Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[Valmy]

I don't understand why Russia would not commit all its forces every day this goes on is another day Ukraine and its friends can mobilize its defenses.

[Tamas]

BTW on casualty numbers: relevance is minimal but I was recently reading a book on the air war over Germany, and the extent to which both sides overestimated their kills was just ridiculous.

[DGuller]

Not comparable, but the Red Army lost about 10.000 men every single day in WW2.

True but way more troops were involved, a large amount of the direct fire military casualties in WWII were due to heavy use of both highly massed troop formations and large use scale use of artillery. Modern militaries generally operate in far more dispersed and mobilized units that make it a little less likely for such very high casualty levels to accrue so quickly.

I think one way the scale of Russian casualties could really be high (though maybe not 3000 high) is from all the ballsy air drops they've been doing.  Mass infantry charges or not, artillery or not, if you land a bunch of special forces in an airport deep inside the enemy territory and it doesn't work out, you'll lose the entire unit down to the last man.

[alfred russel]

I don't understand why Russia would not commit all its forces every day this goes on is another day Ukraine and its friends can mobilize its defenses.

Because they are incompetent and corrupt, and hopelessly inefficient?

[Tamas]

Maybe (or rather, hopefully) the withheld troops are not deemed combat ready and are meant for garrisoning duties?

[Threviel]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

[Josquius]

Not gonna happen but media claiming Russia is massing on the Polish border too.
https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/25/putin-has-sights-beyond-ukraine-as-russian-forces-amass-on-polish-border-16171368/?fbclid=IwAR3FpQiZs_cK1zn2Q1h-Ew3f9AbgsSiCfeFvgRxoMziO1fQ-JjU74EbxpME

[Tamas]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

You'd rather become a Russian vassal peacefully than through war?

[Tamas]

Not gonna happen but media claiming Russia is massing on the Polish border too.
https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/25/putin-has-sights-beyond-ukraine-as-russian-forces-amass-on-polish-border-16171368/?fbclid=IwAR3FpQiZs_cK1zn2Q1h-Ew3f9AbgsSiCfeFvgRxoMziO1fQ-JjU74EbxpME

That's the kind of BS misinformation that should be punished.

[Threviel]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

You'd rather become a Russian vassal peacefully than through war?

Saves me a bullet in the head and my wife a rape and a bullet in the head...

[Tamas]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

You'd rather become a Russian vassal peacefully than through war?

Saves me a bullet in the head and my wife a rape and a bullet in the head...

Tough to argue with that.

[Sheilbh]

I think one way the scale of Russian casualties could really be high (though maybe not 3000 high) is from all the ballsy air drops they've been doing.  Mass infantry charges or not, artillery or not, if you land a bunch of special forces in an airport deep inside the enemy territory and it doesn't work out, you'll lose the entire unit down to the last man.

Yeah. The other thing is that it looks like the Russians are getting bogged down/moving very slowly.

From what I can see it seems like their advance through Chernobyl and from Crimea have been successful. But the attack from the east and north-east seems to be going far more slowly and not have made significant breakthroughs. In addition there's reports of urban warfare in Kharkiv. It feels like that would indicate high casualties, if not at that level.

Edit: On SWIFT - the French Finance Minister said "EU finance ministers have made it clear that all options are on the table. Some member states have expressed reservations. Let me be clear: France is not one of them." I understand the German Finance Minister has now said they're open to including SWIFT in sanction measures. It feels like it's probably likely in the next round of sanctions announced next week.

[Threviel]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

You'd rather become a Russian vassal peacefully than through war?

Saves me a bullet in the head and my wife a rape and a bullet in the head...

Tough to argue with that.

In all seriousness I'll pack my family into the motorhome and drive to France or Spain if it looks like a conflict is coming for real.

[celedhring]

My grandparents were German, anyone know if I eligible to become a German?

You'd rather become a Russian vassal peacefully than through war?

Saves me a bullet in the head and my wife a rape and a bullet in the head...

Tough to argue with that.

In all seriousness I'll pack my family into the motorhome and drive to France or Spain if it looks like a conflict is coming for real.

The advantages of geopolitical irrelevance!

Anyway, if I remember Russia has committed 2/3 of their entire armed forces into this. They don't have the capability to do anything else beyond Ukraine.

[Threviel]

Anyway, if I remember Russia has committed 2/3 of their entire armed forces into this. They don't have the capability to do anything else beyond Ukraine.

Some dude in a row boat could take Sweden, but yeah, it'll come after Ukraine, in a few years.