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Because tanks are expensive and sending prisoners with AK-47 to storm enemy trenches is much cheaper.

smcl 4y ago
So you're saying they've got this enormous fleet of tanks that they've yet to deploy but which could turn the tide of the war ... and they're just sitting on them? I don't buy it.
- tokai 4y ago
  Its a classic russian strategy for coping. They will state that they are choosing to loose and that they could win if they wanted. It's unclear what exactly this helps, other than making them seem incompetent and willing to let people die when it could have been avoided.
  - foverzar 4y ago
    > It's unclear what exactly this helps, other than making them seem incompetent and willing to let people die when it could have been avoided. How exactly is the massive deployment of mobile artillery supposed to result in less deaths? In any case, the end of the war would obviously not be the end of the world. Isn't the whole point of the aid for Ukraine that it is supposed to contain Russia and deplete its military and economic capabilities?
    - smcl 4y ago
      The point of the aid is to assist Ukraine in its defence. Whether Putin chooses to continue to exhaust Russian military stockpiles and crater the Russian economy in pursuit of a war that looks increasingly unwinnable is his choice.
      - foverzar 4y ago
        > Whether Putin chooses to continue to exhaust Russian military stockpiles and crater the Russian economy in pursuit of a war that looks increasingly unwinnable is his choice. So yeah, my point to parent asking why Russia might not be throwing everything at once.
- codedokode 4y ago
  I just wrote that Russia has lot of tanks so it has reserves to replace lost ones; I didn't write that using them all at once can give any advantage.
red-iron-pine 4y ago
Storming the trenches implies they're actually there to fight and win. In most cases they're there to get shot at enough while drones watch and tag enemy positions for artillery strikes. In peer- or near-peer conflicts arty accounts for a high, often monumentally high, number of casualties -- easily 75% or more. The prisoners aren't expected to win, that would require lots of training, trust, gear, and planning; they're expected to draw fire, and the VDV or main-line regulars will clean up the rest.

smcl 4y ago

So you're saying they've got this enormous fleet of tanks that they've yet to deploy but which could turn the tide of the war ... and they're just sitting on them? I don't buy it.

tokai 4y ago
Its a classic russian strategy for coping. They will state that they are choosing to loose and that they could win if they wanted. It's unclear what exactly this helps, other than making them seem incompetent and willing to let people die when it could have been avoided.
- foverzar 4y ago
  > It's unclear what exactly this helps, other than making them seem incompetent and willing to let people die when it could have been avoided. How exactly is the massive deployment of mobile artillery supposed to result in less deaths? In any case, the end of the war would obviously not be the end of the world. Isn't the whole point of the aid for Ukraine that it is supposed to contain Russia and deplete its military and economic capabilities?
  - smcl 4y ago
    The point of the aid is to assist Ukraine in its defence. Whether Putin chooses to continue to exhaust Russian military stockpiles and crater the Russian economy in pursuit of a war that looks increasingly unwinnable is his choice.
    - foverzar 4y ago
      > Whether Putin chooses to continue to exhaust Russian military stockpiles and crater the Russian economy in pursuit of a war that looks increasingly unwinnable is his choice. So yeah, my point to parent asking why Russia might not be throwing everything at once.
codedokode 4y ago
I just wrote that Russia has lot of tanks so it has reserves to replace lost ones; I didn't write that using them all at once can give any advantage.

red-iron-pine 4y ago

Storming the trenches implies they're actually there to fight and win. In most cases they're there to get shot at enough while drones watch and tag enemy positions for artillery strikes. In peer- or near-peer conflicts arty accounts for a high, often monumentally high, number of casualties -- easily 75% or more. The prisoners aren't expected to win, that would require lots of training, trust, gear, and planning; they're expected to draw fire, and the VDV or main-line regulars will clean up the rest.