People in Britain who think they are governed by fools should take a closer look at the Russian and US presidents. Vladimir Putin is systematically ruining his country. His war of choice in Ukraine is an economic, financial, geopolitical and human calamity for Russia that worsens by the day. For his own murky reasons, Donald Trump, another national menace, offered him a lifeline last week. Yet Putin spurned it. These two fools deserve each other.
On the table in Moscow was a “peace” deal that, broadly speaking, rewarded Russia’s aggression by handing over large chunks of Ukrainian land, compromised Kyiv’s independence and weakened its defences against any future attack. The Trump deal, if forced through, would have split the US and Europe; ruptured Nato, perhaps fatally; reprieved Russia’s pariah economy; and probably toppled Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.
These are key Russian war aims. But Putin, suffering from neo-imperial fantasies and legacy issues, said “no”. He reckons he can get it all, and more, by fighting on. He has persuaded the idiot Trump that Russia’s victory is inevitable – and that scheming Europeans are the real warmongers. Yet his premise is fundamentally flawed. Hard facts confound him. Almost four years on, he’s still trapped in Donbas mud and ice. And at home, things fall apart.
The evidence is there though.
What other developed military sends its troops to the front on motorbikes and camels?
Russia is sending its infantry into a grinder, on foot and on the back of animals.
The cupboard is bare, they just refuse to admit it
I’m not saying that Russia is a great military power - but they’ve been sufficiently powerful enough to maintain a position in Ukraine for longer than many people have said they should be able to.
You can laugh at their tactics, their weapons, their troops, etc. But they’re still there. So you might imagine it’s frustrating for people to hear “any day now - they’re gonna crack” without any sense that an actual tide has turned.
“They’re still there”.
Barely, in a country with a military that is tiny in comparison.
I agree, Ukraine might not have enough to remove them. But Russia with a population and military that was significantly larger is still unable to advance. They dont even have air superiority against an airforce that is at best 10% the size of the Russian one.
And yet, they are advancing. And while those tactics seems laughable, guess who is copying them. Yes, Ukraine is (haven’t yet heard of animals, though - but many others laughable tactics like nets over roads, wire cages on tanks and other vehicles, using motorbikes etc. Ukraine does, too)
They’re advancing by a few metres a day. And they’re losing ground in other places. I note how they havent dislodged Ukrainian troops in Kursk.
And yes, the russian tactics are laughable. A “mechanised” army using animals and civilian vehicles to transport troops to the front lines isn’t an army that is winning.
But they are advancing.
At the expense of at least a thousand men a day. And they’re advancing over fields, not through towns and certainly not through cities. What have they gained? A few km of empty land. That’s it.
So just a few more years to take Kiev? These tactics are brilliant, you’re right.