08-11-2024, 12:41 PM
It does seem that with the light of day a lot of the panicked Russian social media chatter was mostly just that.
I think one big difference now with this assault is the involvement of Russian conscript soldiers, who are currently not legally able to be used away from Russian soil. It seems a lot of them seemingly melted on initial contact, which facilitated part of the rapid Ukrainian advance. But this also makes them far more valuable POWs and as a source of internal conflict in Russia; it's one thing for people who signed up for big paychecks to be coming home in boxes or imprisoned. Quite another when they're teenagers who were just doing their national service.
I think one big difference now with this assault is the involvement of Russian conscript soldiers, who are currently not legally able to be used away from Russian soil. It seems a lot of them seemingly melted on initial contact, which facilitated part of the rapid Ukrainian advance. But this also makes them far more valuable POWs and as a source of internal conflict in Russia; it's one thing for people who signed up for big paychecks to be coming home in boxes or imprisoned. Quite another when they're teenagers who were just doing their national service.