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Ideas come upon us in various ways. Some ideas lead to greatness. Other ones are catastrophic in nature. These catastrophic ideas might start as a flicker, a deadly ember, and then they might perhaps transform themselves becoming massive in scope.

Nobody knows exactly how Putin came to his final catastrophic decision to wage war on Ukraine. But I don’t think anyone can deny the horror of this decision.

I like this quote from the Economist: “No plan of battle survives contact with the enemy, but he has fared worse than many.” And it is true. All over, the Russian armies are being met with fierce resistance.

Putin’s latest move has only strengthened the world, and countries have come together to denounce the crazed Dictator. His troops are getting tired. Everywhere they go, they encounter resistance, and every hour they grow more discontented.

Putin is paying a heavy price for his idea — an idea that he could have pushed from his maniacal brain easily. Only he didn’t do that. And now he faces the real threat that his very leadership is threatened in the upcoming days.



Everybody wants peace. There are many reports that even many in Putin’s forces don’t know why they’re there, are tired, hungry, and angry. President Biden has done an extraordinary job in pulling back the curtain of Putin’s soul and showing everyone the vast lunacy that floats within him.



And reportedly, there are many Russian casualties. Ukrainians are fighting back furiously. Men of all ages are signing up to fight. Putin is reportedly fuming. And I do not want in any way to minimize that fact. A furious dictator is a worrisome one.

Yet he is trapped by his own greed, and things will only worsen for him. Whatever happens in the upcoming days and weeks, Ukraine will not stop its resistance.


Yes, ideas are often catastrophic in nature. But sometimes, these ideas also do not work out as the person planned. Sometimes they have horrific consequences. And for Putin, what we’ve seen so far, is just the tip of the iceberg in the virulent punishment that awaits him.

https://www.palmerreport.com/politics/president-biden-is-getting-the-best-of-vladimir-putin/44209/

Ukrainian forces continue to fend off Russian troops as fighting persists Sunday, prompting apparent frustration from Russian President Vladimir Putin and questions regarding strategic miscalculations.

Russia’s military is roughly 4.5 times larger than Ukraine’s active-duty force, but Ukrainians continue to hold the capital city of Kyiv as Russian troops encircle it.

"The longer this goes on the worse it is for Vladimir Putin," former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital. "There's got to be some questions about miscalculations."

Despite concerns expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, senior defense officials have noted that the Russian troops have failed to carry out successful military operations under the cover of darkness.

Russian soldiers have appeared poorly equipped and reports have surfaced suggesting troops were forced to forage for food and supplies in Ukrainian towns – a move that has surprised Western onlookers.

"They've been out in the field for a very long time, in the wintertime, which takes its toll," former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO, Michael Ryan, said in reference to the 150,000 Russian troops that were stationed along Ukraine’s border in the lead up to the invasion.

"In the Russian army – just like in the Soviet Army and then Russian armies historically – junior soldiers are treated very badly," he said noting it is a consistent mentality at every level in the Russian ranks.

Ryan, who also served as the former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, argued that while this may be a successful tactic to maintaining order on a garrison the strategy fails in combative situations.

"They use a very strict discipline that's enforced by very severe punishments in order to maintain cohesion of a fighting force," he said.

"When you go out into combat, it requires initiative and understanding on the part of your soldiers to achieve the objectives against difficult odds – they just don't have that mindset," Ryan continued. "They don't have that training. They don't have that flexibility that Western forces tend to have because of the way our cultures operate."

The experts warned against comparing the U.S. image of a fighting force to Russia’s defenses.

"Humans tend to mirror image – we equate our understanding of our army with their understanding of their army. But history doesn’t bear out that they conduct their military affairs the same way we do," Ryan said.

Senior defense officials have confirmed that Russian forces have been unsuccessful in gaining air superiority or taking any city in Ukraine despite Russia’s advanced military capabilities.

"Russia has clearly underestimated Ukraine’s willingness to resist. Putin displayed his hubris in thinking that Ukrainian resistance would crumble like a stale pastry," former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, James Anderson, told Fox News Digital.

The former Pentagon official said it is down to Zelenskyy’s determination to stay in Ukraine despite "mortal danger to himself and his family" that has unified his forces.

"His courageous decision to remain in Kyiv has clearly strengthened the resolve of the Ukrainian military and inspired ordinary citizens to stand and fight against the invaders," Anderson said.

Officials agree that Moscow was not anticipating Ukraine’s resolve to counter Russian forces – an oversight Hoffman called an ironic "intelligence failure" given Putin’s history leading Russian intelligence forces under the KGB.

enior defense officials said that as of Saturday, Russia has deployed more than 50 percent of its amassed force into Ukraine.

But Ryan warned that this could indicate Moscow has launched an operational probe to check for Ukrainian weak points.

"Normally, in military operational activity it's a two-third forward and one-third in reserve," he explained. "You keep one-third of your force in reserve either to reinforce where you're weak – the enemies counter-attacks – or to exploit success."

Ryan said Russia is exemplifying "classic" Russian tactics in pursuing one objective while seemingly bypassing other cities to come back to later.

Putin has justified his invasion of Ukraine as a preemptive operation to counter what he has claimed is NATO aggression towards Russia.

In the lead-up to the invasion, Putin demanded that NATO bar Ukraine from being permitted admittance into the 30-nation alliance – a demand the West flatly rejected.



Hoffman argued that Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and his inability to do it as quickly as security officials initially feared has played in Ukraine’s favor.

"Before Russia's attack on Ukraine, it was Ukraine seeking to join NATO," the former CIA Moscow station chief said noting the praise Zelenskyy has received from Western leaders. "Now it's NATO joining Ukraine and their fight for freedom and independence.


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/putins-strategic-failure-miscalculations-plays-out-world-stage-experts

Bank of China’s Singapore operation has stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and Russian companies, amid concerns of western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said a source on Monday with knowledge of the matter.

Bank of China did not immediately comment.

Reuters reported last Thursday that major buyers of Russian oil were struggling to open letters of credit from Western banks to cover purchases or find ships willing to transport Russian oil.

European banks Societe Generale SA and Credit Suisse Group AG have halted the financing of commodities, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-swift-commodities/bank-of-chinas-singapore-operation-stops-financing-russian-oil-trades-source-idINL4N2V30WC

Russian President Vladimir Putin, monitoring developments in Ukraine from his "lair in the Urals," is "furious" and "fuming" that his military’s invasion of the smaller country to the south hasn’t gone more smoothly, claims a European Union official who says he has reviewed a Ukrainian intelligence report.

Riho Terras, a former defense chief in Estonia and member of the European Parliament, detailed the contents of the documents in a Twitter thread Saturday.

Fox News has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the intel report, which Terras included in his Twitter post.

Putin is accompanied in the Urals location by Russian oligarchs "so no one will flee," Terras claimed

"He thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days," Terras wrote.

Instead, Ukrainian military members – and civilians arming themselves with guns and Molotov cocktails – have been working to fend off Russian forces who have been entering Ukraine from several directions since Thursday.

As his thread continues, Terras claims the intel report says the Russian forces lacked an adequate tactical plan and were themselves strapped for supplies – bringing enough rockets for only three or four days, and thus "use them sparingly."

Hopes of the Russians getting more weapons and ammunition are limited, Terras claims.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-furious-ukraine-invasion-easy-eu-riho-terras-intel

Russian soldiers wearing Ukrainian army uniform have been arrested by Ukrainian forces in the city of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The Russian saboteur group arrived by a small boat.


https://twitter.com/Caucasuswar/status/1497618886107316226

Champions League final will be moved from St Petersburg to Paris

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1497142769621610512

An abandoned Russian BTR in the failed offensive on Kharkov city is being drained from its diesel fuel by locals.

Video here
https://twitter.com/Caucasuswar/status/1497108660052541469

Footage by Izvestia of Russian forces allegedly on the outskirts of Schastia. Reports by Ukrainian forces of recapturing the town could be true. But both sides claim the town at this point. Time will tell.

watch the video here

https://twitter.com/Caucasuswar/status/1496759029657391108

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