As I reply to myself:
According to The Moscow Times - people in Russian border towns are now wondering the same thing.
Wouldn't it be something if Ukraine ends up annexing Russia?
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/...fensive-a78797
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As I reply to myself:
According to The Moscow Times - people in Russian border towns are now wondering the same thing.
Wouldn't it be something if Ukraine ends up annexing Russia?
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/...fensive-a78797
====Wouldn't it be something if Ukraine ends up annexing Russia?===
Right now Russia uses "soft hands regime" - on the right bank of the Dnepr (central and west parts of Ukraine) almost all bridges, dams, power stations, manufacture plants, railroads are untouched and trains are running. All Ukrainian "heads" - president, his vices, government are alive and are freely moving by country. A lot of European officials including heads of states visit Kiev easy and often. All military actions are going only on the left bank - on the East.
Kiev with its working casinos and night clubs is located just in 200 km from the border, Russian aircrafts even don't need to cross Russia-Ukraine border for for to fire missiles for to "close" all this nightlife. Above Kiev by Dnepr river in 15 km is located huge water reservoir with dam.
So Ukrainians should afraid not "annexing", but "to annoy too much". Because Russia may change that. Russia controls whole Ukrainian sky. Better is do not push.
not that our opiniuions matter but we do need to stop this silly sabre rattling, Russia has weapons (cheocasl/nuclear) that they havent deployted yet and are fighting withb a volunteer army, if the Russia itself was invadfed I'd imagine that all optuions would be actioned, a scary sxcenario. To top it all, as far as I can tell they are the same people, i cry for all the gorgeous bel ami model types being killed and maimed. Not even Russia's worst enemy could have conjured such am evil outcome...putin will burn brighter and longer than the sun when he finally makes it to hell
Maybe the right bank of the Dnepr is unharmed TODAY, but just YESTERDAY Ukrainian forces crossed the Oskil River in the northeastern Kharkiv region and now control both banks of the river.
It doesn't appear like the Ukrainian military subscribes to the notion of "soft hands regime"in their offensive strategy, which is probably the reason why Russian border towns are living in fear right now. That seems logical to me anyway.
"So Ukrainians should afraid not "annexing", but "to annoy too much". Because Russia may change that. Russia controls whole Ukrainian sky. Better is do not push."
In one of his dispatches for the Associated Press , published on 7 February 1968, Peter Arnett, a New Zealand-born American correspondent, wrote about the Battle of Bến Tre: "''It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,' a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong." In the same month, Fernand Gigon, in “Connaissance du Monde” (World Knowledge) (No. 111, February 1968), reported the conclusion of a commission sent by some US Churches to investigate vice and immortality in South Vietnam. He reported that the Americans concluded that "“They understand why, in our fight against the communist aggressors, we must use all means of destruction at our disposal.”
Substuting Ukraine of Vietnam, Neo-Nazis for the South Vietnamese supporters of the communist National Liberation Front in South Vietnam (aka Viet Cong), and Russia for the US, it seems to me that history may be repeating itself in Ukraine with the destruction of power plants, dams, hospitals, etc., and probably with a similar outcome. The photo of the last US helicopter evacuating Saigon may yet be replicated by one of Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs frantically climbing into helicopters on the Kremlin helipad (for which President Vladimir Putin authorized the construction, and which was completed in May 2013).
You don't have to go so far to past. Russia is wrong substitution for US.
Center of Mosul in Iraq war:
Attachment 12766
Center of Kiev now:
Attachment 12767
Attachment 12768
Is this the longest threadbare in Sawatdee history?
By the way, I forgot to explain why substitution is wrong.
US were allies of VietKong, now US are allies of Ukraine, like just year ago US were allies of Afghan govt.
So you don't have to remind destiny of VietKong. Is enough to remind destiny of pro-American Afghan govt
On the left evacuation from Saigon, 1975, on the right: evacuation from Kabul, 2021
Attachment 12769
https://youtu.be/Wo0AcU3gmWQ
1. I understood that Russians understood both irony and sarcasm!
2. "US were allies of VietKong" is incorrect. The Viet Cong (not VietKong) were most decidedly NOT allies of the US in the American/Vietnamese War. Viet Cong (Việt Cộng, literally "Communist Viet") was an armed communist revolutionary organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. They fought under the direction of North Vietnam, against the South Vietnamese and United States governments during the Vietnam War, eventually emerging on the winning side. I believe their name for themselves was National the Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
3. You don't mention that the US was an ally of the Soviet Union in WW II and, under its Lend-Lease Act supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the “enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy — bloodthirsty Hitlerism." I believe the current value of the goods supplied is around $US180 billion in today's currency, The US Embassy in Moscow has a list of what was supplied (even before it entered the war) on its website "to help it defeat the Nazi invasion" - https://ru.usembassy.gov/world-war-i...on-1941-1945/: 400,000 jeeps & trucks; 14,000 airplanes; 8,000 tractors; 13,000 tanks; 1.5 million blankets; 15 million pairs of army boots; 107,000 tons of cotton; 2.7 million tons of petrol products; and 4.5 million tons of food. I don't believe it was necessary for the people of the Soviet Union to "crowdfund" their defense they way they have to "crowdfund" the "special military operation" that was supposed to last only a few days.
I concede that Russian politicians and oligarchs will probably not flee by helicopter - but only because Russia has lost so many in Ukraine: see "List_of_aircraft_losses_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War: Russian aircraft losses, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine," at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/, and "Russia has already lost 215 planes and 180 helicopters in the war with Ukraine," https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/06/17/7353022/.
Crux - the India-based internet channel from which you took the video clip - also carries this report - "Will Ukraine Setback Unseat Putin? Why Russia's War Losses May Trigger Political Upheaval In Kremlin," Sep 15, 2022, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuZGLatobGk. It carries commentary on "The recent counteroffensive in Donbas has put Russian President Vladimir Putin in a difficult situation. The recent setback is being criticised by important figures within Russia. The Ukrainian fight back is also raising question over Putin's legitimacy. In this episode of DeCode we look at if Putin can survive this onslaught or will this be the end of the road for Putin."
There is an interesting opinion piece article in The Sydney Morning Herald today, which looks beyond the Russian Federation's attempt to annex Ukraine by their political and internation editor, Peter Hartcher, entitled "Russia is struggling to annexe Ukraine, but China is annexing Russia pretty effortlessly" (https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/ru...19-p5bj57.html). It contains an example of the change in standing of the two countries and their leaders: "One telltale sign was the summit shenanigans at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s leaders last week. A notoriously petty Putin power play was turned against him. The Russian dictator often made foreign leaders suffer the humiliation of an extended wait before arriving for scheduled summits. For instance, he once kept Donald Trump waiting for 45 minutes and India’s Narendra Modi for 50. He routinely kept Ukrainian leaders waiting three or four hours. But the record was when he made German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffer an insufferable 4¼ hours. So there was notable schadenfreude last week when four nations’ leaders made Putin wait. Modi took his opportunity to drive home Putin’s downgrading in the international order, and so did the leaders of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. “Putin used to make everyone wait,” observed a Ukrainian government adviser, Anton Gerashchenko. “Now he is the one waiting awkwardly. Times changed.”
The rest of the article is in a similar vein, but the conclusion is interesting: "When Xi formally is endorsed by the Chinese Communist Party Congress next month to serve a third five-year term as general secretary, he will not only become the first Chinese leader since Mao to serve a third term. He will be holding Russia, once China’s tutor, now its vassal, as a trophy. This is an undreamt-of asset for Beijing, one that only Putin’s misjudgement could have delivered."
===Anton Gerashchenko===
Do you want to quote more clowns?
There is proverb in political circles in Ukraine: "Listen Gerashchenko and do opposite". That clown wasn't right even once. Do you remember elections when Trump won? At that night Gerashchenko send congratulation to Clinton - he was so eager to be first politician who will congrats Clinton.
===The Ukrainian fight back===
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias...ps-11663415140Quote:
Russia has inflicted serious damage on Ukrainian forces with recently introduced Iranian drones, in its first wide-scale deployment of a foreign weapons system since the war began, Ukrainian commanders say.
wait a little bit... maybe 2-3 weeks... and you will see helicopter above US embassy in Kiev
I didn't quote Anton Geraschenko, so I don't know why you referenced him. Grabbing at straws, maybe?
Why did you call Peter Hartcher "a clown"? Do you know anything about him - or was it just a gratuitous insult to someone with whose opinion you do not agree and about whom you know nothing? Perhaps you missed the wording in my posting that it was an opinion piece article and not a news article? People in the democracies are entitled to publish opinions, whether or not others agree with them.
Once again, when the conversation takes a turn to which you cannot respond, you introduce a diversion, in this case by referencing Iranian drones. I don't recall you commenting negatively on Ukraine's use of Turkish drones earlier in the conflict. I draw your attention to an earlier report that "Russia was planning to acquire military drones from Iran, which has made significant progress in developing UAVs to compensate for its lack of an effective air force" (https://www.iranintl.com/en/202209174000), and guess that the Russian Federation is acquiring them for the same reason, i.e., that it now lacks an effective air force?
I wait with bated breath the news reports of helicopters above the US embassy in Kiev. I wonder whom they will deliver?
Russian guy trolling EU: he burns gas in his home 24/7 with live nonstop streaming. He pays 1.44 Euro per month for unlimited gas.
https://www.twitch.tv/russiangas1
Attachment 12775
A minor effort considering that State gas giant Gazprom's Portovaya liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is burning off, or "flaring," about 4.34 million cubic meters of gas a day.
That's equivalent to 1.6 billion cubic meters on an annual basis, or about 0.5% of the European bloc's gas demand, and worth about $10 million a day based on last week's European spot gas price.
However, this flaring is an "environmental disaster," with about 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted every day. That's the same amount of emissions produced over a whole year by more than 1,100 average American homes.
The emissions are a contribution to global warming, which will probably contribute to the melting of the permafrost that underlies the Russian tundra. When the tundra melts, the ground is less solid, and that could be disastrous for Russian cities and critical infrastructure like buildings and oil pipelines, roads and railways, as well as can negatively affect the connectivity and accessibility of northern Russian communities by land.
However, if that person feels he is making a significant gesture to Europe, who are we to complain. As I noted in an earlier posting in this thread, people are entitled to express their opinions. I did notice, however, he doesn't seem to have anything to cook.
After enforced few waves of mobilization, Ukraine found new way how o instill patriotism to own soldiers.
Vostok battalion commander Alexander Khodakovsky (DNR) in his Telegram channel (Rus) https://t.me/s/aleksandr_skif
"The situation near Kherson is not easy, communication across the Dnieper is extremely difficult, it is likely that the enemy will again try to push us across the river, for which he is ready to take unprecedented measures. The other day, ours saw an enemy tank and were about to destroy it, but his atypical behavior suspended the decision : the tank lifted the barrel up and began to rotate the turret, as if signaling surrender. Our guys got close to the car and saw that the hatches on the tank were welded - the crew was simply walled up, like in a tin can, and sent to die...."
who is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Khodakovsky
When did he return from Russia? In May 2018, Khodakovsky relocated to Russia and, in September 2018, he claimed that Russian border guards did not let him return to Donetsk. What led to a change of mind by the border guards?
Given that Khodakovsky is a Ukrainian defector who reportedly - according to the Wikipedia link you posted - changes the stories he tells the press, why should he be believed now? Just over a week ago, he told Newsweek: " that his unit sometimes has difficulty locating Ukrainian troops in combat, and that his unit does not have sufficient equipment. "I have fewer people than I would like—but the main difficulty I have is not in this, but in the fact that sometimes I cannot find the enemy's positions from which they are hitting us," he added. "If suddenly I can, then I don't have enough range to fire at them, or I don't have enough ammo."
And, given the reports of the uncivilized behavior of Russian troops towards defenseless men, women and children, as shown by the mass graves being exhumed and the targeting of hospitals and schools, I suppose the conclusion to Khodakovsky's story is that he obliged Ukraine by shelling the tank? Or did he just withdraw from Kherson, like other Russian troops?
===== In May 2018, Khodakovsky relocated to Russia and, in September 2018, he claimed that Russian border guards did not let him return to Donetsk. What led to a change of mind by the border guards? ====
in a few months after... that were power games within DNR - who will control region...
Power games indeed. I wonder what game he is now playing, as I see that Khodakovsky is now saying "Russia Can't Even Think of Advancing in Ukraine Anymore, Commander Says that the Ukrainians' successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv last week has left Russia's troops unable to advance, September 19, https://www.newsweek.com/russia-adva...mander-1744156.
The article reads in full: "Alexander Khodakovsky, a Kremlin-backed commander and former political leader in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, suggested Monday that the Ukrainians' successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv last week has left Russia's troops unable to advance.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Khodakovsky, a commander for the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion, said Ukraine continues transferring its soldiers and equipment in preparation for additional offensives in such a way that prevents Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 's troops from even considering advancing themselves.
"The past week passed without significant changes on the front line, but the relative stability should not mislead anyone," Khodakovsky wrote. "The enemy is preparing, transferring forces and equipment, and accumulating resources."
In the city of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine is regularly unloading trains with equipment and personnel, he said, adding that the Pokrovsk area "is almost not far behind in this regard."
"An interesting technique: they achieved success in one direction, brought us to a state where we do not think about any offensive in this direction, only about stabilizing the front line, and offensive surpluses are transferred to another sector," the commander said.
The successful Kharkiv counteroffensive launched by Ukraine in early September saw it recapture swathes of its territory in days.
"A developed transport infrastructure allows them to maneuver with limited forces, creating accumulations in places where it is necessary according to the plan, and the presence of a plan and success in its implementation is the possession of a strategic initiative," Khodakovsky added.
Khodakovsky said during Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts that he was "depressed by the results of this stage of the war" and that Russia's war efforts have been "sloppy."
The commander said that a lack of manpower is a more minor issue for Russia, and that his unit sometimes has difficulty locating Ukrainian troops in combat and does not have sufficient equipment.
"I have fewer people than I would like—but the main difficulty I have is not in this, but in the fact that sometimes I cannot find the enemy's positions from which they are hitting us," Khodakovsky said. "If suddenly I can, then I don't have enough range to fire at them, or I don't have enough ammo."
Nothing about Ukrainian tanks with welded-shut doors, though. The last sent of his speech suggest why he couldn't blow up such tanks, though - no armament left.
But his interpretation of the situation compares the Russian side as ineffectual compared with the Ukrainian side.
Opps...here we go.
Putin orders partial mobilization as a result of his self-acknowledgement of the defeat that surrounds him.
3,000 Russian reservists are now forced (under punishment of imprisonment) to leave their peaceful lives behind and plunge blindly into the jaws of death, all at the whim of one insane Dictator that they allow to control their lives. Their family members must be ecstatic!
More nuclear saber rattling (fully expected) resulting in the loudest "International Yawn" ever recorded. Fake annexations (fully expected) don't seem to be causing anyone to blink an eye either. The UN, NATO and all allies of the Free World are standing even firmer than before.
There's a lot of people in the World that believe it's time to end Putin's reign of terror (including a sizable percentage of Russians). Where's SEAL Team 6 when you need them?
"Partial mobilization" is a euphemism like "special military operation," used to misinform the Russian people about the state of affairs on the Ukrainian border.
Russian President's Action:
Putin announces the activation of 300, 000 reservists, because events are so obviously going in Russia's favor.
Russian People's Reactions so far:
1. Hundreds of protesters take to the streets and more than 1,000 are arrested, e.g., "Russian police are reported to have arrested hundreds of protesters rallying against the Kremlin's decision to call up thousands of extra troops to fight in Ukraine," and "Dozens were held in Irkutsk and other Siberian cities, and Yekaterinburg" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62981293). Some were "... directly conscripted into the military, according to a monitoring group" (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/22/e...hnk/index.html).
2. All one-way flights out of Russia to countries which do not have entry visa requirements for Russians sell out within hours of the announcement, e.g., "Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine," and "The price for flights from Moscow to Istanbul or Dubai increased within minutes before jumping again, reaching as high as €9200 ($13,600) for a one-way economy class fare" (https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/...22-p5bk16.html). Moreover, "Flights leaving Russia sell out after Putin announces mobilization," and "Direct flights from Moscow to countries that don’t require visas to enter — including Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia — have sold out until at least Friday, according to Russian outlet RBC" (https://www.politico.eu/article/flig...-mobilization/),
It is obvious to everyone that the Russian people are still solidly supporting this "special military operation" - isn't it?
I think Putin may have sealed his fate with this decision. There's a chance the Russian populous won't put up with this, and Putin won't be President in the near future.
Protests:
(participants)/(arrested)
Novosibirsk 70-100/1
Irkutsk 60-70/20
Voronezh 50-70/22
Ufa 80-100/30
Ekaterinburg 100-120/40
Sankt-Petersburg 2000-2500/490
Moscow 2500-3000/ below 600 (update: 468)
There were also more minor meetings below 50 participants in some cities (update: total number of cities including these above: 38). Medias publishing reports about such events without censorship. Example: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5571951 (Russian language)
In total arrested about 1300 (update: 1312). They got official warnings in police and were released within 3 hours.
Russia has 25 mln reservists. Govt call 300K of them: who served in army no more than 3 years ago, age below 35 yo. Payment starts from $3500 monthly and depends on military rang, state medical insurance, death insurance $60K.
Moses, I'm blown away as to how you're still in support of this war after everything that has happened. When is enough enough?
Hell, Russia even just released a bunch of soldiers from the Azov battalion in a prisoner swap, so this bullshit about trying to de-nazify Ukraine is obviously a lie.
Just one: vice-head of "Azov" battalion has been exchanged on one of relatives of Putin (Medvedchuk).
The most amazing thing: Putin's relative is citizen of Ukraine as well - Medvedchuk was head or president office of the second Ukrainian president Kuchma, leader of forbidden now opposition party "Opposition for life" and before arrest was 57-th richest Ukrainian. So Ukraine changed one own citizen to another own citizen. Most corrupted state in world trades own citizens. It is huge humiliations of Ukraine.
Rest exchange is just random: Russians to Ukrainians.
Did you mistype the number of reservists as 25 million? Published sources put the figure at only 2.5 million (International Institute for Strategic Studies (25 February 2021). "The Military Balance 2021." London: Routledge. p. 191. ISBN 9781032012278). The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank that closely tracks the war in Ukraine, previously said Russia has more than 2 million reservists, including former conscripts and contract soldiers (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...n-war-ukraine/). A reservist force of 25 million would be somewhere around 17% of the current Russian population, not counting those killed in the special military operation, those who fled Russia at the beginning of the special military operation, and those who have fled since the announcement of the call-up of the reservists.
"Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday following Putin’s address that Russia would call as many as 300,000 reservists to military service" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...n-war-ukraine/). The wording (at least in translations) is interesting because it is not precise, i.e., the inclusion of "as many as" suggests the number could be smaller.
What dent in all the extra revenue from oil exports to China and India will the monthly payments, state medical and death insurance put? Assuming the revenue is still available, of course.
However, the number of reservists "called up" is irrelevant. What is relevant is how may actually report for duty, how many are fit for duty, how many can be transported to the front lines, and whether or not the Russian military has the resources to arm and clothe, etc., them properly, given how "crowd-funding" had to be used earlier as so many personnel sent to the front had nothing.
==== Did you mistype the number of reservists as 25 million? Published sources put the figure at only 2.5 million (International Institute for Strategic Studies (25 February 2021) ===
Nope. Reservists in Russia is every one who has military ID (in direct translation from Russian "Military ticket"). Here are 2 types of reservists.
- professionals, they have monthly salary (very small, like a compensation for troubles, about $250 monthly, or maybe even yearly, I don't remember), they sign special contracts and must participate in yearly trainings for one month
- other holders of military ID, they must to participate in one-month long trainings once per 5 years, but state calls for training usually only reservists who is below 35 yo, or below 45 yo if he is officer.
2,5 mln are professionals, total q-ty of reserve is 25 mln.
The clarification was most useful.
So, in effect, any fighting on the Russian side from now on is likely to be by military personnel whose contracts have been unilaterally extended without consultation (and who probably don't want to be there), and by people suddenly called up and who have received only a short period of training/retraining (and who also probably don't want to be there), just as winter approaches. I know that General Winter (or General Frost, if you prefer) has been a Russian ally in the past, but I wonder if that will be the case this time as temperatures begin to drop as September draws to a close?
I wonder if Putin will threaten the Russian protestors with nukes?
=== and by people suddenly called up and who have received only a short period of training/retraining ===
you again didn't get... every reservist is person who served in army at least one year, of had military education in university as a officer for 5 years (almost each state civilian university here has military department, where males 5 years study military subjects and receive officer's degree (and range) along with civilian diploma)
so my post was not about "short period", it is about yearly "short period" for "to keep / up to date" skills which they got in normal army service in past
Moses, Russia has lost the war my son. And a long time ago as well.
Get over it, Russia is not going to win this war. Just the fact they've had to turn to conscription is proof they have lost the war. It's over, Russia lost, deal with it.
I read the qualifications for calling up but my comment about "a short period of training/retraining referred to the period after being recalled to service, not what happened before, to acquaint them with possible/probable changes in equipment brought about by the losses so far sustained by the Russian forces (e.g., thousands of tanks, and considerable quantities of other equipment) and older replacements brought out of storage (such as including decades-old T-62 tanks) - or even weapons, etc., brought from abroad, such as Turkish or Iranian drones ("Russia Is Scouring the Globe for Weapons to Use Against Ukraine," https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...war-in-ukraine).
As of 2021, the Russian Ground Forces have 2,840 tanks in service and 10,200 tanks in storage, as well as 330 tanks in the formations of the Coastal Forces of the Navy and 160 tanks in the Airborne Forces
Iranian drones already made Ukrainians cry https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias...ps-11663415140
"your son" is in your pants, dear... soft and useless
As per your wet dreams about results of this military conflict, I'm very happy what you are predicting "Russia lost" since no one your prediction in this thread is correct. Do you remember Matty "200 rub per dollar"? "15% of GDP fall"?
Ruble is 60:1 - 18% stronger than before conflict, current GDP shows this year will be -2.8% of GDP. Inflation in Russia 12%, while in some countries of EU is over 25%.
So then more you "predict" lost of Russia, then more I'm sure in positive results.
By the way, have you seen Gazprom shares?
Attachment 12777
The number of tanks "As of 2021" is irrelevant, given that a considerable percentage of them - some estimates as high as 40% (https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/...nalysis-a78727) - have already been destroyed in only 6 months. The number of tanks in storage is impressive - but in reality, nobody – likely not even Russia – knows precisely how many of those estimated thousands can emerge from storage and be made operational again. Even if they can be made operational, that will take time and human resources that may not be available, and probably require retraining those tank personnel whose original training was on more modern machines. Moreover, any tanks recovered from storage will have to be transported from wherever they are, which will require considerable logistical power.
Weapons and personnel are only useful when they are operational and when they can be deployed.
The Iranian drones may have made Ukrainians cry, but the Ukrainian resistance has forced Putin to call for the mobilization of 300,000 reservists because a "special military operation" to take the whole of Ukraine would take a matter of days has now last seven months - and the Russians have been retreating. Russian forces look spectacular when marching in choreographed Victory Day parades, less so when they are in precipitate humiliating retreat, leaving everything behind.
According to a report in the UK publication "The Telegraph," a considerable number of either those 25 million ordinary reservists or the 2.5 professional reservists might soon find themselves on the front line - "Putin ‘passes secret law to send one million Russians to fight in Ukraine,’ Nataliya Vasilyeva - Yesterday 21:24" (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f116d3586ed01c). The article claims that "Vladimir Putin has secretly approved a law that could send a further one million men to fight in Ukraine, according to information leaked from the Kremlin."
The claim is in reference to the redacted Section 7 of Putin's decree, and a claim that the number of personnel to be reactivated "had been revised several times and that the Russian military insisted on it being classified."
Other newspapers are reporting this claim as well, e.g., https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...ine-classified and https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...llion-28056046.
This is another instance of where we will have to wait to see if fact is stranger than fiction.