Part of it was the Ukrainians have been more concerned with defending/taking back their own territory, then they were probably also denied the option to attack inside of Russia itself by their allies supplying them arms. So Russia has probably been getting complacent thinking that the fighting would only ever be contained within Ukraine itself and wasn’t fortifying their border as much as they should’ve. Something changed and the gloves are off now, but it’s likely due to Ukraine being given permission to attack within Russia itself.
Apparrently the kursk region has been heavily fortified since the very beginning of the war. So either are not as effective in building defense, or they sent all the defending troopa to be massacred where ukraine was attacking before (russian controlled territories)
That was over two years ago. Surely even a mediocre tactician would anticipate something like this happening eventually.
My guess is that Russia simply does not have the means to effectively defend all of its border anymore, and they've been praying that the Ukraine's western benefactors will keep them "on the leash" for as long as possible.
The original plan was for the Ukraine to surrender in two weeks. It has now been how long?
I think the push back from NATO and fear of escalation stopped Ukraine from during it earlier. Putin was threatening the use of nukes since he hasn't done it yet; he looks like he is full of shit.
im betting tons of troops are volunteering to go to kursk. oh no. I got captured. im going to be seperated from my beloved mother russia. oh no. so sad.
Russia’s traditional war fighting MO has been “keep dying and surrendering in huge numbers until something major happens”.
Crimean War, Russo Japanese War, WW1, Polish-Soviet war, Winter War, WW2, Afghanistan, Chechnya 1.
If not for Lend/Lease giving Russia food, oil, guns, vehicles, bullets, boots and clothing, they would have been rolled back to middle Siberia. For all their hypermacho chest thumping, they’re shit at war.
If you call them prisoners of war, and accept them as such this might be a breach of the Geneva convention if they are identifiable.
Then again it might not be regular Ukrainian army taking these pictures, but that opened up a whole new set of questions and possible breaches.
I wholeheartedly support Ukraina in their fight against Russia, but still thing that Ukraina should adhere to the Geneva convention.
The "no parading prisoners" clause doesn't really apply to these situations. Or, well, at least it's debatable.
The provision was added to disallow what had been common in WWI and WWII, and that is parading prisoners through streets while crowds cheered on. Photography existed back then and the convention very much does not say "you can't have pictures in newspapers". Should there be some privacy considerations? I'd say yes, but we also shouldn't overdo it. After all filming soldiers while they're fighting is legal, why would everything suddenly change completely once they're captured?