Or instead of "surrender", we can call it a "stop" in violence. — Manuel
This is a cartoonization of the real world. Reminds me quite a bit of the propaganda used in WWI. Very dangerous thinking, in my opinion. — Manuel
Yeah no, you can't, unless you are living under a rock or you are Russia's useful idiot. This is what surrender looks like: — SophistiCat
↑ NPR; CNN; BBCA president against a president and vice president against a vice president, and a duel takes place, if they are serious. And in this way we are saving the American and Iraqi people. — Taha Yassin Ramadan
All of the so-called Western bloc, which the U.S. formed in its image and likeness, all of it in its entirety, is what’s known as the empire of lies. — Putin Wants Revenge Not Just on Ukraine But on the U.S. and Its Allies (Time · Feb 24, 2022)
↑ RFE/RLToday we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can you say? Let them try. — West wants to defeat Russia on battlefield? ‘Let them try’: Putin (Al Jazeera · Jul 7, 2022)
It could also be one reason for falling back when plan A didn’t work. Unlike the fate of all the border cities and villages where bringing in the artillery was the way to liberate their Russian citizens from Nazi oppression. — apokrisis
Yes, Putin is a war criminal, has committed AWFUL crimes in a war - to which I add, who has not? — Manuel
I wonder who was scheduled to land at Antonov airport if it had been secured. — Paine
By some accounts, Russia had intended to land 18-20 Ilyushin IL-76 transport planes at the Hostomel airfield invasion’s opening hours. An aerial convoy this size could have potentially brought two entire battalion tactical groups (BTGs) worth of troops and equipment to the capital’s doorstep within the first hours of the invasion.
In a perfect scenario, Russia likely envisioned that five distinct east and west axes of advance, plus airborne forces at Hostomel, would already be on the outskirts of Kyiv by February 25.
By some accounts, Russia had intended to land 18-20 Ilyushin IL-76 transport planes at the Hostomel airfield invasion’s opening hours. An aerial convoy this size could have potentially brought two entire battalion tactical groups (BTGs) worth of troops and equipment to the capital’s doorstep within the first hours of the invasion.
Now the question is, since you seem to lack military expertise, — Tzeentch
In the time leading up to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) obtained detailed information about Russian attack plans. CIA director William J. Burns travelled to Ukraine in January 2022, and informed the Ukrainian leadership that Russia intended to capture Antonov Airport for an airbridge, which would allow Russian forces to quickly move into Kyiv to "decapitate the government".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antonov_Airport
Before dawn on Thursday, February 24, military helicopters flew in low over Ukraine’s northern frozen fields towards Hostomel Airport, a testing facility for the Antonov cargo airline on Kyiv’s outskirts.
The aircraft deposited Russian paratroopers, wearing orange and black armbands, who took control of the airport. The Russians were so confident, that they allowed a CNN television crew to film them guarding the airport’s perimeter.
Eighteen giant Ilyushin Il-76 cargo planes were flying from Russia towards the airport, carrying more soldiers or weapons and ammunition, according to Christo Grozev, a European journalist who runs Bellingcat, an online media outlet.
The Ukrainians counterattacked, and, they claimed, shot down several helicopters. By Friday, the second day of the war, the airport was under Russian control, although too badly damaged to receive soldiers by plane. The location of the Ilyushins and their cargo was unclear. The fight might have forced them back to Russia.
“We surmise the airlifted force was designed to help spearhead the Russian attack on Kyiv,” an American think tank, the Atlantic Council, said this week. “The Ukrainian defence of the airfield on February 24 slowed the advance on Kyiv, possibly preventing a rapid capture of the capital.”
The underlying problem appears to be the Russian military bureaucracy and civilian leadership’s willingness to devise and accept an unrealistic and risky invasion plan.
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/why-russia-s-military-strategy-is-failing-20220304-p5a1ov
And...? — Isaac
Phew, thank goodness we've finally found some unbiased sources without any ulterior motives to worry about. — Isaac
If Ukraine AA would have made an airbridge impossible, then someone might have mentioned it. — apokrisis
Not "would have made" - Ukrainian AA makes it impossible. — Tzeentch
I think we're seeing an interesting common theme arise; anything the Russians do is speculated, often without any objective basis, to have been a lot more ambitious than their actual results, and thus can be framed as a failure. — Tzeentch
What is the link between the scale of the atrocities and the efficacy of continued war as a strategy to limit them? It's a simple enough question. — Isaac
a peace deal now entrenching Russia's position in Dombass and Crimea would ensure that they can continue their crimes unabated. — Olivier5
How would your argument apply to Hitler? — apokrisis
And yet 30 helicopters made the initial assault. How was that possible? Were they supersonic or stealth or something? — apokrisis
The Russians also fired off 160 missiles to try and suppress the air defences. — apokrisis
You make it sound like this hasn’t been the universal response of all informed military experts watching events unfold. — apokrisis
Now the whole of the West may be pretending to be surprised by Russian ineptitude. — apokrisis
What would be the motive for this massive disinformation campaign that is apparently backed by endless factual evidence of incompetence and miscalculation by a regime eroded from the inside by its gangster economics? — apokrisis
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