Russian army has 'basically failed' | Cedric Leighton

“The Russians have basically failed in terms of their organisation and their ability to carry out their operations.”

Is the Russian army lacking organisation and slowing the invasion down? Kait Borsay asks former Pentagon joint staff member, Cedric Leighton, on #TimesRadio.
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[mikeshoults]

Never consider your enemy inept,
Untill after they have been defeated.

[jonnygreen]

The lack of initiative being given to people lower down the chain of command is reflective of Russian governance now, Soviet communist culture previously. Basically, the country is all about one man, the people are just a resource.

[Evie]

Their main failure is lying to their own soldiers about the war, telling them they were going on exercise and plunging them into an unjust war against their neighbours 😡

[gaoxiaen]

I'm praying for Putin's health... to get worse.

[d.e.]

On point analysis about the main difference between western and russian military organization : the importance of middle-rank.
As I always said back in my officer days : politicians start wars, officers theorize wars, soldiers fight wars and sergeants win wars.

[benwarnock]

Honestly, you guys don’t need to start with the teaser clips. Better to just go straight in.

[stephenvalente]

The Ukrainians have got the measure of the Red Army, and can beat them back across the border with more equipment.

[kalangwapaschal]

I agreed with the lady who said that putin is humiliating himself on the world's stage

[gerrypowell]

During the Second World War the Ukrainian army and fighters fought ferociously, nothing much has changed except Putin had forgotten this minor fact

[j.j.]

Poor Vladimir. Someone should return the"favor"and give him a nice cup of "tea" and put him to "bed" for a long nap.

[pgr]

Russia faces NATO expansion on their border and locality, tens of thousands of troop losses, tens of billions of dollars of military materiel losses. Hundreds of billions of dollars wiped off their economic output, 20 percent inflation for the average Russian. Much reduction in military prestige, much reduction in Russian influence in Europe, especially trade and energy. Much less Russian political influence in Europe. Much more reliance on China and eastern markets, at the whims of those markets forced into heavily discounting their precious crown jewels of energy resources. Russia is selling out to survive and will hand greater influence in the country to China. Global reduction in Russian political prestige and relations, serious damage to these African nations relying on Ukrainian food stuffs. I could go on but perhaps you get the point of how temporarily occupying some villages in Ukraine is a massive net loss overall in the big

[dank]

Putin is under stress (under appreciated & serious condition) due to having been humiliated on the world stage after his pre invasion speech in which he promised his subjects an complete victory over Ukraine.

[patrickabas]

we should measure the amount of land occupied since the start of the war and the situation before feb. 24. Then you will see the amount is not that much but said that still way too much as they have no right to be there. The reason why they lost all that territory since 2014 was that the west did NOTHING to help Ukraine in 2014. If they would have done what they are doing now the situation we are in (we as the world, not just Ukraine) would not have happened!

[rtqii]

Severodonetsk is nothing but a city sized Russian armor trap. Ukrainians spent weeks carefully laying anti-armor mines. All kinds of mines. Mines from several different countries, and directly from arms manufacturers. Smart mines. Then they carefully sighted the entire city grid with 155mm artillery located in Lysychansk. This is well planned trap designed to destroy Russian armor. And it works, Ukrainians pushed Russians back in Severodonetsk, and they are re-mining.

[mattmccaughen]

Ukraine is training 100ks reservists which are being fielded as we speak and the Russian soldiers don't have the morale to hold the land they have captured time for Russia to get the big boot outta Ukraine SLAVA UKRAINI

[ajknaup]

What alot of us failed to account for was the transformation of the Ukrainian Military. In 2014 they couldn't stop the Separatists with some Russian Army troops & equipment. Ukraine took 8 years, trained & equipped & prepared. & of course, they have a hero for a president. Remember what that's like?

[PeterSedesse]

If you start after the first 48 hours, the Russians have lost 90% of the territory they gained the first 48 hours. They had Kherson and had mariupol surrounded the first 48 hours..and then spent two months gaining the last square mile of mariupol.

[vaataja]

Mr Leighton mentioned poor military culture but I would especially point out their non-existent logistics in the beginning of the war (fuel, food, rest-sleep). Maybe they thought that Ukrainians don't dare to fight back (unbeatable glorious Russian army is coming!!!). Maybe they were thinking Ukrainian army will fold fast but in reality Ukrainians showed Russian army is far away from that unbeatable Juggernaut all the world was thinking about them. Russia is strong on the paper but poor military culture, poor planning and execution lowers their capabilities.

The first rule: Never underestimate your enemy.
The second rule: Logistics wins wars.
The third rule: Use combined arms warfare.

[tomf]

I wonder if some in the Russian government are actually getting worried that their ineptitude has been exposed, and that they will have been weakened to such a degree, that they could be susceptible to a special operation on their soil. Instead of saying they are under threat for propaganda purposes, they may actually start to feel vulnerable

[lexslate]

Ukrainians aren't fighting for their land, they're fighting to survive. Given how Russian troops have been murdering civilians and generally treating atrocities as a strategy, Ukraine is keenly aware that losing this war isn't just a loss of territory; it's a risk of extinction.