NATO Estimates 40K Russian Troops Killed, Wounded, Taken Prisoner or Missing

I imagine the Ukrainian peace negotiators going "April fools! No oil for you!"

https://www.itemfix.com/v?t=t7xudm

Quote from SWTarget

I think key is to look at the Donbas. If at the end of this Russia still holds on to the two separatist areas, then I'm not sure we could say with confidence that Russia did not accomplish it's original goals.

Knowing that everything said before the final deal goes down is just negotiation, it should be noted that Zelensky's opening position is keeping all of Ukraine in Ukraine. We shall see. I think it's pretty clear Russia did not meet any of its timetable goals for this operation.

From his interview with Brett Baier:

“We do not trade our territory,” Mr Zelensky responded. “The question of territorial integrity and sovereignty is out of discussion.”

Taking out both lead and trail vehicles is standard ambush tactic to lock down the convoy. Best if it can be done in something like a mountain pass or bridge where there is no room to go around. The day of drone operations is definitely here and means you need AA assets with you constantly.

IMO not only are the russians in the wrong for invading but they are really demonstrating a surprising level of incompetence in military ops, particularly logistics and combined arms.

Quote from Gina

I'm still stunned when I see tanks getting blown up like they're nothing.

I noticed in a couple of those shots that the Ukrainians are taking out the lead and trailing vehicles at almost the same instant.

I love these Ukrainians. They're such fighters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroVironment_Switchblade

nasty little buggers.

You all probably saw that the USMC is getting rid of its tanks. The general reason they gave is that the tanks aren't going to be useful in the Pacific against China. I think they also posited that the advantage is shifting to anti-tank weapons now.

We shall see how that goes.

I do think the Russians are showing bumbling incompetence as Mav said above. Boroda must be beside himself.

Quote from Toad

I do think the Russians are showing bumbling incompetence as Mav said above. Boroda must be beside himself.

pours on move vodka and self delusion.

Quote from Toad

You all probably saw that the USMC is getting rid of its tanks. The general reason they gave is that the tanks aren't going to be useful in the Pacific against China. I think they also posited that the advantage is shifting to anti-tank weapons now.

We shall see how that goes.

I do think the Russians are showing bumbling incompetence as Mav said above. Boroda must be beside himself.

broroda quote

"Ukrainians said "burinig colorads" in Odessa May 2 2014. That's what I mean. Now they all say every Russian should be tortured and killed, especially our children."

"Icompetence?! With casualtues rate 10x1 while Russian Task Force in Ukraine is maybe 2-3 tiles less in manpower than Ukrainian Armed Forces - we are doing more then well. And we fight a biggest and most experienced all-European army."

Quote from SWTarget

Playing the other side here for a second:

Russia's claimed goals of their "special operation" were to "liberate" the two breakaway Donbas areas and "demilitarize" the Ukraine as a threat.

If we were to take this at face value, then a possible strategy to accomplish this is to mount a large scale, multi-prong invasion designed not to take the populated cities, but to draw out the Ukrainian military and defeat it in the field. This leaves Ukraine without the resources to challenge Russia's annexation of the two Donbas territories. There is a certain logic to doing it this way vs. sending your troops into Donbas only, where Ukraine could concentrate it's inferior-in-numbers military and inflict more damage via a more protracted conflict. If this was the strategy, then they could be pulling back for the reasons they state -- they've accomplished what they've set out to do. I've seen very little on the losses Ukraine has sustained, and not sure I would believe any of it in any event, so it's entirely possible Ukraine has suffered equal or larger military losses.

I think key is to look at the Donbas. If at the end of this Russia still holds on to the two separatist areas, then I'm not sure we could say with confidence that Russia did not accomplish it's original goals.

All that said, my gut still tells me that Ukraine not folding in 72 hours with Zalenskyy fleeing the country was a shock to everyone. Even so, I still think annexation of the Donbas, and international recognition of that annexation (and the Crimea) is a likely outcome and one in which Putin can claim total victory.

Display More

IMO people are jumping the gun here declaring victory for Ukraine. Russia is re-grouping and re-prioritizing, and they have vastly more firepower available than what they've used so far. The only restraint IMO is what Putin thinks he can get away with.

But NATO is all in, and while Russia re-groups there are tons of weapons coming in from all over NATO.

I'm still not sure if this is WWIII, but all the signs are there. If Putin uses a tactical nuke, I'm going to buy an American flag and plant a victory garden.

Must be an American merc that did that lol.

WTFG Slovakia!

Say what you will about these Russian weapon systems... They are quite impressive in scale, if not in effectivness.

Everything they build is a knockoff of an American design.

Most of the time, I would agree with you. However, regarding surface-to-air-missile systems, I'm going to have to disagree.

You are free to be as wrong as you like.