The Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[Madner Kami]

While trying to destroy a TV- and communications-tower in Kyiv today, Russia managed to nicely display how much their "Denazification" of Ukraine really matters:

Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial was bombed

To those not in the know, Babyn Yar is a ravine in Kyiv, which the Germans used as an execution and mass-burial-site for their extermination campaign against Jews, Gypsies, Russians and Ukrainians. The exact numbers are unknown, as the bodies were mostly burned and their ashes scattered after the Liberation of Kyiv by soviet forces in 1943, but we're talking about numbers north of 100,000 massacred people of all kind.

[CharlesPhipps]

Newsweek: Volodymyr Zelensky Assassination Foiled After Russian Tip-Off, Ukraine Says

https://www.newsweek.com/volodomyr-zele ... ne-1683953

Russian intelligence officers opposed to their country's invasion of Ukraine reportedly tipped off officials in Kyiv who thwarted an assassination plot against President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky has said that he and his family are the Kremlin's top two targets since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week.

The head of Ukraine's National Security Council Oleksiy Danilov said on social network Telegram that two group of assassins from Chechnya had been involved in the plot. "We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president," Danilov said, referring to the fighters from the Caucasus Russian republic whose leader Ramzan Kadyrov pledges unswerving loyalty to President Vladimir Putin. Kadyrov is the authoritarian ruler of Chechnya, and is accused by rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, of using torture, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings tolerated by the Kremlin to maintain his rule.

Danilov said that the Chechens had been divided into two groups, with one under fire in Gostomel, north of the capital Kyiv and the other was "eliminated." "The Kadyrov forces unit, which came to kill our President, was eliminated," Danilov told Ukraine 24 TV.

While Russia has been reluctant to reveal its casualties during the war, Kadyrov said on Tuesday that Chechens had been killed during the conflict.

[CharlesPhipps]

Meanwhile, the Belarusian president displays map suggesting Putin plans to attack Moldova

https://news.yahoo.com/belarusian-presi ... 20415.html

Russia may be planning aggressive moves against the Republic of Moldova, according to a map Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko displayed during a meeting of his country's security council. The map shows Ukraine split into its four operational command districts and features red arrows that appear to indicate planned troop movements. One of those arrows originates in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, which Russian troops have not yet reached, and terminates on the other side of the Moldovan border.

In January, Ukrainian intelligence warned that Russia could initiate false flag operations in Moldova to justify intervening in the pro-Russian separatist-controlled region of Transnistria, according to Al Jazeera. Transnistria, a narrow strip of land with around 400,000 inhabitants, is internationally recognized as part of Moldova, but the Moldovan government has exercised no authority over the breakaway republic since 1992. Russian troops have been stationed in Transnistria ever since.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I'm really digging the international "yes we can" vibe surrounding Ukraine. It's unfortunate that we're just supposed to kinda watch it play out from the west.

[Riedquat]

I'm really digging the international "yes we can" vibe surrounding Ukraine. It's unfortunate that we're just supposed to kinda watch it play out from the west.

Lesser evil than it ending up with nuclear war, and with a frothing lunatic in the Kremlin I'm seriously worried about that. Not that I'm arguing for bending over to the madman.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I'm really digging the international "yes we can" vibe surrounding Ukraine. It's unfortunate that we're just supposed to kinda watch it play out from the west.

Lesser evil than it ending up with nuclear war, and with a frothing lunatic in the Kremlin I'm seriously worried about that. Not that I'm arguing for bending over to the madman.

Really I'm surprised Russia's kept as low of a profile as they have post cold war given their Outfit.

It's also not too different of a timeline when compared to the span between wwi and wwii.

[phantom000]

According to New York Times several Russian units have surrendered en mass and the armored convoy has slowed almost to a halt.

https://news.yahoo.com/russian-troops-s ... p_catchall

When was the last time the Russian military launched something this big?

[TGLS]

When was the last time the Russian military launched something this big?

Soviet-Afghan War, Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

[phantom000]

When was the last time the Russian military launched something this big?

Soviet-Afghan War, Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

So it's been about 33 years since the last major Russian War. That might explain some things, since most of the Russian soldiers have little to no experience with any kind of operation of this size.

It would not be the first time, a problem the US Army had back in WW1 was that at the time, no American soldier had ever taken part in a major operation. They made number of the same mistakes the British and French did in the first part of the war.

[Madner Kami]

An additional difficulty besides the lack of training, morale and planning, is the early onset of the "Rasputitsa"-season and that China nicely requested Russia to wait for the week after the 20th. You just can not move off the road in large parts of the Ukraine in spring and autumn, even if it's just a meter off, due to the soil being a borderline swamp and that's not an exxageration. It plagued the Wehrmacht, it plagued the Soviets and now it plagues the Russians.

You've probably all seen maps like these:



This is badly misleading in regards to what the Russians actually control. The reality on the ground looks more like this:



And yes, these red lines coincide nicely with the primary transportation infrastructure of the Ukraine. This also neatly explains, how the Ukrainians keep managing to attack supply and rear-guard units. It's not just down to the russian inability to handle their logistics properly, it's also the fact that they are completely absent in large parts of the embattled parts of the country. Now the Ukrainians naturally also feel the impact on their logistics and ability to move around the map, but they're much more likely to know some more "safe routes" than the Russians have any chance to.

Hoorah for climate-change!