The Kremlin’s gamble – why the Russians did not underestimate the Ukrainians in February 2022, tsratagem.no

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, shocked the world. The insufficient size of the invasion force compared to the size of Ukraine and the Russian approach in the initial phase of the invasions led many to believe that the Russian political leadership had made an erroneous calculation. Arguably, the widely accepted view today is that the Kremlin believed the Ukrainians would put up little to no resistance, and that Russian forces expected to march, largely unopposed, into Kyiv. However, the Russian political leadership did not underestimate the Ukrainian ability and will to defend against the Russian invasion, and the decision to invade must be seen as a gamble rather than an intelligence failure. Läs artikel