'Large numbers' of Russian troop carriers seen heading away from Ukraine.

[speak easy]

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Walleye]

1. I hope people throw rotten potatoes as they leave

I wonder what that flag is

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. It's the flag of Russia.

They've only been using it since 1993.

[JHB]

6. I think he meant the other one, the solid-colored one

On the e second vehicle, then on several toward the end.

The text would suggest it was a VDV unit flag.

[Walleye]

12. Thanks. Now I get it. It's the unit flag

[Historic NY]

2. Ploy...

regrouping in another direction.

[Botany]

3. OMG have the Ukrainians have won?

Those Russian bastards can leave the Donbas and Crimea too.

[Postal Grunt]

11. Optimism is always welcome...

but it's misplaced optimism if you expect the Russians or Putin to admit defeat in any way in the near future. While VP has always been a paranoid sort, he knows that he needs 360 degrees of vision to watch out for knives coming for his back right now. He will only get much worse if his grand army is further revealed to be even more corrupted by its officer corp and incompetent on the battlefield.

It would also be premature to think that if VP were to be removed from his position that his replacement(s) would be that much better.

[Botany]

13. I don't trust Putin @ all but it looks like his current position in Ukraine is unsustainable.

I have no doubt that many people in Russia are thinking about and currently plotting to
ends Putin's use of his heart and lungs.

[Hortensis]

17. Agree. He's apparently not withdrawing from the south.

[Hortensis]

19. Agree. He's apparently not withdrawing from the east, and south.

[LaMouffette]

4. Putin is an evil, paranoid, sociopathic megalomaniac, like TFG, but unlike TFG, he's not stupid.

Maybe Putin is now realizing he needs to cut his losses, get out of Ukraine, and fashion some kind of illusion of victory now, before even his brainwashed citizens figure out what a loser he is.

[speak easy]

7. There were Russian troops all but encircled, North of Kyiv,

... they are getting out

As I understand it, observers feared that Russian troops would be deployed North when Mariupol was taken. Does not look like that is going to happen (at the moment).

[ramblin_dave]

8. NPR: Russia seems focused for now on capturing parts of eastern Ukraine

The forces are likely being re-deployed to eastern Ukraine

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089388920/russia-eastern-ukraine

[speak easy]

10. It was feared that Russian forces would be re-deployed North, from the South,

once Mariupol was taken. (for the moment) that does not appear to be the plan.

[AllaN01Bear]

9. arwe the russians going to return all the people they kidnapped ?

[speak easy]

14. hostages

[lagomorph777]

15. Not until Putin is in deeper trouble.

[Jilly_in_VA]

16. They can't afford to lose any more of them!

Spousal unit told me last night that he read an article saying that a higher up officer in charge of a Russian tank unit committed suicide when he found out that none of the vehicles in his unit were operational because they had all been stripped...parts stolen etc. He said he could just imagine what his own father, who for some years commanded a Marine tank battalion, would do if he found so much as one bolt missing.

[Mysmi]

18. This is one of the greatest underdog stories

In war history.

[MineralMan]

20. And Once Again, Joe Biden Has Proven That Experience Matters!

So does careful thinking and strategizing. The Ukrainian people held off the Russian military long enough that they had to give up their plan to take over Ukraine.

Despite the enormous losses and damage caused by this failed invasion, the Russians are leaving, defeated!

[lpbk2713]

21. Their vehicles need some more Chinese tires.

The Russian vehicles don't get real good mileage out of them.


Wherever they are going, I hope their broken down tanks block the road again.

[sarisataka]

22. It was only six weeks ago-

Russia says some troops returning to base from Ukraine border

LVIV, Ukraine -- Russia's military said some troops massed near Ukraine will begin returning to their bases on Tuesday following the completion of what it called "exercises," a potential sign of de-escalation amid continuing fears of a possible Russian invasion.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said units from its southern and western military districts, which have deployed thousands of troops close to Ukraine's border, had begun returning to barracks. Video released by the military showed what it said were tanks pulling back and being loaded onto rail transports. A spokesman for Russia's southern military district also said its servicemen had begun leaving Crimea, where Russia has built up a large force.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-signals-troop-pullback-ukraine-border-exercises/story?id=82896967

There were videos and everything...

[haele]

23. Probably going back for maintenance and re-dployment.

Sounds like Russian strategy has changed. Four fronts were unsustainable, even in tabletop wargaming if there was any resistance.
Probably will re-deploy tanks to the SE to try and hold Donbass, Crimea, and the Eastern coastal areas (like Maripol) while they continue to hit Northern and Western Ukraine with missiles and air bombing.
When Russia feels they've regrouped enough, or the seasons/winds change sufficiently, they'll continue their assault to take the rest of Ukraine.

Putin doesn't care about the Ukrainians or Russia's current reputation. He wants his NovaRussia empire so he and his heirs can control EU through threats so long as Russia will be the one to provide most import produce and raw materials to the rest of Europe.

Remember, he's always been a sociopathic nhilist and now he's bought into Russian Orthodox Bishop Kyrill's religious social control fu**-witery.

Haele

[Xolodno]

24. They never had enough forces to take Kyiv in the first place.

And taking Kyiv would be something you do AFTER you have obliterated most of the UA with morale low, not when its high and still mainly intact. Wonder if this was a feign the whole time to draw forces away from the east.

Because now they are blowing up the bridges the UA didn't destroy. Which will make it harder to move those forces in Kyiv to shore up those in the east. Putin has his land bridge to Crimea and Mariupol is a matter of days away from falling. And those forces will no doubt be redeployed to the east. And the UA air force has been significantly degraded.

I feel the worst is yet to come in the east.