"But from the top came the order not to panic and that those above know better," Andrey Gurulyov, a retired major general, said.
  • A Russian lawmaker said Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region didn’t come as a complete surprise.
  • Andrey Gurulyov said the military was warned about the attack a month ago.
  • “But from the top came the order not to panic and that those above know better,” he said.
    • @SkyezOpenEnglish
      33•27 days ago

      Nah this is probably the kremlin’s preferred line. Admitting they have no idea what the fuck is going on looks way worse.

  • @OlhonestjimEnglish
    40•27 days ago

    Best part about this is that for Russia to become competent requires a total 180 of their culture. They need to encourage freedom of thought, questioning authority, and the courage and capability to react independently. Until they become better people, their military and industry will always suck.

    • pancakesEnglish
      12•27 days ago

      The other issue is that a lot of these “better people” left the country ages ago

    • Angry_Autist (he/him)English
      8•27 days ago

      Yeah none of that will ever happen under pooty poot or his lackeys, and I don’t see the people rising up anytime soon.

      • @The_vEnglish
        4•27 days ago

        Well they rise up until they mysteriously fall out of a window.

        • Angry_Autist (he/him)English
          3•27 days ago

          As terrible as it is, I’m at least glad Russia has given us so many reasons to use the word ‘defenestration’.

  • @werefreeatlastEnglish
    10•27 days ago

    So anyway, putin, Ukraine will be in Moscow demolishing the Kremlin next month.

    …one month later… Ukrainian forces have just destroyed the Kremlin, but don’t worry, they knew for a month!

  • @[email protected]English
    10•27 days ago

    I hope it works out well for Ukraine, but I think we won’t be able to accurately gauge the impact this offensive has for weeks to months even. While Ukraine is pushing into Russia, russian troops are pushing in Donbas.

    • @[email protected]English
      25•27 days ago

      This isn’t an operation for land gains, it’s political.

      It’s a huge embarrassment for Putin and might lead him to overreact and pull way more troops into Kursk than needed, thus freeing up capacity elsewhere.

      Also, the myth of the mighty mighty Russian army gets kind of damaged, if basically a second Wagner convoy can just take large chunks of borderlands.

      Putin wants to be seen as strong. And this shows how weak he actually is.

    • WeirdmusicEnglish
      22•27 days ago

      Yeah but for how long? The troops the Ruzzians are flooding into Kursk right now simply aren’t up to the job. They “may” be able to stop the Ukrainians at their newly prepared defences but that’s not a given. Putler can not allow the Ukrainians to stay in Kursk and, realistically, the only way he had of forcibly dislodging them will be to redeploy troops from the Donbas.

      • @[email protected]English
        10•27 days ago

        That is the question I want the asnwer to the most. Will Russia get away with containing the Ukrainian advance with only the troops they have on hand or do they need fo pull troops from the Donbas.

        • @[email protected]English
          7•27 days ago

          Personally, I think the gambit is to pull troops from Donbas and then trounce the convoys en route, while they’re on the road. Ukraine has those new F16’s, and I think forcing Russia to move in ways they haven’t planned for or along routes that aren’t heavily covered with air defenses is the goal.

          But I mean - I’m an armchair commentator. I have no expertise, just random facts I want to fit together a certain way because it would be satisfying. I hope this strategy is successful to Ukraine in whatever metric they’re hoping for success.