, Western intel shows | CNN
A Western intelligence report indicated that Chinese officials in early February requested that senior Russian officials wait until after the Beijing Olympics had finished before beginning an invasion into Ukraine, US officials said Wednesday.edition.cnn.com
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_Redshift_
Member
That is so sweet. Two tyrants coming to a friendly agreement about when exactly to start killing innocent people.
mars_or_bust
Member
As a citizen of one of these Eastern European countries, I can attest to that. A huge majority wanted to get into both NATO and the EU as soon as possible. A wise choice.
mars_or_bust
Member
This mud season iin Russia and Ukraine is legendary for its military relevance. There is even a name for it Rasputitsa - Wikipedia.
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
It doesn't seem like direct confrontation with the armed forces of the Mass Murderer Putin is completely off the table. Less than a minute long (I think). Starts at 0:58 into the clip below.
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