I don't get the Russian strategy (or lack thereof).

[Beastly Boy]

27. I believe what so perplexes us non-Russians in analyzing Russia's blunders has to do with

several things that are ingrained in the nature of the Russian state that are foreign to us.

First is the super-rigid chain of command of the Russian army. Initiative on the part junior officers is not only discouraged but severely punished. A lieutenant cannot make a move without receiving orders from a Major, a Major cannot make a move without orders from a Colonel, a Colonel cannot make a move without orders from a General. And the worst thing is that the Generals are 100% beholden to an individual who is the head of state, as incompetent in military matters as he is and as intolerant to dissent as he is. The result is that amateur Putin, without ever experiencing the nuances of warfare, ultimately determines the orders that a Lieutenant gives to his platoon. And these orders, relayed through the long chain of command, become irrelevant by the time they get to the Lieutenant on the battlefield.


Second is the overwhelming culture of corruption that permeates the highest echelons of Russia's institutions. It has been integrated into Russia's culture to the degree that without it Russia's institututions cannot function, and it didn't spare the Russian armed forces. Once everyone gets their cut of funds and equipment intended for the Army, what looks like an invincible force on paper, ends up as a facade behind which there is nothing but a woefully underfunded and neglected house of cards.

So Putin, the guy at the top, having no experience in warfare, and having no clue of the condition of his army, the condition that has been routinely concealed from him by the plutocrats, has been making decisions that are being informed more by his ideology rather than realistic strategic goals, and does not tolerate any advice to the contrary coming from his generals who must obey his orders or else.

This would be equivalent to the Pope telling his cardinals to perform brain surgery using rusted plumbing tools