[supafamous]

Originally Posted by mikemhg

From what I've been reading it sounds like logistics have been Russia's biggest problem thus far. Hence their tanks being left behind with no fuel, etc.

The intel that Ukraine is getting from NATO has also been a massive factor, they're essentially being fed information in terms of where Russia is moving at any point. It really sounds as though they're taking Russia to task here.

Perhaps we've all been fooled in terms of Russia's actual military strength, from what it looks like, their army is antiquated and underfunded/equipped.

This whole war could end up being one big embarrassment for Russia, showing the world their true weaknesses (outside of nukes of course).

It seems that Putin (and his yes men) assumed that they'd be welcomed with open arms so that all they had to do was roll in and depose Zelensky and team. Instead the Ukrainians have been way more courageous than I think anyone expected. They're still outgunned and outmanned but not so much that the Russians will just cruise in - rule of thumb I've read is that you need a 3 to 1 advantage when you're invading to win quickly and right now it's not too far from 1 to 1.

It also seems like the Ukrainian's courage (particularly Zelensky) has caused the Europeans and Americans to be willing to get involved - the EU/US probably assumed that the Ukrainians would get crushed in a few days so they didn't want to throw in with them but now with the line holding the betting changes and next thing you know the sanctions are legit and weapons are headed to Ukraine. NATO may not put troops there but weapons (and supplies) will make a huge difference. NATO probably figures that if this drags out that it's crippling to Putin and they have all the leverage over Putin (whereas they were probably afraid of Putin cutting them off from all the oil and gas).