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Michael_G_Bordin t1_j4ddw05 wrote

>Officials, in the West and in Ukraine, had begun to wonder if Russia's "energy war" might be coming to an end, due to a possible shortage of suitable missiles and the evident fact the strategy has yet to break Ukraine's spirit.

If there is one thing Russia has shown us, it is a stubborn willingness to commit to bad strategy at the expense of victory.

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robfrod t1_j4e66o8 wrote

Could they really be victorious with good strategy at this point? They basically lost this war in the first few weeks

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wildweaver32 t1_j4e9bnk wrote

Yeah. If they couldn't win when they had surprise, morale, and their military at its best and most trained while Ukraine didn't have much western equipment yet I don't see why anyone (including Russia) would think they could win now.

Ukraine now has a lot of western equipment and training. 1st Howitzers, then HIMARS, and now they are getting tanks. Ukraine is only getting stronger, better equipment, and better weapon systems.

It should be simple to see the outcome of this war with anyone who isn't completely blinded by bias.

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Forikorder t1_j4ebaip wrote

> It should be simple to see the outcome of this war with anyone who isn't completely blinded by bias.

might not be bias, if Putin is forced to admit defeat and lose Crimea hed probably be the next guy falling out a window, the only thing he can do is keep the war going to appear strong and pray that attrition favours russia

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Prysorra2 t1_j4ei22k wrote

Russia truly losing this war in the official sense would cause another revolutionary wave - even if definitely much smaller.

Belarus, Hungary, Iran, Serbia, and North Korea would lose a major ally or even direct sponsor.

The right wing wave would lose C3 and even a source of cash (so C4? lol).

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jjolla888 t1_j4iu0d7 wrote

can you describe what a loss by russia would actually look like?

"putin gets overthrown" doesn't tell me what we will see (other than a putin coffin).

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abfanhunter t1_j4h9ks8 wrote

Of course they do, you think US Bombs and missiles sell themselves? We sell death over here.

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Michael_G_Bordin t1_j4fjvfq wrote

At this point? No. They passed that point of no return when they failed to capture Kyiv.

There is a lot we still don't know behind the fog of war. The talks of Russian build-up in the north is worrying, but the fact Russia is so slow to update strategy makes me think if they make another push, they'll again be bogged down. The only way to properly invade is to first establish air supremacy over a long campaign of bombing and shelling, and Russia failed that point from the get-go.

But, I still think Russia would be doing better if they changed their strategy. They could change their "victory" conditions to suit their capabilities, and thus achieve some kind of "victory", but even those token objectives they keep laying forth turn out to be pipe dreams. They've taken months to barely capture Soledar, a town with a pre-war population of 10,000. I've been in small towns of about that much, and it's kinda sad the Russians expend so many lives over such a small and strategically worthless target.

IDK, I'm mostly just synthesizing information from the many military bloggers I've started following since Feb 22. The key takeaway I get from them is the situation is fluid, evolving, and there is much we don't know about either sides' operations. But from a general political POV, Russia most certainly fucked up from the get-go, and have doubled down on those fucked strategies.

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UNOvven t1_j4ewcgh wrote

Almost certainly not. But it seems they're intent to at least cause as much damage as possible. Despicable bastards.

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uxbridge3000 t1_j4lqdvo wrote

I wish the NATO nations would just collectively acknowledge the depth of Putin's fuckshow and send Ukraine the necessary equipment to take the fight directly to Moscow. This needs to end.

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Traditional_Art_7304 t1_j4ixdev wrote

Take out all their railways. - easy & creative please !! Soft for soft targets - at least it’s fair. Kneecap them !!!

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TwoFrontHitters t1_j4dmwha wrote

Why won't anyone bomb Moscow's energy infrastructure? Sometimes the bully needs to be bullied.

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FruitcakeAndCrumb t1_j4du16j wrote

Because it could bring about a world war, or at least that's what I was told when asked the same question.

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Dropped-pie t1_j4efi0g wrote

Because it would really kick off, the Russian population would cry victim and Putin could justify all out war, not just special operation

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alexefi t1_j4f6c7p wrote

beside not using nukes how whats happening now isnt all out war?

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[deleted] t1_j4k3zs1 wrote

[removed]

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alexefi t1_j4k59oa wrote

That sound something that would actually speed up downfall of russia, without being much different for rest of the world.

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HaveCompassion t1_j5m0n1f wrote

That would mean Putin would just lose faster. It's not like they are holding out their good stuff until it gets serious, they are trying to win and they can't.

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porcinechoirmaster t1_j4ljcl9 wrote

There's a list, actually!

  • It would escalate the war to a point where Putin might use nuclear arms. We'd like to avoid that.
  • Attacks on civilian infrastructure are notoriously ineffective at convincing an enemy to surrender. See: Ukraine, England, etc.
  • Attacks on purely civilian infrastructure is a war crime. While electrical facilities can often be considered viable military targets during a war, it is much harder to justify a substation or plant powering a predominately nonmilitary civilian sector (like a city) rather than an industrial plant.

As much as I want Putin and the people enabling him to get an express ticket off this mortal coil, I don't think blowing up Moscow's power infrastructure is the best way to go about doing that.

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Marokiii t1_j4oc0j5 wrote

There's no such thing as a power plant or substation that powers just industrial or just civilian. Everything is so mixed together now that to knock out the power for a long period to a place that builds bombs will cut power to 50k homes.

Knocking it smaller infrastructure nearer to the plant could do it, but that stuffs also far easier to bypass or replace. Knocking out an actual power plant can't be fixed right away.

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HaveCompassion t1_j5m0dv6 wrote

No one will ever use nukes. Can we just stop repeating this already. So tired of the Russpublican propaganda. Russia can't win this war and you think pulling out the nukes is going to stop NATO from crushing Russia if they do.

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macross1984 t1_j4do009 wrote

"And hits energy infrastructure."

Of course they're hitting energy infrastructure because that is what they're aiming for.

It is deliberate attempt to demoralize people of Ukraine because Russia does not have professional army and are relying largely on Wagner mercenaries and untrained conscripts.

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Arithik t1_j4e64dg wrote

They are doing the Zapp Brannigan strategy of sending wave after wave of man until the Ukraine trenches that they are attacking runs out of ammo.

Sadly seems to be working for right now. Ukraine needs bigger guns.

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SuperstitiousPigeon5 t1_j4fpeoz wrote

What they are doing to the people of Ukraine is creating a hatred of all things Russian, and probably hardening resolve to the consistency of a diamond.

Sometimes all you have left is the fight.

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ScientistNo906 t1_j4e10h7 wrote

The accompanying photo looks an awful lot like a residential building.

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nooblevelum t1_j4er4e7 wrote

But the media was saying they ran out of missiles. Man people fall for propaganda. Just because one side may be right doesn’t mean they don’t try to manipulate you. Unless Ukraine strikes factories inside Russia they are going to produce more and more missile. I find it strange how piecemeal the West is waging the war. A bit of aid here a bit of aid there

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sobanz t1_j4fj6vp wrote

the part i can't get over is that people accept they are being manipulated and go to bat for the side feeding them propaganda through NEWS sources.

"I know it's a lie but its good for morale." It's not our war, its not our morale.

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FruitcakeAndCrumb t1_j4dtuay wrote

Must be a lot of Nazis in there, you know, along will the woman and many kids who have been crushed.

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janjinx t1_j4dyg72 wrote

Someone should ass-ass-in-ate that murderous thug Poo-tin!

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Lahm0123 t1_j4h5hiq wrote

This whole war and the blatant lies and misinformation just piss me off.

Putin needs to be removed.

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Small-Ad-7694 t1_j4imcg1 wrote

Yeah. You can bet food money that "we" been doing/are doing pretty much the same things since pretty much forever.

These 4D chess between States must be as old as time itself.

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Romans-go-home t1_j4g936i wrote

How long? How long before Europe realizes that russia will not stop and is an existential threat to Europe?

It is obvious that russia is not going to give up and go home. On the contrary, russia is pushing All-In and fully intends to exercise military power to achieve its expansionist goals. (This is like watching WW3 in slow-motion.) Western engagement with russia is going to happen. It's not"If".... it's "when". So... how much more damage will the west allow before they FINALLY say "OK, that's enough"?

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Small-Ad-7694 t1_j4h43o5 wrote

Come on man. By the looks of things, no they won't stop in Ukraine for a good long while.

But if Russia couldn't (or didn't want to) even sweep across Ukraine like it was nothing, they are many light years away to pose any kind of "existential" threat to the Western world (nuclear war aside, of course).

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HaveCompassion t1_j5m0xvx wrote

The sanctions will never go away and will ultimately collapse Russia. There is no way around this, their leader failed miserably already and has no way to turn it around. It's just a matter of time until they are defeated and Putin is either dead or removed from office.

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MammonStar t1_j4q4kbu wrote

lol the news is still saying they're running out of missiles? good lord people, wake up

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