*clears throat *
Him and what army?
And their logistical capabilities since the failed drive to Kyiv in February - March has improved how much?
Yes, Dr. Evil recently got a promotion.
Given a choice between which bridge to bring down, I would have chosen the rail bridge. That’s capable of moving more of everything than the auto bridge. Plus, no traffic jams from fleeing Russians.
It’s possible that the wrong bridge was hit. Maybe the tank cars were just a lucky coincidence. I believe there was no real damage to the rail bridge. With only half of the auto bridge destroyed, people were moving across it a short time after the explosion.
The army that’s wearing the 1.5 million uniforms, of course.
I’ve also heard the theory advanced that it was a Russian false-flag attack to give a fig leaf cover to more intense attacks on Ukraine. Possibly one intended to damage the road bed but not the rail that got the rail bridge as well by accident of timing.
No proof, but its seems as likely as many other things in this war. Might explain why no one is explicitly taking credit for it. But who really knows?
There’s always the Belarussian army.
The Ukrainians were happily insinuating it was them until this morning when suddenly they weren’t so eager to imply that anymore.
And they don’t need any excuses, they are at war, they have suffered serious setbacks, this operation which included strikes all over Ukraine most likely was planned weeks in advance, its not something a couple of staff officers can just whip up over a few hours. The US takes several days and even weeks to plan and execute CM strikes. Now I will grant you they may have brought it forward due to the bridge attack.
While Putin might get Belarus to attack, their army is pretty shit. Lukashenko is extremely worried about a coup too. Putin would really need to turn the screws to make him risk it.
Just being able to piggy back off Belorussian logistic hubs and have them secure rear areas would be a big improvement over Feb/March.
Or maybe the timing/placement was off. Take out the rail bridge pier at the right angle in the right spot and it would topple onto the road bed, taking out at least one road deck.
Belarus has been a supply hub for Russia since the beginning of the invasion, although not really relevant anymore since the invaders were kicked out of northern Ukraine.
Zalenskyy looks visibly older and tireder than he did at the start of the war. He seems to be doing a stellar job in all aspects of running this war.
And yet… Russia continues to manufacture excuses and play the victim. I’m presuming that’s for internal consumption. Need doesn’t enter into this - Russia didn’t need to invade Ukraine in the first place, and yet they did.
And now Putin has decided that ramping up cruise missile and drone attacks against civilians will do the trick. Sure. Keep blowing up apartment buildings while Ukraine goes after military targets like supply lines. That’s really going to end well for you. Already, you’re risking alienating China and India.
It’s one stupid decision after another with Putin.
It seems that Putin is at the point that Belarus / Lukashenko are the only allies he has left WRT Ukraine. I doubt that China or India are going to help, and even North Korea and the -stans seem to have abandoned him. He’s run out of sticks and has very few carrots left to offer those other nations, so they’ve rightfully decided not to help out.
The only short term way out of this war that I can see is that if China and India both slap on major economic sanctions to Russia.
China and India both need to be asked if they are willing to continue to support a country that commits war crimes, and bombs civilians on their way to work. Is this what they stand for?
The New York Times reported today that both China and India are expressing “concern” about the escalation. I realize that seems very weak compared to what’s going on, but it’s a change from their respective positions a few months ago.
Here’s hoping this gift link works:
I’m hoping China and India are both realizing that this whole Putin-impelled adventure of conquest is very bad not just for Russia and Ukraine but everyone and back away from Putin.
My interpretation of that is that it means that they won’t publicly criticize Putin, but that Putin is on his own when it comes to the fighting and procuring of arms. And also that he better not start any shit WRT nukes.
That decision seems very sensible to me. What Putin and the arch-nationalists are saying is that Russia has a right to reclaim territory that was part of the Russian Empire.
Leaders in the -stans can do the math, and say, “wait a minute, here…”
I think “concern” is serious in diplomacy speak. That’s a good turn of events.
Does anyone anywhere believe Vlad’s bullshit claims?