Perhaps the most important lesson for Putin is the realization that he cannot rely on the military’s assessments of its readiness, forcing him to take a more direct role in overseeing strategic operations. Ultimately, the combination of strategic lessons and a battle-hardened force will make Russia ...
Yes, here I am, to remind you and Lemmy that mainstream western media has been fluffing the stiffy of the Russian war machine since the mid 2010s. Now we’re blindsided by Russia entering the third year of their three-day campaign to Київ ~600k troops lighter.
Nobody with a functioning brain thinks Russian army is beat to hell. Certainly not a single western military person is saying this. I guess I can see why you'd think this is the case if you've just been guzzling propaganda for the past two years uncritically though.
Nobody with a functioning brain thinks Russian army is beat to hell.
I have heard Western military people say this, in person. It doesn't mean Russia is not still a threat, but their capabilities have been degraded during the two years of the "easy 2-week war."
If they're doing so well, why haven't they been able to defeat a country with a population a tenth that of Russia?
Even more, if they're expected to engage in another sustained campaign, who's going to be fighting it? They can barely keep their conscription pipeline full now. Who's going to sign up to sacrifice themselves in Meat Grinder round 2?