What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war? For me it’s>trench warfare makes a return>armor barely being used>artillery is more at risk than ever before
>>65482207>What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war?The fact they managed to somehow deplete 95% of their fucking armored stockpile
>>65482207Trench warfare has been a thing since when? The Crimean War? The Iran-Iraq War?
>>65482207having an entire body dedicated to keeping assault troops from running away from the frontline
>>65482207>>trench warfare makes a returnI predicted this>armor barely being usedNot actually true, especially not in the early stages of the war>artillery is more at risk than ever beforeI predicted thisThe single most surprising thing to me in this war is that helicopters did anything at all and didn't just get shit on whenever they poked their head out of the airfield. I expected MANPADS to blow them out of the air immediately and forever, but that only happened to a limited extent because of all the newfangled countermeasures and they instead stay away because drones are straight up better at their job and revving up an attack helicopter is pointless.But for about 2 years you had vids of helis blowing shit up with guided missiles constantly.
>>65482233Since motherfucking Cesar and the romans nigga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alesia. Since the 100 years war(this is how the brits bodied the heavy french cav not muh longbows), since the whole early modern period like read a book nigga if you think trenches started in ww1 i have got news for you.
>>65482207Russian families getting compensated with Cheetos for their sons/husbands/fathers/etc dying.
>>65482207Donkeys
>>65482233>>65482350Anons, reading comprehension, please.>>65482207>How many in the top military leadership of both countries are still stuck with Soviet thinking in 2026.>How paper thin Russia's air force was.>How little resistance Prigho actually faced.What did not surprise me.>Drones>Slavs being Slavs
>>65482207For me it was just how completely unprepared and unprofessional the russians were going into the beginning of the invasion and well, the rest of the entire war. They really thought there wasn't going to be any meaningful resistance and when that backfired horrendously for them they didn't have any plan b to fall back on and just started doing this grinding attrition they've been doing ever since. I knew they weren't anywhere near as strong as they like to brag, but I didn't think they would fuck up something as easy as making sure you have enough fuel just to get your troops and armory past the border without running out and completely screwing your entire logistics right out of the gate. Or how virtually no troops even knew that there was an invasion about to happen, and when it was ordered they were just as confused and surprised as everyone else. It's really astonishing how inept they were thinking about it even now.
>>65482207Honestly all the way back at day 1 I expected Russia to steamroll, by the time we got the convoy to Kiev out of fuel I realized just how much corruption had destroyed the Russian military.
>>65482207>>65482385THE DONKEYS HAVE KIEV IN SIGHT......... "Sigh" Its over....
>>65482207I'm surprised about airpower, both in how little fixed wings are really doing and how much rotor wings are getting up to. I really expected all the helos to get frame one'd but they seem to be doing as much if not more than the jets
>>65482207drones evolving out to be so deadly. Pre war they had obvious advantages, like fire correction for indirect fire, but now you could have flying IEDs chase every single grunt out there is straight up nightmare fuel. These days infantry lives in underground dug outs, like moles, and when they see some lone vatnik wandering there, they don't event take him out themselves. They call in drones to not reveal their position and get droned themselves Infantry on the contact line is effectively forward observers in a no mans land. Anybody inexperienced with drone war is going to be absolutely slaughtered first pass when coming in contact with one that does. That is pretty much everybody outside ukraine and pozzia
>>65482214This.>No armor, no movement or significant strategic gainsI've pretty much written off Russia as losing since 2024 when they started relying on Chinese Desert Cross assaults (even ran out of those lmao) instead of BTRs being used as ersatz BMPs. I also called the war as ending within a year at that point, because what the fuck is the point of continuing an invasion when you cannot even humor a "theoretical" breakthrough because all your shit has been either destroyed, ratfucked beyond salvage, or abandoned in some field because the tankers didn't get proper knowledge (or didn't give a fuck) about how to do maintenance or unbog their vehicles. I was wrong, of course, because I underestimated the retardation of the Russian death cult and fatalism, but at least there's always more footage of Russians dying daily, so there is a silver lining.>tfw grew up listening to retards talk about the bear and muh fulda gap, when this is the result
>>65482207the death of krinks. immortal naval marines unit while the vdv diedthe death of krinks4th guards tanks division being MIAeffectiveness of tows, british anti tank guns, 90s western missles and jetsthe dead remnants being run by a mafia state being absolutely retarded. im convinced a strong man turk or arab would run a war better due to their chain of command compared to this mafia tier org. sending your military trainers to die in a war is pretty slav tier. every insitutional knowledge lost. north koreans gaining more regimental knowledge and experience than modern day china lulz.seioursly though the death of krinks. the perfect behind the lines logistic personnel weapon gone.
>>65482207>armor barely being usedI don't see how you can make this claim when the reality is that the armor was entirely used up.
>>65482207https://youtu.be/NuTA5CqtRvo?si=qTFseGZ0I438r1z_
>>65482207Honestly was surprised by the range claims the Norks made for their weapons being correct, i had assumed they were inflated by 10-15%. Bulsae having twice the expected range was a big one. I also didn't expect the utter incompetency of Russia, i was raised to think the USSR was a real threat. I remember a couple of duck and cover drills, i even have a vague memory of that fucking turtle.
>>65482348>majority of retards in America actually voted for a Russian asset to stop arming Ukraine.>hat, and how the use of drones has absolutely killed the javelin
It’s how it keeps getting ritually posted here on the weapons board. Fuck you
>>65482487>Anybody inexperienced with drone war is going to be absolutely slaughtered first pass when coming in contact with one that does. That is pretty much everybody outside ukraine and pozziaNo.
>>65482207Spiderweb probably the most impressive operation of the war just on the basis of it being so destructive for so little money. I mean imagine something like that going off in the cold war era and you'd be like nah Tom Clancy was into the cocaine too much and he's just being very silly.I have also greatly enjoyed Russians exploding, using donkeys, warehouse fires and refineries going up in smoke along with some fantastic ammo depot cookoffs and the pool being closed due to Hivans got drone aids
>>65482626People talk about twink death but what are we doing to combat krink death?
>>65482626>4th guards tanks division being MIAIts not all MIA, a large amount of it was stolen by Ukraine and farmers with tractorsBecause we're on the extra-honking timeline where the 'Last Line' Russian unit specifically made and equipped to stop NATO tanks cruising into Moscow gets towed off by broadacre machinery
>>65482207North Korea surprise guest episode.absolutely cinema
>>65482454Same here. I also thought Russia's superior air power would eventually prove to be a decisive advantage.
>>65482207the inability of the Russian air force to dominate, especially before Patriots started arriving.
>>65482487Drones are sort of a compounded issue which was greatly enhanced by the multipliers of->Russia advances like old people fuck>Total surveillance environment>Vast open areasThey're practically perfect for this situation and in the saturation numbers makes any kind of above-ground activity somewhere near completely suicidal to just plain crazy. In something like a fast moving, long ranging advance and very high grade EW it could be greatly reduced in effectiveness. But soon as you slow down, get stuck somewhere is just another level of extreme pain to deal with on top of air strikes, missiles and artillery.
>>65482697IRL version of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHD_53UqBeA
>>65482223>Russia vs entirety of NATONot a single NATO boot has hit the ground. Z-tards love to cope thinking they're holding off the entire western world when we're just offloading leftover cold war shit from the back of a warehouse. If NATO was fighting you there would be a Burger King in the Kremlin by day 5.
>>65482207Air defense poetry
>>65482746I used to love watching all the cameos in old shows
>>65482207How few men are actually needed to fight nowadays. Out of Ukraine's 1 million or so soldiers, only about 200,000 are actually on the frontlines, fighting across a vast frontline that would've needed millions of men before, and casualties have been kept low enough they haven't even had to implement conscription yet. Meanwhile most civilians in Ukraine go about their lives like nothing's changed. Modern warfare, even in a war for your existence, is surprisingly chill.
>>65482523>>tfw grew up listening to retards talk about the bear and muh fulda gap, when this is the resultThe USSR of 1975 is completely different to the Russia of 2020, you may as well be comparing the British Empire with modern day UK
I just can't believe how cucked the EU citizenry is. Their politicians will plainly state how completely unprepared for war they are in existential terms, yet they treat it with all the seriousness of a rail corridor update or a resolution condemning Israel.I understood that the politicial class didn't believe war was might-actually-happen-to-me real. But it's mind-blowing how confident they are that screaming their treasonous negligence from the rooftops while half-assing course correction won't blow up in their faces. AND THEY'RE RIGHT. AVERAGE WESTERN EUROPEANS GENUINELY BELIEVE THAT NOT BEING SOVIET STATE-OWNED SLAVES IS ONLY WORTH A FEW PERCENT OF GDP.
>>65482348>voted for a Russian asseSo why have we added sanctions and seized more Russian oil tankers than the rest of the world? Additionally, America has crippled all of Russia's allies. As an American from America Oblast, I wish we liberated Belarus and established a no-fly-zone while helping persecuted natives in eastern siberia and giving Chechens enough arms to make the Taliban blush
>>65482773He did alot of them, the actor even played Klink on the Simpsons in one of his last roles.>>65482792Even from the 1980s i remember them being scary as a kid, when it came out Red Dawn seemed completely plausible.
>>65482207>What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war?Sweden and Finland becoming NATO member states. I never thought that would occur in my lifetime.>>65482348Funny statement about Russian assets when your entire post is straight out of the subversion playbook.
>>65482207the Chernobyl dig fox holes things. the soldiers that desert, get duct taped to trees and beat with sticks, and put in propane tank dungeons are the smart russians.
>>65482371How many cheetos?
>>65482811Its why he cancelled all the aid to Ukraine he could and has actively prevented any new aid from be sent while inviting putin to Alaska and back into the G7, yes
>>65482906why then was he so proactive in "fuck russia" mode in 2016 then?
>>65482447Everyone was, even the US military. I was deployed in the middle east during that time and we were told with 100% certainty all the way back in November 2021 that Russia was going to invade and that my unit would be redeploying to the Romanian border to hold off the Russians if they kept pushing west after rolling through Ukraine. We ended up rotating home a few weeks before the actual invasion, and obviously the QRF wasn't needed but it was a very surreal time especially coming right off the heels of the Afghanistan evacuation.
>>65482223>"entirety of NATO" which somehow doesn't include any NATO ground troops This excuse never stops being funny
>>65482661>was raised to think the USSR was a real threat. IWell I mean the USSR included Ukraine as well, I think people underestimate how much they contributed to the Soviet Union.
>>65482223The tears are so sweet.
>>65482223>That’s been debunked and was never claimed by Putin>There was never an ox cart full of shit here
>>65482371What kind of shit is that man
>>65482207What baffled me first was how Ukraine didn’t collapse within a week and the Russian economy didn’t collapse within a year after that week. That first week, I fully expected Russia to win, then get bogged down in an utterly nightmarish partisan campaign. Then finally I figured they would economically implode from A)losing all export markets and global sanctions B) fighting basically super-Chechnya right on their border across a massive territory they would not be able to secure well enough to ever economically exploit. C) The mass exodus of all vaguely intelligent or competent Russians trying to avoid A/BThe second surprise to me, and one that keeps surprising me, is that Russia is somehow still ‘surviving’. All of the above points happened and then some, and they are still going at it. They actually ran out of soviet surplus armor to throw westward. They’re actually running out of fuel. They had an armed rebellion charge Moscow. Moscow is being regularly bombed. They’re relying on a fucking side effect of WW2 (North Korea) as a major munitions and manpower supplier. And they’ve possibly taken over a million casualties. What sane country would go through ALL OF THIS for some dirt that they’ve effectively rendered worthless? Why won’t they fucking implode already?
>>65482997>Operation Epstien Fury?Oh youre a /pol/nigger, carry on
>>65482223True but not in the way you want it to.
>>65483013autocratic countries are very good at hiding crises, and putin explicitly built russian society to be more resilient to things like the afghan war's Committee of Soldiers' Mothers
>>65482223Speaking of copes, does anyone have the vid where they speak about how the VDV would be eating celebratory porridge in Berlin and stuff?
>>65482207>What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war?Temu drones warfare revolution. Nobody could predict military backwaters like Ukriane would make million flying drones per year and throwing such drones at individual soldiers and tanks would became main mode of warfare.Such shit is straight up sci-fi/cyberpunk shit.
>>65482223>t-that has been debunkedit hasn't.>and was never claimedit was claimed by the entire russian government and all their propaganda apparatus>w-were based purely on russia vs ukraine onlywhich is still what's happening right now>n-not russia vs the entirety of NATOthere isn't a single NATO soldier, tank, or aircraft kicking russia's teeth in lol, they're all ukrainian, NATO is not directly involved in the war, you are losing to just ukraine.
>>65483256I know the one you're talking about but can't find it, dug up this related gem.
>>65482223Still doesn't explain why your 3-day special needs operation lasted for almost 5 years and counting, turdie-kun
>>65483013It's absolutely not surprising at all anon. Putin doesn't care about the economy, the stockpiles or anything else, he'll be sending kids and pregnant women to fight if he can win that way. He can't lose because that's the only thing that can get him overthrown. Therefore he'll keep throwing everything at his war until either he wins or there's no more Russia. There are historical parallels too by the way, surely you can think of one or two.And here's what surprises me. You've had 4.5 years of this to deduce how Russians think, yet you and most Westerners absolutely refuse to get it. Turkey shot down one aircraft and Russians 'understood everything'. Eventually we'll have to fight Russia because of it.
>>65482722>practically perfectwow imagine if Mary Poppins was a drone
>armor barely being usedIt was used plenty in the beginning. They've just ran out.
>>65482207Surprising how little effort it took for a country with no navy to completely dismantle another country's major naval fleet, which also included submarines
>>65483386>how little effortHow do you figure that? Ukraine has put a tremendous effort into it. Why do so many people assume all success is easy?
>>65483379This so much. We already went through this before World War II with Hitler and appeasement. Russia has a very simple mentality. If you don't knock out all of Russia's teeth when it pokes you with a stick, it means you're afraid of mighty Russia and you are an easy target. When you say "we want peace," Russians hear "I'm a powerless bitch, you can attack me without consequences." If they hit you, you need to hit back, anything else is seen as weakness.
>>65482207Trench warfare returning isn't surprising in the least. It has been in the following wars:>American Civil War>WW1>Spanish Civil War>WW2>Korean War>Vietnam War>Iran-Iraq War>Gulf War (lol)>Balkan Warsand of course>2022 Ukraine WarWhat trench war represents is not an "obsolete" mode of war, but rather warfare that has devolved from maneuver warfare. One or more sides would very much like to engage in maneuver warfare and make a mad dash for their respective objectives, but because they cannot they dig in and this makes the situation even worse as now there are fortified frontlines getting in the way of maneuver warfare.Not only was trench warfare an expected result of Russia losing momentum after the early days of the conflict, but it in and of itself is just a continuation of the 2014 Donbas crisis. The Ukrainians were well trained in trench warfare for nearly a decade prior to the Russians deciding to actually invade, so thanks Putin for letting them have time to git gud.
>>65482223
>>65483403What's crazy is we're still doing the most predictable proportional response to everything Russia does. Sabotage? Well we'll sanction some Russians. Drones invading our airspace? We'll shoot them down!That'll surely show Russians not to fuck with us.
>>65482207every single supposed expert predicting that the ukies will be defeated in a few weeks a most and that the best they could hope for would be to wage some afghan style guerrila war.Now look at them, having fought the oh-so great russian army to a standstill
>>65483415You sound like you're about to promote a moderate stance against russians.
>>65482223>post deletedLike clockwork. The vatnig flees in confusion and rage.
>>65483424Not him, but I'd close the Baltic to all shipping to and from Russia, and send more missiles to Ukraine. SAMs, all types.And help Ukraine build ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.Build the missiles in European factories. Send planes to Ukraine. More F-16s and Gripens. Give them Meteros to delete the zigger air forces once and for all.Please note that all of this is not even moderate, it is extremely passive and peaceful. Moderate steps would be a close blockade of Peterburg and Kaliningrad, mining of the harbor approaches, closing of the airspace over the Baltic and immediate strikes at Russian jammers and radars that cover these areas.
>>65483408They were also used in the napoleonic era, and in earlier conflicts, though mostly in the context of sieges (i.e. when maneuvering was no longer possible or desireable as you said)
>>65482207the amount of non-russian people who're angry that ukraine dared to fight back instead of surrendering immediately and joining the prison rape state as submissive fresh meat
>>65483448
>>65482391>Slavs being SlavsBeing an ethnic slav myself, I've seen a lot of stereotype shit that I either begrudgingly or enthusiastically feel an understanding with on a genetic level. There's a lot of "call of the void" level thinking in this conflict, and much of it only really makes sense when viewed through the lense of that shared cultural experience.I don't get the assrape obsession though. That's a uniquely Russian predilection.
>>65483424I'd love a good genocide but realistically the only step you'd need is to make it obvious we can and will invade Russia if we decide to. He would've never fucked around in Ukraine if it were the case.
>>65483483Such as what
>>65482811>seized more Russian oil tankersThat was because it fucked with Cuba and Venezuela.>As an American from America Oblast, I wish we liberated Belarus and established a no-fly-zone while helping persecuted natives in eastern siberia and giving Chechens enough arms to make the Taliban blushBASED NGL
>>65482244Blocking detachments are nothing new in russland
>What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war?That there's a significant chunk of American politicians that are against arming and supporting Ukraine.The poorest country in Europe is murdering their cold war arch rival for pennies on the dollar, and that's ... le bad?
>>65483505because the ukrainian front isn't about drugs or oil, unlike the dunes forever wars.
>>65482207Drones launched from Coca Cola trucks
>>65482350>>65482233Archeologists have uncovered assault trenches dug towards bronze age cities in current-day Palestine.
>>65482811>why are roses red?>how is babbie formed?>why did the chicken cross the road?>why has Trump stolen the oil?We'll never know.
>>65483415It's because the politicians responsible think in terms of their own careers/reputations, not the overall interests of Europe as a bloc or even their own countries.It's riskier (politically or otherwise) to be the guy to throw the first actual punch at Russia.
>>65482207>What has been the most surprising part of the Russo Ukrainian war?Genuinely the scale of Russian lossesThey have 10% left of the heavy weapons they started the war with and as their doctrine is based on having overwhealming superiority in artillery and armour it's got fubar.Histoiry repeats, go look up the Kerensky offensive>we are here Kerensky offensiveFun act the deployed Russian forces are vastly weaker than Jompy, Ukraine or Russia will admit at this point which is why it is a danergous phase, all they have left is a handful of nukes. Finland alone could wipe the reminder of the Russian ground forces out of existence at this poiint. 05.09.2026Tanks — 12328 (+3)Armored fighting vehicle — 25273 (+1)Artillery systems — 49227 (+65)MLRS — 2093 (+5)Anti-aircraft warfare — 1604Planes — 441Helicopters — 355Ground robotic systems — 2502 (+13)UAV — 499809 (+1898)Cruise missiles — 5070Ships (boats) — 35Submarines — 2Cars and cisterns — 144043 (+401)Special equipment — 4644 (+8)Military personnel — aprx. 1495050 people (+1260)/k/ will get the next Russian civil war over the next few years which should be an absolute clown car of whacky generals advocating everything from marxist leninism to liberal democracy whith North Koreans and PLA regulars in the mix. When it is over the population of moscow will be half what it is now.
>>65482207/k/ is probably the worst place to ask this question. Everything has been predicted by a poster at some point long before the war. Also everything that didn't happen. Trench warfare? Everybody here knows about the Iran-Iraq war. Drones? We've been vicariously consuming the Arab Spring and also asking why we don't just strap explosives to RC planes for ages. Russian capabilities? Claiming Russia is Italy/Nigeria with snow has been a thing long before the war (admittedly a lot of Russia cheerleading in equal amounts too). If you asked /k/ what a peer conflict between two somewhat poor and semi-industrialized countries looked like they would had pointed you towards the Iran-Iraq war which, minus the drones, is basically this war in broad strokes.
>>65483653>absolute clown carMy prediction for the most batshit insane moment of the Civil War: To ensure Lukashenko remains in power and that the West doesn't interfere in Russia the DPRK will station nuclear weapons in Belorussia, China will tacitly back this move.
>>65483683>a peer conflict between two somewhat poor and semi-industrialized countries looked likeRussia had well over ten thousand mbts in 2022 and is or was a nuclear power it was actively arming and sponsoring dictatorslop in venezuela, cuba, syria and is in belarus along side congo, mali, sudan etc you are spouting shit like a broken sewer main
>>65483716>ten thousand mbts in 2022Of which all were obsolete and had only the logistics to sustain a few tens in any single operation at a time. Also I'm sorry you was a retard and ate the Russia-stronk memes going around at the time. Yes, I will never stop dabbing on you clowns who drank the kool-aid.Also>actual triple spacing on 4chan in 2026lmao
>>65482350>the britsIf it was the Brits they probably would have still been occupying France to this day. It was the English with Welsh principality. Scotland was on the French side which was a major reason why the French eventually won (on top of financial failures and weapon tech changes, shifting continent alliances etc).
>>65482800The problem here is that Russia's MO is kind of clever – if you were to prepare for full scale war against Russia you'd just bankrupt civil society and Russia wouldn't even have to do anythingRussia isn't generally considered stupid enough to start full scale ground wars, especially not after Ukraine, so the preparations are correspondingly glacial. Can't say this is on topic though, because as a European the only surprise I got was that they were even willing to sanction Russia instead of doing nothing like 2014
>>65482722I don't buy into the>its just the ukraine war condition100%. Thermal cams work as good in swampy woodland as it does in the open fields. As is the terrain up north in the other fronts pozzia wants to attack sooner or later (the baltics). In fact swampy woodland overwhelmingly favors infantry which is ideal pray ground for FPV drones. It also favors indirect fire, yet with the ever increasing range of drones the current situation is that mortars are "fire and scramble" only, while artillery share of the confirmed kill count has dropped to less then 20% of total. Armor is forced into traversable roads and bottlenecks which is a natural inhibitor to their effectiveness, even before drones start slamming into them The ukranian flatlands themselves are actually one of the most ideal circumstance for maneuver war there is. Only surpassed by the wide open gravel deserts of the middle east. Germans had a field day rampaging through there, including the largest encirclement in human history in the Kyiv region. Yet pidors still got bogged down there and this was before drones started proliferating at earnest. The stalemate in the air can be argued as the big difference yet US is the best there is and even their results against the ayazuttah sahsneed spam in the persian gulf were mixed. To put it mildly Soft counters like EW result is all over the place, depending on how sophisticated the antennas of the drones are or if they are wire guided, while hard counters like APS systems on armor are borderline experimental. ""best"" results is what vatniks have got and its welding your vehicles into assault shacks that can't turn turrets anymore, overheat as fuck and are overloaded beyond what was forseen in the initial design. Which means higher fuel consumption and less ammo they can carry.
