5 Sep 2022 8:23 pm
Major mistakes were made by Russia at the outset of the invasion. The Russian's believed they could just make a sudden surprise invasion of Ukraine throughout the entire expanse of the border, including the Belorussian border and Ukraine would fall in a matter of 2-3 days without much of a fight. This proved overly optimistic and spread the Russian forces out throughout the border regions. They paid a heavy price, and much of the invasion force were ill-prepared, ill-trained and lacked the supplies necessary for a prolonged conflict. Once in place the Russians were unable to provide logistic support and the Russians got their asses kicked due in large part to a fairly rapid response from the NATO countries in supplying the Ukrainians with small scale weaponry. The Ukrainians were protecting their homeland and the Russian forces in many cases weren't even sure where they were, not having been told in advance they were even taking part in an invasion. Many were led to believe they were on a training exercise in order to keep the operation secret.
As a result many of the Russian forces scattered throughout Western Ukraine were slaughtered piecemeal. The Russians eventually altered their tactics to a more viable strategy concentrating their forces in Eastern Ukraine. The main dividing line between the Russian and Ukrainian forces is the Dnieper River. The Russians control the regions East of the Dnieper while the Ukrainians control the regions West of the Dnieper (for the most part). The exception being where the Dnieper flows into the Black Sea in Southern Ukraine. The Russians took control of this region early on and retain control of 3 key crossing points below Kherson (2 are bridges and the 3rd is a Dam at Nova Kakhovka. The dam is easily located as the river widens into a reservoir behind the dam in the image.
As a result many of the Russian forces scattered throughout Western Ukraine were slaughtered piecemeal. The Russians eventually altered their tactics to a more viable strategy concentrating their forces in Eastern Ukraine. The main dividing line between the Russian and Ukrainian forces is the Dnieper River. The Russians control the regions East of the Dnieper while the Ukrainians control the regions West of the Dnieper (for the most part). The exception being where the Dnieper flows into the Black Sea in Southern Ukraine. The Russians took control of this region early on and retain control of 3 key crossing points below Kherson (2 are bridges and the 3rd is a Dam at Nova Kakhovka. The dam is easily located as the river widens into a reservoir behind the dam in the image.