Mark Clark6 said:Is it just my perception, or did Russia encounter far more resistance than their planners anticipated? It is difficult to decipher given the nature of this hybrid warfare, but after two days of operations, they have failed to secure a single significant city. It appears the only thing they have managed to seize is that desolate ruin near Chernobyl—a place the Ukrainians would likely be happy to hand over to Russia just to get rid of it.
The real experts here seem to be those constantly preaching about the fall of Ukraine and claiming Americans aren't fighting back. They clearly aren't looking at the maps. Aside from a few outskirts around larger cities, the Russians haven't penetrated deep anywhere. At this rate, this will drag on for weeks, perhaps months, before any sort of truce. And I suspect Putin won't have the luxury of waiting months; he'll likely feel pressured to commit additional forces to Ukraine. If he makes that move, we're talking about full-scale conventional war—and unfortunately, significantly more casualties on both sides.
As it stands, the death toll is somewhat contained; it isn't the catastrophe it would be if that little man launched a total offensive.
Then again, I wouldn't doubt his capacity for such madness. He was certainly reckless enough to invade a nation that, prior to the Maidan protests, was practically his puppet—back when he wasn't busy claiming Ukraine has no right to exist or denying they are even a real people. He didn't mention "Nazis" back then, did he? No, because he had what he wanted: a compliant government in Ukraine. Now, some people try to defend the Russians simply because Americans share a similar modus operandi. Or because Europe is kept on a short leash. I see the pattern, but that doesn't change the fact that Putin is a primary driver of this crisis. These are opportunists fighting for plunder, not for justice, morality, or democracy. Both the Americans and the Russians are predators here, not guardians of small nations or their democratic rights. I honestly fear for how much they truly care about democracy in a place like Ukraine—or even here in the States.
