This is the weirdest part. It’s like Russia never bothered to consolidate their gains or plan for any possible set backs. It doesn’t take long to destroy and/or booby trap giant stores of munitions. They apparently just ran at the hint of approaching forces.
Broken down machinery, in Russia? Vicious rumors. I’m sure it’s a very fine ferris wheel.
Yeah, it just matters who is really in charge and what kind of troops they are. At this point it still appears to be Putin. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used them for a little local housecleaning ( I understand some buildings need a lot of windows replaced) before moving them in the direction of Ukraine.
Not to you personally, but I really don’t think these numbers matter. Ask any Ukrainian if they would rather have their arms from the top 5 or from the US or even the UK. There is simply no comparison.
You mean, aside from Russia had a navy and Ukraine didn’t, and Ukraine still decimated the Black Sea fleet?
I don’t know what went wrong with Russia’s air force. I agree it’s bizarre they didn’t deploy it the way expected. But I’m OK with them largely not using it, for whatever reason.
10 or 20 years down the line is when we’ll likely get a backstory and insight to some of this stuff, not the immediate future.
But would the remaining leadership be as effective as Zelenskyy in PR and eliciting foreign aid? He’s been extraordinarily effective in that regard, and charismatic.
It’s because they were aware of the rasputitsa that they stayed on the roads rather than even attempting to drive on the soft ground. It’s always been a problem in that part of the world, for everyone.
Or, you know, landing paratroopers at Hostomel and attempting to capture/kill the Ukraine leader was an obvious first move for any invader. Not sure it requires an FSB informant, although I suppose that could be the case.
Which is a significant difference between Ukrainian and Russian troops. The low level Russia troops don’t seem to have a real grasp of what they’re fighting for and lack initiative. The Ukrainian troops know absolutely what they’re fighting for and are willing and able to take initiative even absent orders from above.
Just pulled this post at semi-random from the several who have suggested freezing deaths in Europe, which seems to imply that Europe ought to reach some agreement w/ Russia.
This attitude really impresses me as illustrating what babies we westerners are compared to our ancestors - or much of the rest of the world. Isn’t this worth some amount of sacrifice? When I see pictures of air raid shelters in England or hear of rationing in WWII. Or see any number of challenges people regularly face in the less-developed countries.
Folk act as tho a winter or 2 of communal warming shelters and food kitchens, and limited/expensive internet are inconceivable? As a whole, we westerners have just gotten too fat and lazy. We don’t deserve it as good as we have it.
reason I ask is that most europeans on the board will tell you that’s not going to happen for many reasons…
houses in europe tend to be way better built and isolated than in the USA - so 10°C below freezing is less of a problem in europe than in many places of the states (where even luxury houses often are no more than 2 plywood sheets around a 3x2" structure
social structures in europe seem to be way tighter ("granny, why don’t you move in with us for the week those deep temps are predicted) as people tend to live closer together - in the same village/town)
social structures of municipals and other layers of government are way more institucionalized and robust across europe
lots of people are working … and offices and buildings will be heated … maybe not up to 20c but 15c … but hey - that is a woolen sweater worth of a difference
there are all kinds of “plan B’s” … e.g. malls, public libraries etc… for those that do not work — I am sure you will also see “warm-rooms” pop up if the problem really presents itself
there are plenty of “plug-in” alternatives to heating with gas (e.g. electric heating) … and governments already started to “modulate” the use of electricity … eg no exterior vanity lights on public buildings, supermarket etc…
people will have a few rooms warmer than others - even though that means less warm than last winter
businesses will be happy to undo every other light bulb and turn the heating down (to support our community in these trying times - and to save cost to help unload the electric grid - also electric grids seem way more robust in europe than in e.g. Texas
sure there will be people dying from the cold on the fringes of society (elderly, inmobile, without family, substance abusers) … and I am sure the news will pick those cases up and milk it for what’s it worth …
so my fairly educated guess as somebody who lived on both sides of the atlantic is: … winter will come and winter will go … and people in europe will remember it as the winter we all put on extra woolen sweaters … and came together more as a community
@Sam_Stone lives in the northern-most provincial capital of Canada. He knows cold. So do I. I’m afraid I don’t find your arguments about “European houses are built better for the cold” very compelling. Maybe if you’re comparing to houses in the southern US, I dunno. Our houses, natural gas and electrical systems are built to withstand -40 C. If the grid goes down, that can be serious trouble.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Russian mothers were concerned over their sons catching cold and ensure they go to war with a nice clean white handkerchief.
It’s been covered way back in the thread but again:
"The Russian air force has done exactly what it is designed to do. “This theatre-level failure is not a tactical mistake, or one of planning. Rather, the VKS did not conduct a co-ordinated air campaign because it has no doctrine, plans or practice to draw upon. For historical and political reasons, the VKS is not part of a joint force: it is configured as an extension of Russian ground forces.”
I doubt that it the case here, but deliberately leaving munitions behind that are designed to explode and damage the enemy’s rifle/artillery is such an old tactic that military leaders should be hesitant to make use of any captured supplies.
Iqaluit is the capital (and only city) in Nunavut. It’s the most northern capital in Canada. Whitehorse, YT, Yellowknife, NT and St. Johns, NL are all more northern than Alberta.
to help unload the electric grid - also electric grids seem way more robust in europe than in e.g. Texas