Both Ukraine and Afghanistan have similar land in sqm and population sizes.
Why does anyone expect Ukraine to be taken over in a few weeks when there is bound to be more resistance? You would think atleast double or treble that time.
in Afghanistan the Taliban could hide out in network of caves and there is just no flatten mountains, the Vietcongs could utilize underground networks and dense forests to operate.
One hope for Ukraine is urban warfare, Putin launched two miserable wars against Chechnya and they were decimated from insurgents hiding out in various apartment buildings, it is likely what is stalling the advance in Kyiv.
Unfortunately, we live in a new age and China has perfected facial recognition software, which they will probably have no scruples about providing to Russia. I'm not sure a crowd provides the same kind of anonymity that it once did.
We are starting to see some of this right now (and I'm not 100% certain) but for instance the alleged Azov battalion operating near DNR/LNR area is said to be not allowing citizens to leave the city. There are footages going around them turning (you can tell from the patches they wear) citizens away from checkpoints as they try to leave.
Like Hamas in Palestine who regularly launch rockets at Israel from top of apartment buildings, it's only a matter of time before insurgency turns to this tactic as they are determined to keep fighting.
Another side of the story is that Ukrainians claim they couldn't reach agreement of ceasing fire and humanitarian corridors with Russians.
I believe people are leaving Kharkov and Kiev relatively freely.
Do you suppose that may have something to do with things like
https://www.newsweek.com/evacuation-route-offered-fleeing-uk...
and
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/06/europe/ukraine-russia-inv...
?
But you're right, the conflict may or may not actually reach the stage of clandestine insurgency.
Russia could only possibly even attack using airforce now, because anything on the ground is going to sink.
Ironically, Xi telling Putin to wait till the Olympics were over probably cost Putin the war, because of all the abandoned vehicles stuck in the mud.
There's a convoy with who knows how many vehicles but it stretches 40 miles and it's never digging out of the mud, most likely it'll be added to Ukraine's assets when things dry out.
Russia is leveling cities, but this is a WIN for urban warfar. In previous wars some people would level their own cities so they had better places to hide and setup snipers at.
Here's a good video outlying why Putin has already lost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ4hvLqNfqo