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Comment by hdjjhhvvhga | Hacker News Reader

Nothing in this war adds up. Either Putin has an ace up his sleeve or he grossly overestimated the chances of success. Maybe the people who surround him are too afraid to tell him the truth about the actual condition of Russian army. It looks pathetic.

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I feel similarly. As another comment mentioned yesterday some videos of the conflict are just surreal. Russian soldiers speaking collegiality with Ukrainians, multiple videos of abandoned equipment, poorly supplied troops, tanks with no infantry support. This is in contrast with absolutely awe inspiring communication from Ukrainian leadership. Comments like "The fight is here. I need ammo, not a ride," among them.

I can't imagine there is an "ace up his sleeve" at this point. If it was there from the start, why wait till now once so much of the world has already turned against you. From my (quite uninformed!) perspective it seems that plan A (Take Ukraine Quickly) may have already failed and the cost of a slow drawn out war is meeting much more international response and resistance from Ukraine than anticipated.

Well, maybe Putin's plan B at this point is to tell Ukrainians either give up Donbas and Crimea or he will proceed with carpet bombing the whole country. A month ago this wouldn't be an option for Zelensky but being responsible for the lives of millions gives you a different perspective, especially if you can end the war and the suffering of your people instantly with just one difficult decision. Tough spot. Especially when you know you can't believe in any word Putin says.

He doesn’t need to carpet bomb the whole country. He just needs to lay waste to Kyiv and Kharkiv with rocket artillery, maybe thermobaric weapons if he’s willing to commit even more unspeakable horrors. There was a TOS-1A sighted approaching Kyiv so the option is at least on the table.

Compared to what the Russian army is capable of doing to civilian population centers, they’re actually restraining themselves so far. I’m terrified that the gloves might come off…

Carpet bombing of the largest country in Europe with what? They lost about 20 planes in 48 hours, i.e. one plane every 2 hours. At such rate, they will lose all their aviation, everything that can fly, in less than 6 months.

It’s eerily familiar to fans of the Der Untergang meme.

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