Do you really think that in the assessment of world military powers before Putin's failed invasion Ukraine was seen as the second most powerful military in Europe? Where would it have stood worldwide? Ahead of China, or Germany?
I see a lot of propaganda and coping by Russia's supporters. Russia has succeeded in showing the world that their military is nowhere near as powerful as they pretended it was.
The Russian strategy so far has been idiotic at best. Right now they are destroying the very places they claim they invaded Ukraine to protect. How does the artillery based strategy you assign to them make any sense at all when their supposed goal is protecting ethnic Russians living in Ukraine? How do you protect somebody by shelling their house?
At this point the Russian politicians and military are desperate to show some kind of success, so they are burning up their soldiers and their equipment trying to capture a single city the size of Davenport Iowa. And they are destroying it in the process. Only a fool would define that as success.
Give them HELL, Baghdad Bob!!!
First: the invasion's still ongoing, so how do you know it's failed? Second: I said "largest", not "most powerful", because "power" depends on a lot other factors: force projection, economic coercion, and so forth. Manpower, however, is an important facet all on its own.
Ahead of China, or Germany?
China's not in Europe. And in case you haven't noticed, Germany's too busy trying to backtrack on sending weapons to Kiev to show off their military might.
I see a lot of propaganda and coping by Russia's supporters. Russia has succeeded in showing the world that their military is nowhere near as powerful as they pretended it was.
And yet if Russia is such a paper tiger, America and Europe keep waffling as to what should be done. Sanctions have backfired, hurting Americans and Europeans more than they appear to have hurt Russians; the economic reality of energy means Russia is earning more revenue off of oil and gas than they were before the war; the sacrifice of the West's soft power has only accelerated the return to another multipolar world...because after Afghanistan, the fecklessness of Biden, and the caprice of America's Deep State, who would still trust us to be the sole enforcer of global order as the lone superpower? Right now they are destroying the very places they claim they invaded Ukraine to protect.
They're beyond the territories of the DPR and the LPR, and are attacking places where the Armed Forces of the Ukraine happen to be holing up. If you don't want Russians to shell your cities, maybe you should tell your military to not hide amongst civilians: "Contrary to expectations, the Ukrainian military opted to reinforce the Sievierodonetsk garrison and continue holding the ground in costly urban warfare, where Russia struggles to maintain its combat advantage over Ukraine."
How do you protect somebody by shelling their house?
Maybe Ukraine can answer, given their recent shelling of civilian areas in Donetsk.
At this point the Russian politicians and military are desperate to show some kind of success, so they are burning up their soldiers and their equipment trying to capture a single city the size of Davenport Iowa. And they are destroying it in the process. Only a fool would define that as success.
If Ukraine wants to keep throwing their soldiers into the artillery meat grinder, then that's their (poor) decision.
The ultimate measure of success in war is breaking the opponent's morale before yours does. We'll find out sooner rather than later as to who breaks first...but I resent being woke-scolded by propagandists that we need throw American money into Ukraine at a time where our country's fiscal train is rocketing off the proverbial cliff.