Republican ex US Military Randy Mott
on Russia's 2 armies ....
One Russian army has lost nearly 350,000 personnel and 6,000 tanks ……. the other looks quite good on parade ….
from Randy Mott
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Randy is a Republican activist, lawyer, environmental businessman, former US infantry officer. American in Poland and Orlando
There are two Russian armies fighting in their invasion of Ukraine. There is the "second army" of the world with massive numbers of tanks and artillery pieces and soldiers that march with precision on Red Square and look like recruiting posters. This army is supported by a massive industrial base making "near peer" equipment at elevated rates.
Then there is another Russian army invading Ukraine. This one has lost 90% of its professional soldiers ("lifers" in US jargon). It is now filled with soldiers with 30 days or less training. Its officer corps depleted to a fraction of the pre-war level. Never well-trained in maneuver war or combined arms, this army uses clumsy tactics with little or no situational awareness. Vehicle drivers run over their own troops or into their own minefields. This army's generals order small unit attacks over and over again on the same avenues of approach that were dominated by the enemy the day before.
This second Russian army has blown through a massive amount of its first-line equipment. Older T62s from decades ago are seen in its formations and lost columns, because the first line T80/T72 modern versions are becoming scarce. This army's air defesne has proven far less capable than its published specifications and has been picked apart by drones and anti-radiation missiles. Self-propelled artillery seen in vast numbers on paper before the invasion are now replaced with ancient D30 towed guns, vulnerable to counter-battery fire and drones.
The second army is the real one. The first army is the myth that Putin may still nourish, but - more importantly- the delusion that drives Western media to claim the war is a "stalemate" or that Russia can fight a long-war as it grows "stronger" deploying non-existent modern equipment and trained troops.
The first army only appears in Red Square films. The second one shows up in daily clips from the battlefield. These clips seldom reported or published in Western popular media. The same media - ignorant of the battlefield reality- dutifully reports the lines on the map and concludes there is a stalemate. It feeds a narrative that more "resistance is futile" (Russians are the Borg). The scenario for the first army described is that Russia will never give up its occupied territories without a fight to the bitter end.
The second army has lost effective control of Sevastopol and is losing its land bridge to Crimea due to long-range artillery fire and partisan warfare. In this real world scenario, Russia has lost much of its basic war objectives and is relying entirely on a political effort to break Western will to supply Ukraine. The Russian losses, verified by third-parties, in the real world are staggering and accelerating. These have consumed the best Russian equipment and their best troops. The comments below have links to multiple sources and information describing this "second Russian army" - the real one. It is clear that Russia's only hope is to break Western will, which cannot be allowed to happen. Ukraine does not need a piece of paper that crates "peace" (they already got one of those in Budapest). Ukraine just needs ammo, as President Zelensky famously said. #RussiaLosingBadly #UkraineMustWin