Ukraine

I have no special knowledge here though what struck me is that much of the fighting between the old USSR and Nazi Germany took place in Ukraine.

What we should be doing: I think President Biden is doing the right things. I honestly think that Putin got Russia into a quagmire that he’ll have trouble extracting itself from.

Close to Kherson, a Russian convoy sent to hell by Ukrainian air strikes pic.twitter.com/u4TGLHXNqJ

— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 26, 2022

🇷🇺 Tass reported the numbers of equipment they lost and servicemen who were killed or taken hostage during the invasion in #Ukraine. But then quickly deleted it. According to that information,more than 3,500 soldiers were killed or captured. Russians need to know what's happening pic.twitter.com/dSfq2SnJCR

— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) February 26, 2022

What I remember from the cold war days: the Russians (then the Soviets) had a lot of machines (subs, tanks, etc.) but often in a poor state of repair. Evidently that is still true:

"This Russian shit is more dilapidated than our own equipment", Ukrainian soldiers make fun of captured aged Russian battle tank. Putin didn’t expect a spirited fight from the Ukrainians.#Kyiv #Ukraine #UkraineUnderAttack #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/sQsqslpafg

— 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝕆𝕦𝕘𝕒 (@Ougasam) February 26, 2022

Their in the field tactics are not the best either. I remember a report from Afghanistan where the mujahideen had ambushed a Russian convoy carrying troops in armored personnel carriers. The embedded reporter thought “we are dead; the infantry will come out and kill us, easily”..but they just stayed in safety…

Day 1 of Combat 🧵, Takeaways from available information:

1.Russians broke with their own doctrine of relying on heavy, concentrated support fires. 1/

— Patrick Fox (@RealCynicalFox) February 25, 2022

Then there are supply issues..long lines through hostile territory.

Multiple videos on social media of Russian military out of fuel, food and stuck on highways pic.twitter.com/UTKLmTJf38

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) February 26, 2022

For sure, Russia has them outnumbered and their sheer weight would prove decisive if they use it. But it sure looks like the tide is truing against them (with respect to Europe’s reactions..and ours) and it is my (uneducated guess) that they will find a face saving way to pull out…perhaps holding a small corridor from mainland Russia to Crimea.

Note: Putin is NOT Hitler and the Russians are far from the Wehrmacht; Putin might WANT conquest but he isn’t going to get it.