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anextio | 3 years ago

The Russians have shown that they don't care about holding territory in the short term, see Kherson withdrawal, etc. They are only focused on attrition and minimizing their own casualties. If Ukraine goes into Transnistria it will not force Russia to capitulate.

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meheleventyone|3 years ago

> “They are only focused on attrition and minimizing their own casualties.”

???

That’s errr... going poorly.

anextio|3 years ago

https://meduza.io/amp/en/news/2023/02/17/close-to-15k-russia...

An investigation via open sources by the BBC and Meduza (an anti-Putin media outlet based in Latvia) has confirmed the deaths of about 15k Russian soldiers since the start of the war, and estimates the true number to be up to 60% higher.

What sources do you have that the widely reported media number of 200k+ is actually true that doesn’t ultimately come from the government of Ukraine (who would have an interest in over-inflating their victories) or by a western government that is militarily supporting Ukraine?

kibwen|3 years ago

> They are only focused on attrition and minimizing their own casualties.

The former, yes. The latter, no.

dragonwriter|3 years ago

> If Ukraine goes into Transnistria it will not force Russia to capitulate.

A Ukraine invasion of Moldova would result in Ukraine being forced to capitulate by the sudden collapse of all outside support.

I suppose Ukraine supporting a Moldovan effort to push Russia out of Transnistria might be a thing that could happen without that consequence, but it doesn’t seem like something likely to happen while Ukraine is busy fighting Russia over Ukraine.