dan/california

Outstanding model though!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but given the untimely death of Russia's military reputation you are going to have to start over. Either with the Chinese, or some version of Starship Troopers.

Not desperate at all...

I wonder if the Ukrainians are deep enough into Russian Radio systems to misdirect Russian artillery onto there own troops?

Exhibit 97 of an army just melting away.

After a hundred and something episodes of Mike Duncan's history of the Russian Revolution the word peasant is burned into my brain.

Its an expressio... I will start using farmer. Non the less the state of the Bundeswher is so bad that they should be paying everyone fighting in Ukraine the same wages, and combat pay, as a German soldier, in cash, for the next year. Least they can do to get stand by and watch as the Ukrainians break Putin's teeth, and Russia's military reputation.

And for the record Ukrainian peasants are the coolest people on earth..

I think we have been seeing it for days. The ABANDONED equipment everywhere being exhibit A. The number of really expensive aniti-aircraft systems alone is indicative of an army in total breakdown. It is one thing to get a one, or a platoon of those things stuck, and then have a company of infantry defend it to the death against a huge assault by Ukrainian partisans. It is quite another for a peasant to be able to walk up and set it on fire with a can of gas and his bleeping cigarette, Or tow it away as a trophy unopposed.

The Russians are certainly excellent and efficient at trashing their own tanks and AFVs.

The NEW Russian defense minister is going to ask to be your largest customer, ever. Be strong, and say no.... The Ukrainians are obviously huge CM players.

Russian infantry just doesn't do their jobs. And these guys seem very competent.

bleep me that is brilliant.

The lawyers can lawyer until they drop dead, but as practical matter the Ukrainian treatment of prisoners has been beyond saintly. This is of course he strategically correct thing to do, it reduces and degrades the Russians at the minimum possible cost. The videos are perhaps the one thing that might actually break thru in the current Russian media environment. I just REALLY want the Russians to go home while it is still working this way, because it won't if they keep blowing up kindergartens, and trying to murder people in evacuation corridors.

One more thing the Russians might not have brought enough off.

Putin is green rooming himself into meetings.

I know, I have been reading your stuff for at least a decade. Edit- join date July 2005. I am usually really analytical, but the sheer senseless of Putin's fiasco has means that there is more to this than analysis. And there is remarkably little REAL information to analyze unless you speak Russian, Ukrainian, or have a current security clearance.

I have been hammering at twitter too, and now i am not sure what slavic language I am being insulted in.

This would be why I am pro intervention. The Russian army is like dinosaur that is already brain dead, but it is thrashing like it means it. I am arguing for a bit of spinal severing.

A complete lack of everything, morale, training, leadership, command and control, supplies, and whatever else you care to name. The Russian army is putting in a world historically bad performance here. Either Putin is going to shoot his entire general staff, or the general staff is going to shoot Putin, and claim it was all his fault. I really don't see a third choice.

He will taking forum vacation soon, Unlike Ukraine utterly innocent civilians are not dying the mean time.

I just don't see Putin climbing down, he is going to have to be bumped off the ladder. Or he is going to have to see a guy walking up to bottom of his ladder with a sawzall at least.

The risk of NATO ending this rolling atrocity/fiasco is obviously not zero. But there are risk of letting continue too. The flywheel of barbarity is just going to keep spinning faster. Putin is already at a point where it would take WMD to "win" this conflict. And virtually all evidence is that The Russian army will just dissolve under even minimal NATO air attack. I think most of would dissolve if there was a NATO OVERFLIGHT. The risk of getting in, and staying out are more balanced than most people think. Putin doesn't make it if this army just surrenders in mass/ deserts and walks home. At the moments the Ukrainians would let most of them walk home, another week of shelling...

Stable in Ukraine is going to be a while....

Is half the Russian general staff working for Ukraine? Or they have just stolen so much money the army is dysfunctional?