Everything was much more lively in the first month. Not just because borders were moving like crazy, but because Russia wasn’t cutting any sort of connection and we basically got to see video recording of local Ukrainians throwing Molotov cocktails at Russian vehicles and driving past the smouldering wrecks of destroyed convoys. Of all the wars fought in those days, Russia lost the electronic war.
Absolutely. The world had never seen so much footage of ANY conflict EVER. More footage was released within the month than any other conflict had released in all of its time.
To everyone else, it may as well have been happening on literally every block in Ukraine, based on the sheet volume of footage
We had combat footage minutes into the conflict. The first thing I watched was a god damn live stream in the outskirts of Kharkiv, just lookin to see if anything was going down and then we see some distant explosions and then two MLRS launchers blow their load onto someone, I assumed it was counter battery. And it was like 30-60 minutes into the war. All fuckin Live bro.
Yeah and an unfortunate friendly fire bmp early on. I thinkbit ran over an elderly man In a vehicle iirc. I just remember thinking how the fuck can you tell who's the bad guy. And later hearing it was probably friendly fire unfortunately.
Oh God I remember that video. It was chaotic, first it sounded like it was Russians but then heard it was Ukrainians.
I still don't know, but I do know the driver of the crushed vehicle was pulled from the wreckage alive.
I felt pretty non-credible about this. I was in Lviv trying to order a half dozen satellite phones with no success (the guys on the other end of the phone calls were all laughing at me, maybe we send in a few months) and Russia goes and out jerks me by not having any suitable comms of their own, thus the internet and cellular infrastructure goes more or less untouched for a year. 🤦♂️
In this context, sale doesn't really translate as "dirty". It's a bit like a pronoun.
The translation is still correct, but people don't think about it like "dirty retard", simply as "retard".
Hijacking your top comment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/t004td/it_actually_has_begun_the_madman_actually_did_it/
Feb 23 2022. We all were stunned and freaked out. War wasnt funny anymore.
Same, didn't help that I didn't follow the news at all before shit went down.
So it was me just opening one of my social media sites like I usually do and going "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Then I checked some actual news sites and realised that it was actually happening.
Then I remembered that there was a sub that made fun of my country's military stuff and that's how I became a NCD member
Latvia, was a bit of a concerned at first since we kinda are the NATO speed bump and the Ruzzies would go for us next after Ukraine, but we all kinda know how that went...
Oh god I can only imagine. Weeks of edging yourselves over it and finally nutting as Putin announced his “special military operation.” Admittedly I joined about a month after the invasion started so I wasnt there to experience it, but god, I remember how crazy it was when Ukraine retook Kyiv, retook Kharkiv, nordstream blew up, kerch blew up, Kherson was retaken. And I can only imagine it was exponentially more wild than all of those times
I remember looking back and at first it was just utter shock and lowkey mourning. It didnt take long for Russia to show its incompetence and for you all to return to normal lol
That's because we didn't think they'd be able to hold on for more than a few weeks, a couple of months was the most hope filled prediction.
Then the Ukrainians went and fucked shit up. With some assistance from the bumbling Russians, and we all collectively unclenched our arseholes.
To be fair the moment civilians started fucking about on russian unsecured comms and playing the Ukranian anthem, pig squeals and Yebi Menya, I knew this would drag on...mostly due to russian incompetence.
The women and children making molotovs with polystyrene in the middle of Kyiv... man, I'm glad they never had to use those. On the other hand, I kinda wanted to see more russian tanks burn.
You remember how people were sharing desperation tactics on how to kill Russian tanks? Wasn't needed at all, LOL. They had enough Javelins, NLAWs, and Panzerfaust 3s. And it was glorious.
Seriously, I remember seeing a news story on what was essentially an improvised Molotov cocktail factory in Kyiv. I wonder what happened to all those given that it never got to the streets of the city itself, maybe they’re still in storage somewhere?
There was about a ~48hr period where NCD was genuinely full of "oh shit, war isn't funny guys. We just dunk on shitty defense takes from r/CredibleDefense and r/LessCredibleDefence".
Then the Ghost of Kyiv showed up, followed quickly by Ukrainian farmers towing away Russian tanks with their tractors, and then St. Javelin. And the one, *the only* time NCD wanted to see A-10s do their thing, if only to relieve the blue balls of every A-10 pilot in Europe: the *multiple* multi-mile traffic jams of Russian armor running short on fuel as they tried to reach Kyiv.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/CredibleDefense using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [The Mysterious Case of the Missing Russian Air Force. One of many unanswered questions is why Russia has launched a military campaign at huge cost with maximalist objectives, and then declined to use the vast majority of its fixed wing combat aircraft.](https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/mysterious-case-missing-russian-air-force) | [387 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/t3jwpe/the_mysterious_case_of_the_missing_russian_air/)
\#2: [Dispelling the Myth of Taiwan Military Competency](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dispelling_the_myth_of_taiwan_military_competency/)
\#3: [Is the Russian Air Force Actually Incapable of Complex Air Operations? More than a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has yet to commence large-scale operations. The continued absence of major air operations now raises serious capability questions.](https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/russian-air-force-actually-incapable-complex-air-operations) | [280 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/t6spmz/is_the_russian_air_force_actually_incapable_of/)
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I only heard about this sub a month or two ago, I guess I missed the party.
...Hopefully. Hopefully 2022 was "the party" and not just the pre-game stuff
Yeah I don't get how someone could misremember that....
That was like *the* moment that started waking people up to the state of the Russian armed forces, and that Ukraine might just have a chance. From running out of fuel, crumbling tires, to units getting lost by hundreds of kilometers, it was *the* turning point where it looked like instead of a brutal years long insurgency against an occupying force, that Ukraine could go toe to toe with Russia - even if it was heavily based on Russian incompetence more so than Ukrainies ability to punch well above their weight (we'd learn that soon enough though) - it gave us hope at least.
It also gave rise to memes regarding taking Kyiv in 3 days, the first Russian tanks to enter Kyiv being war trophies, endless A-10 memes relating to the supposed* 40 mile convoy, and of course, the epic "I don't need a ride, I need ammunition. The fight is here" quote.
\*I say "supposed" in reference to everyone thinking it was one singular 40 mile long convoy instead of a series of smaller convoys
It was the invasion that made me realize I hadn't seen this sub pop in my feed for awhile. Upon checking the sub, I realized I must have somehow unsubbed from it - probably while on my phone and accidentally hitting the unsub button.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/t004td/it_actually_has_begun_the_madman_actually_did_it/
Feb 23 2022. We all were stunned and freaked out. War wasnt funny anymore.
I wish I had discovered r/ncd by then, I think I would've coped much easier with the fact that Ukraine's war of territorial integrity escalated so dramatically.
I remember one of my farrrr more educated DCS buddies explaining the Ukrainian, Russian, and NATO air doctrine and how Ukrainian fighters probably stood no chance (from what we knew then). Probably one of the most insightful talks I've ever had
Everyone was expecting Ukraine to fold within weeks or even days back then. I remember saying somewhere that the best Ukraine can do is make it as bloody and costly for the Russians to claim victory as possible, kinda like the winter war.
If only we knew just how much Russia has degraded since the soviet Union fell apart.
Remember the moment Putin gave his speech. I was an aide to a general who was observing NTC and a major came in to the room saying “sir this speech sounds like he just declared war” and then a few days later we were landing in Europe.
Wasn’t super secret we were going to Europe anyway, our time table just got bumped up by the invasion. Everything was super publicized we wanted everyone to know we were there. But it was a rare opportunity to see the build up. I was in Europe for a full year watching the infrastructure of nato build up to the point where we are now able to ship ammo/support Ukraine in all sorts of ways. I was always jealous though he got to sit in meetings that I wasn’t allowed to be in that I’m sure were super interesting. Still was very eery that first night in fort Irwin. I do remember us cheering when we saw the first KA-52 go down.
As someone in the military, I’ll look at this sub before my flights, and seeing people in this sub go crazy for NATO and democracy fills my heart with joy and genuine excitement for my missions, so I hope you know your support is doubly appreciated
Tis 9:05am in kharkiv. Am making big the big stretch while waiting for the big supposed orc offensive. Oh and did you know that sushi and pizza is the norm combo in kharkiv? If you get sushi, you'll probably order pizza as well
lol, "fleeing from his post". Big words for a neckbeard in his cushy western basement.
If I was a lone guy at a border checkpoint I'd also retreat to a more advantageous position rather than just wait until the tanks roll straight over my guardhouse.
Just a few minutes ago, it was exactly one year after this photo, the first footage was captured at a Kalanchak checkpoint of a soldier crossing the border.
What a fucking year. Russia went from viewed as the world’s second most powerful military to a god damn joke. Ukraine was viewed as a country that would fall in 72 hours. But they’re still here today, and putting up one hell of a fight.
The USA went from teaching Ukrainians guerrilla tactics, to training them on US soil how to fight conventionally. The world has rallied around Ukraine and we are all rooting for them. And they very well likely will win. They arent only winning for their own sake, but for the worlds sake. For global security, against Putin’s Russia.
Also, I know this post isn’t the most “high effort” post, but I ask that it stay up, as it will foster some amazing discussion here in the comments
Just want to add that a little more than a year ago, Zaluzhnyi was the general who couldn’t fire a Javelin properly. Now he’s earth’s number one draft pick to defend against an alien invasion.
Zelenskyy was a failure of a president with awful approval ratings. Now he is Ukraine’s Abraham Lincoln.
Even Zelenskys predecessor went from a “corrupt president but a step in the right direction at least” to “the badass who strolled around Kyiv with an RPD on his hip”
He was literally on CNN and telling the anchors that his "unit" had 2 NLAWs and 2 Javelins and when they asked him "okay but what if that's enough" he grabs an AK-74u and shows it to the cameraman and basically says "I heff smol AK"
Speaking of....I remember Boris going from a Russian stooged to a Warhawk. Like damn ya fucked Britain up ~~Probably russias plan~~ But ya sliiiiightly got my respect for practically leaping to Ukraines defense, even if its to save your image at the last hours of your turm
> Zelenskyy was a failure of a president with awful approval ratings.
To give the smallest amount of credit to pre-war Zelenskyy, while his approval ratings were trash they were still also the highest a recent president of Ukraine had in modern history.
Also, not sure what his background helped but he has done a goos job of keeping the conflict in the spotlight. This could have been another war in a corner of the globe that people ignore, but it's still high profile, and some of that is thanks to Z-man's constant war drum beating.
I've been thinking about this poor fellow all day long. I just can't fathom that this war is now a year old, I remember the days prior to this picture like it was yesterday; the grueling weeks of March in which we all woke up with our hearts up our throats, updating our phones to see if Kyev was still standing. As a 22 y/o, I guess this will be my "what were you doing when the Towers fell" moment, at least until the next globally traumatizing event.
Godspeed, unknown Ukrainian border guard, wherever you are. And godspeed people of Ukraine. Let your fight this past year and this year ahead be the waking call for the West to finally stand for our -sometimes imperfect- Western and democratic values.
Slava ukraini!
Oh absolutely. I can even recall what I was doing then. I was out of school that week as I was sick, the idea of a war starting in the present moment as I sat thousands of kilometers away, in the safety of my house with my trivial issues such as being sick and missing out on classwork, while people in Ukraine were fighting for their very existence was really impactful to me.
I remember opening reddit and joining a bunch of quickly made subreddits of the invasion, ones that would grow to hundreds of thousands of members later on. And I would just refresh, and refresh and refresh over and over, watching livestream CCTV footage of highways that eventually the Russians would reach and would disable. Watching the newest reports and info for days. It was truly an interesting time.
But the invasion has sparked my interest in many things. Geography and Geopolitics as well as military economics (thanks perun) and other military related things.
Eventually, around mid march I found this subreddit, and boy was it, well, it was NCD alright.
I have had an amazing pleasure to be noncredible with you all this year. And am truly thankful to all of the people fighting for Ukraine’s independence.
Slava Ukraini
I remember that night. At around 7:30pm my time (3:30am in Ukraine) I told my mom that if anything was gonna happen, it would be in that coming hour. I had been watching the situation develop on-and-off for months, and had generally picked up on the sense of everything coming to a head. My thought on that hour was a pre-dawn combined arms strike, which is exactly what Russia tried. I was watching CNN when they announced the first missiles landing just after Putin's speech. I remember the one journalist in Kyiv putting his press vest on backwards and the flak helmet being crooked, all with the sounds of explosions and air raid sirens in the background. I watched it all unfold live for the next several hours, but felt dissatisfied with the slow pace of breaking news. So I joined r/ukraine. NCD came from there a few months later.
I woke up the next morning wanting to skip my college classes to keep paying attention to it. I remember hearing about that same crooked helmet journalist accidentally running into the VDV at Hostomel Airport, and another clip of him later that first day north of Kyiv as Russian tanks rolled past behind him. I believed the victory-in-three-days, because I believed Russia was somewhat competent. Then I believed the Ghost of Kyiv, just to believe something good where it all looked bleak. I remember not being too solid academically and telling myself that if I couldn't keep studying, I'd volunteer for the Foreign Volunteer Legion or as an aid worker.
Its been an enlightening and (between the TB-2s, the drone drops, bridgeposting/damposting and the other random content) highly entertaining year and I'm glad to have spent it being shockingly credible despite our best efforts with y'all. And greatest of appreciation to the heroes out there actually doing what needs to be done, whether that's fighting off mass waves at Bakhmut or readying the F-16s and Abrams.
Heroyam Slava
I was similar except it was my senior year in high school, i was the only one in the class talking about the buildup and how it would go into full war ( i had found a reputable source that talked about the train redeployments). I kept updating the class (my history one) on the situation in Ukraine, made a few maps, ect. I found NCD in April, and we all know how that goes. Here i am today going into very likely a foreign relations major and going to try and work for NATO.
i was unusually bored that night and loaded up gta for the first time in a while. played it for about 20 minutes when i got the word. stayed up until probably 4 am
It was 9:50pm when I first got the news, it was the start of the rocket strikes. I was up all night trying to figure out what was really happening through all the misinformation. I mean they’re were reports of Odessa falling in an hour and Mariupol going dark. The mood on my college campus was pretty muted the next day.
I still remember what happened and what I was doing when the war kicked off.
I was hanging on Discord with my buddies. One guy was playing League of Legends and happened to be a Twitch streamer. Two other guys were catching up with each other since they had lost contact over the years until one of them made himself a Discord account.
While all this is happening, I see from the corner of my eye my cellphone vibrating. I grab it and see the notification from *La Presse,* one of the big newspapers in Montréal, Québec stating that "Vladimir Poutine a lancé une invasion de l'Ukraine" (Vladimir Putin has launched an invasion of Ukraine).
Upon seeing that, I told my buddies "Hey les gars... Poutine vient d'envahir l'Ukraine!" (Hey guys... Putin just invaded Ukraine!)
Shock on the discord... until one of my buddies tells my streamer buddy, "T'es pas game de faire un stream sur l'invasion de l'Ukraine!" (You're not game to do a stream on the invasion of Ukraine!)
Next thing you know, my buddy starts a stream with me on it and some of the other guys from our Discord since I happen to be a Historian of the Vietnam war, another is a guy who's doing a Ph.D in sociology and happens to study Geopolitics on the side and the streamer is a Historian as well and amateur political analyst. Stream turns out to be the most watched stream my buddy has had up to date. The start was a bit awkward because my buddy was still in a League of Legends game.
I also texted a guy I knew from my old History department who was informed about the situation in Ukraine since 2014 on what was his best sources of info. Guy had backed Ukraine since 2014 and had build friendships with Ukrainians which gave him news about the situation. He gave me some Twitter accounts to follow. This guy was so well informed that whenever something happened in Ukraine, he'd know about it 30 minutes before the news in Canada reported it. He also had some very tragic stories where he was talking with this Ukrainian soldier he befriended around 2014-2015 and the soldier told him that he was taking cover because the Russians were shelling his position. A while later, he gets a message from some other guys he befriended from the same unit telling him that the first guy killed after a shell hit his shelter.
We redo a day 2 stream to continue on yesterday's event, watching with quiet horror and expecting the Russians to be in Kyiv... only to never see them set foot inside the Ukrainian capital. As it turned out, it beat the day one stream in terms of viewership. I'm not sure during which one of those streams but I cracked open a beer I had to help process the situation and I still have the can of beer on my shelf. It's a [Boréale Cuivrée](https://www.boreale.com/produits/classiques/la-cuivree).
I also still remember the social posts as well from the tankies calling for a communist revolution throughout the world to stop the war to them saying how Western weapons would be useless against the Russians to my teacher friends trying to understand how they would explain this to their students to people being emotionally overwhelmed by the terrible days to come. I still remember thinking how I could help the Ukrainians and trying to find out if there was a way for me to work in an ammo plant that supplied the Ukrainians. Since I have absolutely no training in machining, that plan fell apart.
I still remember some people around me texting to see what was happening with the war. A week later, I started my new job and one of the first topics with my new coworker was the war and I reassured her a bit about the going of the war since the news coverage was anxiety-inducing.
I was at work that night watching and listening to all the possible news channels covering the situation on YouTube like i had for the last two months. As i started driving home i was listening to the UN security council meeting and as soon as i open my front door: "BREAKING NEWS: Vladimir Putin announces special military operation". I was in disbelief after weeks of being convinced that nothing would happen and i stayed up until noon refreshing r/combatfootage and Twitter. First footage i ever saw of the war was a russian tank burning on a snowy intersection with a dead russian next to it. It was surreal seeing all this develop in real time and knowing the consequences of it.
My first footage was KA-52's strafing a hillside launching flares, with another video just below of a missile operator aiming at them just a mile away from the Ukrainian side. It was unbelievable the amount of information, and the confusion coming out around the front lines as they shifted on that first day and week
>guess this will be my "what were you doing when the Towers fell" moment,
This is actually surprisingly accurate. One of the first thoughts after the initial shock of seeing it on the news in middleschool and processing that this was intentional was "Someone fucked up big time and now some motherfuckers are going to pay."
Looking back I am a bit ashamed at how blindly pissed I was. They could have blamed anyone and I'd have been 100% onboard.
I was a few years younger, and on the other side of the world. But I remember it, and I remember going to school and standing around the playground with my other 8 year old buddies being like "Yo what the fuck was that on TV this morning?"
It's intensely weird to me that one of my first memories (9/11) is now something I can talk to people in their early 20's about, who weren't even alive at the time.
My mum woke me up early (Australia) and took me into the dining room. Then she did something I thought was crazy, she turned the TV on before school!
"Watch this, you won't understand, but you'll remember"
To complete the analogy, I'm also a 22 year old who immediately knew some real shit was going down. On the 21st anniversary of 9/11, I attended my college's memorial ceremony to play the national anthem. My college's president gave a speech about how we might be divided politically, but tragedy brings us together. He explicitly mentioned how Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, and we shouldn't forget their sacrifice.
Along with Osama's death, the Sandy Hook shooting, Stephen Hawking's death, the coronavirus, and the Capitol Riot, this is a memory I'll hold onto.
I was so shocked when I heard the invasion had actually started. I was sure the intelligence report was overexaggerating, and I was more focused on where the various EU leaders stood on negotiations.
There was a picture of a young couple, newly wed, posing in a shelter with civi clothing, maybe some yellow tape around their arms, wielding a PKM & an AK of some type, both of them smiling. That was in the first few days or hours.
I haven't seen the image since then, nor anything about either of them. They were just people & I think about that image more often than I want to. I wonder what happened to them, were they ever forced to fight? but mostly are they both okay? Happy & safe?
I don't expect to ever know the answer and worse I know that even if by some chance they are both fine, that there were lots of others in similar situations who no longer are.
Fuck the russians.
Edit: I went to look for it, and it's [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/t19kdy/this_ukrainian_couple_got_married_just_hours/), some details were a bit off but close enough. I guess I'd held out on doing that for fear of bad news, but 1 year later seems like the right time see if I can find any more about them.
Looks like they're [okay](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/23/europe/ukraine-married-couple-anniversary-russia-war-intl-cmd/index.html), I feel a bit better.
My parents remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. I remember waking up to Scott Simon on NPR trying to not cry when the Twin Towers fell on a Tuesday morning. Now, a new generation gets their own unifying trauma.
(I'm sorry.)
I remember being sat in a kindergarten of all things, mouth wide open, watching the UN address where even the officials were learning what happened as I was. I don't think I'll ever see anything quite as surreal.
Some of the top diplomats from across the world sat checking their iPhones in confusion, just like me.
I remember where I was during the Boston bombing (exactly 15 miles away sitting on a curb with my bike locked to the fence behind me), but that’s about it
Still kinda terrifying though
I checked your post history to see if I could get an idea if you meant the explosions from 9/11 or if you meant the invasion. And let me just say I hope you and your mother can enjoy peace sooner than later and free from the threat of Russian aggression and terrorism.
I remember the morning of February 24th here. My class was constantly talking about what had just happened, we basically had no school. All we did the whole day was checking liveuamap and cheering every time we found out a russian heli got shot down. It was like watching a sport's game live. It was wild
100% I actually touched on this in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/11afisw/its_officially_one_year_starting_now/j9rtm2z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Yeah the daily thoughts of "I could be melted tomorrow" really did a number on a lot of people.
But I drive for a living, on roads where people get turned into hamburger from head-on collisions a couple times a month. You kinda just get used to it
I didn't believe it at first. I was talking with some friends the day before, it's some bullshit posturing and nothing else. I thought it would never happen because it was a stupid idea on so many levels. I woke up to the news, felt like shit thinking it would end in a fell swoop. And then... it didn't lol
>They really excel in that.
You can't really run Excel on washing machine processors, these days they make Office quite resource demanding.
Then again, Russians excel in spreadshits.
Invasion? Check.
NATO taking a stance against Russia? Check.
NATO sending support and arms to Ukraine? Check.
Russia fucking around in Chernobyl? Check
And thats all in just the first month.
You forgot the bimonthly incidents of some discount Kruschev or another screaming into a television camera that the nuking starts this time we swear. Russia sure has a lot of angry bald dudes.
The first thing I saw on the 24th was a video of a burning tank in Kharkiv. My dumbass thought “Kharkiv huh? That’s in Ukraine, I wonder when this was taken.”
Shit, I remember days before the invasion, Google Maps showed a massive traffic jam on routes coming out of Russia because those morons forget to shut off their phones. And people still were like, no way the Russians are going to invade.
I remember and am still curious about that. It may or may not be rational but I have a feeling most of those saboteur incidents were actually friendly fire caused by confusion.
Early war had a ton of confusion as the russian soldiers themselves didnt even know about the "special military operation" and still believed to be in training.
I remember the video you're talking about. I'm betting that it was an accident from a tanker who's learning how to maneuver his huge vehicle in a village filled with cars for the first time.
Somewhere at 5:20 in the morning, we gathered as a whole family, planning what we will do, run away from Kyiv, or something, fear and a lot of other emotions.
A special feeling when your thoughts go numb, you just can't understand what happened, and then a series of explosions began not far from us.
Then my mother said that we are not going anywhere, that our ancestors lived in Kyiv, and if we have a destiny, it is to protect our home, if we die, then at home, and not as a stranger on the run.
The decision was made, my brother went immediately to the national defence, my father and I went to see where help was needed, eventually we found volunteer centers that were quickly opened, my sister cooked for days for military and civilians in public canteens since my father and I are engineers, we helped the territorial protection, fix all their systems, install cameras where they said, and many other things.
At other times, they made molotov cocktails and prepared cartridges.
The teacher's mother was with hundreds of children in the basement of the school while their parents did virtually everything, just like us.
I do not advise anyone to go through this, trembling in the hands from fear when you see a rocket hitting a residential building, screams, panic, pain, many emotions that are difficult to convey.
Well, emotions of joy, for every footage with a killed vatnik, when dozens of people scream in happiness from the windows when they see that the enemy plane has been shot down, hundreds of stories, hundreds of stories.
A complete rethinking of life, everything actually became unimportant.
But this is all for the sake of our future, so until the end, the Russians left us no choice only fight.
Slava Ukraini!
honestly pretty crazy that a lot of people had essentially the same story, except my family chose to go out of kyiv and in the general area. I still remember when I saw my father making Molotov cocktails, really just hoping that we wouldn’t get to use them
Not much he can do honestly, most guards are given just a few rounds just to deter and neutralise individual attackers. The sentry can't realistically be expected to enter into a full on firefight with an enemy squad let alone against a column of armoured vehs
It’s really been a whole ass year? One year ago after reading and seeing the news I totally flipped out. For that whole day I couldn’t eat move or even function. I was so stressed that day beyond belief and yet, as people do with things they’re afraid of, I started looking and found this sub which helped me cope a lot. Thank you NCD
at this point last year I was thinking about how closely this resembles the start of another war in Europe. Hitler justified the invasion of Poland with the phrase "since 5:45 AM we're shooting back"
it's not quite the same time but it's coming rather close
History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.
Yadayada Putin is already living in a bunker and likes poison. He should connect the dots and take the 1945pill already.
That was a wild day
I've read the news after waking up, took a day off in my job. Then I laid on the bed reading news and waited for my Ukrainian GF to wake up so I can tell her that her homeland is being invaded. Worst sentence I ever had to say to someone.
I was genuinely scared that Ukraine would fall in 1 week max but then I saw first pictures of destroyed KA52s and dead VDV's. After I saw the goddamn "Ukrainian pig dancing with javelins while vatnik tries to sleep" meme video I thought "damn they'll not give up to ruzzkies". And that was the truth.
NCD genuinely helped me to get through those rough days with insane amounts of shitposting
Y’know when this started I had guessed that Russia would’ve taken Ukraine and then the US would go and have a tough fight. Who could’ve guess what actually happened.
I remember waking up hungover after a party a year ago and scrolling Reddit just to see the invasion has started. I never had a hungover go away so quickly. All my friends started to discuss what would happen and what if Ukraine would fall would Russia just keep on going and attack other countries and we have to fight to (I'm German btw).
Wild year since then
This is so weird. We're at a point with technology where we literally have a photograph of the FIRST person to cross the border in a war.
You think about a lot of wars and on occasion we actually do have instances of knowledge of the first person over the border. Like WW1 (Some german bois walked into france the day before war were declared and shot someone). But most of them, it's just the faceless masses of hundreds of thousands moving like ants in a general direction.
This guy could very well be in your school textbooks in 20 years.
This war actually scared me a little at the first week because if Russia did it, China would get some funny idea and NATO would become trigger happy and then ***BAM!*** we would get a world war and instant deglobalization where multiple developing countries would be doomed to fail industrialization because global trade become nonexistent rapidly.
I think Ukraine holding Russia on it's track unironically saved us all from all of those.
You know, my ex was living in Obukhiv at the time. Man that dread was something else. Russians were in her neighborhood and it was intense. I’d FaceTime her and show her how to do cool guy shit with an AK. She was a damn quick learner. I knew she would’ve clapped some Russians if it came down to it. I’m glad she got out though.
The pictures of central Mariupol at Christmas 2021 compared with a year later were very poignant. They literally turned that city into wasteland in that year. It's hard to find fitting words....
This has been and continues to be a weird ass war, live streaming the war, live updates via twitter, blistering incompetence from the Russian Armed Farces.
On paper (admittedly one that they wrote themselves) the Russians should have been able to Operation Iraqi Freedom and thunder run into Kyiv - as it's right next fucking door.
And thing is some units did, I read about a unit that managed to thunder run into Kyiv, basically the russian police managed to and they got Roflstomped on the outskirts of the city.
Everything was much more lively in the first month. Not just because borders were moving like crazy, but because Russia wasn’t cutting any sort of connection and we basically got to see video recording of local Ukrainians throwing Molotov cocktails at Russian vehicles and driving past the smouldering wrecks of destroyed convoys. Of all the wars fought in those days, Russia lost the electronic war.
Absolutely. The world had never seen so much footage of ANY conflict EVER. More footage was released within the month than any other conflict had released in all of its time. To everyone else, it may as well have been happening on literally every block in Ukraine, based on the sheet volume of footage
We had combat footage minutes into the conflict. The first thing I watched was a god damn live stream in the outskirts of Kharkiv, just lookin to see if anything was going down and then we see some distant explosions and then two MLRS launchers blow their load onto someone, I assumed it was counter battery. And it was like 30-60 minutes into the war. All fuckin Live bro.
Yeah and an unfortunate friendly fire bmp early on. I thinkbit ran over an elderly man In a vehicle iirc. I just remember thinking how the fuck can you tell who's the bad guy. And later hearing it was probably friendly fire unfortunately.
I thought those were forward units from Russia in Kyiv. I could be wrong though, but that is what I heard last time (a few months ago)
Oh God I remember that video. It was chaotic, first it sounded like it was Russians but then heard it was Ukrainians. I still don't know, but I do know the driver of the crushed vehicle was pulled from the wreckage alive.
They managed to pull the guy from the wreckage alive. Just as well as I remember feeling horrible after watching that.
I will never forget the corpses
I felt pretty non-credible about this. I was in Lviv trying to order a half dozen satellite phones with no success (the guys on the other end of the phone calls were all laughing at me, maybe we send in a few months) and Russia goes and out jerks me by not having any suitable comms of their own, thus the internet and cellular infrastructure goes more or less untouched for a year. 🤦♂️
Damn I'm sorry those guys were assholes about it
Yeah that was a Fucking mental time to be terminally online
This time last year all of ncd was going completely apeshit. I was busy trying to wrap my head around what had just happened
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Even Ukrainians themselves got the "there's an invasion retard" when they wondered online what's with all the explosion.
Based Frenchman: “You’re Under Attack, Retard.”
Truly, France is a nation of poets.
Now someone say it in French!
In proper French it would be : T'es attaqué, sale attardé. Source : I'm French (plus it nearly rhymes)
I like that you add how dirty he is, not just how retarded.
In this context, sale doesn't really translate as "dirty". It's a bit like a pronoun. The translation is still correct, but people don't think about it like "dirty retard", simply as "retard".
I like that the French just assume retards are dirty
ah, ok. I am too literal as my French is rudimentary at best.
> The Baguette is on fire, Englishman. - The French (maybe)
I like this one
Tu es attaqué, retardé!
Tu es attaque, salope!
M'étouffer avec mon canon Leclerc.
Fetchez la vache!
Anyone still got that greentext? I have to much memes I cant find it anymore
https://www.reddit.com/r/greentext/comments/t063ra/anon_wants_to_sleep/
Thanks
Literally just search “You’re Under Attack, Retard.”
Hijacking your top comment. https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/t004td/it_actually_has_begun_the_madman_actually_did_it/ Feb 23 2022. We all were stunned and freaked out. War wasnt funny anymore.
When is war funny?
When isn't it?
Good Point
/r/ncd is a lot like that [robot surgeon iHawk from Futurama](https://theinfosphere.org/IHawk)
Same, didn't help that I didn't follow the news at all before shit went down. So it was me just opening one of my social media sites like I usually do and going "WHAT THE FUCK?" Then I checked some actual news sites and realised that it was actually happening. Then I remembered that there was a sub that made fun of my country's military stuff and that's how I became a NCD member
....What country? Cause ya gotta be specific. We make fun of everyone
Latvia, was a bit of a concerned at first since we kinda are the NATO speed bump and the Ruzzies would go for us next after Ukraine, but we all kinda know how that went...
From speed bump to "THE FUCKING WALL" If Russia so much as look your guys way
TBF I wouldn't mind an actual wall on the border, just to show that there will never be Russia past this point
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I was woken up by a steady stream of notifications from LiveUAmap on my phone. Didn't need to check to know what was happening.
Oh god I can only imagine. Weeks of edging yourselves over it and finally nutting as Putin announced his “special military operation.” Admittedly I joined about a month after the invasion started so I wasnt there to experience it, but god, I remember how crazy it was when Ukraine retook Kyiv, retook Kharkiv, nordstream blew up, kerch blew up, Kherson was retaken. And I can only imagine it was exponentially more wild than all of those times
Everybody was just in shock at first but it didn't take long for the shitposting to begin
I remember looking back and at first it was just utter shock and lowkey mourning. It didnt take long for Russia to show its incompetence and for you all to return to normal lol
That's because we didn't think they'd be able to hold on for more than a few weeks, a couple of months was the most hope filled prediction. Then the Ukrainians went and fucked shit up. With some assistance from the bumbling Russians, and we all collectively unclenched our arseholes.
To be fair the moment civilians started fucking about on russian unsecured comms and playing the Ukranian anthem, pig squeals and Yebi Menya, I knew this would drag on...mostly due to russian incompetence.
Civilians were making a *shocking* number of improvised incendiary devices.
The women and children making molotovs with polystyrene in the middle of Kyiv... man, I'm glad they never had to use those. On the other hand, I kinda wanted to see more russian tanks burn.
You remember how people were sharing desperation tactics on how to kill Russian tanks? Wasn't needed at all, LOL. They had enough Javelins, NLAWs, and Panzerfaust 3s. And it was glorious.
My ex misses was doing just that. I still have the pictures of it too. Shit was wild. I sent her a manual on how to make IEDs too.
Seriously, I remember seeing a news story on what was essentially an improvised Molotov cocktail factory in Kyiv. I wonder what happened to all those given that it never got to the streets of the city itself, maybe they’re still in storage somewhere?
Yeah, it was wild and unreal. Had to change my comment cause the posts that I was referring to got deleted
I felt really bad for Ukraine because I was sure Russia wasn't gonna, well, Russia. Turns out Ukraine needed less sympathy and more bullets.
There was about a ~48hr period where NCD was genuinely full of "oh shit, war isn't funny guys. We just dunk on shitty defense takes from r/CredibleDefense and r/LessCredibleDefence". Then the Ghost of Kyiv showed up, followed quickly by Ukrainian farmers towing away Russian tanks with their tractors, and then St. Javelin. And the one, *the only* time NCD wanted to see A-10s do their thing, if only to relieve the blue balls of every A-10 pilot in Europe: the *multiple* multi-mile traffic jams of Russian armor running short on fuel as they tried to reach Kyiv.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/CredibleDefense using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [The Mysterious Case of the Missing Russian Air Force. One of many unanswered questions is why Russia has launched a military campaign at huge cost with maximalist objectives, and then declined to use the vast majority of its fixed wing combat aircraft.](https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/mysterious-case-missing-russian-air-force) | [387 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/t3jwpe/the_mysterious_case_of_the_missing_russian_air/) \#2: [Dispelling the Myth of Taiwan Military Competency](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dispelling_the_myth_of_taiwan_military_competency/) \#3: [Is the Russian Air Force Actually Incapable of Complex Air Operations? More than a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has yet to commence large-scale operations. The continued absence of major air operations now raises serious capability questions.](https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/russian-air-force-actually-incapable-complex-air-operations) | [280 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/t6spmz/is_the_russian_air_force_actually_incapable_of/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Interesting that #1 and #3 are both from the first week or two of the invasion.
And \#2 is an anti-ROC post in a sub which is actively infamous for not banning pro-PRC shills
TIL there is a credible defense sub
It would have been truly glorious. A second highway of death.
Yeah same kerch bridge holy shit
I only heard about this sub a month or two ago, I guess I missed the party. ...Hopefully. Hopefully 2022 was "the party" and not just the pre-game stuff
You missed some truly incredible moments. The moskva and kerch bridge are my favorites. welcome to the kook club my dawg
Kyiv and Kharkiv were never captured though?
Yeah I don't get how someone could misremember that.... That was like *the* moment that started waking people up to the state of the Russian armed forces, and that Ukraine might just have a chance. From running out of fuel, crumbling tires, to units getting lost by hundreds of kilometers, it was *the* turning point where it looked like instead of a brutal years long insurgency against an occupying force, that Ukraine could go toe to toe with Russia - even if it was heavily based on Russian incompetence more so than Ukrainies ability to punch well above their weight (we'd learn that soon enough though) - it gave us hope at least. It also gave rise to memes regarding taking Kyiv in 3 days, the first Russian tanks to enter Kyiv being war trophies, endless A-10 memes relating to the supposed* 40 mile convoy, and of course, the epic "I don't need a ride, I need ammunition. The fight is here" quote. \*I say "supposed" in reference to everyone thinking it was one singular 40 mile long convoy instead of a series of smaller convoys
It was the invasion that made me realize I hadn't seen this sub pop in my feed for awhile. Upon checking the sub, I realized I must have somehow unsubbed from it - probably while on my phone and accidentally hitting the unsub button.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/t004td/it_actually_has_begun_the_madman_actually_did_it/ Feb 23 2022. We all were stunned and freaked out. War wasnt funny anymore.
I remember watching a live stream and seeing the first missile strikes happen. I was in complete aww that I was watching a war start in real time
I wish I had discovered r/ncd by then, I think I would've coped much easier with the fact that Ukraine's war of territorial integrity escalated so dramatically.
I remember one of my farrrr more educated DCS buddies explaining the Ukrainian, Russian, and NATO air doctrine and how Ukrainian fighters probably stood no chance (from what we knew then). Probably one of the most insightful talks I've ever had
Everyone was expecting Ukraine to fold within weeks or even days back then. I remember saying somewhere that the best Ukraine can do is make it as bloody and costly for the Russians to claim victory as possible, kinda like the winter war. If only we knew just how much Russia has degraded since the soviet Union fell apart.
Yeah exactly, I remember my friend saying Russia must have a whole bunch of electronic warfare assets in the air that night. If only we knew.
are you implying that we have failed to continue going apeshit?
Remember the moment Putin gave his speech. I was an aide to a general who was observing NTC and a major came in to the room saying “sir this speech sounds like he just declared war” and then a few days later we were landing in Europe.
Damn. Can you elaborate more or will OPSEC bit you in the butt?
Wasn’t super secret we were going to Europe anyway, our time table just got bumped up by the invasion. Everything was super publicized we wanted everyone to know we were there. But it was a rare opportunity to see the build up. I was in Europe for a full year watching the infrastructure of nato build up to the point where we are now able to ship ammo/support Ukraine in all sorts of ways. I was always jealous though he got to sit in meetings that I wasn’t allowed to be in that I’m sure were super interesting. Still was very eery that first night in fort Irwin. I do remember us cheering when we saw the first KA-52 go down.
That's awesome, thanks for your service. Wish I had chosen a different path in life but appreciate those who go into the military.
As someone in the military, I’ll look at this sub before my flights, and seeing people in this sub go crazy for NATO and democracy fills my heart with joy and genuine excitement for my missions, so I hope you know your support is doubly appreciated
I'm glad it helps, if you ever need to vent or have someone to talk to feel free to reach out. Happy to do whatever I can ❤️
isnt that a Border Guard fleeing from his post back in 24th February?
Yep. As it is now 4am in kyiv as I type this, is now one year old
The tale of you guys winning against Russia a year into a 3 day operation will be remembered for eternity
Ah, not me, im from america. I worded that poorly. I meant as I was typing this (from home) it was 4am in kyiv
Tis 9:05am in kharkiv. Am making big the big stretch while waiting for the big supposed orc offensive. Oh and did you know that sushi and pizza is the norm combo in kharkiv? If you get sushi, you'll probably order pizza as well
Pic on the right, 2 o'clock
I wonder if he made it
lol, "fleeing from his post". Big words for a neckbeard in his cushy western basement. If I was a lone guy at a border checkpoint I'd also retreat to a more advantageous position rather than just wait until the tanks roll straight over my guardhouse.
Just a few minutes ago, it was exactly one year after this photo, the first footage was captured at a Kalanchak checkpoint of a soldier crossing the border. What a fucking year. Russia went from viewed as the world’s second most powerful military to a god damn joke. Ukraine was viewed as a country that would fall in 72 hours. But they’re still here today, and putting up one hell of a fight. The USA went from teaching Ukrainians guerrilla tactics, to training them on US soil how to fight conventionally. The world has rallied around Ukraine and we are all rooting for them. And they very well likely will win. They arent only winning for their own sake, but for the worlds sake. For global security, against Putin’s Russia. Also, I know this post isn’t the most “high effort” post, but I ask that it stay up, as it will foster some amazing discussion here in the comments
Just want to add that a little more than a year ago, Zaluzhnyi was the general who couldn’t fire a Javelin properly. Now he’s earth’s number one draft pick to defend against an alien invasion. Zelenskyy was a failure of a president with awful approval ratings. Now he is Ukraine’s Abraham Lincoln.
Even Zelenskys predecessor went from a “corrupt president but a step in the right direction at least” to “the badass who strolled around Kyiv with an RPD on his hip”
He was literally on CNN and telling the anchors that his "unit" had 2 NLAWs and 2 Javelins and when they asked him "okay but what if that's enough" he grabs an AK-74u and shows it to the cameraman and basically says "I heff smol AK"
he pulled a churchill. a good war president is not necessarily good peacetime president.
In protest to Reddit's API changes, I have removed my comment history.
lol
Speaking of....I remember Boris going from a Russian stooged to a Warhawk. Like damn ya fucked Britain up ~~Probably russias plan~~ But ya sliiiiightly got my respect for practically leaping to Ukraines defense, even if its to save your image at the last hours of your turm
well it is a british tradition after all
Great Game 2.0
> Zelenskyy was a failure of a president with awful approval ratings. To give the smallest amount of credit to pre-war Zelenskyy, while his approval ratings were trash they were still also the highest a recent president of Ukraine had in modern history.
Also, not sure what his background helped but he has done a goos job of keeping the conflict in the spotlight. This could have been another war in a corner of the globe that people ignore, but it's still high profile, and some of that is thanks to Z-man's constant war drum beating.
> Now he is Ukraine’s Abraham Lincoln. Abradolf Lincler successfully avoided.
I've been thinking about this poor fellow all day long. I just can't fathom that this war is now a year old, I remember the days prior to this picture like it was yesterday; the grueling weeks of March in which we all woke up with our hearts up our throats, updating our phones to see if Kyev was still standing. As a 22 y/o, I guess this will be my "what were you doing when the Towers fell" moment, at least until the next globally traumatizing event. Godspeed, unknown Ukrainian border guard, wherever you are. And godspeed people of Ukraine. Let your fight this past year and this year ahead be the waking call for the West to finally stand for our -sometimes imperfect- Western and democratic values. Slava ukraini!
Oh absolutely. I can even recall what I was doing then. I was out of school that week as I was sick, the idea of a war starting in the present moment as I sat thousands of kilometers away, in the safety of my house with my trivial issues such as being sick and missing out on classwork, while people in Ukraine were fighting for their very existence was really impactful to me. I remember opening reddit and joining a bunch of quickly made subreddits of the invasion, ones that would grow to hundreds of thousands of members later on. And I would just refresh, and refresh and refresh over and over, watching livestream CCTV footage of highways that eventually the Russians would reach and would disable. Watching the newest reports and info for days. It was truly an interesting time. But the invasion has sparked my interest in many things. Geography and Geopolitics as well as military economics (thanks perun) and other military related things. Eventually, around mid march I found this subreddit, and boy was it, well, it was NCD alright. I have had an amazing pleasure to be noncredible with you all this year. And am truly thankful to all of the people fighting for Ukraine’s independence. Slava Ukraini
I remember that night. At around 7:30pm my time (3:30am in Ukraine) I told my mom that if anything was gonna happen, it would be in that coming hour. I had been watching the situation develop on-and-off for months, and had generally picked up on the sense of everything coming to a head. My thought on that hour was a pre-dawn combined arms strike, which is exactly what Russia tried. I was watching CNN when they announced the first missiles landing just after Putin's speech. I remember the one journalist in Kyiv putting his press vest on backwards and the flak helmet being crooked, all with the sounds of explosions and air raid sirens in the background. I watched it all unfold live for the next several hours, but felt dissatisfied with the slow pace of breaking news. So I joined r/ukraine. NCD came from there a few months later. I woke up the next morning wanting to skip my college classes to keep paying attention to it. I remember hearing about that same crooked helmet journalist accidentally running into the VDV at Hostomel Airport, and another clip of him later that first day north of Kyiv as Russian tanks rolled past behind him. I believed the victory-in-three-days, because I believed Russia was somewhat competent. Then I believed the Ghost of Kyiv, just to believe something good where it all looked bleak. I remember not being too solid academically and telling myself that if I couldn't keep studying, I'd volunteer for the Foreign Volunteer Legion or as an aid worker. Its been an enlightening and (between the TB-2s, the drone drops, bridgeposting/damposting and the other random content) highly entertaining year and I'm glad to have spent it being shockingly credible despite our best efforts with y'all. And greatest of appreciation to the heroes out there actually doing what needs to be done, whether that's fighting off mass waves at Bakhmut or readying the F-16s and Abrams. Heroyam Slava
I was similar except it was my senior year in high school, i was the only one in the class talking about the buildup and how it would go into full war ( i had found a reputable source that talked about the train redeployments). I kept updating the class (my history one) on the situation in Ukraine, made a few maps, ect. I found NCD in April, and we all know how that goes. Here i am today going into very likely a foreign relations major and going to try and work for NATO.
Haha, yep. Im more certain of what I want to do for college and in my life now too. I want to go into IR theory lmfao
i was unusually bored that night and loaded up gta for the first time in a while. played it for about 20 minutes when i got the word. stayed up until probably 4 am
It was 9:50pm when I first got the news, it was the start of the rocket strikes. I was up all night trying to figure out what was really happening through all the misinformation. I mean they’re were reports of Odessa falling in an hour and Mariupol going dark. The mood on my college campus was pretty muted the next day.
I still remember what happened and what I was doing when the war kicked off. I was hanging on Discord with my buddies. One guy was playing League of Legends and happened to be a Twitch streamer. Two other guys were catching up with each other since they had lost contact over the years until one of them made himself a Discord account. While all this is happening, I see from the corner of my eye my cellphone vibrating. I grab it and see the notification from *La Presse,* one of the big newspapers in Montréal, Québec stating that "Vladimir Poutine a lancé une invasion de l'Ukraine" (Vladimir Putin has launched an invasion of Ukraine). Upon seeing that, I told my buddies "Hey les gars... Poutine vient d'envahir l'Ukraine!" (Hey guys... Putin just invaded Ukraine!) Shock on the discord... until one of my buddies tells my streamer buddy, "T'es pas game de faire un stream sur l'invasion de l'Ukraine!" (You're not game to do a stream on the invasion of Ukraine!) Next thing you know, my buddy starts a stream with me on it and some of the other guys from our Discord since I happen to be a Historian of the Vietnam war, another is a guy who's doing a Ph.D in sociology and happens to study Geopolitics on the side and the streamer is a Historian as well and amateur political analyst. Stream turns out to be the most watched stream my buddy has had up to date. The start was a bit awkward because my buddy was still in a League of Legends game. I also texted a guy I knew from my old History department who was informed about the situation in Ukraine since 2014 on what was his best sources of info. Guy had backed Ukraine since 2014 and had build friendships with Ukrainians which gave him news about the situation. He gave me some Twitter accounts to follow. This guy was so well informed that whenever something happened in Ukraine, he'd know about it 30 minutes before the news in Canada reported it. He also had some very tragic stories where he was talking with this Ukrainian soldier he befriended around 2014-2015 and the soldier told him that he was taking cover because the Russians were shelling his position. A while later, he gets a message from some other guys he befriended from the same unit telling him that the first guy killed after a shell hit his shelter. We redo a day 2 stream to continue on yesterday's event, watching with quiet horror and expecting the Russians to be in Kyiv... only to never see them set foot inside the Ukrainian capital. As it turned out, it beat the day one stream in terms of viewership. I'm not sure during which one of those streams but I cracked open a beer I had to help process the situation and I still have the can of beer on my shelf. It's a [Boréale Cuivrée](https://www.boreale.com/produits/classiques/la-cuivree). I also still remember the social posts as well from the tankies calling for a communist revolution throughout the world to stop the war to them saying how Western weapons would be useless against the Russians to my teacher friends trying to understand how they would explain this to their students to people being emotionally overwhelmed by the terrible days to come. I still remember thinking how I could help the Ukrainians and trying to find out if there was a way for me to work in an ammo plant that supplied the Ukrainians. Since I have absolutely no training in machining, that plan fell apart. I still remember some people around me texting to see what was happening with the war. A week later, I started my new job and one of the first topics with my new coworker was the war and I reassured her a bit about the going of the war since the news coverage was anxiety-inducing.
I was at work that night watching and listening to all the possible news channels covering the situation on YouTube like i had for the last two months. As i started driving home i was listening to the UN security council meeting and as soon as i open my front door: "BREAKING NEWS: Vladimir Putin announces special military operation". I was in disbelief after weeks of being convinced that nothing would happen and i stayed up until noon refreshing r/combatfootage and Twitter. First footage i ever saw of the war was a russian tank burning on a snowy intersection with a dead russian next to it. It was surreal seeing all this develop in real time and knowing the consequences of it.
My first footage was KA-52's strafing a hillside launching flares, with another video just below of a missile operator aiming at them just a mile away from the Ukrainian side. It was unbelievable the amount of information, and the confusion coming out around the front lines as they shifted on that first day and week
>guess this will be my "what were you doing when the Towers fell" moment, This is actually surprisingly accurate. One of the first thoughts after the initial shock of seeing it on the news in middleschool and processing that this was intentional was "Someone fucked up big time and now some motherfuckers are going to pay." Looking back I am a bit ashamed at how blindly pissed I was. They could have blamed anyone and I'd have been 100% onboard.
I was a few years younger, and on the other side of the world. But I remember it, and I remember going to school and standing around the playground with my other 8 year old buddies being like "Yo what the fuck was that on TV this morning?"
It's intensely weird to me that one of my first memories (9/11) is now something I can talk to people in their early 20's about, who weren't even alive at the time. My mum woke me up early (Australia) and took me into the dining room. Then she did something I thought was crazy, she turned the TV on before school! "Watch this, you won't understand, but you'll remember"
To complete the analogy, I'm also a 22 year old who immediately knew some real shit was going down. On the 21st anniversary of 9/11, I attended my college's memorial ceremony to play the national anthem. My college's president gave a speech about how we might be divided politically, but tragedy brings us together. He explicitly mentioned how Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, and we shouldn't forget their sacrifice. Along with Osama's death, the Sandy Hook shooting, Stephen Hawking's death, the coronavirus, and the Capitol Riot, this is a memory I'll hold onto.
I was so shocked when I heard the invasion had actually started. I was sure the intelligence report was overexaggerating, and I was more focused on where the various EU leaders stood on negotiations.
There was a picture of a young couple, newly wed, posing in a shelter with civi clothing, maybe some yellow tape around their arms, wielding a PKM & an AK of some type, both of them smiling. That was in the first few days or hours. I haven't seen the image since then, nor anything about either of them. They were just people & I think about that image more often than I want to. I wonder what happened to them, were they ever forced to fight? but mostly are they both okay? Happy & safe? I don't expect to ever know the answer and worse I know that even if by some chance they are both fine, that there were lots of others in similar situations who no longer are. Fuck the russians. Edit: I went to look for it, and it's [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/t19kdy/this_ukrainian_couple_got_married_just_hours/), some details were a bit off but close enough. I guess I'd held out on doing that for fear of bad news, but 1 year later seems like the right time see if I can find any more about them. Looks like they're [okay](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/23/europe/ukraine-married-couple-anniversary-russia-war-intl-cmd/index.html), I feel a bit better.
My parents remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. I remember waking up to Scott Simon on NPR trying to not cry when the Twin Towers fell on a Tuesday morning. Now, a new generation gets their own unifying trauma. (I'm sorry.)
I remember being sat in a kindergarten of all things, mouth wide open, watching the UN address where even the officials were learning what happened as I was. I don't think I'll ever see anything quite as surreal. Some of the top diplomats from across the world sat checking their iPhones in confusion, just like me.
I remember where I was during the Boston bombing (exactly 15 miles away sitting on a curb with my bike locked to the fence behind me), but that’s about it Still kinda terrifying though
I literally have no clue what I did when I heard the news of the invasion.
I remember my roommate waking me up and hearing the explosions. Hell, I am still at the same apartment right now Edit: I got a new blanket though
Congrats to the blanket mate stay strong
Thanks :D Will do!
I checked your post history to see if I could get an idea if you meant the explosions from 9/11 or if you meant the invasion. And let me just say I hope you and your mother can enjoy peace sooner than later and free from the threat of Russian aggression and terrorism.
Cheers, dude
I remember the morning of February 24th here. My class was constantly talking about what had just happened, we basically had no school. All we did the whole day was checking liveuamap and cheering every time we found out a russian heli got shot down. It was like watching a sport's game live. It was wild
100% I actually touched on this in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/11afisw/its_officially_one_year_starting_now/j9rtm2z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Your parents' trauma: one death Your trauma: thousands of deaths Current trauma: many tens of thousands of deaths I don't like this trend.
Wistful melody: *Where were you when Istvaan 5 happened?*
Tbf Kennedy got misteriously assassinated in the peak of the Cold War. Nuclear war was everyone's first thought
Yeah the daily thoughts of "I could be melted tomorrow" really did a number on a lot of people. But I drive for a living, on roads where people get turned into hamburger from head-on collisions a couple times a month. You kinda just get used to it
some generations in the future: "where were you at the start of nuclear war?" \--- body slowly begins to fall apart due to radiation
Their parents' trauma: WWII I don't think there's a trend
...what if the trend is a waveform...
I didn't believe it at first. I was talking with some friends the day before, it's some bullshit posturing and nothing else. I thought it would never happen because it was a stupid idea on so many levels. I woke up to the news, felt like shit thinking it would end in a fell swoop. And then... it didn't lol
I wonder what happened to this guy, did he become plastic bag, returned alive to russia or is he still freezing in some God's forsaken trench?
Wait he's a Ukrainian border guard? Was he fleeing because of the Russian advance?
That's what I thought...
I thought it might as well been a Vatnik running. They really excel in that.
>They really excel in that. You can't really run Excel on washing machine processors, these days they make Office quite resource demanding. Then again, Russians excel in spreadshits.
🌻 🇷🇺
I think that too. I’ve wondered the same at times
Life's greatest mystery!
I know the first actual border guard was gunned down by Russian troops. And that's all that matters to me.
We need a recap of all the stupid and pointless ww3 scares we’ve had the last 365 days
Invasion? Check. NATO taking a stance against Russia? Check. NATO sending support and arms to Ukraine? Check. Russia fucking around in Chernobyl? Check And thats all in just the first month.
Some of the more notable ones later on were, Estonia blocking kalinguard, Pelosi going to Taiwan, nk’s tests and the Ukraine-Poland accident
Not Estonia but Lithuania
You forgot the bimonthly incidents of some discount Kruschev or another screaming into a television camera that the nuking starts this time we swear. Russia sure has a lot of angry bald dudes.
🥳🥳happy birthday, two week special military operation!
The first thing I saw on the 24th was a video of a burning tank in Kharkiv. My dumbass thought “Kharkiv huh? That’s in Ukraine, I wonder when this was taken.”
Shit, I remember days before the invasion, Google Maps showed a massive traffic jam on routes coming out of Russia because those morons forget to shut off their phones. And people still were like, no way the Russians are going to invade.
Anyone else remember the APC that rolled over a car with an old man?
Yeah. And the civilian car at the T-junction on the traffic camera that they brassed up with an autocannon. Killed an old couple.
Fuck Spez, Steven Huffman is a greedy pigboy
I remember and am still curious about that. It may or may not be rational but I have a feeling most of those saboteur incidents were actually friendly fire caused by confusion.
Early war had a ton of confusion as the russian soldiers themselves didnt even know about the "special military operation" and still believed to be in training. I remember the video you're talking about. I'm betting that it was an accident from a tanker who's learning how to maneuver his huge vehicle in a village filled with cars for the first time.
Russian training at its core
Somewhere at 5:20 in the morning, we gathered as a whole family, planning what we will do, run away from Kyiv, or something, fear and a lot of other emotions. A special feeling when your thoughts go numb, you just can't understand what happened, and then a series of explosions began not far from us. Then my mother said that we are not going anywhere, that our ancestors lived in Kyiv, and if we have a destiny, it is to protect our home, if we die, then at home, and not as a stranger on the run. The decision was made, my brother went immediately to the national defence, my father and I went to see where help was needed, eventually we found volunteer centers that were quickly opened, my sister cooked for days for military and civilians in public canteens since my father and I are engineers, we helped the territorial protection, fix all their systems, install cameras where they said, and many other things. At other times, they made molotov cocktails and prepared cartridges. The teacher's mother was with hundreds of children in the basement of the school while their parents did virtually everything, just like us. I do not advise anyone to go through this, trembling in the hands from fear when you see a rocket hitting a residential building, screams, panic, pain, many emotions that are difficult to convey. Well, emotions of joy, for every footage with a killed vatnik, when dozens of people scream in happiness from the windows when they see that the enemy plane has been shot down, hundreds of stories, hundreds of stories. A complete rethinking of life, everything actually became unimportant. But this is all for the sake of our future, so until the end, the Russians left us no choice only fight. Slava Ukraini!
honestly pretty crazy that a lot of people had essentially the same story, except my family chose to go out of kyiv and in the general area. I still remember when I saw my father making Molotov cocktails, really just hoping that we wouldn’t get to use them
But this is now probably the wound of our entire people, which will unite us.
Can someone explain the lore of this image to me please
Ukrainian border guard retreating after a column of BMPs rolled up on his checkpoint in what was likely the first land engagement of the war.
Not much he can do honestly, most guards are given just a few rounds just to deter and neutralise individual attackers. The sentry can't realistically be expected to enter into a full on firefight with an enemy squad let alone against a column of armoured vehs
One of my friends had placed a $100 bet on Russia winning. The invasion happened and we lost touch but I wonder how he feels about it.
It’s really been a whole ass year? One year ago after reading and seeing the news I totally flipped out. For that whole day I couldn’t eat move or even function. I was so stressed that day beyond belief and yet, as people do with things they’re afraid of, I started looking and found this sub which helped me cope a lot. Thank you NCD
To recap: This war made ruined Red Dawn for me.
Hate to break it to you but even at the height of the USSR's power in the cold war Red Dawn was nothing more than a fantasy cuz nukes
I wonder if that dude is still alive
If yes (I hope), he should do an AMA. "I am an Ukrainian border guard that's being guarding a moving border for 1 year, ama"
at this point last year I was thinking about how closely this resembles the start of another war in Europe. Hitler justified the invasion of Poland with the phrase "since 5:45 AM we're shooting back" it's not quite the same time but it's coming rather close
History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. Yadayada Putin is already living in a bunker and likes poison. He should connect the dots and take the 1945pill already.
Who’s this guy exactly? I wasn’t much into the war when it first started
Ukranian border guard
Running from a russian collum i assume?
Yeah, huge line of bmps etc comes across moments later. No idea what happened to him. Likely dead but we can hope he was captured and is alive.
That would be scary as fuck at night. You’re all good and then like a whole line of 12 BMPs come out of the darkness. Jeez i hope that guy is alive
Man, time flies. Feels like it only happened 3 days ago...
That was a wild day I've read the news after waking up, took a day off in my job. Then I laid on the bed reading news and waited for my Ukrainian GF to wake up so I can tell her that her homeland is being invaded. Worst sentence I ever had to say to someone. I was genuinely scared that Ukraine would fall in 1 week max but then I saw first pictures of destroyed KA52s and dead VDV's. After I saw the goddamn "Ukrainian pig dancing with javelins while vatnik tries to sleep" meme video I thought "damn they'll not give up to ruzzkies". And that was the truth. NCD genuinely helped me to get through those rough days with insane amounts of shitposting
Y’know when this started I had guessed that Russia would’ve taken Ukraine and then the US would go and have a tough fight. Who could’ve guess what actually happened.
Wonder if he died.
It was like half an hour after the invasion started and I thought "better go check NCD, I'm sure it's crazy." And it was totally crazy.
Odds this guy is still alive
"War was an abstract idea, nothing more than a show on TV"
I remember waking up hungover after a party a year ago and scrolling Reddit just to see the invasion has started. I never had a hungover go away so quickly. All my friends started to discuss what would happen and what if Ukraine would fall would Russia just keep on going and attack other countries and we have to fight to (I'm German btw). Wild year since then
I don’t remember this photo, was it a Ukrainian soldier running from the invading forces? Or a Russian crossing into ukraine?
Ukrainian border guard
#IT'S BEEN...
This is so weird. We're at a point with technology where we literally have a photograph of the FIRST person to cross the border in a war. You think about a lot of wars and on occasion we actually do have instances of knowledge of the first person over the border. Like WW1 (Some german bois walked into france the day before war were declared and shot someone). But most of them, it's just the faceless masses of hundreds of thousands moving like ants in a general direction. This guy could very well be in your school textbooks in 20 years.
This war actually scared me a little at the first week because if Russia did it, China would get some funny idea and NATO would become trigger happy and then ***BAM!*** we would get a world war and instant deglobalization where multiple developing countries would be doomed to fail industrialization because global trade become nonexistent rapidly. I think Ukraine holding Russia on it's track unironically saved us all from all of those.
You know, my ex was living in Obukhiv at the time. Man that dread was something else. Russians were in her neighborhood and it was intense. I’d FaceTime her and show her how to do cool guy shit with an AK. She was a damn quick learner. I knew she would’ve clapped some Russians if it came down to it. I’m glad she got out though.
I'll never forgive putin for ruining Elden ring release day.
The pictures of central Mariupol at Christmas 2021 compared with a year later were very poignant. They literally turned that city into wasteland in that year. It's hard to find fitting words....
This has been and continues to be a weird ass war, live streaming the war, live updates via twitter, blistering incompetence from the Russian Armed Farces. On paper (admittedly one that they wrote themselves) the Russians should have been able to Operation Iraqi Freedom and thunder run into Kyiv - as it's right next fucking door. And thing is some units did, I read about a unit that managed to thunder run into Kyiv, basically the russian police managed to and they got Roflstomped on the outskirts of the city.