US: Russians attempting to surround Kyiv

[Tomconroy]

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[uponit7771]

1. K&R, but the Russian columns have been "stuck" for days in that route without the ability ...

... to go off road because of rain makes the non streets too muddy.

UKR needs TB2 drones to shoot at the columns ... they just need a couple of APV and Tanks taken out to stop those columns from moving

[lagomorph777]

3. Can we help supply them with drones/ammo/fuel to support that?

Do we have good enough relations with Turkey to make that possible?

[lagomorph777]

2. A concentration of forces like that would be a good target for cruise missiles from nowhere.

Just an observation for no particular reason.

[crickets]

18. It would be nice if those jets from EU arrived soon. nt

[lagomorph777]

19. It sure would!

[Tommy Carcetti]

4. Sirens going off in Kyiv now. nt

[Irish_Dem]

5. Encirclement is usually a very effective battle strategy.

[mitch96]

9. The only problem I can see is the effect of Ukrainian Drones..

The russians have to sit for a siege. Stationary targets are perfect for a drone attack. I'm no military expert and just thinking out loud...YMMV
m

[Irish_Dem]

10. Russians could shoot down the drones if they have control of the area?

Especially if they have control of the air space.

Also Russian artillery could target the drones?
Or perhaps Russian snipers?

I am not familiar enough with drone technology to talk about the best defense against them.

But usually there is a way to protect ground troops in the field.

[Happy Hoosier]

11. A competent military? Yes. Them?

Small drones are hard to spot and counter without some rather sophisticated air defenses. And they can be operated from hard to find and highly mobile operating bases. IF the west has the determination to keep them supplied, it can be a tough road to hoe.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Can the drones be shot down by Russian snipers?

Thank you for the information. I mostly study WWII battle tactics and drones were not yet invented.

Do you have any idea why Putin and the Russian military have done a complete fubar of the invasion?

Given the sheer numbers of the Russian military against Ukraine this should have been much easier for them?

I do not understand what happened.

[Happy Hoosier]

14. That's a very tough shot.

The drones can often strike from several kilometers away. A sniper shot is very unlikely. Drones are vulnerable to MANPADS, SAMs, and to a lesser extent machine guns. But they very often go unnoticed. At several kilometers away, they are very hard to see visually and not all that loud. But we would need to make sure they remain supplied. They will be lost to enemy action and accidents. But one of the points of using them is that they are way more expendable than manned aircraft. AS this drags on, the Ukrainians need to be focused on the most effective asymmetrical strategies.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Thank you for this information.

Very interesting. Yes then drones are very important to the Ukraines.

Yes we must get as many drones as possible to the Ukraine as well as other weapons and supplies.

Yes the Ukraines are going to have to fight the Russians with guerrilla tactics. They have the home territory advantage and are fighting for the lives of their loved ones.

I hope Zelensky and his generals are getting some advice and intel from our generals.

[Happy Hoosier]

16. I almost hate to suggest this, but....

Drones supplied by the U.S. and operated by volunteer crews could operate very effectively from western Ukraine.

I mean, I fucking hate that it has come to this. Such a waste of life and money.

[Irish_Dem]

17. They could even operate from Poland?

Yes mercenary or volunteer crews need to join the fight.

Before the US joined WWII, Americans joined the RAF to fight for the Brits. And US flyers formed the Flying Tigers to fight the Japanese in China.

I sure as hell do not hate to suggest this. It is high time Americans got involved in the fight for democracy. We have let the Russian mob and Putin buy off half the US government. China and Russia were greatly emboldened and felt invincible. If the US refused to fight back, how could small countries like Ukraine even try?

It was always going to come to this. China and Russia have damaged democracies across the world and intend to become the sole global superpowers. Proving autocratic forms of government are vastly superior to democracy. The plan was for Putin to take the Ukraine, and China would take Taiwan.

Their plan is hitting some roadblocks. They must be stunned.

[lagomorph777]

20. For sure.

We typically launch them from fairly nearby, but operate them from very far away.

[EX500rider]

21. "Given the sheer numbers of the Russian military against Ukraine this should have been much easier"

Actually no, the Russians did not use anywhere near enough troops, they must have thought the Ukrainian military would fold, the standard military rule of thumb is you need 3 to 1 in numbers on the attack against dug in defenders who are determined to fight, they needed 600,000+ troops to invade and that number goes up as the Ukrainian reserves come on line.

[Irish_Dem]

22. So Putin did not send in enough air power or ground troops?

Where was his military intelligence agents who must have known about Ukraine resistance? If not, Russian intel is lousy at gathering useful information?

[EX500rider]

26. Somebody dropped the ball...or ignored advice

Air superiority was step one, still not achieved, plus 3x's the troops were needed.

[Irish_Dem]

27. Right, if they had first used air power they could have damaged

military targets, civilian leaders, supplies and communication before the ground troops stepped foot into Ukraine.

They should have sent in special ops to get Zelensky, other civilian leaders and military generals.

Then sent in enough ground troops to get control of the major airports so Russian supplies and well trained operatives to run the country could be brought in.

I don't get it at all.

Yes somebody screwed up big time. Either the intel was bad or somebody ignored the intel.

[wnylib]

23. We might get to see that if the trucker convoys

block off the Beltway as they are planning to do.

[Irish_Dem]

24. I hope Putin's US puppets get encircled for sure.

[kysrsoze]

8. Seems to me the Russian forces are surrounded by the rest of Ukraine and easy targets from rear/abov

e

[Irish_Dem]

13. The encirclement is encircled?

Not strategically a good situation for the Russians then.

[DFW]

25. NATO needs to get thousands of antitank weapons and surface-to-air missiles to the Ukrainians

Like yesterday. They know how to use them, they just don't have enough of them.