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As war drags on, Ukrainians start to ask: could we have prepared better?
The Guardian ^ | Fri 3 Jun 2022 | Shaun Walker

Posted on 06/05/2022 9:32:23 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in the early hours of 24 February, with mass missile strikes and the advance of a land force from several directions, many key Ukrainian officials were apparently caught by surprise. Some were fast asleep.

There had been rumours of a Russian invasion for weeks, and the previous evening US and Ukrainian intelligence received information that pointed to an invasion that night with almost certainty. Yet there was little in the way of last-minute efforts to fortify towns close to the border, or to warn citizens to brace for the inevitable.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was at home with his wife and children. Numerous officials in charge of key regions close to the border, and mayors of cities containing strategic military targets, have told the Guardian in interviews over recent weeks that they were in bed and woke up in shock at the sound of booms, rather than having spent the final hours of peace coordinating the defence of their towns.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: blueandyellowdrank; clownworld; fakecolossaldefeat; hopium; shaunwalker; theguardian; ukrainicorns
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For what it's worth, I thought it was a bunch of maneuvers near the borders of Ukraine. I did not think that Putin was actually stupid enough to invade Ukraine.
1 posted on 06/05/2022 9:32:23 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Hope the Taiwanese take notice.

Didn’t Israel attack first in the 1967 war? Smart if so-you don’t wait.
The Russians had all their equipment bunched up so Zelensky waited. No MOAB in his arsenal. Hindsight being 20-20 what’s the best tactic? Chicoms are buzzing Taiwan airspace. What happens when they’re over the island?


2 posted on 06/05/2022 9:37:25 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: MinorityRepublican

The US and UK who are con-guarantors of Ukraine’s sovereignty under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, should have been sending heavy weapons to Ukraine starting in 2014 after Russia took over Crimea and started its invasion of Don Bas.


3 posted on 06/05/2022 9:39:20 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: DIRTYSECRET
The Russians had all their equipment bunched up so Zelensky waited. No MOAB in his arsenal. Hindsight being 20-20 what’s the best tactic?

The Ukrainians destroyed the elite VDK paratroopers who attempted to seize the airport outside of Kyiv. It's still too early to know what happened but perhaps Zelensky was leading the Russians into thinking that Ukraine was unprepared and look at what happened during the battle of Kyiv which was a colossal defeat for the Russians. If the Russians thought that the Ukrainians were prepared, they might have attacked Ukraine differently. More artillery and air strikes which are Russian strengths.

4 posted on 06/05/2022 9:41:00 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

I doubt he wanted to invade Ukraine (or he would have done so far sooner), but he was out of options if he wanted to prevent a massacre in Donbas, as the Neocons wouldn’t return his phone calls...so here we are - 20% of Ukraine already gone and no sign of the Neocons wanting to end Russia’s further expansion there.


5 posted on 06/05/2022 9:41:09 PM PDT by BobL (My hatred of Necons/Globalists exceeds my love of Ukraine or any other country, other than the US)
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To: BobL

The most pressing question for the Ukrainians is why their government is sacrificing them. The majority comes to the realization that their statehood is a false concept.


6 posted on 06/05/2022 9:45:35 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: MinorityRepublican

Ukraine has little to offer the syndicate after all the evidence of the involvement of George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Jao Bai-din, Hunter Biden, Paul Pelosi, John Kerry Jr., Christopher Heinz (Kerry), and Alex Vindman disappears.


7 posted on 06/05/2022 9:46:20 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: MinorityRepublican

If the Ukrainians had invested in drone systems as did the Azerbaganis, things would have gone far differently. Long Russian columns would have been exceedingly vulnerable and the Russian Navy would have not been able to land troops and supplies along Ukraine’s southeastern coast as they did largely unhindered especially in the first six weeks of the war.


8 posted on 06/05/2022 9:49:53 PM PDT by allendale
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To: NorseViking

“The majority comes to the realization that their statehood is a false concept.”

Maybe I’m not fully informed, but in hindsight things seemed pretty stable in Ukraine from about 1990 until the Neocons decided they needed to destroy another country in 2014, and that being Ukraine.

That tells me that Ukraine could have existed as a state, if it were left alone by the Neocons. But I would agree that, at this point, an entity called Ukraine will be lucky to exist on any map when this war is over.


9 posted on 06/05/2022 10:03:06 PM PDT by BobL (My hatred of Necons/Globalists exceeds my love of Ukraine or any other country, other than the US)
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To: BobL

“Could have existed” is the key.


10 posted on 06/05/2022 10:05:07 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: MinorityRepublican

The shock of that transport being shot down and over 160 elite paratroopers suddenly killed had a huge detrimental effect on the Russia’s initial offensive. After that disaster their attack on Kiev was thrown into disarray. Any hopes of ending the war in a week were over when they were unable to capture Kiev. Morale plummeted and they simply did not plan logistically for a long war.


11 posted on 06/05/2022 10:06:39 PM PDT by allendale
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To: MinorityRepublican

I thought the Ukes would finally agree to implement Minsk and maybe agree to not host NATO.
The day before the invasion the Ukes started really shelling the Donbass with full fury. That’s when I thought it was gonna actually happen.

Oh well.


12 posted on 06/05/2022 10:11:10 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Me too. That was the feeling of nearly everyone except Putin.

A dying man wants to get his last victory to call himself a great Tsar.

He failed


13 posted on 06/05/2022 10:12:24 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: BobL

Those watching Nato and Russia/Ukraine’s activities over these past few years, and the consistant stalled/failed negotiations, knew it was heading for Putin to pre-empt what Nato/Us/Ukraine were gearing up for.....they left their footprints everywhere.

Putins buildup on the border was justified but media, as usual, framed the story that Russia was being aggressive rather than preparing to intercept the plans Nato/Ukraine and US were obviously working at to bring about.


14 posted on 06/05/2022 10:13:08 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Don’t forget that Zelensky popularity was 32% before the invasion. People would not have acted.

He raised his profile over the war by defying Putin.

Ukrainians aren’t fighting for Zelensky, they are fighting for their homes and loved ones, but his defiance gave them more spine.


15 posted on 06/05/2022 10:14:19 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: Paleo Conservative

The problem is that we all thought Putin would keep up his salami tactics, a slice here, a slice there. We all would just shrug our shoulders and do nothing, ignoring it.

But Putin pushed too far, and got this.

If he had just grabbed Donetsk people’s Republic and Luhansk people’s Republic in frb, no one would have done anything. Then Zelensky would have been voted out and a year or so down the line another slice.


16 posted on 06/05/2022 10:17:11 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: NorseViking

Putin’s nazi dictatorship is sacrificing thousands of Russians and killing thousands of Ukrainians.

Your President has blood kn his hands as Russia is the aggressor and invaded Ukraine


17 posted on 06/05/2022 10:18:26 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: MinorityRepublican

Zelensky didn’t have the political strength or gumption to do that.

Russian troops just failed. Badly


18 posted on 06/05/2022 10:19:42 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: MinorityRepublican

I didn’t either think Putin was stupid enough to get NATO, Europe, and the US to react as they did. Oh, well, he’s the idiot.


19 posted on 06/05/2022 10:23:18 PM PDT by Entropy Squared (The Rush to Chaos)
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To: MinorityRepublican

It's good to know who runs the show.

20 posted on 06/05/2022 10:31:36 PM PDT by McGruff (Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up - Barack Obama)
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