Im surprise russia is

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Im surprised Russia is moving so slow on Ukraine. They are having the same issues they had with logistics that they had 100 years ago. This is different from a war such as USA vs Afghanistan or Vietnam (guerilla wars in rural terrain). This is a conventional war which is what big militaries like USA and Russia are supposed to excell at. I believed in the beginning this Ukraine war would be similar to desert storm. But they still do not even have air superiority yet and they're having logistical issues. Even if he takes Ukraine this was a failure with Putin and his generals.

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Based on 8 votes (3 yes)
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Comments ( 31 )
  • LloydAsher
    1 year ago

    I think the planners were all huffing their own farts about russias chances in ukraine. They thought they would be welcomed in as saviors and as it turns out they are not welcomed. With only a 4 day supply of food.

    Putin is firing his generals over this incompetence, hopefully we dont get more competent generals but rather more bootlickers. This will cause an even greater strain and than faster fall in russia.

    I'm confused though. Do the average russian civilian actually think the world is out to get russia? And it was not because putin invaded a neighbor that ironically just validated the exsistance of nato. Its not the NATO expanding it's people rejecting russias idea for how to organize themselves?

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    • 1WeirdGuy
      1 year ago

      I think Russian citizens understand that the west and Russias interests domt always align so effectively the west is out to get Russia, and it goes vice versa. There's things I actually like about Putin. But as an American I understand that he will do what he can to destabilize my country.

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      • LloydAsher
        1 year ago

        I feel bad about russian civilians but we arent bombing their homes so whatever we are doing to prevent them from liking their situation is 100% morally ok with me.

        Turns out capitalism always wins when you have big mac's going for 50$

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        • Boojum
          1 year ago

          Russians are huffing and puffing about nationalising the assets of western companies that have pulled out.

          Although the fate of McDonald's should be way down at the bottom of the Kremlin's list of priorities, there's the potential for substantial profits to be made with the brand, and money draws Putin's cronies like a fresh turd draws flies. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of Putin's ass-lickers ends up being put in charge of McDonald's and he takes over their contracts with Russian suppliers. Everyone in that chain knows the specs of the raw ingredients, and they can obviously produce them, so it's feasible.

          However, given the way Russia "works", I'm sure that everyone at every single level in that new corporate structure would immediately start skimming and scrimping to line their own pockets, and quality control would go right out the window.

          If you think McDonald's is shit now, wait until you try the Russian version six months down the line. All the urban myths about lard in the ice cream, potatoes in the apple pies, and horse meat, eyeballs and even occasional human meat in the patties will probably be true.

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          • 1WeirdGuy
            1 year ago

            If they nationalise mcdonalds in russia the ice cream machine will definitely never work again 😂

            I find it kind of interesting how all these private corporations have decided to pull out of Russia at the detriment to their own profits. Its weird that actual private companies do this. Sometimes I feel that the politicians in the USA control the corporations much more than we are led to believe

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            • Boojum
              1 year ago

              Over the last few years, businesses have come to see "reputational harm" as something they must consider.

              The old saying about there being no such thing as bad advertising just ain't true any more. The enormous (and, to me, somewhat surprising) upwelling of revulsion and outrage all over the world at what Russia is doing is something that major companies just can't ignore.

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            • LloydAsher
              1 year ago

              I mean its marketing 101. Rebranding is the long term solution like coke a cola did with fanta. The thing is that the internet exists and information travels instantly. If any one of these massive corporations set up shop in a country that is involved with an internationally disliked war you start running into problems that trickle down to your more domestic customers.

              It's simple capitalism that causes the cessation of selling goods and thus saving long term profits.

              It doesnt take a politician for mcdonalds to calculate the shortfalls of maintaining a restaurant in a country who's currency is worth less than monopoly money. It's a multi level decision and it's a clear one. Patriotism isnt required its simply the logical thing to do.

              Though I am enjoying that we can all come together and enjoy the ass roasting of russians together as a mostly unified world. Kinda gives me hope for the future.

              Note I'm not being facetious when saying that its literally worth less than monopoly money... it fucking is.

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        • 1WeirdGuy
          1 year ago

          I feel bad for the russiam soldiers too. Someone sent me a video of a helicopter getting shot down and everyone was happy about it and cheering Im thinkin to myself dude there was a person in that helicopter that probably did not want this war. Its easy to get desensitized to it. But its fucked up. Every video I see of the Russians theyre holding their heads in shame getting heckled by the Ukrainian civilians. They look depressed and theyre fighting like shit because of it. They dont wanna be there you can see it.

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          • Boojum
            1 year ago

            I'm sure a lot of the Russian soldiers don't want to be there, particularly the conscripts. The videos I've seen of really pathetic-looking Russian soldiers were conscripts. My understanding is that Russian law says conscripts are not supposed to used in foreign conflicts, so they shouldn't be there in the first place. (Well, no Russians soldiers should be in Ukraine, but the conscripts definitely shouldn't.)

            It's interesting how Putin said with his usual dead-eyed poker-face a few days ago that there were no conscripts in Ukraine, and then the day after, the Russian Defence Ministry admitted there were indeed conscripts in Ukraine. I don't recall reading any informed comments on that little incident, but it suggests to me that either Putin is not being told things he should know, he's forgotten things he's been told, or the most senior levels of the Russian military really don't have a handle on the composition of Russian forces in Ukraine. I'm no general, but I woulda kinda thought that was a fairly important fact to know when fighting a war.

            And, yeah, I agree that it's not cool to cheer about people being killed, whether that's some Russian helicopter pilot or some kid who gets blown up when a Russian bomb lands on his house. But that kid had no choice, while the pilot did. He could have looked at what he saw going on around him and said, "I'm not taking part in this completely unjustified shit," and refused to get in his machine. The consequences might well have been unpleasant, but he was free to make that choice. He made it, he died, and I'll shed no tears for him or the others on that helicopter.

            As a group, it's always open to soldiers to get their heads together and mutiny. As a matter of fact, one of the most celebrated incidents in the period leading up to the Russian Revolution was the mutiny on the battleship Potemkin after the crew got fed up with generally being treated like crap and fed maggoty meat. So just about every Russian serving in the military has to know that it is an option.

            There have been reports of Russian soldiers surrendering either individually or in small groups, but I've heard not a peep about there being any suggestion that large groups are refusing to fight. Therefore, by default, they've made a conscious decision to fight in an unjust war, and they deserve whatever they get.

            So far, at least three Russian one-star generals have died due to direct Ukrainian action. All of them showed themselves to be homicidal thugs in previous Russian actions, so I have no sympathy for them either. But the point is that anyone who knows anything about the army knows that generals should not be anywhere near the front. The fact that those guys were right up where the bullets were flying and anti-tank weapons were going off strongly suggests that senior Russian officers are having a very hard time getting soldiers to do what they want them to.

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            • 1WeirdGuy
              1 year ago

              I honestly dont know what Id do in that situation if I was deployed to a random country that is not hostile towards my nation. I wouldnt feel that I had any reasonable choices. Its either try to survive this thing the best you can, get yourself killed, or go to prison and be labeled a coward the rest of your life. Its hard to back out when its a whole army of your people and they have all of your heads buzzed and youre all clean shaven and all dressed the same everyone looks the same like yall are all one. And then to quit you let your people down. Also part of military training is brain washing you to be a killer. And I believe we all have a little warrior in us its programmed into our dna. Its a natural thing humans have done forever.

              But yeah that also surprised me about the generals dying. This isnt the napoleonic era of battle what are they doing in harms way? I dont know much about tactics but Id expect generals to be in a bunker somewhere.

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    • Clunk42
      1 year ago

      Putin believes that the people rejecting those ideas is caused by the expansion of western culture, with NATO being an example of this "dangerous" western culture. Effectively, from what I've heard, Putin believes he's liberating Ukraine from a brainwashing western regime.

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      • LloydAsher
        1 year ago

        I dont care what putin believes, I care about what the average russian thinks.

        Such as how the average north Korean thinks vs Kim's thinking.
        The average north Korean knows that they live in a hermit kingdom, but they are so terrified to speak out they dont.

        I wonder how much bullshit the russian people are swallowing.

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        • Clunk42
          1 year ago

          I've heard that the average Korean is effectively led to believe that their leader is practically a god, and they thank him for everything.

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          • LloydAsher
            1 year ago

            They are supposed to say that. Some do believe. Most are aware they are in a fucked situation.

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  • MonteMetcalfe
    1 year ago

    I'm scratching my head.
    We were all led to believe Russia was still a military super power. At his point I think they'd have difficulty fending off an invasion from Bermuda.

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    • LloydAsher
      1 year ago

      If russia was using their forces like they were predicted to ise them in the 1950s than yes Ukraine would be fucked.

      Problem is that for some reason russia is doing the most half assed invasion in the entire world.

      I suppose this will cause smaller countries to invest more in mobile rocket launchers rather than in tanks. Given Ukraine's success in their usage.

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      • 1WeirdGuy
        1 year ago

        Doesnt this whole russia ukraine war make desert storm look even more impressive? Iraq was I believe the 6th biggest army at the time and they were experienced and had good equipment. The USA gained air superiority so fast and the tanks rolled in and obliterated them. Then the troops came behind and we suffered very little casualties. It was the most scientific use of logistics Ive ever seen. The logistics part is really interesting. Its part of the trucking job that I really like getting to understand how everything gets around the world. Its incredibly complex. Putin should hire executives at UPS or FedEX 😂

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        • Boojum
          1 year ago

          Have you seen the stories about the problems the Russians have (apparently) had just due to their tires? It's one of those odd little side-stories that I stumbled across last week.

          There are a number of videos and photos of heavy Russian vehicles which were apparently abandoned simply because their tires came off the rim and shredded. I watched a YouTube video about this by some guy who claimed to be something of an expert on how such vehicles and their tires must be maintained in order for them to operate reliably when needed.

          He claimed that in US Army vehicles of similar size, the tire pressure can be adjusted from the dashboard to take account of the surface the vehicle is on. (Obviously, high-pressure on paved roads, low-pressure off-road.) He also said that US Army vehicles that are being stored have a strict maintenance regime where, at least once every month, the engine is fired up and checked for correct functioning, the tire pressure system is tested, the tires are taken to their lower and upper limits to exercise the sidewalls, and the vehicle is moved a short distance that's calculated to ensure that the tires don't end up sitting on the same footprint. And, of course, the vehicles are parked in such a way that the tires' exposure to the sun is limited as much as possible.

          He said that if you don't do this, the results will be just what's seen in those pictures from Ukraine.

          He also pointed out that he recognised the tires on some of the vehicles as being cheap Chinese copies of a Pirelli (or some other western tire firm). A couple of the comments on the video said that the tires weren't all that bad, but I sure as hell will never put Chinese tires on my cars.

          His suspicion was that someone, somewhere along the line (or maybe a whole chain of people) decided that they just couldn't be bothered to do the preventative maintenance, but they'd check off a box on some form to say that they had. He also wondered if the vehicles hadn't been regularly tested and moved because the logistics company (or whatever) received a certain allocation of diesel every month to move the vehicles, and they decided they'd rather sell the fuel

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          • 1WeirdGuy
            1 year ago

            I have not heard that about the tires but I have heard that the roads are very bad in Ukraine and heavy tanks will destroy the remaining shitty roads, and according to the internet when it warms up in Ukraine it will become very muddy. Hitler had issues moving his equipment in this same mud. From what Ive heard the mud is waist deep in parts of Ukraine in spring time because it rains alot. And Russia had railroads that go into Ukraine that were built in the soviet era. But according to a source I read the Ukrainians have destroyed every piece of railroad that connect russia and ukraine. So they might become stuck in the mud and become target practice.

            And to make matters worse for them there was alot of atrocities that were committed in the last decade in the donbas region by Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainians. You remember that Russian seperatists cammander named Vivi that went viral smoking a cigarette calmly as his location was being bombed and everyone else ran away? That guy committed war crimes to Ukrainians on camera before he was eventually assassinated in his office. But Ukraine is also a very corrupt country, which is one of the reasons they havent been allowed in the EU.

            I believe alot of the ukrainian soldiers are experienced fighters that fought in the donbas region the last decade and these men are very angry at the atrocities committed against their people. I wouldnt be surprised if we find out later alot of these Russian soldiers were being tortured. There was one video I saw that was a compilation the news put out of different Russian POWs talking to the camera. And I thought it was interesting all 6 said the EXACT same quote which was "These are peaceful people do not come here." It was odd to me they all said that in the same tone. It was like they were going off a script to create propaganda videos.

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            • Boojum
              1 year ago

              A bit more about Russian logistics:

              I just watched this video by guy who _seems_ to talk sense.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBFdPNZzpwg

              Early in the video, he discusses Russian communication issues, which seems to be his area of special interest and expertise. Later on, he gets into logistics, and he talks at some length about that stationary convoy. I'm not sure how he can be so confident about what conditions are like for the crews of those vehicles in terms of food and fuel, but it's easy enough to confirm that night-time lows in the Kyiv area have recently been below freezing, and the daytime highs haven't been that high. If those Russians have been sitting there for something like a week with trucks that don't contain fuel or food, they've gotta be in pretty bad shape (and definitely fed up).

              A short clip that pretty clearly confirms Russia's logistics problems is at 11:14, where you see a train of flatbed vehicle transport cars rolling past, and the vehicles are all obviously used civilian trucks and vans marked with Z. The Russian army has to be pretty damn desperate if they're appropriating Soviet-era trucks from civilians. And I can't imagine the civilians are exactly thrilled to lose the truck or van they need for their work or on their farm, either.

              Reliable information is hard to come by, but all the signs are that this is a total cluster-fuck for the Russians.

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            • Boojum
              1 year ago

              I've also heard that about the Ukrainian terrain. The area has been known for its deep, rich soil for ages, and it's been a major producer of sunflowers (for oil and animal feed) and wheat for a long time. My understanding is that at the time of the Russian invasion, the spring thaw had already happened, so heavy vehicles did tend to sink axle-deep in mud if they went off-road. Which at least partially explains how that infamous, miles-long convoy sat on roads for days on end.

              I have no illusions about Ukraine being any sort of model for democracy and enlightened capitalism; as you say, that's one of the big reasons Ukraine hasn't been instantly welcomed into the EU club. Nor do I believe that Ukrainian soldiers are going spend much time worrying about the Geneva Convention when they take Russian prisoners. I don't know much about what's happened in the Donbass conflict since 2014, but I'm sure both sides did really nasty stuff, and many of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who served there were brutalised by the experience and ended up really hating the Russians and their Ukrainian proxies.

              BTW, one of the most bizarre videos I've come across in the last couple of weeks was of an incident that happened in Donbass at some time during the last few years.

              The video is from a downward pointing camera of a drone that's hovering maybe a hundred feet or so above some alleyway. You see a guy casually strolling along, apparently completely unaware of the drone, which leads me to suspect it could be just a hobby drone that anyone can buy for $1,500 or so.

              The guy is calmly walking down a straight part of the alley when the video does a little lurch, and what's clearly a bomb with the classic tailfins appears below the drone, rapidly falling towards the guy. The bomb is so small it disappears from view as it falls, and then there's an explosion exactly where the guy was about to step.

              It seriously looks like they basically dropped something the size of a hand-grenade directly on top of the guy's head. I have no idea if there are guided munitions that small or if it was just a lucky shot, but I suspect the incident could be a hint of what infantry might face in the future.

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        • LloydAsher
          1 year ago

          I was in more awe about the 6 day war. That counter information plan by Israel was the best executed plan of disinformation and follow up I've ever heard about.

          All russia could do is amass troops at a border.

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          • 1WeirdGuy
            1 year ago

            I dont know too much about the 6 day war maybe they have the operations video on youtube ill check it out.

            This is my favorite operations video of desert storm. It shows how immense the air attack was.
            Its a animated map and it accurately represents each number of aircraft and their formations. It looks like a beehive surrounding something. You watch this video and you realize how good those generals were that orchestrated this.

            https://youtu.be/zxRgfBXn6Mg

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        • MonteMetcalfe
          1 year ago

          Maybe we can send Putin a bomb by way of UPS or FedEx. Signature required.

          "Candygram for Mongo" - From Blazing Saddles.

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    • 1WeirdGuy
      1 year ago

      They are very powerful they just cant seem to mobilize.

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