Russia - threadbanned users in OP

So much for the dirty bomb the Russians were on about,

How much more embarrassment cant they take

It's not just on the French side. Unexploded Ordnance is also still being unearthed in Germany, in rural areas as well as in cities and urban centres. Thinking back to my ten years in and around Frankfurt, there'd be at least two to three times a year that a part of the city would need to be evacuated because of a 500 pound bomb that had been found whilst digging up some plot of land for construction. Sometimes, those evacuations would affect large areas when one of the Royal Air Force's "Blockbuster" bombs, 4000 pound monsters of a weapon, was discovered. And that would happen for every city in the Rhein-Main area: Frankfurt, Offenbach, Hanau, Mainz, as well as all other major urban areas in the country.

Then, there was that poor bastard on an autobahn construction site near the city of Gelnhausen whose excavator set off a 250 pound bomb that had been dropped on the nearby airfield during WW2. That one bomb set off the entire "stick" of five bombs that had been dropped and failed to detonate at the time.

I'm afraid that, even if Russia were to pack up and withdraw from all occupied territories today, Ukraine will still suffer from all these unexploded weapons for decades to come, and not just in rural areas.

Once the Russians eventually withdraw from Kherson city, they will use the Dnipro as the new defensive line, which will be next to impossible for Ukraine to cross. My guess is that if they want to go to Crimea, they will have to go around the river.

Yeap thats what I thought. By taking Kherson Ukraine seals its southern Flank, they are not going to cross a 3 mile wide river with artillery on the other side. On the other hand the Russians will not be crossing the river again either, so Moldova and Odessa talk will then be finished.

What they might try in late winter is attack in the direct of the Azov sea from the North.

With that imagination of yours I'm guessing for you it's:

Alcohol vs Cocaine

The flipside of that is that Russia holding on to Kherson when it would be far easier to just have a border at the Dnieper, shows they still have their sights on Odessa.

They wont get there, but they clearly have it and other cities in their sights, or else there would be no sense in maintaining and defending that bridgehead over the river

@timmyntc At the start of the war some people were hoping for the Russian economy or society to collapse and that Ukraine would win that way..,

Their economy is collapsing, what did you really expect it to happen immediately,it takes time for sanctions to hit home along with the loss of revenue from the eu for gas and oil ,

Long term Russia is ucked

If they get to Sevastopol, it will be via Melitopol.

Hmmmm - not convinced. Trying to redeem the image of the dear leader and divert blame?

I am not either but anything I read about Patrushev puts him firmly as a extreme hardliner, so would definitely say he was in favour of the invasion before it actually occurred.

...

Maverick

Their economy is dying the death of a million stings....mobilization has driven hundreds of thousands out of the Country, many of these would be key figures in Industry, then you have the mobilization itself. In order for the local chiefs to achieve their targets (and avoid mobilization themselves) they were overzealous in their selection criteria. In one case, in an area with 295'000 people living and only one specialist brain surgeon, they mobilized the Surgeon. Basically, the imperative for the drafters was to reach their targets, by hook or crook. Basically, if you could walk (even with crutches) you were eligible. Down the road, this mobilization will come back to haunt the Kremlin (not that they personally will worry) but it could prove a tipping point for mass protests when people realize that they have been duped and used. So now Russian industry is like a Swiss cheese with key personnel missing. Add in Putins edict that priority has to be given to the war production, at the expense of everything else and for sure, life is becoming increasingly harder for the average Russian.We are not hearing even a fraction of how hard life has become for Russians.

Ukraine has to win, and that's the bottom line, and its not just down to Ukraine either. Putin has threatened the whole western world, the US and further afield. He has to go; Russia has to be taught that it cannot continue behaving as it has been these last several years creating trouble everywhere it can. Trouble has been one of their major exports, and they have to be stopped. The cost will be sorted out after the war is over. Meanwhile, Russian capabilities are being ground away to the point that shortages are seriously affecting their ability not only to fight, but for the ones at home, to live normal lives