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Beau of the Fifth Column: Let's talk about possibilities of Ukraine winning conventionally.... (Original Post) TexasTowelie Mar 2022 OP
They will win. paleotn Mar 2022 #1
A collapse and sudden withdrawal of Russian forces could be sudden Warpy Mar 2022 #2

paleotn

(17,912 posts)
1. They will win.
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 12:50 PM
Mar 2022

And remember that I typed those words. Just like I typed over and over again in the past months that this would not be a Russian cakewalk, that Russia is paper tiger militarily and has been for decades, and was castigated by many here for speak such "blasphemy!"

Warpy

(111,255 posts)
2. A collapse and sudden withdrawal of Russian forces could be sudden
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 01:15 PM
Mar 2022

Blowing up the supply ship at a "safe" dock and damaging other ships that were rafted in place, ready to unload, was a real game changer. Now the dock is blocked by a big, burning ship, further cutting supply lines and lowering morale among true believers in the Russian command structure. The ship will eventually be towed out, but not until munitions stop exploding.

Add to that the cutting of rail supply from Belarus and you've got a lot of troops who know rations will be short, every shot needs to count or they'll run completely out of ammo, and that reinforcements will be a very long time coming. That is not going to contribute to any sense of glory in warfare.

This is the first time Russia has confronted a non tribal country with a strong government and a well trained military and trained citizen mi.litia. They were always going to lose Ukraine, but most people (including me) thought it would be after the military had simply rolled over the country and declared victory. It's beginning to look like Putin won't get his parade.

We didn't factor in the decades of corruption that severely weakened Russia's military. Oh, they could still win in Ukraine if they threw every soldier they've got at them, but that would mean leaving borders unguarded and I know of at least one central Asian republic that would take the opportunity to get some of its ancestral land back.

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