OT: Putin's War in Ukraine

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

I wonder if their tactics will be different this time, if they learnt anything from the resistance they received from their initial thrusts. Or if it will just be the same grinding advance.

One of the big reasons for the failure of the first phase of the Russians' offensive (around Kiev) was that their tanks were operating in wooded and/or urban areas, were Ukrainian infantry armed with ATGMs and RPGs could effectively use ambush and hit-and-run tactics. Russian tactics don't necessarily need to change for them to have success in the east. The terrain there is much more open. The landscape is much more conducive to massed tank formations and artillery fires operating at range, negating many of the advantages that Ukrainian forces had during the Kiev campaign. The Russians will also have much shorter supply lines in the Donbass (and more local support). This article does a good job of explaining this in a bit more detail:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ains-of-donbas

In more positive news,

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ine-by-the-u-s

I wonder why Slovakia's MiGs are OK, but Poland's were too risky to transfer.


-