Maybe offtopic, maybe not. I noticed mention of Lumumba street, name dear to me, because student dorms in Łódź are placed along Lumumba street as well. Name is so attached to them, that whole students' housing area in Łódź is informally named Lumumbowo. Seems like post-soviet nations have dear attachment to this Congolese comrade.
This reminded me famous WW2/Stalingrad German joke:
“In August our battalion attacked the house from the west, making it into the foyer. In September, following a concentrated artillery barrage, we made it into the parlor. During October there was heavy fighting for the kitchen, but in November Russian tanks counterattacked through the bedroom. During December we withdrew into the hallway, and by January we were surrounded in the coat closet.”
Let's wish orcs the same level of success as their German predecessors.
btw: Lumumba streets were everywhere around soviet block, there was one in a small town where I was born
"Russian propagandists keep repeating that the “meat grinders” hit Ukraine more than Russia. How is that even possible?"
My understanding is that might make sense in relative numbers, not absolute casualties. Russians lose more people than Ukrainians, but they might have more backups. This is the typical russian approach for centuries and hopefully it will fail this time.
1) I must admit that some mistakes are educational. A year or so ago I read an article that Russia would not attack Ukraine because it had prepared for a two-week war, which is a ridiculously short time to defeat a large country. Well... as far as I'm concerned the mistake was of the Russian command, not the journalist.
2) I can see that Putin's main objectives are already out of reach, but the question of relative losses concerns me. Russia is using up cannon fodder in the belief that even three times the losses on its side are not a problem, but bleeding the Ukrainians is. The 2022 ratio was supposed to be in Ukraine's favour, but it's something that's hard to sustain.
For those who support Ukraine in this war (I do, though perhaps with more "ifs" and "buts" than most people here), isn't it a bit unhealthy to focus on Russian mistakes and failed predictions, rather than learning from the failed predictions made by the Ukrainian/Western side? And they were not few. I remember that a year ago many people were convinced that the sanctions would destroy Russia, that Putin would soon be replaced in a coup, and that the introduction of mobilization would lead to a revolution.
Maybe offtopic, maybe not. I noticed mention of Lumumba street, name dear to me, because student dorms in Łódź are placed along Lumumba street as well. Name is so attached to them, that whole students' housing area in Łódź is informally named Lumumbowo. Seems like post-soviet nations have dear attachment to this Congolese comrade.
I'm also (cautiously) optimistic, but it's worth noting that Ukraine was really lucky a year ago, as the RUSI report published late last year says: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022
If Russia is allowed to try invading again in the future, they'll probably avoid repeating exactly the same mistakes.
This reminded me famous WW2/Stalingrad German joke:
“In August our battalion attacked the house from the west, making it into the foyer. In September, following a concentrated artillery barrage, we made it into the parlor. During October there was heavy fighting for the kitchen, but in November Russian tanks counterattacked through the bedroom. During December we withdrew into the hallway, and by January we were surrounded in the coat closet.”
Let's wish orcs the same level of success as their German predecessors.
btw: Lumumba streets were everywhere around soviet block, there was one in a small town where I was born
"Russian propagandists keep repeating that the “meat grinders” hit Ukraine more than Russia. How is that even possible?"
My understanding is that might make sense in relative numbers, not absolute casualties. Russians lose more people than Ukrainians, but they might have more backups. This is the typical russian approach for centuries and hopefully it will fail this time.
1) I must admit that some mistakes are educational. A year or so ago I read an article that Russia would not attack Ukraine because it had prepared for a two-week war, which is a ridiculously short time to defeat a large country. Well... as far as I'm concerned the mistake was of the Russian command, not the journalist.
2) I can see that Putin's main objectives are already out of reach, but the question of relative losses concerns me. Russia is using up cannon fodder in the belief that even three times the losses on its side are not a problem, but bleeding the Ukrainians is. The 2022 ratio was supposed to be in Ukraine's favour, but it's something that's hard to sustain.
I also recommend a great summary and checking the predictions by one military theorist - https://acoup.blog/2023/02/24/collections-one-year-into-the-war-in-ukraine/
For those who support Ukraine in this war (I do, though perhaps with more "ifs" and "buts" than most people here), isn't it a bit unhealthy to focus on Russian mistakes and failed predictions, rather than learning from the failed predictions made by the Ukrainian/Western side? And they were not few. I remember that a year ago many people were convinced that the sanctions would destroy Russia, that Putin would soon be replaced in a coup, and that the introduction of mobilization would lead to a revolution.