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Armchair Warlord's flaw is that he still believes Russia as a capable and formidable military with modern weapons. They are a decimated force, with most of their experienced officers and NCO corps dead or dying every day. Russia would be no much in a conventional conflict anywhere in Europe at this time.
Teslag said:
They didn't under the Soviets but somewhat shifted in the decades since. Most of what they had was lost in 2022 and they haven't rebuilt it since moving to just throwing bodies at the problem. It's also what would get them absolutely annihilated in a conventional war with NATO among other things.
Russia's only claim to superpower status is their nuclear arsenal. Their conventional forces are presently no better than many single nations in NATO.
aggiehawg said:Teslag said:
They didn't under the Soviets but somewhat shifted in the decades since. Most of what they had was lost in 2022 and they haven't rebuilt it since moving to just throwing bodies at the problem. It's also what would get them absolutely annihilated in a conventional war with NATO among other things.
Russia's only claim to superpower status is their nuclear arsenal. Their conventional forces are presently no better than many single nations in NATO.
Okay, thanks. Not the best time to rebuild an NCO corps during actual wartime. Who is left to teach them?
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But in terms of commissioned officers, Russia has much more on average30% of the armed forces were officers in Russia, while only 16% for NATO countries, from one statistic.
In fact, years ago Russia had begun staffing officers into NCO roles. So you'd have lieutenants doing sergeants' duties, for instance. This partly explains why even Russia's previous "lack" of NCOs was to some extents misunderstood and overestimated. After all, if you have much higher trained, actual officers doing the work of an NCO, on top of the officers leading the unit, then where's the problem?
Some in the West believe this partly explains why Russian officers are known to fight more on the frontlines, compared to their Western counterparts. And perhaps there's some truth to that. Some experts say that Russian sergeants perform more of an "SME" (subject matter expert) role rather than a "leadership" role. i.e. they can teach the grunts the intricacies of all the weapons systems, but don't have the leadership capabilities to "take over" for the officer, should he be absent for whatever reasoni.e. killed or simply leading "from the rear". Perhaps there was some truth to this long ago, but like I said, there have been strong reforms and investments in training sergeants and they no longer resemble those of the pre-2010 period.
Also, since Russia is much more officer heavy, more officers tend to die on average than in comparable countries just by their sheer overabundance. This feeds the perception that they always haphazardly "fight on the frontline". In reality, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
aggiehawg said:
Thanks for that clarification.
aggiehawg said:Teslag said:
They didn't under the Soviets but somewhat shifted in the decades since. Most of what they had was lost in 2022 and they haven't rebuilt it since moving to just throwing bodies at the problem. It's also what would get them absolutely annihilated in a conventional war with NATO among other things.
Russia's only claim to superpower status is their nuclear arsenal. Their conventional forces are presently no better than many single nations in NATO.
Okay, thanks. Not the best time to rebuild an NCO corps during actual wartime. Who is left to teach them?
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US and UK officials have secretly met with key Ukrainian powerbrokers to discuss ousting Vladimir Zelensky and replacing him with former military chief Valery Zaluzhny, according to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
In a statement on Tuesday, the SVR claimed Western officials had gathered at an undisclosed Alpine resort with top Zelensky aide Andrey Yermak, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov, and Zaluzhny, who is currently Kiev's ambassador to the UK.
According to the agency, all sides agreed "it is high time" for Zelensky to be replaced and called the change "a key condition for resetting Kiev's relations with the West and continuing Western military aid."
The SVR reported that US and UK officials told their Ukrainian counterparts they want Zaluzhny to become president. The agency claimed that Yermak and Budanov "saluted" the plan and secured promises that they would keep their current posts if Zaluzhny took over.
That Zelensky signed the law despite Macron & Costa pleading not to "points to what even some of the country’s supporters call a worsening bunker mentality. They suggest the leadership circle has gone beyond necessary wartime consolidation of control..."https://t.co/d4guoBF2FC
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 30, 2025
London-based asset Zaluzhny looking sharp in his Vogue rebrand from military commander to replacement leader.
— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) July 29, 2025
Zelensky desperately looking for a barber and new wardrobe tonight. pic.twitter.com/jRga8UbFN9
Trump claims Russia has lost 112,500 soldiers killed since the start of the year, while Ukraine’s losses stand at about 8,000 according to his post on Truth Social. He calls the war senseless, blaming Biden for its continuation and repeating that he’s seeking to stop it, not… pic.twitter.com/zVGZdRtj2Y
— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) August 1, 2025
🇺🇦🇷🇺🇺🇸🇪🇺 Previously they talked about “the need of a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield, but now they want to stop our offensive”
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 1, 2025
— Putin pic.twitter.com/yxulHvjZAH
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In Konstantinovka, CNN found even worse problems, with one commander telling CNN:Quote:
Vasyl, a commander with the 93rd Mechanized brigade, said he had not been sent new personnel for eight months, and was forced to resupply frontline positions of only two men with drones, airlifting in food, water and ammunition.
"No one wants to fight", he said. "The old personnel are left, they are tired and want to be replaced, but no one is replacing them." He blamed Ukrainian officers for giving inaccurate reports of the front line to their superiors. "A lot of things are not communicated and are hidden," he said. "We don't communicate a lot of things to our state. Our state doesn't communicate a lot of things to the people."
CNN admits that Russian forces are now threatening Kupyansk as well, and the simultaneous fall of these major cities on top of Zelensky's political crisis is a perfect storm in the making:Quote:
The accumulative effect of a Ukrainian manpower crisis, the turbulence of Kyiv's relationship with the Trump White House, and uncertain supplies of weaponry, are a perfect storm that has broken in the face of the vigor and persistence of a Russian summer offensive, whose progress is no longer incremental but is reshaping the conflict and bringing Putin closer to some of his goals fast.
"Advancement of the RF Armed Forces in Pokrovsk."
— -- GEROMAN -- time will tell - 👀 -- (@GeromanAT) August 1, 2025
divgen 🇷🇺 TG https://t.co/D1TxOBNMKf pic.twitter.com/XCcF2zRnom
