Posted on 02/24/2022 7:08:32 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The scenes out of Ukraine as Russia continues to invade its sovereign neighbor have painted a picture of chaos. We’ve seen street fighting, apartment buildings being hit with rockets, and tanks rolling down highways. But, what we haven’t seen is a decisive victory for Vladimir Putin.
Part of the invasion strategy was to quickly take the major airports in order to fly in men and materials to overwhelm Ukraine’s defenses. Surprisingly fierce opposition has prevented that, though. As of Thursday afternoon, Ukrainian military forces had actually recaptured one of the airports initially lost. That apparently happened with the help of a Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot, who shot down multiple planes and helicopters taking part in the airborne assault.
⚡️⚡️⚡️BREAKING:
Ukrainian troops in full control of the Hostomel Airport, Russian airborne force eliminated.— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 24, 2022
I'm seeing reports (but can't confirm) that a Ukrainian Mig 29 pilot has become an ace today.
First, how incredible in this day and age.
Second, holy shit the balls on that guy.
— Mike Nelson (@mikenelson586) February 24, 2022
NEW: Ukraine reports 350 Russian troops were killed in the first day of the invasion.
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) February 24, 2022
For comparison, the United States lost only 154 servicemembers killed in action over the entire Gulf War. Over the first year of fighting the second Iraq War, 486 US service members were killed in the theater. That’s a testament to the technological and training superiority of the U.S. military, compared to the Russians, who have always been less formidable than they present. It also puts into perspective how much blood has already been extracted from Putin in an invasion that has barely gotten started.
That begs the question of how much resolve Russia truly has. Are they in this for the long haul, and possibly thousands killed in battle and via an insurgency? Or is Putin looking to tag the bag at Kyiv, claim victory, and then back off with his ego still intact? It’s hard to say because even though Russia is a dictatorship, the dynamics are not the same as other authoritarian regimes. While the Taliban had unlimited stamina when it came to absorbing losses and setbacks, I do not get the feeling Putin has that luxury. If things start to get really bloody, the protests already happening in his country are going to escalate, and that could cause major problems at home.
Further, it looks like the Ukrainians are in this for the long haul. They have already barred the exit of able-bodied men aged 18-60, meaning they are expected to stay and fight. Guns and Javelins are being handed out to militia forces in an effort to bolster defenses.
Still, I don’t want to give the impression that Ukraine is going to win this fight. Russia has a massive amount of forces ready to go in reserve along the border. If Putin is willing to accept the costs of blood and treasure, he will eventually reach his goal of decapitating the current government. I’m not so sure that’ll work out well for him in the end, though. If an insurgency takes hold, it’s going to be a nightmare for the Russian occupiers. Meanwhile, the Russian stock market is down over 40 percent today, a massive drop. Pain is coming for Putin, and we are going to find out how committed he actually is to this misadventure.
Putin needs to be tried as a war criminal for this. He got away with his past expansionist actions; the world needs to put a stop to him. He is murdering his people and Ukrainian people for no valid reason.
We, Europe and everybody else need to start dealing with a new, sane Russian president.
Putin could care less about bodies it’s all about power he wants the USSR back in business.
Remind you of anyone else?
That is precisely what I discounted in my post that you answered. We were TOLD by the media types they were experienced and seasoned fighters because of the Iran/Iraq war.
The results revealed a totally different profile, mostly conscripts, no will to fight, inability to defend against American tactics (Thunder run), total lack of effective use of airpower, actually ANY airpower.
Their image as fighters was all hype and no substance in a face to face full conflict. They made their mark in unconventional warfare after their organized military was demolished.
Pentagon’s embrace of wokeness undermining ability to wage war, critics warn
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4041488/posts
Latest numbers for Soviet losses in The Great Patriotic War is 28 million.
(Former Pres.) Poroshenko is literally out in the streets with a militia that apparently has a Javelin launcher: He says the shots were all successful. But, he also reported yesterday his “battalion” is down to rifles (not enough for the men available) and a couple machine guns.
If we knew this was coming and that Putin was lying his butt off, (and I’ll bet we did), why the **** didn’t NATO have at least 1000 Javelins at the Polish border ready for next day delivery? 100,000 rifles and plenty of ammo? Etc.
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