Russia was overestimated before they attacked Ukraine and underestimated before the Ukrainian counterattack.
Their strength lies in being able to throw 500000 bodies at an enemy without giving a fuck, and it’s currently working.
Quantity has a quality of its own.
The Surovikin line seems have been quite effective.
But yeah, Russian soldiers are badly trained and casualties are insanely high. Russia does not have the manpower or equipment to win this war long term if the West continues to supply Ukraine.
High casualties are a pointed piece of Russian strategy. They feel that it shows determination and will demoralise the enemy and their allies.
The problem (silver lining really) is that it’s not having the intended effect. It only manages to demonstrate the urgency of greater and more reliable aid and perhaps even better sanctions sooner or later. There’s a cultural disconnect between us, and it’s driving a lot of bad decision-making.
The other problem is that its literally not sustainable. Killing all of your working age citizens in a long drawn out war will end your nation if you lose, and will still cripple you if you win but take a while.
If they keep this death toll up much longer, russia wont have the feet to stand on its own.
Even if they win the war in Ukraine their demography will be fucked. Their population pyramid was already showing serious problems from previous conflicts. And now that a million young adults have fled the country and close to half a million casualties have been accrued, the future of Russia is bleak in deed.
Russia was overestimated before they attacked Ukraine and underestimated before the Ukrainian counterattack.
Their strength lies in being able to throw 500000 bodies at an enemy without giving a fuck, and it’s currently working.
Quantity has a quality of its own.
The Surovikin line seems have been quite effective.
But yeah, Russian soldiers are badly trained and casualties are insanely high. Russia does not have the manpower or equipment to win this war long term if the West continues to supply Ukraine.
High casualties are a pointed piece of Russian strategy. They feel that it shows determination and will demoralise the enemy and their allies.
The problem (silver lining really) is that it’s not having the intended effect. It only manages to demonstrate the urgency of greater and more reliable aid and perhaps even better sanctions sooner or later. There’s a cultural disconnect between us, and it’s driving a lot of bad decision-making.
The other problem is that its literally not sustainable. Killing all of your working age citizens in a long drawn out war will end your nation if you lose, and will still cripple you if you win but take a while.
If they keep this death toll up much longer, russia wont have the feet to stand on its own.
Even if they win the war in Ukraine their demography will be fucked. Their population pyramid was already showing serious problems from previous conflicts. And now that a million young adults have fled the country and close to half a million casualties have been accrued, the future of Russia is bleak in deed.
The history of Russia has always been rightfully summed up with the phrase “And then it got worse.” So this is really just par for the course.
They appear to be running out of bodies, though, if these stories are any indication:
Cuba uncovers human trafficking of Cubans to fight for Russia in Ukraine
Putin speeds up a citizenship path for foreigners who enlist in the Russian military
Russia is trying to keep its army going by raising the age for military call-ups by 5 years, with some reservists able to be mobilized at 70