The Russian army apparently is only moving "from gloaming to gloaming", and that suggests that one way to really take the war to them would be to provide night vision goggles/scopes to select Ukrainian units....perhaps along with some true sniper rifles chambered, say, in 6.5mm Creedmoor to "share the love" at over twice the effective range of a Kalishnikov.
Or perhaps if we could get someone into Moscow with that outfit.....Putin delenda est.
Not only are his mistress and (?) children in Switzerland (my guess; hiding from him), but he's had his green energy spokesman quit and flee the country, and his minister of defense, among others, appears to be missing. In related news, apparently the reason five Russian generals have been killed is because for whatever reason, communication with front line troops is tenuous, and hence the generals need to make an appearance. In a nutshell, Russian coordination and are on a par where Alexander Samsonov and Paul von Rennenkampf could say "Da, I've been there."
(these Russian generals were victimized by a lack of couriers and codes and suffered horrific defeats because battle plans were broadcast in straight AM, and Paul von Hindenburg just happened to have a few officers on staff who knew Russian)
Pray for Russia, because indications are that the wheels are coming off leadership, and this could lead to horrific results for Russia and the world. Again, pray that God would take out Putin and his inner circle soon.
Putin delenda est.
It appears that the logistics for the invasion of Ukraine were so well done, Russian soldiers are increasingly suffering from....frostbite. One would have thought that after WWII, they'd have learned how to cope with "Comrade Winter", but apparently they've done Schicklgruber one better by sending troops into battle wearing summer gear....in February.
This may help my prayers come true. Putin delenda est!
Fox is reporting that Russia is sending military academy cadets to fight in Ukraine. OK, probably makes good press in Moscow, but it's worth noting that this is what Germany did in WWI when the Schlieffen Plan (their offensive plan in 1914) ran into the Black Watch Infantry, the famous "Ladies from Hell" (named so by the Germans because of their kilts).
End result was not good for the German corps of cadets, and was even worse for Germany and for the world as a whole. You see, as the corps of cadets was virtually annihilated, so were the future intellectuals of Germany--the ones that would have, had some of them lived, been able to speak forcibly against a certain corporal who'd grown up in Austria.
Long and short of it is that Putin is not in a position of strength, because men in a position of strength do not eat their seed corn for the future. For the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and the world, pray that Ukraine manages to put Putin in the same position as General Samsonov in the battle of Tannenberg, and of course, as usual,
Putin delenda est!
First, it appears that Putin's mistress and children have escaped to Switzerland. I've even seen hints that some in Switzerland are campaigning to have them expelled, but reality is that that might be a mistake; she and her children are likely there on asylum, and this is the closest thing to a public breakup that she can manage. After all, people who embarrass Mr. Putin have a disturbing habit of ending up dead.
Put differently, I don't think that the Swiss government issued their passports at Vlad's request. There is something else going on here.
Also of interest is this picture of the results of Russian shelling (courtesy National Review) near Kharkiv. Hopefully it doesn't disappear soon, but what it shows is primarily shell craters in a field and forest near a residential area.
In other words, some Russian artillerymen aren't even aiming for targets. What remains to be answered is whether they're firing indiscriminately, or whether they're deliberately aiming away from the targets they've been told to hit. Since the Ukrainian army seems to be hitting their targets pretty well with about the same equipment (just 30 years older), it's almost certain that the Russians could be more accurate if they wanted to.
It's giving me some hope that Ukraine is going to pull this one out. Keep praying that this one doesn't go nuclear, and that somebody with a conscience gets to Putin and takes him out. And as always,
Putin delenda est.
...but the proper response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine comes from Cato. Putin delenda est. Not terribly worried about whether the man gets a massive dose of polonium, dies of a hangnail infection, or gets jailed for unpaid parking tickets, but I'm praying that he (and his minions) are removed from power as soon as possible.
And here's an opportunity for sticking it to Putin; Russia apparently wants to hire mercenaries from Syria to attack Ukraine now. There are a bunch of things we can say about this, starting with "huh, close to a million Russian soldiers, and they've got to hire Syrians?", then "OK, so Syrians would be willing to fight for Russia after Russia basically leveled Aleppo?", but the thing that comes to mind for me as this is considered is "huh, to get to Russia, those planes need to fly over Turkey or Iraq, and I seem to remember we've got a little bit of "pull" with both countries."
We may not feel safe flying F-16s over Ukraine itself to stop the bear, but I think we are well within our rights and good sense to say a firm Nyet to Russia provisioning themselves this way. A glimmer of hope here as well is that sources are indicating that Russian logistics are about ten days away from collapse.
And this is a glimmer of hope for Putin's removal, since this error is more or less the same error that a previous Russian ruler, Nicholas II, made at the outset of World War One. We know how it turned out when he had one rifle for every three soldiers facing Paul von Hindenburg, and may Putin's end be no less emphatic.
