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What should our response be if Russia invades Ukraine?

www.forbes.com

Borrowing Tactics From The U.S. Army, The Ukrainian Marine Corps Is Thundering Through Russian Lines In Fast-Moving Columns

The Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade is more than a week into its own prolonged thunder run along the Mokri Yaly River.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

In April 2003, early in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a battalion from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Divison combined 29 M-1 tanks, 14 M-2 fighting vehicles and several M-113 armored personnel carriers into an urban assault task force—and rolled straight into Baghdad days ahead of a planned multi-brigade coalition attack on the city.

Col. Eric Schwartz, who led the so-called “thunder run,” reasoned that a small, fast-moving armored force would confuse and demoralize Baghdad’s Iraqi defenders—and perhaps preempt a slow, bloody, block-by-block slog across the city.
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Schwartz was right. His battalion thunder run on April 5 breached Baghdad and killed potentially hundreds of Iraqi troops and paramilitaries at the cost of a single American killed-in-action. A bigger thunder run two days later was costlier for the Americans, but ended with U.S. forces securing a major lodgement in downtown Baghdad, greatly accelerating the city’s fall.
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Twenty years later, the Ukrainian 35th Marine Brigade is more than a week into its own prolonged thunder run along the Mokri Yaly River. In eight or nine days of hard fighting, the 2,000-person brigade has liberated several villages—most recently Makarivka, on Monday.

Speed and shock are key.
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The UAF version of Shock and Awe....and they will prevail tactically as well just like we did.
 
This counteroffensive so far has only yielded marginal gains by Ukraine. Hopefully they will be able to break through the Russian lines at some point.
 
Spur's Addiction said:
This counteroffensive so far has only yielded marginal gains by Ukraine. Hopefully they will be able to break through the Russian lines at some point.
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I don't think it matters much if they do break through. At this point it appears that the only way this thing ends is if Putin dies or someone is able to assassinate him from the inside.
 
Blitzkrieg said:
I don't think it matters much if they do break through. At this point it appears that the only way this thing ends is if Putin dies or someone is able to assassinate him from the inside.
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Agreed - Putin will not pull out on his own, as that means admitting defeat, and will lead to him being overthrown for starting this whole mess. He will ride this out until the bitter end, with the hope that the west support for Ukraine will wane over time.

This seems to be turning into a WW I style trench warfare, where either side is capable of some marginal gains along the battle front, but not any real decisive battle victories that will alter the course of the war in a meaningful way. The Russians have dug into mostly defensive positions over the past 6 months, and dislodging them will take lots of weapons and countless casualties.

I hope I am wrong.
 
www.bbc.com

Wagner mercenary boss says Russia bombed his troops

Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed a "huge number" of his fighters had been killed in the strike.
www.bbc.com

Russian state media also reports that the FSB, Russia's security services, have opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of "calling for an armed rebellion".
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This seems to be an unanticipated wildcard coming into view. JMO

Perhaps Putin will have to withdraw most of his forces from Ukraine to counter those whacky Wagner Group rebels/mercenaries.

A war on two fronts, perhaps?
 
JimG said:
Twitter is on fire right now with some kind of possible movement of PMC Wagner troops on Russia.

Way too early to see what is really going on...but interesting times!
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Russia has issued an arrest warrant for the head of the Wagner group

www.politico.com

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?

The mercenary chief is at the heart of Russia’s growing internal strife.
www.politico.com www.politico.com
 
Wagner group took control of the Russian city of Rostov. Putin calls him a traitor and issued arrest warrant. Russian troops are mobilizing to block possible attempts by Wagner to roll into Moscow.

My my, not sure WTF is actually going on? Putin and his Chef appear to have had a falling out. On the brink of civil war. Or just a bunch of grandstanding. Hard to say. But none of this looks good for their efforts in Ukraine.

www.theguardian.com

Even if Wagner rebellion fails, Putin’s presidency has never looked weaker

Images of tanks in streets of Moscow evoke memories of a faltering Soviet Union’s final months in 1991
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

An armoured Wagner column has rolled into Russia from occupied eastern Ukraine, without meeting much opposition. Wagner troops appear to have seized key buildings in Rostov-on-Don, the headquarters of Russia’s southern military district command and an important logistics node for Moscow’s so-called “special military operation”.


Panicked Russian generals have urged Prigozhin to back down and to call off his “state coup”. Armoured vehicles are trundling in the streets of Moscow, apparently sent in to guard the defence ministry and other bureaucratic centres from possible internal attack.
 
My how the arrogant have fallen! Putin is such a smart guy. :rolleyes:
- Feb '22: Russia invades Ukraine in order to liberate Ukraine and get rid of the nazis. State propagandists called for elimination of all Ukrainians with Poland next on the list.
- June '23: Russia is setting up defenses/gun emplacements around Moscow because of internal fighting. They are now attacking themselves.

FzYy81aXgAE2Hrm.jpg
 
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