That’s mighty white of him.
Objectively speaking, that was a smart move particularly if his troops can “batten down the hatches” and wait until those in the underground tunnels are ready to peacefully emerge.
Surrender or else!
Surrender or die!
Surren...
Oh nevermind....
According to Putin’s statement today, they are not going through it, they are going to put an airtight perimeter around it and starve them out until them come out.
The whole point is not to root them out and incur needless casualties and the destruction of the plant.
When this all settles down and some of the truth starts to filter out a lot of propagandists are going to have egg on their faces. Of course that won’t stop them the next time.
There are supposedly very large tunnels on multiple layers separated by 3 feet of concrete under the plant. That can hide a lot of food, water, ammunition and defenders. If they thin the perimeter, the defenders may be able to go out and attack the units surrounding it, particularly if passages lead out to the city.
There was an idea of Mariupol’s deputy mayor to direct the city sewage into the Azovstal catacombs.
Russian propaganda.
I think the world must think big picture. Putin needs a way out of this which allows to him clam some kind of victory. If he feels totally boxed in he will use tactical nukes or chems out of desperation. He will not allow a total Russian humiliation. IMHO.
No point in Russia risking more troop losses, they can sit back and starve them out. One of the Azov leaders was in a video the other day begging for someone to save them. Once they realize help isn’t coming, they will have no choice but to surrender or die.
A good old fashioned siege! In the old days, sending prisoners back via the trebuchet wasn’t unheard of.
I hope Russia never “liberates” me. I want to live.
No, actually they publicly announced that the people holed up there...who are being used as pawns in the Zelensky-Biden low-budget WWIII...will be treated with respect. And the Russians will do that, if only because they know that they’re being watched.
This was a terrible, stupid war. All wars are stupid and generally could be avoided (unless you had somebody like Hitler in charge, and Putin is no Hitler). But wars are not about people, they’re about governments...politicians...and their egos.
Trump said this could have been solved diplomatically, and he was right.
“Apparently, the Russians are going to take their time and go through the Azovstal steel plant with a fine tooth comb.”
More like two things:
1. Putin doesn’t want the steel plant destroyed.
2. The Russian troops are taking higher than expected casualties.
If the plan moves to laying siege then at least there will be less bloodshed on both side for now.
Sounds like Stalingrad 🤪
Could it have been if Donetsk becomes independent destroying the plant would mean major industrial loss?
Hey Tass....... Moscow is burning.
A few days ago, there was a report that Shoigu had had a massive heart attack and was in the hospital, sidelined. Has the Defense Minister actually been seen since then?
The should just dump piles of old tires around and set them on fire.