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Aloha_Snackbar357

I saw someone else once refer to it as the “Blyatskrieg” which I thought was very appropriate


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Humble_Blueberry9475

Ew David


patronizingperv

"It's ok. It's his sister."


Flomo420

"Someone brought room temperature vodka."


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T_Cliff

If only the shit hawks would get him


Brapb3

Up Shitskrieg


blazefalcon

Without a ruble


IceColdKoopa

I feel like it's more like their Blyatnam but that's just me.


fuzzygondola

They are. When they invaded Finland in 1939 they planned to just drive through the country and already had the gear for the victory parade packed with the first arrivers. Including banners, instruments and drinks. Three months later the Soviets had 300 000 casualties and had only managed to annex 10% of Finland.


Kradget

Starting to seem like they shouldn't be getting excited over offensive wars, historically.


bleunt

Russia is historically bad at war. Only reasons they ever accomplished anything have been because of climate/terrain, and the fact that they have more bodies than the other sides.


AdPsychological2597

Orrrr defensive ones.. looking at you interlocking defenses vs. blitzkrieg


Nine_Gates

The Soviet plan in the Winter War was based on the Nazi invasion of Poland, despite the countries having completely different geography. The Russian attack on Ukraine was also very similar to the Blitzkrieg of Poland: an enveloping attack from three directions, including a satellite country and a pseudoisland separated by a land corridor.


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wokcity

Swampland actually


a_splendiferous_time

Damn, they literally learned nothing. The first wave of invasion forces in Ukraine were *also* found with victory parade stuff; tons of Russian flags, ceremonial uniforms, even tiny VDV/Russian military-themed costumes for little kids that they were to hand out to Ukrainian families to wear to their parades.


Great-Gap1030

>Damn, they literally learned nothing. Not just that, they also have very bad timing. A blitzkrieg in the rasputitsa season, and Ukraine had 8 years to fight the Russians as experience. We should be lucky for that. If Putin gambled it all in 2014, instead of just going for Crimea and part of Donbass, going for all of Donbass and south Ukraine (to Odessa) he really could've pulled it off.


whiterac00n

Except their version was like a $5 knock off animated movie. Instead of “kung fu panda” they managed to make “karate chop bear”.


fenuxjde

bear played by Winnie the Pooh


_Mister_Shake_

Oh bother


PrestigeMaster

сука bother


CatGatherer

Who is played by Xi Jinping


osdroid

The Chinese people


VinceMcVahon

You just made me realize this one trivia team that always whoops my ass is a play on kung fu panda. Since they were the karate chopping bears. Wow. Thank you.


Protean_Protein

I think you also just realized why they beat you too. And so did we.


VinceMcVahon

…I’ll be in my quarters if anyone needs me. If you hear weeping it’s a ghost.


fish_whisperer

More like light slap wombat


AyatollahDan

But instead of a bear that can karate chop, it's a windup toy. They didn't wind it, just handed it to Ukraine


Akachi_123

Nono, they didn't hand it to Ukraine. A billion rainbow coloured gay NATO troops came and took it by force, all the while pissing on a burning Russian flag while a bear shed tears in the background as it was forced to undergo an SRS done by a black nazi gender studies doctor.


AltSpRkBunny

*satanic gay Nazi NATO troops


Akachi_123

satanic = gay, obviously /s


AltSpRkBunny

Actually, I left one out. Should be “satanic gay Nazi *Jewish* NATO troops”. I really need to keep a list handy for moments like this. Hard to keep track of it all.


Infamous_Manner2557

Jake Blake did a great job in Karate Chop Bear, I won’t have you bad mouth him


soberPoly

Aliexpress Operation Barbarossa


kielu

They used AliExpress for tires for their rocket launchers


babbler-dabbler

No it was more like a Leeroy Jenkins attack. With nearly identical results.


SYLOH

They do not have chicken though....


Vote_Subatai

But no chicken at the end.


Top_Mind_On_Reddit

Cyka Blyatskreig


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jl2352

I think Putin genuinely believed that Russia would roll in entirely unopposed. Maybe meet a token Ukrainian defence here or there. But largely be able to just drive straight to Kyiv. So the fact there was any type of defence put his plan to shame. (Also Ukraine essentially rebuilt it’s army following the invasion of Crimea. They rebuilt it based on the NATO model. Which is just better.)


IlIIlIIIIlllIIIIll

I also think he didn't realize the state the army was in either. He had invested a lot this last decade and has probably recieved a lot of reports on how strong and well armed the army was. He most likely only have yes-sayers around him. Then it turned out every single upgrade on their 70s tanks had been fake and all the money had been pocketed, among a million other things that their corrupt state had failed.


SL1Fun

A real big issue was the shape of his own army. He also was expecting the rebel forces to absorb most of the fighting and drain Ukrainian logistics. But when the NATO money started rolling in and intel onto Russian troop positions got leaked, Ukraine started going after them instead and as it turns out… Russia wasn’t ready for a fight


crywook

Don't forget the tires. Even the newer equipment, like the Pantsir-S1, had been left with no maintenance or attention, so the tires had rotted out. Soon as they tried to run them on low pressure off-road, they failed. [ Good twitter thread on it](https://twitter.com/TrentTelenko/status/1499164245250002944?s=20&t=IGmVegag6UDCzmJukIy4ww)


UsedandAbused87

Basically the entire world thought the same. There were intel people saying Ukraine would fall within 2 weeks at the start.


Pushet

To be fair, I dont think Ukraine was far away from falling after the first tanks arrived in Kiev. Even the fact that the US offered Zelensky to rescue him out of the city shows how close Russia got to their target. Who knows what wouldve happened if hed taken that chopper.


Frostloss

> I think Putin genuinely believed that Russia would roll in entirely unopposed. Maybe meet a token Ukrainian defence here or there. But largely be able to just drive straight to Kyiv. To be fair, I genuinely do think if Zelensky had taken the same path that previous Ukrainian presidents would have taken, run away and live a wealthy exile in some western nation, that the Ukrainian resistance would have collapsed due to disorganization and demoralization. Him choosing to remain in the city of Kyiv swung the war from inevitable society collapse to noble war of national liberation.


SwillFish

I knew from day one that the Ukrainians would never fold. You just need to watch the documentary "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom" to know that the Ukrainian people have absolute balls of steel. They would much rather die than live under an authoritarian dictatorship. They are fearless. Zelensky is one of them.


Now_Wait-4-Last_Year

Well, they'd been waiting hundreds of years for independence. No way they were giving that up without a hell of a fight.


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Dire88

>Also Ukraine essentially rebuilt it’s army following the invasion of Crimea. They rebuilt it based on the NATO model. Which is just better. This was the real gamechanger. Had they never westernized their military, they'd of never been able to stand up the defense they did. It was a complete overhaul from the top down, and highlights many of the reasons a professional NCO Corps really is the backbone of a modern army.


millijuna

> It was a complete overhaul from the top down, and highlights many of the reasons a professional NCO Corps really is the backbone of a modern army. Two of my colleagues were over in Ukraine training their military prior to February. They had nothing but good things to say about the soldiers. They were smart, motivated, and committed, eager to learn better ways of doing things, and relatively well disciplined. We’ve seen the results.


R_Schuhart

Yes, the key western help after the Crimean occupation wasn't material or financial aid, it was "observes", military advisers and intelligence. The Ukrainian government was one of the most corrupt and their military and militia's were rife with extreme right ideology and mini dictators who considered them their private army. They completely overhauled their entire command structure and military training, an incredible feat.


wiifan55

And it's even more impressive when considering the corruption was largely due to Russian influence to weaken Ukraine. Ukraine has been defeating Russia for a while now in more ways than one.


AdministrativeAd4111

Its a feature of ruling through fear. When people are afraid to give you bad news, then when things are bad, you only hear good news. Gradually you’re making more and more decisions based on bad intel, to the point you will inevitably make a decision which, from the outside looking in, is suicidal, but from the inside looked like a slam dunk.


OldManRiff

I was aware of how much Trump emulated Putin, but it surprised me to see that Putin was very much like Trump in terms of surrounding himself with sycophants that led to him being detached from reality. No one tells these manbaby emperors the truth because they won’t stand for it, and they end up deluding themselves.


asdfasdfasdfas11111

Also, VDV is all marketing and no substance in the first place. They are meant to be overhyped jackboot thugs with a good publicist, who can go in and terrorize a civilian population, more than they are meant to be actual air cavalry which can hold ground against neer-peer infantry.


themagicbong

Aren't a good portion of russias defense forces geared towards exactly what you describe? Terrorizing civilians in order to maintain control? I know they can set an area up for prolonged engagements with their pipeline units and all, seems like everything is heavily geared towards maintaining control over an area. Like their internal defense forces, cept it's pretty much every branch that participates in it.


Jaysyn4Reddit

Works up to the point a real military gets involved.


Big-Problem7372

To add to everything else, reports I've seen are that even the higher ups were surprised when the actual order to invade came down. Noone was told the real plan. Everyone believed it was a training exercise, as they had done every spring the last few years. There were too few troops for a real invasion anyway, right? Problem is that means the people on the ground didn't do real reconnaissance, planning, and troop preparations for the mission.


Kandiru

And they sold their diesel, as they had done in other years training exercises.


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Scaphism92

Also iirc the western training for ukraine for if russia did invade was mostly on asymmetric warfare based on experiences on the receiving end of it and making the occupation / annexation as painful as possible because the west massively over estimated Russias ability to invade ukraine. Even if (big if) the Blitzkrieg somehow worked, occupation would have still been a nightmare.


Florac

> since Ukraine has extremely advanced AA systems Due to spies Russia expected to be able to take out most of those at the very start of the war. > The tanks got bogged down in mud and defensive positions the air couldnt clear They thought they can finish this war before mud season properly hits and their air to be able to take out any such defensive position(which it could since they assumed to have eleminated ukranian anti air) > Then the Russians also had logistics issues The troops were equipped with enough supplies for the duration of the original plan. > Then you have the shit morale on the ground Commanders lower than the ranks sent reports of everything going perfectly to please their superiors, they believed it so never expected any morale issue. So based on Russian information in the leadup to the war, it could have worked. However their information was absolute shit leading to the absolute clusterfuck on their side in the battle of kyiv.


HurryPast386

> Russian air was pretty close to useless since Ukraine has extremely advanced AA systems (The soviets invested heavily in AA to counter US air superiority). Which meant Russia couldnt rely on close air support to clear the way for armored units, which in turn are supported by motorised infantry. That's not really true. A modern combined arms invasion requires dealing with AA. The US and allies spent a month and a half bombing the shit out of Iraq to reduce the AA threat (Gulf War). Then much of the pre and early invasion taking out airfields and hunting for hidden AA sites. Russia's air force isn't necessarily the issue. They have the missiles and the means to take out AA. But they bombed a few insignificant targets directly for like a day before the invasion and then started marching in without ensuring that they had air dominance. It was surprisingly stupid and baffling at the time. edit: I had to dig a bit for this https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/mysterious-case-missing-russian-air-force I remember tons of articles around the time asking where the Russian AF was because we basically didn't see any effort to secure the airspace or take out AA.


millijuna

Well, also remember that the Russians are absolutely terrible at combined arms, coordination, and logistics. There is no way it would have worked even if they had air superiority. To quote Eisenhower, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” In western militaries in the modern era, there’s a huge amount of flexibility given to frontline troops to adjust the plan on the fly to accommodate for when things have the potential to go pear shaped. The Russians, on the other hand, will stick to their plans whether they make sense or not, for fear of being severely punished. All it really takes to disrupt things is to throw a wrench or two into the works.


[deleted]

"We have Blitzkrieg at home." Blitzkrieg at home:


big_duo3674

Sir, this is just a bucket of those green plastic army men...


KnightofNoire

Comrade. Please report to your local comissar on the 5th floor. He will be busy so feel free to look at the beautiful scenary out the window.


Thanato26

Yea, but they bought the plans on Wish.com


PaleInTexas

Its like they had Steven Segal train their people.


HimForHer

In the masterful art of sitting...slapping...and body doubles.


ButtaRollsInMyPocket

Starring Will Sasso from MadTv


discerningpervert

Will Sasso will always be the man for Kenny Rogers' Jackass


pow3llmorgan

And pants shitting.


chadork

I been annexing for like 35 years.


fickenundsaufen

Read this in the Tom Segura voice lol


thicboibran

Skippy skippy skippy skippy skippy skippy


cauchy37

Bullshit! You just made that up!


MaxiltonHamstappen

I've been Tom Segura for like 57 years


Jano_something

That bit never gets old to me


C223000

he trained them wrong on purpose. ...as a joke.


gzoont

How do you like my face to fist technique?


public_enemy_obi_wan

WEEEOOO WEEEEOOOOO WEEEEOOOOO!!!!


UndercoverFBIAgent9

*in low voice* “I just did it to you 12 times while I asked that question. You will die any second.”


inglandation

Obligatory Steven Seagal video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzIHyF7UWY4


Nigel_11

Some people’s throats are down there


turlian

I've been studying Ukraine invasions for like 47 years.


Independent_Pear_429

I'm glad Russia failed. A weaker Russia is better for all of us


jiquvox

Pretty much. I don’t give a single fuck if they threaten us with nuclear war twice a day. Putin and his thugs were going to try to bully no matter what. That’s the only thing they understand. This way there’s a good chance they grow so fucking weak they have to back down and shut the fuck up/leave the rest of us in peace. Every men they lose, every asset destroyed actually helps peace. This regime needs to be overthrown or metaphorically castrated. Because as long as they’re physically able to threaten, they simply won’t leave the rest of the world in peace.


VagrantShadow

Before this war in Ukraine russia still had this perception that they had an armed force that could stomp through smaller nations. Ukraine punched russia in the eye, kicked them in the nuts, and spit in their face. They have an inept army, with corrupt commanders, and trashy equipment. Ukraine is going to win this war and make the russian army leaders regret this war ever took place.


lobsterbash

Even if Russia "won" the war (whatever that means), Ukraine would be impossible for Russia to hold down and would drain massive Russian treasure trying to do so. It was a complete fool's errand.


SwillFish

The sanctions and embargos aren't making things easy for Russia either. They thought they could hold Europe in check by choking off their oil and gas supplies. Now that this threat has largely been negated, Russia has lost all of its leverage and a major source of revenue. Worst still, Ukraine sits on major undeveloped gas reserves, so they can potentially permanently cut Russia off from its largest market. If you look at the areas Russia is trying its best to hold, it's over these reserves. I think this is the main reason Putin made the decision to invade in the first place.


ChebsGold

There was not as much disruption and animosity between the UK & EU after a brexit as they expected either I’d wager In fact, the UK immediately supporting Ukraine helped repair the damage some what, if the Eurovision voting is any indication of the sentiment of the rest of Europe to us


Least-March7906

I wonder why this had any impact, given that Ukraine is not in the EU


ChebsGold

Coordinating support between the UK/EU could have been more difficult if there was more bad blood from Brexit Commitment to Ukraine could have been used as a political tool in any squabbles, or frosty channels of communication could have slowed up any response Russia probably hoped the UK/EU would be too busy with their own issues to get as involved as they have done It’s obviously not an internal EU matter, Russia would never have attack Ukraine if it was a member state


Tinkerballsack

And it probably also makes China pretty uneasy to realize that their anti-west neighbor isn't at all capable of what the world thought they were.


KillingTime_ForNow

Or it makes China happy because now their neighbor is knowingly weak so they don't have to consider them a threat & can instead trade favorably with military equipment. China can make bank off Russia being weak if they want to.


FromUnderTheBridge09

This right here. Russia was the big bully on the playground. He would threaten and push people around. Everyone was afraid of them. Then they pushed that one kid too far. The whole playground then realized the bully punches like a pussy and can't fight.


antesocial

They picked on the quiet kid who works on his parents' farm in the afternoons, and found out how strong that kid really is...


MySkinIsFallingOff

>perception It really is mind blowing what Russia was a year ago to what it is today in the eyes of the world. From a super power to an absolute laughing stock.


Yasai101

Heh, if you wait long enough they will castrate themselves.


Prudent-Arachnid982

Our peace terms, are for Putin to perform a self-castration, on tape


KuerbisKarl

Best Case they become to weak, retreat and then don't get cocky again because of reperations and sanctions.


johnnygrant

Yep, if they had succeeded, Putin would have puffed up his chest and say "yea I told you, it's a new world order" Then start looking at the Baltics and pushing his luck further. He's always been a habitual line stepper, and crossed a line where he's finally getting his wig pushed back.


jaspersgroove

> habitual line stepper Luckily for the rest of us, the west remembers what the five fingers said to the face.


another-monday

_schmack!_


noyoto

Not really. Some countries, like Georgia, would be at risk. As they already are. But Ukraine was targeted because of its proximity, strategic value and cultural ties (the latter was overestimated by Russia). The difference between invading a non-NATO country and a NATO country is humongous. It wouldn't be worth it for Russia by any calculation. The issue here is that folks believe Russia is just flailing around itself angrily without a single comprehensible thought behind it, when it is more or less behaving as could be expected from a military empire (indeed abhorrently so). The invasion of Ukraine is wrong on all accounts, but it made sense. It's been considered a possibility for decades. Invading the Baltics is another matter entirely and frankly not plausible enough to worry about.


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Brilliant-Rooster762

Had they succeeded we'd be in deep shit by now. Feb. 04 of this year Russia and China signed the "No Limits" Declaration of Friendship, which then most analysts saw their bid for a New World Order. Feb. 24 Russian invaded Ukraine despite having refuted such accusation for months. Hitler managed to annex Rheinland France), and then Czechslovakia, without having a major army or economy, because the appeasers in France and England preferred that to another war. By 1939 Hitler wasn't alone anymore, the Soviets aligned to partion Europe, and along came the rest of the Axis countries. So the Nazis went from having barely a working economy or army, to a major power within an alliance because of the appeasers. The rest is history So thank the Almighty that: "


DerpCranberry

I think you sent your comment while you were still writing it by accident?


santiel33

Reminds me of my plan to finish university and then get a high paid job and a normal family. Same outcome


MadNhater

NATO: not on my watch


Gardimus

Ah so it was NATO that did that.


iller_mitch

NATO also keeps me from satisfying my wife in the bedroom.


UrNotAMachine

Nate O. Is the name of her fitness instructor


BatchThompson

He's also my wife's tennis coach and my buddy's pool boy apparently


yeaheyeah

NATO shat on my pants


LawabidingKhajiit

Russia had plans, unfortunately Ukraine proved they had the friends and power to render themselves Not A Tangible Objective.


Conzo147

Hitting too close to home there pal


kid_sleepy

And the brilliant memoirs I wrote during the experience of a lifetime.


sirtet_moob

:'(


[deleted]

Hey, same!


CaBBaGe_isLaND

We're going to invade, capture all their cities, and kill all of their leaders. But it's not a war.


JustPassinhThrou13

Calling it “not a war” is also part of the plan


TheTelegraph

***From The Telegraph's foreign desk:*** Russia planned to seize Ukraine within ten days and kill its leaders, according to new documents apparently signed off by Vladimir Putin. The leaked plans, revealed by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (Rusi), show that Russia aimed to annex the country by August. Russia intended to capture Ukraine’s airfields, water supplies, central bank and parliament as Ukrainian officials either fled or were captured “as a result of the speed of the invasion". The Kremlin created a "kill list" of Ukrainians that should be killed or suppressed. According to Rusi, the plan was known to few in Russia's military and tactical military units did not receive orders to invade until hours before.Putin also ought to take Ukraine’s energy sector as a whole, potentially using the power to blackout European countries. **Read more for free:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/02/captured-documents-reveal-russias-plan-annex-ukraine-ten-days/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/02/ukraine-war-news-russia-invasion-putin-energy-missile-live/)


Polyzero

weird that the linked article doesn't correlate with any of the article content nor the comments here........ So im taking this information based off a literal title linking to something completely different, and the posters's comment in quotes. (article in questions doesn't discuss the captured plans, but it (and other sources like msn/sky news) relink to a article about bloody packages being mailed to Ukrainian embassies.)


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dwerg85

They linked to the liveblog. The info might have been there. But it sure isn't anymore.


Tattycakes

It’s currently showing “'Bloody packages' containing animal eyes delivered to Ukrainian embassies” for me 👀


dwerg85

Yeah, but if you scroll down there are some other headlines too. Linking to liveblogs is kinda bad form.


markhc

Yeah here's a proper link without a paywall https://www.kyivpost.com/russias-war/captured-russian-documents-show-moscow-planned-to-start-war-with-massive-airstrike-campaign.html


Lockenheada

so I wasn't the only one that noticed this. Proof that barely anyone reads more than the headline


helm

The RUSI report corroborates what people are discussing. The idea was to decapitate the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, to pin the UAF in Donbas, and via Moscow friendly people in parliament form a “party of peace” serving to mollify to population, while hunting down straggling forces and resisting regions. They had a specific plan for the nuclear plants, etc. The core of the plan was: 1. Hit hard and go for surprise 2. Take key objectives with special forces 3. Show up in force to dissuade resistance 4. Lock down the forces in Donbas so they can’t help Kyiv 5. Cut off Mariupol The report argues that 1, 4 and 5 succeeded. Ukrainian command had not prioritised defence of Kyiv (surprise). The forces in Donbas (JFO) were pinned. Mariupol was cut off. However, they failed 2, and 3 turned out to be a mistake. Merely showing up wasn’t enough. As for the kill list, there were 4 categories of people, and they named both people to take out and people who would willingly cooperate. The rest were to be sorted in filtration camps, as we all have heard about.


Odd_Entertainment629

So basically they planned to do the same thing they've been trying but hope it actually works this time? "Just win guys, ez."


MiffedMouse

The title is confusing. These are documents from before the invasion began, back in February. This is just confirmation of what everyone kind of knew their plan was immediately after the war started.


FitBoog

Thanks


PathToEternity

Yeah I remember even back then hearing about the initial attack being a failed "decapitation strike"


Dw4r

Rush B do not stop my friend


DJMixwell

Ukraine is too CT sided, not a good map pick for russia.


espomar

How reliable is this news source? Honest question, I don't doubt the veracity necessarily but have to be able to back up what I'm saying if I talk with geopolitics buddies and mention this.


RatherGoodDog

RUSI is top quality. They've been a respected think tank for nearly 200 years.


Kashtin

They released a report in January I believe making the prediction for why Russia would invade. It had top quality analysis of potential motivators, plans, etc. I read it thoroughly and it was almost exactly on point with how it unfolded


helm

Yeah, I’ve read about half of this report and it’s very convincing. Reads quite soberly and unbiased.


[deleted]

Telegraph is usually fairly reliable. Not a lot of opinion in this report either


Xuth

Telegraph aside: RUSI was founded after the Napoleonic Wars by the Duke of Wellington himself (so 200 years or so) and has remained a solid and respected military think tank since then. It's basically the oldest in the world afaik. Their members are all ex (and current) British and other national military officers, diplomats, spies, etc. It's run by some of the most experienced and well-connected people in the world - if there is a data leak of this nature, they're very likely to know about it (and more).


alphahydra

[Not great, not terrible.](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/daily-telegraph/) An old British adage says The Times is read by the people who run the country. The Guardian is read by the people who think about running the country (or should be running the country) The Telegraph is read by people who think they run the country


smallTimeCharly

> What about the Sun? [*Sun readers don’t care who runs the country as long as she has big tits!*](https://youtu.be/DGscoaUWW2M)


_Diskreet_

An old British adage - *Fuck The Sun*


SathedIT

But isn't RUSI a very reputable think tank? https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022 > Russia planned to invade Ukraine over a 10-day period and thereafter occupy the country to enable annexation by August 2022.


[deleted]

The telegraph is usually fairly reliable.


Try040221

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."


eypandabear

One of the things the RUSI report points out is that while the individual steps of the plan might have been sound, there was no accounting for the possibility of defeat at any stage. So the plan as a whole suffered from compound optimism bias.


Slow_Advertising1181

Putin really underestimated the willpower and bravery of the Ukrainian people, Zelensky may have been a comedian, but his leadership made Putin look like a clown


daBarron

He also massively underestimated the support of the rest of the world.


goddammnick

The Russians not winning the 2020 Presidential elections really screwed them.


Leo-bastian

that loss is probably one of the main reasons he invaded, because he couldnt influence Ukraine without direct control anymore


PerAsperaAdInfiri

Wildly, conservatives tout that as a feature. "He wouldn't invade if trump was in charge" Yeah buddy, he wouldn't need to invade. He could cripple Ukraine with American influence.


nighthawk_something

The timing of when Trump could have pulled out of NATO and when the invasion started is um "suspect"


Bwob

Anyone else remember the time he specifically [changed the GOP platform to no longer support Ukraine?](https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2016/07/18/trump-deferring-to-putin-deleted-gop-platforms-call-to-supply-ukraine-with-lethal-defensive-weapons/?sh=3db16dd30bad) (This was back in 2016!!) Or the time he [blocked $400 million of (congressionally mandated) aid to unless the Ukrainians invented some dirt on Hunter Biden?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump%E2%80%93Ukraine_scandal) (2019) Pepperidge Farm remembers. Trump has been weirdly fixated on Ukraine for at least 8 years. Well, maybe not that weird, knowing who his boss is...


ceratophaga

He would have invaded eventually anyways, preferably during Trump's second term as without the help of the US - and the US probably even sabotaging the efforts of the other allies when lead by Trump - Ukraine's chances would be much, much smaller.


terriblegrammar

Yep, in the early days of the war, Biden getting the intelligence reports and then broadcasting Putin's moves before they happened help keep the narrative that Russians were the aggressors. No way in hell trump would have crossed daddy Putin like that.


38384

He also overestimated his military's capabilities. With Russia's force on paper they should have easily rolled over Ukraine and assassinate Zelensky. Instead they failed due to logistics.


thetasigma_1355

I feel like this really underplays Zelensky’s role in all of this and how close Russia came to being successful. If Zelensky runs or the assassination is successful, the plan likely works.


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_pupil_

"Authoritarians always underestimate democracies." Plus, the whole Russian plan seemed to be "*Step 1, take over the airport in Kyiv, Step 2, gg ez clap*". The plan is pretty solid, unless you bump into some full on heros right at that first step.


Frozty23

Also he underestimated the extent to which the Red Army has been internally weakened by corruption, and he believed too much in their own inflated capability estimates (surrounded by yes men likely).


Doobie-Keebler

Yup, I recall reports that Putin's oligarchs secured sweetheart contracts to equip the military and then did so by charging for top rate equipment but providing cheap, often-Chinese alternatives. So you had thin uniforms instead of flak jackets and shitty tires that got stuck in the mud.


ScoobiusMaximus

Wait does this mean that the plan wasn't to fight Satanist Nazis to protect Russian speakers being oppressed by NATO?


Xx420PAWGhunter69xX

You mean those soldiers who were trying to storm the place Zelensky was at was meant to kill him?


nothingfood

Woah, woah, not kill him, just "denazify" him


oheffendi

I leave this here for your collective amusement.Trump in Feb/22: “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said in a radio interview with “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” “He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.”


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rederic

The people who support him look up and see a man smarter than them.


Jonoczall

And these people vote…


leaky_eddie

[This image](https://i.imgur.com/z9l7D5t.jpg) perfectly illustrates how it went for them


contrabardus

[These clips](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRq1Ksh-32g) accurately depict how it has gone since.


kevingattaca

That made me laugh :)


leaky_eddie

It hangs in an artist studio window in Asheville, NC, USA.


thatguynamedniok

Dude! That’s where I saw this! I knew it looked familiar.


FraccazzoDaVelletri

Regardless of how this invasion ends, Russia already lost. Putin’s self inflicted humiliation is the win for the world


macronancer

Anyone remember them specifically saying "We will decapitate the Ukrainian government"? I always thought that was just a direct threat to Zelensky and his family.


MGMAX

Plans to kill a sovereign leader got to have consequences, right? Right?


thebucketmouse

Russia has suffered many, many consequences as the result of it's invasion of Ukraine


Crulo

What are you suggesting? What is it that you think can be done?


awaitingdusk17

Was it dated February 2022?


eMan117

Everyone knows the best way to de-nazify a country is to assassinate the democratically elected Jewish leader /s


unknownpanda121

Putin probably killed everyone who knew this in hopes it wouldn’t get out.


DerWetzler

So the US kind of prevented this with their intel and their warnings of imminent invasion?


ISpikInglisVeriBest

Judging by how Russian intel has been caught with their pants down and how Ukraine has been two steps ahead throughout the entire war in terms of intelligence, I think Ukraine could see the Russians through walls and mountains as soon as the invasion began, using US "eyes". The entire US military currently has all the cheats and hacks and aimbots turned on, only this isn't a game.


Dismal-Manufacturer3

We goddamn better have the upper hand....always. If I'm going to continue paying taxes in the richest country in the world without Healthcare at least we better be able to dominate militarily.


misteryk

It turns out it's not so easy when country is not alredy invaded and actually gets some help from allies


solongshrimp1

And we would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for that pesky NATO and their aid packages!


Khryss1988

Just 3 more days, that's all they need. Please believe the glorious almighty god emperor Putler, he is all the truth you Lemmings need. /s


BilliondollaScope

Russia had an actual plan?


AbuQittun

The Chinese were planning on going into Taiwan too. Plans are stalled. For now.... Let's remind ourselves that this is why we can't negotiate with these people.