Russia begins moving troops into eastern Ukraine

[Bengalzona]

(02-24-2022, 03:28 PM)Dill Wrote: Well said, though I question two points.   I don't think the missle strikes were "wayward." First of all there were multiple hits on Kyiv. Likely they are, as you say, taking out com/control centers. 

I'm not sure most Ukrainians think Putin wouldn't invade. I think their president was minimizing the possibility. But they have already lost over 10,000 killed on both sides since 2014. That's almost double US losses in ME wars, and their pop is only 40 million.

This will be an interesting conflict for arms dealers, a contrast to the kind of insurgencies we have seen in the ME where one side is vastly underarmed with no chance to taking down jets. 

In this regard, I am most curious about the kinds of causalities the Ukrainians inflict without our AA and AT missiles.

Could be about the Kiev missiles.

I'm judging the comment on not expecting it by the mass and sudden exodus of civilians from Kiev. The highways are clogged. The average Joe (or "Ivan", if you will) might have anticipated more fighting in the East. Not the crossings from Belarus in the north. Nor the size and scope. After all, Putin claimed they did not intend to occupy the whole country. I'm not sure of the status of the Ukrainian military and their deployments, but I expect they are not in the best positions to block the pincer moves from the north and (apparently) the south.

We were supposedly sending them AA and AT missiles. I wonder what that status is. They are absolutely critical against the Russian army. The Ukrainian Air Force is small, as is their AA force. They have several thousand tanks, but mostly old Soviet models that won't stand up well against newer models.

The Ukrainians have a standing army of about 250,000 with about an equal amount of reservists. Their training, equipment and organization are mainly based upon the old soviet models, but they have been making efforts to Westernize. I wish them well.