The problem with this theory is that in the age of satellites and drones, the Ukrainians know where the Russians are all the time.
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It’s not quite like it is in the movies. Satellites have to be positioned to pass over a given area as they’re not in geosynchronous orbit above the battlefield. So at best, they get “snapshots” of conditions, presuming there is not heavy cloud cover to obscure the ground.
Granted. But as you say they get periodic snapshots. You can move an artillery piece or a platoon quickly. But you can still have a good overall picture of the distribution of forces.
And for specifics near the point of contact they have drones. So it gets harder to hide an army. The same is true for both sides, which is why it surprises me the Russians didn’t see this coming. I don’t know what their satellite capabilities are.
“It’s not quite like it is in the movies. Satellites have to be positioned to pass over a given area as they’re not in geosynchronous orbit above the battlefield. So at best, they get “snapshots” of conditions, presuming there is not heavy cloud cover to obscure the ground.”
True for visual information, but we also have the Orion class of satellite. Geosynchronous antennas the size of a football field and picking up all radio signals in a region.
I’m confident that any Russian who picks up a cellphone, radio, or radar is tracked and sent to our allies.