re: #432 retired cynic

I can’t get over the horrible condition the Russian equipment is in. It just blows my mind that they would go to war with things in that shape. I suppose Putin never got close enough to actually look at them, or, if he did, that they showed him some fancy new thing.

Russia’s military budget is a fraction of the US budget. Their core level gear is largely from the 1980s/1990s, and while they’ve unveiled some new current generation tanks (Armata) and aircraft, they’re not large volume purchases - so there’s only handfuls of them available for combat ops. They’re also probably with the elite units, not the conscripts.

The logistics supply chain is particularly vulnerable here, not just because of the weather, but because it seems as though Putin didn’t even think it would be necessary for sustained conflict beyond a few days.

The equivalent would be if the US sent in front line troops with M60 tanks into a country, all while heralding the M1A2, and saving those for a few elite squads, and giving them just enough gas for 48 hours. In winter. In mud season.

Ukrainian forces are fighting with similar level gear, so it’s closer to an even fight that favors the defenders, because they have something to fight for, rather than conscripts who didn’t even know they were invading Ukraine until a few hours earlier.