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What does Russia have to show for 6 months of an illegal war in sovereign, democratic, free Ukraine? Just a list of strategic failures. A review/🧵
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Strategic Failure 1 - Russia invaded Ukraine to remove the Ukrainian democratically elected government, install a Russian proxy, and erase Ukraine as a nation, its people & borders, culturally, from memory and turn it into the "Russian federation." They failed at this goal.
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Strategic Failure 3 - Of Putin's many goals, to include erasing Ukraine, is the revival of Soviet glory, Russian strength, and weakening of European powers. Now, NATO will add roughly 800 miles of borders to Russia and has a renewed purpose, cohesion, clarity.
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Strategic Failure 2 - By not being able to militarily accomplish their goal in Ukraine with the second "most powerful" military in the world, Russia has shown the rest of the world that their military is not as powerful, proficient, capable, ready as many believed.
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Strategic Failure 4 - Russian global influence/power. By doubling down in Ukraine, Russia has become weaker in every form of national power (Diplomatic, Information, Economic, and Military). 50 nations have rallied against them in support of Ukraine. Sanctions are crippling them.
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Strategic Failure 5 - Militarily, Russia will require decades to recover from loses just up to today. 80,000 Russians have been killed, wounded, captured, gone missing or have deserted in Ukraine. Billions worth of military equip, sophisticated technology, missiles, gone.
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Strategic Failure 6 - A complete disregard of any Laws of Wars/Geneva Convention and the ordering, condoning, allowing of mass military unit level execution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide will be tried/prosecuted in international forums for years.
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The more the free world supports Ukraine with the weapons and aid they need to continue to defeat Russians in Ukraine, the faster the war will end the only way it can, with Ukrainian Victory. #ArmUkraineNow
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Russia will fail in Ukraine in months, not years. Russia will be weaker as a nation for a very long time and Putin has already taken/will take his place as the greatest strategic failing head of state in modern times.
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The liberation/counteroffensive of Kherson has begun. Godspeed to the Ukrainian military and resistance forces. #SlavaUkraini twitter.com/KyivPost/statu…
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Russian losing more and more possibilities to reinforce, resupply, or options of retreat in the Kherson area. When soldiers lose hope, their will to fight is tested. Kherson will be liberated soon. twitter.com/KyivPost/statu…
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While it is clear a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson is happening, recent reports say Putin has fired 6 more top generals, sidelined his Defense Minister, and is directly commanding the Ukraine war. That is a great recipe for failure. #SlavaUkraini dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…
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My child's school was on lock down yesterday (he is 11) after a kid at his school posted on social media dressed in camouflage and carrying long guns “Shoot up school?" Where did that child learn, get the idea, get the unmonitored freedom to do that? This is insane! @AnaCabrera
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“The nation today needs men who think in terms of service to their country and not in terms of their country's debt to them." — General Omar Bradley
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As a soldier who has frozen my butt off many a night, cold weather gear can have a huge impact. @Teoyaomiquu is a friend of mine. Support the effort if you can. twitter.com/Teoyaomiquu/st…
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Why. Why did Russia invade Ukraine? Why do they make so many decision that do not make sense in their war on/in Ukraine? I am a student of war and warfare but frequently go back to basics to understand much of it. War does have an enduring nature that does not change. 🧵
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I try not be understanding, but I really do NOT understand anyone, especially an elected representative, veteran, news source saying - "Ukraine is not our fight. Not our war. We should not be spending U.S. money to support Ukraine to fight Russia. We have our own problems."🧵
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In Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine it has not followed any laws of war/IHL. Russia’s uniformed military has murdered thousands of civilians -bombing theaters full of civilians, mass executions, to literally raping babies to death. Post-WWII “Never Again” has to be enforced.
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By illegally invading a democratic country in Ukraine, Russia has shown that they will not respect any idea of any nation’s sovereignty. It will use its military to invade, subjugate, kill, torture, mass murder, genocidal practices to eradicate an entire pop. of 40 million.
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Russia is a threat to the rules based global international order that our (U.S.) way of life thrives in, especially the globally connected economic system.
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Russia regularly threatens the world with its nuclear weapons further showing they will use violence and threats of violence to do whatever harm it wants in the world. Putin is a terrorist with a nuclear weapon.
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The entire Ukrainian population – men, women, and children – have shown the world they are willing to fight to be free people, to have a democracy, for freedom. If you knew nothing about Ukraine before February 2022, you now know they stood up to a bully and fought. All of them.
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Much of Ukraine’s modern history to achieve freedom, to choose their form of government, way of life, civilian freedom fighters resembles the United States struggle to break from Britain at the start of our Independence. We relied on external support to achieve our freedom.
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Ukraine's fight is for all free people of the world. It is our fight and we must continue to support them to defend themselves. Russia must be weakened as a military so that it cannot acted this way ever again.
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The price to support Ukraine with weapons & aid now is a fraction of the price the U.S. & the rest of the free world would have to pay if Russia was to succeed in Putin's strategy of invading sovereign neighbors, growing in strength to do more. Putin would not stop at Ukraine.
Chair of Urban Warfare Studies | Madison Policy Forum | Author of Connected Soldiers / Understanding Urban Warfare