Would someone mind explaining why Russia ordered a mass retreat back in 2022?
Why was this order given? The details are shaky but I have read that Shoigu and a few others was heavily criticized blamed for this by other generals when it happened. They were also heavily criticized at the time, and still are for doing it because it's nonsense shifting the entire war to the East instead of North, Cherniv etc which is closer to the capital. After the retreat order they also very much like picking out retarded territories around Mariupol as their silly near zero value stalingrad meatgrinders on the east instead of real strategic objectives like at least holding out on the urban outskirts of Kiev, opening up tactical options while constantly forcing the Ukrainians to choose instead of creating the absolutely retarded WW1 tier solid front they have going now, which is a big problem and that is taking too much time.
>"Russian troops will retreat from Kherson. Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu ordered the withdrawal of military equipment and personnel from the right (western) bank of the Dnipro River, where Kherson is located. “Proceed with troop withdrawal and take all measures for the safe transfer of equipment, weapons, and personnel across the Dnipro,” said Shoigu.
>"Shoigu’s order to retreat followed the recommendation of General Sergey Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. The general made a report to Shoigu on November 9, which was broadcast live on Russian television. Surovikin said that under current conditions it is impossible to fully supply Kherson, and that it would be best to take up a defensive position on the Dnipro’s left bank."
>"According to Surovikin, the retreat from the right to the left bank of the river will save soldiers’ lives. “The lives and safety of our Russian troops is always our priority. We also need to keep in mind the threat to the civilian population,” Shoigu agreed."
>"Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Chechnya and a frequent commenter on the war in Ukraine, wrote on Telegram that he agrees with Surovikin’s decision. “Having weighed all the pros and cons, General Surovikin made a difficult but correct choice,” said Kadyrov."
>Before Shoigu announced the retreat, there were reports that the Russian army was blowing up bridges over the Dnipro. Serhiy Khlan, a deputy on the Kherson Regional Council, said that Russia had blown up five bridges leading to the right bank of the Dnipro. According to Khlan, this represents the Russian army’s attempt to attempt to prepare for the withdrawal and slow down Ukrainian Armed Forces’ advance on the left bank region. Neither army has officially confirmed blowing up bridges.
"We are retreating let's blow up the bridges we took instead of controlling them".. If it's the correct decision then why deny blowing them up?
From wikipedia
>"Russia tried to seize Kyiv quickly, with Spetsnaz infiltrating into the city supported by airborne operations and a rapid mechanised advance from the north, but failed."
They just "failed"..
<"Russia continued to not use its full arsenal;
>the ISW said this was likely to avoid the diplomatic and public relations consequences of mass civilian casualties, as well as >to avoid creating rubble that would impede the advance of its own forces."
The civilian casualties part I understand, however the logic is very shaky as hypothetically if they used their full arsenal to success then both their own casualties and overall civilian casualties would have been lessened by now not prolonging the conflict. Now there's rubble everywhere. Doesn't make much sense.
I'm pretty sure Ukraine did not actually in fact push them back that much. As you can see the reality was that they were given an order to retreat from regions very much closer to Kiev than they are now, not saying resistance wasn't stiff but it was definitely stiffer 1-2 years later at the peak once Ukraine learned how to fight, especially with drones. The counter offensive "success" of ukraine seems to be mostly caused by the retreat order not the offensive itself. The Russian army doesn't really care much about human life in general and they don't fight like human life is worth anything. So why then? Don't give me any bullshit reasoning like this. Supplies? They were still not supplying their meatgrinder at bakhmut properly, causing wagner to chimp out because of the nonsense, so whatever reason it is intentional. A lot of this war genuinely suspect and seems like self sabotage by Russia, not fighting to win. For some reason the plan was clearly not besieging or even controlling the areas around Kiev.