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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 9, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Since 'Murican conservatives are so in love with Putin, they'll naturally want the same training for students here. No more having to send them to military school.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 4:10 am
Retreat works/is not a fake
Bel:"Smart russian move"
Retreat is gonna be disastrous
Bel: "Russia was forced to do so. Its all NATO/US fault!"
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 4:33 am
(November 10, 2022 at 4:10 am)Deesse23 Wrote: Retreat works/is not a fake
Bel:"Smart russian move"
Retreat is gonna be disastrous
Bel: "Russia was forced to do so. Its all NATO/US fault!"
Bel is right on all three, actually:
When your troops are getting ground into powder, retreating IS the smart move.
Being forced to retreat is also known as 'losing a war'.
NATO aid to Ukraine certainly bears at least some of the 'blame' for Russian reversals.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 5:48 am
80y ago we used to call this "frontbegradigung".
A successful retreat is indeed a kind of success. As soon as victory is not an option anymore, avoiding defeat is what you are left with, at best.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 5:51 am
(November 10, 2022 at 5:48 am)Deesse23 Wrote: 80y ago we used to call this "frontbegradigung".
A successful retreat is indeed a kind of success. As soon as victory is not an option anymore, avoiding defeat is what you are left with, at best.
Yup. Better an orderly, rear-guarded retreat than a full-blown rout.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 9:42 am
(November 10, 2022 at 5:48 am)Deesse23 Wrote: 80y ago we used to call this "frontbegradigung".
A successful retreat is indeed a kind of success. As soon as victory is not an option anymore, avoiding defeat is what you are left with, at best.
"The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom." - Master Sun
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 9:42 am
(This post was last modified: November 10, 2022 at 9:45 am by Thumpalumpacus.)
(November 9, 2022 at 9:25 pm)LinuxGal Wrote: (November 9, 2022 at 6:57 pm)Thumpalumpac Wrote: A rear-guarded evacuation was probably the best option the Russians had available. Ukrainians report Russians still inside the city. Satellite images show Russian forces constructing new trenchworks east of the Dneipr. Their concern has to be safeguarding their big naval base at Sevastopol.
They've already pulled their ships back to the Azov sea, but they are entrenching in Crimea know, so that's their last stand. And to think Putin could have kept Crimea if he never invaded on 2/24/22. Now he's going to lose it all, and spend the rest of his life trying to hold the Russian Federation together with whatever military forces he has left.
I hadn't realized that -- thanks for the update. I thought they still had a couple of ships there even after the drone attack.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 9:50 am
(This post was last modified: November 10, 2022 at 9:56 am by The Grand Nudger.)
They'd never have kept crimea. The occupation of crimea, donetsk, and luhansk was all of a piece. The whole reason they invaded, as in invaded proper, was because ukraine was beating the shit out of their little green men. What we're seeing now is their third attempt.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 12:51 pm
(November 10, 2022 at 9:42 am)LinuxGal Wrote: (November 10, 2022 at 5:48 am)Deesse23 Wrote: 80y ago we used to call this "frontbegradigung".
A successful retreat is indeed a kind of success. As soon as victory is not an option anymore, avoiding defeat is what you are left with, at best.
"The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom." - Master Sun I dont disagree with the notion that it was wise to pull back once you realized you cant stand where you are.
Yet
In face of the original objectives of the whole campaign, the importance to actually hold an area which you claim to have annexed, and that area you cant hold being a key to holding another area you already have annexed a few years back, in light of all this the future still may look bleak.
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RE: Russia and Ukraine
November 10, 2022 at 1:56 pm
(November 10, 2022 at 12:51 pm)Deesse23 Wrote: In face of the original objectives of the whole campaign, the importance to actually hold an area which you claim to have annexed, and that area you cant hold being a key to holding another area you already have annexed a few years back, in light of all this the future still may look bleak.
Right, which means that the question then devolves to "will this rear-guard retreat accomplish the usual aim of such operations?" -- to wit, will the forces they've saved be sufficient to halt the advance? I don't know enough about the Russian order of battle to have an informed answer.
I know there are two Russian airborne units retreating which may be of decent combat value (or may not!) It may be intended to use them to stanch the flow into Crimea proper (as I would think is the intention) -- or it may only have been intended to rescue them from destruction in the potential pocket.
In any event, the HIMARS/MLRS systems now have deeper reach into Russian logistical arrangements, so it may be possible to keep hustling the defeated forces southeast. This certainly implies great danger to Russian forces in Crimea in either event.
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