Russia - threadbanned users in OP

And especially after Putin's major investment in the military. Which I'm sure included winter quality footwear for the troops? But like everything else in Putin's corrupt Russia, a bit of "shrinkage" here, a little bit there......and it all adds up to what we are seeing in what the troops on the front lines are wearing. (or more likely, what they are not wearing)

Well, they're fine for keeping civillians in check or dealing with badly armed rebels etc.

Exactly zero experience in combat. Officers are parasitical organisms at the best of times, he's one in a storied tradition of Colonels talking out of their arse.

I often wonder how many of the contributors to this thread - the war in UKr - have any understanding of what is happening there and from an objective perspective. I am no expert in these matters but I think that I have a fair grasp of the overall situation even as an ‘armchair’ contributor

one BIG thing that flummoxed me is the thought that - from a geographical perspective- UKr has failed because it made practically no headway since the start of the spring offensive ie/eg no net land has been won over. So, I. Other words , the front line has not moved.

what is not considered by most are the following three points which are also critical re winning or losing and their effects by which we can only guess, namely :-

(1) how much damage has UKr caused behind the front lines - to roads , bridges, ports , arms depots, personnel concentrations, army related buildings, etc, etc, etc. - and will cause as time goes on . I am surprised why more of it is not happening. Maybe it’s part of a long term strategy and I will leave it there

(2) there is a lot of attrition daily on/ near the front lines . Ukr seems to be more careful than Ru in protecting army personnel there and UKr seems to very carefully targeting what it plans to hit to maximise damage - be it vehicles or personnel. I can see UKr being quite happy for the front line to stay where it is - and even let the Ru move it a bit as long as the loss / hit ratio is significantly in their favour.

(3) The effect that (1) and (2) has on both sides re moral . IMO the typical Ru soldier - especially those on the front lines do NOT want to be there and do not want to be in the army anyway because of fear of getting injured and most do not know what they are really fighting for. On the UKr side it’s substantially the opposite

in summary, there is a lot of major ‘stuff’ happening re the above three points where UKr has the upper hand and can even do more ‘damage’ when it gets the F 16s’ etc, etc. AND THE ACTUAL FRONT DOES NOT EVEN COME INTO IT

lets assume that Ru can produce enough for its troops - an aspect you are questioning. It CAN produce , but DOES it produce enough and IF IT DOES are the items distributed to the correct people and does the minor matter of CORRUPTION kept OUT OF IT while all this is happening?

Everything he has said is true , along with numerous other western military analysts, but on this thread that's a big no no depending on the post count, they can't or won't dispute it ,

This time last year people were slagging the Russians digging trenches, minefields and installing dragons teeth, only this week the Ukrainians have actually started digging their own multilayer defences , Just as the Russians did this time last year,

Belgorod again

Russia is still exporting large quantities of oil around the world. In the war of independence a plan was drawn up to plant bombs on british export ships to increase the pressure on the british Government. Would Ukraine consider such an idea? Perhaps undersea drones etc.?

Russia destroys Ukrainian submarine

Reportedly it was full of NATO general's and bio weapon scientists.

Well with all of this Brics currency business, and getting mixed up with Indian Rupees, Russian Ruble, Chinese Remimbi,, Bitcoin etc. It could well be when it's all unwound, India may well have 6'000 Russian Tanks in its possession, but has Putin been paid yet for his tanks???

...

The opposite is equally true though. The 3 day war prophecy was way off target, likewise all the posters here saying since May 2022 Russia would run out of ammunition in a few weeks and predicting every square centimetre of lost territory would be regained in 2023 while the Russian army fled back to Moscow has also turned out to be wildly inaccurate.

Both sides have repeatedly assessed the other side's endurance and capabilities incorrectly, the simple fact is that for over a year now, despite all the suffering, neither side has made significant progress and there is little sign this will change in the next months.

Must be irritating for some that a Russian puppet is not in charge of Ukraine alright and that the Russian army has to execute Ukraine supporters in the occupied areas to maintain control.