Old you was much smarter. What being a conscript in Russian Army has got to do with military training preparing for war? Only contract soldiers are trained more or less properly in Russia and we all know that.
The War in the Ukraine
- Thread starter SampanViking
- Start date
Russia has had the opposite problem of not enough material and industry. They have enough armored vehicles for every soldier to ride one but barely enough infantry or maintenance crew. They have thousands of artillery pieces and not enough people to man them.
Ukraine has the problem of not enough material and industry, but too many people such that they only get handed 10 bullets, still have Mosin Nagants and have to use civilian trucks.
It would still take time to put them through refresher training before they are ready. Probably need a month?
These will be more than made up for by the mobilisation. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are turning into veterans and war heroes. If they can force Ukraine into defeat in 2023, they'll be a formidable army afterwards.
It's clear now that Xi's questions and concerns about the Ukraine situation were "why is Russia holding back and not fighting with all its strength?"
Why not attack Lviv and western Ukraine? Even if it can't be taken easily, fighting in the area will make it much harder for supplies to be sent from Poland to the Donbas frontlines. Poland will also be less able to help. With Russia mobilising, Poland and the Baltic states will have to do a partial mobilisation as well. That means they'll need all their equipment for themselves.
It's not too difficult to teach a man to hold a rifle or clear a building if he has already gone through conscription, but how about how to repair a tank or a helicopter? I think the logistic support troops that will be the bottleneck for Russia here.
I don't think at this stage we have any good evidence as to just how much operable and effective materiel and vehicles and fighting equipment Russia has. Pulling out T-62s, while it is technically an armoured vehicle, is not exactly inspiring or reflective of warehouses stocked with modern equipment, even if it is for reserve and rear echelon forces.
Depending on how the next few months of combat and western supply of equipment goes, it may very well be that the mobile and combat effective Ukraine units conducting major attacks are better equipped than most Russian equivalents, even if the average Ukrainian unit is less well equipped.
Overall, my point is that with the addition of 300,000 troops, it's still up to us to see how well Russia can use them or equip them.
Given how Russia has prosecuted this war so far and how half assed they conducted the initial invasion and have been making it up on the fly since then, we should see if they have half assed this call up of 300,000 reservists as well. Personally I don't think they did, I assume they've done the proper planning and laid the foundations to get them into a pipeline for using them to their most effective potential... but their conduct of the war so far has not inspired confidence.
Funny how that doesnt seem to apply to Ukrainians. Guess they are ubermensch and three weeks is enough
Ukrainians also don't have to worry about vehicle maintenance, supply lines, or the logistics of supporting tens-of-thousands of troops in the field. That's a problem for Russians only, we're told.
Well the Ukraine is now on what? its forth or fifth mobilisation now?
They have an army of about 600 000 - 700 000 under arms which a good proportion in the field
The Ukrainian state is receiving billions of dollars in financial assistance to keep the state afloat
The Ukrainian state is receiving billions of dollars worth of military hardware to equip its troops
It has NATO officers leading planning and logistic for Ukraine both in Ukraine and outside of its borders
NATO armies are training 10.000 of Ukrainian troops in NATO countries
NATO Recon and Intelligence are providing detailed, live intelligence to the Ukraine
Considerable numbers of NATO military personnel are fighting as "Volunteers" with the Ukrainian army
This combined NATO Ukrainian force has barely been sufficient to restrict and contain a Russian and allied force of about 250,000
I think even the further addition of another 100,000 Russian reservists will tip the balance back.
I suspect Kharkov will be the first target in this to string the Ukrainians out and because the Russians will want those supply roads re-opened again.
Maybe other groups will also move to the northern end of the Russo-Ukrainian border to further stretch Kiev's forces.
They have an army of about 600 000 - 700 000 under arms which a good proportion in the field
The Ukrainian state is receiving billions of dollars in financial assistance to keep the state afloat
The Ukrainian state is receiving billions of dollars worth of military hardware to equip its troops
It has NATO officers leading planning and logistic for Ukraine both in Ukraine and outside of its borders
NATO armies are training 10.000 of Ukrainian troops in NATO countries
NATO Recon and Intelligence are providing detailed, live intelligence to the Ukraine
Considerable numbers of NATO military personnel are fighting as "Volunteers" with the Ukrainian army
This combined NATO Ukrainian force has barely been sufficient to restrict and contain a Russian and allied force of about 250,000
I think even the further addition of another 100,000 Russian reservists will tip the balance back.
I suspect Kharkov will be the first target in this to string the Ukrainians out and because the Russians will want those supply roads re-opened again.
Maybe other groups will also move to the northern end of the Russo-Ukrainian border to further stretch Kiev's forces.