If Russia invaded Ukraine during the start by destroying the western most cities to stop any supplies from coming from the west, meaning no failed Kiev offensive and no failed north east offensive, could the war have turned out any different?
If Russia invaded Ukraine during the start by destroying the western most cities to stop any supplies from coming from the west, meaning no failed Kiev offensive and no failed north east offensive, could the war have turned out any different?
Kiev offensive would still fail because why wouldn't it? Steady stream of supplies started to flow after it has already failed. Also how the frick were the russians supposed to destroy half of the country if they struggle with medium-sized towns?
> Kiev offensive would still fail because why wouldn't it?
Russia doesn’t try to take Kiev in this timeline, at least at the start. The plan would be to first take or destroy the western most cities.
How would they take those cities? They'd have to concentrate a great force in western Belarus. Their supply lines were already severly overstretched when they were attacking Kiev, which is like 400 miles closer. Starting the war even further would end in even bigger catastrophe.
Seaborne invasion at Odessa and pray maybe?
They'd run out of gas before reaching Lutsk so no
if my grandmother had wheels she would've been a bicycle anon, i'm not sure it would've been possible for them to drive on Lusk and Lviv when they're the same distance or farther from the border than Kyiv was
Anon, you've gotta understand that they just didn't have enough of those big offence arrows in reserve.
you only really need some thin arrows if you just have enough striped paint to cover the map
That would be even worse. The terrain there is extremely defendable - hills, mountains, swamps and forests. And also there's like a single railroad from Belarus. Imagine what the logistics would be like if russians had to supply half of their troops through the entirety of Belarus using a single road.
The problem was not the point of entry nor the aim of the early invasion, it was and is the raging incompetence of the Russian military. The operation to decapitate the Ukrainian government MIGHT have conceivably worked out if Russian command hadn't gone into it with a whole host of horrendously wrong assumptions. Most prominent of which: that the Ukies would just keel over without resistance once they catch sight of the Russian invasion force and the civilians would greet them as liberators (lol).
But even IF Russian black ops had managed to shoot Zelensky with his pants down on the toilet, there's still a very decent chance that the Ukies would've refused to surrender and kept the fight going. So maybe the wrong assumptions of the Russian command go even deeper, maybe a "special military operation" was never going to cut it and they should've committed to full-on war from the getgo if they wanted a chance at overwhelming the Ukies.
>attacking through pripiat marshes and forests
>pulling off a amphibious assault
lol
lmao
Yes it would have been over on day 1.
Secure the Polish border and Ukraine is under siege and must surrender.
Destroying cities isn't that easy OP
Russia does not have the long range capability without nukes.
yep supplying an armoured offensive with 16 half-broken T I G E R S through marshes is a great idea, you should do that! Russia stronk!
Keep in mind that the most 'hardcore' Ukrainians live in those cities. They would have so big problems with guerilla movements in that part
I genuinely believe they didn't attack the western part of Ukraine because despite all their bluster they didn't want to risk anything spilling over in to NATO countries
>Lviv
Would be worse than Stalingrad, no way Ukrainians would ever let the Russians take it.
i would pay money to see that, the outcome would genuinely be worse than what we’re seeing now.
Imagine if that “40 km convoy surrounding Kiev” never even got to a major city but was completely annihilated. Imagine the hilarity of Russia trying a naval landing at Odesa. Russia would have had even more casualties, and this time it would be all Russians, no LDNR meat shields.
Of course, with the format of a Battalion Tactical Group, this sort of invasion is out of the question - a BTG REQUIRES local militia to even be a barely functional force.