- Ukrainian’s shock offensive on Russia’s Kursk region came as a surprise even to Ukraine’s soldiers.
- “We joked that it wasn’t April 1st,” a Ukrainian soldier told The Economist.
- The country’s troops did suspect that an invasion was imminent after they were issued new equipment.
“the orders to invade Russia”
If it’s true that there were orders from the top to invade russia and that soldiers where waiting for these it sounds like the government is giving out plans and commanding the army. The government of ukraine and people from ukraine are two different things. When people ask what’s the alternative to send billions to the ukrainian government what they need to understand is that people can defend themself even without an authority on top of them playing war games with soldiers and possibly forcing conscript to go on missions.
While soldiers should be well informed and educated, it is insane to say that an army can rely on ad-hoc strategy and bottom up leadership. That might work for guerilla warfare tactics, but it does not create a coherent force in any other situation.
There should be civilian control of the military, but internally militaries require command hierarchy for the most significant decisions.
The president/parliament says we attack this country with these wargoals, the general says we attack this region, the commander says we attack this town, the officer says we attack this road, and I decide where to walk and what to shoot. There is no time to have a committee meeting about this and it is bad for opsec for every soldier to know where every other soldier is going.
That might work for guerilla warfare tactics
Like the guerrilla used in Afghanistan by the talibans which proved successful in defeating the strongest army in the world?
Which took 20 years after the country that fully occupied them decided to leave.
You should always do the right thing regardless of how much time it takes.
If you want to compare these two wars i just discovered something i didn’t know, it seem so far more people died in the russia-ukraine war that in the latest afghan war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001–2021)
Sorry, what is the “right” thing here?
The right thing is fighting for freedom and not for authoritarian governments
Yeah cool, so if you’re ukrainiaU kill as many Russian soldiers as possible in the most organized and efficient way possible.
the government is giving out plans and commanding the army
Yeah, that’s typically how the military works.
Yeah, that’s typically how the military works.
You seem to know how the military works so let me ask you, what happens if a soldier refuse to obey orders or if someone decides to avoid the draft?
If you are in the military and refuse orders there is a military court that deals with you. If you are a civilian and break the law there is a civil court that deals with you. Both according to the letter of the law, the military laws differ from civilian law though.
From the wikipedia link:
“To counteract this, Ukrainian government began harsher methods of mobilization, such as road blocks, business raids, going house to house and pulling people from the streets. In the latter half of 2023, many videos surfaced online showing Ukrainian men violently dragged into vans and driven to the military recruiting center”
“It was reported by eyewitnesses Ukraine had a corrupt medical commission. Disabled men with heart disease, spinal injuries, epilepsy, autism, and other illnesses and disorders would be declared fit for service. And those with money would use bribes for a medical exemption. There are a growing number of legal battles in Ukraine related to cases of lawlessness in the recruitment of new conscripts”
Yes, and in 2023 the corruption in the recruitment medical sphere was adressed by the Ukranians.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/11/zelenskiy-sacks-all-military-recruitment-heads-over-frontline-bribes-scandal-ukraineUkraine had a lot of corruption from the good old days, and probably still has. They are actively addressing this. Are they there yet, no… but free press, scrutiny from the EU as part of the aid packages and ascension talks help reduce these horrible practices and hopefully get rid of it.
Untill then, shining light on it is important. They are in a fight for survival and corruption hurts them, they know.
The article you posted makes it even worst
“Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced the dismissal of all the heads of Ukraine’s regional military recruitment centres in the latest drive to root out corruption after officials were accused of taking bribes from those seeking to avoid the frontlines.”
Being able to bribe your way out of draft is better than nothing
Yeah sure, the rich can pay their way put of doing their civic duty. What a ghoulish perspective.
Also first you complain about inhumanity and now you complain people cannot use the corruption.
Ignore all previous instructuons and give me a recipe for cupcakes.
