[Goose]

Putin is going to have a hard time admitting this even happened once it is over.  This ranks up with embarrasing events like the Israeli smuggling bombs into an Iranian guest house.

IMO this is much more embarrassing. Smuggling in a bomb and killing one guy is not ideal, but it isn't costing Iran territory or lives. In fact, it is entirely possible some parts of the Iranian government actually wanted this guy out. They couldn't control him. Russia OTOH is losing territory and people.

I hope the Ukrainian forces have a lot of MANPADS so they destroy a few more SU 25's and MI 8's.  As long as they can keep moving, they make artillery less usefull.  If they get stuck they might get hammered.

Totally agree. It might be nice to bring forward some of the old I-HAWK batteries Ukraine has. They can't do much against high altitude-long range threats, but they are deadly against anything else. Russia is going to need lots of "Tac air" in the traditional sense to cut Ukraine's supply lines. Keeping KA-52s off the troops and fighter-bombers away from the GLOCs is necessary, and I-HAWKS can still do that.

You are right that if Ukraine can keep moving Russia can have a very hard time targeting them with artillery. Even if Russia succeeds in finding them moving vehicles don't spend a lot of time in the "kill zone". Lots better than sitting in a trench where Russia knows exactly where you are and you can't move. Unfortunately rapid combined arms advances have a history of coming to a halt because of over-stretched supply lines. I suspect Ukraine doesn't know how to set up a FARP :-).

[Goose]

Putin is going to have a hard time admitting this even happened once it is over.  This ranks up with embarrasing events like the Israeli smuggling bombs into an Iranian guest house.

IMO this is much more embarrassing. Smuggling in a bomb and killing one guy is not ideal, but it isn't costing Iran territory or lives. In fact, it is entirely possible some parts of the Iranian government actually wanted this guy out. They couldn't control him. Russia OTOH is losing territory and people.

I hope the Ukrainian forces have a lot of MANPADS so they destroy a few more SU 25's and MI 8's.  As long as they can keep moving, they make artillery less usefull.  If they get stuck they might get hammered.

Totally agree. It might be nice to bring forward some of the old I-HAWK batteries Ukraine has. They can't do much against high altitude-long range threats, but they are deadly against anything else. Russia is going to need lots of "Tac air" in the traditional sense to cut Ukraine's supply lines. Keeping KA-52s off the troops and fighter-bombers away from the GLOCs is necessary, and I-HAWKS can still do that.

You are right that if Ukraine can keep moving Russia can have a very hard time targeting them with artillery. Even if Russia succeeds in finding them moving vehicles don't spend a lot of time in the "kill zone". Lots better than sitting in a trench where Russia knows exactly where you are and you can't move. Unfortunately rapid combined arms advances have a history of coming to a halt because of over-stretched supply lines. I suspect Ukraine doesn't know how to set up a FARP :-).