Okay, I will say it: Russia is being incredibly restrained. Basically to an extent unheard of before in modern warfare. The US killed as many civilians in the first week of the Iraq war (~4,300) as Russia did in the first four months (4,448), against a country with a population 40% smaller (26,255,343 in Iraq 2002, 43,531,422 Ukraine in 2021), with an army eight times larger (1,168,978 Coalition forces, ~150,000 Russian invasion force) fighting an enemy two thirds the size (492,000 Iraqi forces, ~700,000 Ukrainian forces). Russia's attack was so restrained that Boris Johnson could go visit Kiev in April 2022, an equivalent point at which the USA Coalition was still performing "Shock and Awe" saturation bombing attacks to "soften up" Baghdad. Russia COULD have rolled in their strategic bombers and flattened the whole city while throwing their entire 900,000 active military personnel into the invasion, at a horrific human cost to both Ukrainian civilians and their own army, but instead (at the start at least) treated the invasion more like a militarized police action.
It seems to be "the thing I post" now, but here's a writer for the Marine Corps Gazette laying out the incredible finesse of the Russian invasion
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For just one example, Russia used very precise guided munitions to attack the uncrewed electricity stations that power the Ukrainian rail network to stop troop movements, rather than using the US tactic of just flattening the power plants and killing anyone who was working there at the time, as well as any civilians requiring that electricity to survive. Basically, the idea of 'surgical strikes' and 'precision bombing' that the US has jubilantly proclaimed it uses for twenty years, Russia finally actually did.
You may or may not remember, right at the start, the story of Snake Island? Where a Russian warship told some Ukrainian soldiers to surrender, and they replied "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!" and got blown away?
Yeah...
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This is emblematic of both Russia's conduct in the war, and how it's reported in the west.
TO BE CLEAR: the Russian state as it exists today is a neoliberal capitalist hellhole, and in my ideal world it would still be the USSR and this whole conflict would be impossible in the first place. But it's also impossible to ignore that if the ideal of a 'humanely fought war' can even exist, then Russia's invasion is the closest anyone has ever come - especially by comparison to the West's "humanitarian interventions" which are without exception merciless bloodsoaked slaughters.
Uh yeah they are? I've seen videos of bombed cities in Ukraine every week since the war started. Never heard anyone say Russia is being restrained.
Okay, I will say it: Russia is being incredibly restrained. Basically to an extent unheard of before in modern warfare. The US killed as many civilians in the first week of the Iraq war (~4,300) as Russia did in the first four months (4,448), against a country with a population 40% smaller (26,255,343 in Iraq 2002, 43,531,422 Ukraine in 2021), with an army eight times larger (1,168,978 Coalition forces, ~150,000 Russian invasion force) fighting an enemy two thirds the size (492,000 Iraqi forces, ~700,000 Ukrainian forces). Russia's attack was so restrained that Boris Johnson could go visit Kiev in April 2022, an equivalent point at which the
USACoalition was still performing "Shock and Awe" saturation bombing attacks to "soften up" Baghdad. Russia COULD have rolled in their strategic bombers and flattened the whole city while throwing their entire 900,000 active military personnel into the invasion, at a horrific human cost to both Ukrainian civilians and their own army, but instead (at the start at least) treated the invasion more like a militarized police action.It seems to be "the thing I post" now, but here's a writer for the Marine Corps Gazette laying out the incredible finesse of the Russian invasion
For just one example, Russia used very precise guided munitions to attack the uncrewed electricity stations that power the Ukrainian rail network to stop troop movements, rather than using the US tactic of just flattening the power plants and killing anyone who was working there at the time, as well as any civilians requiring that electricity to survive. Basically, the idea of 'surgical strikes' and 'precision bombing' that the US has jubilantly proclaimed it uses for twenty years, Russia finally actually did.
Here's a short article on "The Russian Way of War"
You may or may not remember, right at the start, the story of Snake Island? Where a Russian warship told some Ukrainian soldiers to surrender, and they replied "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!" and got blown away?
Yeah...
This is emblematic of both Russia's conduct in the war, and how it's reported in the west.
TO BE CLEAR: the Russian state as it exists today is a neoliberal capitalist hellhole, and in my ideal world it would still be the USSR and this whole conflict would be impossible in the first place. But it's also impossible to ignore that if the ideal of a 'humanely fought war' can even exist, then Russia's invasion is the closest anyone has ever come - especially by comparison to the West's "humanitarian interventions" which are without exception merciless bloodsoaked slaughters.