from Hacker News

The puzzle doesn't fit.The ex KGB agent and the dancing comedian

by pavornyoh on 3/9/22, 12:27 AM with 12 comments

The war minus the human pain and suffering is like watching a live chess match. Main players being what I mentioned in the title and then rest of the world on standby with " cleverly worded press conferences". What I can't figure out are;

1)How is Ukraine (inspiring) able to fight Russia - superpower and hangon for this long?

2)How are they able to predict and shoot down Russian jets with precision ? Unless it is us haha fighting on their behalf and with the jets painted with Ukrainian flags? I know... It's crazy thought but..

3)And why would the president of Belarus whom aligns with Russia make a "supposedly mistake as he briefed his generals"about the next country for invasion - Moldova should Russia win the battle?

4)And why during the third peace talk, Russia had five people at the table and Ukraine four? Is it to show dominance? So very interesting to say the least.

The question is who makes a serious mistake at a time like this when they trying to win? Nobody. So why?

One of the rules of chess is to attack the king by focusing on his escape squares and Ukraine is doing it well unless ahemmm...........

Am I making sense or am I a crazy woman? Thanks for answering and please have a good rest of our week.

  • by afarrell on 3/9/22, 1:00 AM

    Chess is a very simple game. All of the rules are known to both players. All of the information is known to both players. It is impossible for a rook to suddenly get stuck in mud or surrender because it feels hungry and confused. It is impossible for one side to roll a set of dice to request additional knights. Neither player’s cognitive abilities are impaired by sleep deprivation or fears of being murdered by a bishop. There are only two players.

    > who makes a serious mistake at a time like this when they are trying to win. Nobody.

    The number of examples of military blunders in human history is too numerous to count. Some examples you’ll want to look at include the British defense of Singapore, the peninsula campaign of the US civil war, the Franco-Prussian war, and the 12 battles of the Isonzo river.

  • by tannerbrockwell on 3/9/22, 1:00 AM

    The Ukraines shot one of their negotiators for treason. Maybe no one wants his seat.[1]

    [1]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10582805/Ukrainian-...

  • by gvb on 3/9/22, 2:59 AM

    1) How is Ukraine (inspiring) able to fight Russia - superpower and hangon for this long?

    A: “In a fight between a bear and an alligator, it is the terrain which determines who wins.” – Jim Barksdale

    Parable explained: "Barksdale: Well, in the animal world, a bear is not going to whip an alligator in water. And an alligator isn’t going to whip a bear on dry land. So, it’s not just the fighter, it’s the terrain that they’re on..." https://hbr.org/2014/06/dont-play-with-dead-snakes-and-other...

    Russia is struggling, especially in the north, with adverse terrain. See also "Feeding the Bear: A Closer Look at Russian Army Logistics" [1]

    2) How are they able to predict and shoot down Russian jets with precision?

    Ukraine started the war with some of the best antiaircraft missiles and some of the best fighter jets Russia produced. That has been augmented by both Russian-made MANPADS (Strela [2]) and US-made MANPADS (Stingers [3]). The aircraft have to fly low because they don't have (enough / many / any?) precision guided bombs so they have to fly low in order to drop bombs with any accuracy. That makes them vulnerable to MANPADS. There might also be some cuing hints coming from the AWACS planes orbiting in Poland.

    [1] https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/feeding-the-bear-a-closer-...

    [2] https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-...

    [3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2022/03/08/ukraines...