Near dark this Friday evening here in California’s Central Valley — another work week gone as 2022 rolls right along. Seems like it was only yesterday and Thursday.
Funny-strange, but possible in our current time-blend-cross of a Twilight Zone-influenced Doctor Who episode.

In that script, Ukraine continues to have all the action parts — a hitch off my last post on the horrid condition of the Russian army, from doing stupid war shit and getting their troops killed in large numbers (including two/three general officers, which if they were right at the front lines is a further indication of just how ill-trained, terrible the rank-and-file soldiers) to having to lie about biotech labs and whatnot. Although the weight of force and attrition will favor Putin eventually beating the Ukrainians, the Russians are going to lose way bigger — in the country and out.

One giant surprise was the display from an army of incredible incompetence:

The stumbling pace of Russia’s assault into Ukraine — marked by apparent confusion among commanders plus viral images of downed Russian planes and tanks set alight — has reset expectations for how the conflict will unfold.
https://t.co/rZh2sSeebp

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) March 11, 2022

Understanding where this invasion will end is unknown, the pace of the war, however, can maybe be illustrated by just how bad the invaders — at The Washington Post, updated this afternoon:

They don’t fully control the skies, despite possessing one of the world’s most advanced air forces. Their ground assault on the capital has been inching along for days, with a miles-long convoy marooned by supply problems.
And all the while, they are taking heavy losses — both in equipment and personnel, as estimates suggest more dead troops than America suffered during 20 years of war in Afghanistan.

Two weeks after Russian forces streamed into neighboring Ukraine following months of buildup, evidence is mounting that the invasion has not gone to plan — and that Russia’s much-vaunted military may not be the formidable force once feared.

“The word I’m hearing from everybody in the government who is watching this is ‘surprising.’ My own word is ‘shocking,’” said Barry Pavel, a former top Pentagon official who is now senior vice president at the Atlantic Council.
“It’s shocking how incompetent they are in the basics of joint military operations by an advanced country.”

That doesn’t mean Russia won’t ultimately seize Kyiv and topple the Ukrainian government. And it doesn’t mean Ukraine won’t pay a horrific price in both military and civilian casualties, as it continues to do daily.
But the stumbling pace of Russia’s assault since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine late last month — marked by apparent confusion among commanders plus viral images of downed Russian planes and tanks set alight — has reset expectations for how the conflict will unfold.
…
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament on Wednesday that Russia had nearly twice the number of battalion tactical groups at its disposal than did Ukraine when the war began, and that air superiority tilted the balance even further toward an “overwhelming” Russian advantage.
But Wallace said nearly all of Moscow’s objectives in Ukraine have remained unfulfilled.
“President Putin’s arrogant assumption that he would be welcomed as a liberator has deservedly crumbled as fast as his troops’ morale,” Wallace said.

Despite the grind on Putin’s boys, Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of RUSI, a London-based think tank, cautioned against understating the Russians: ‘“Having painted the Russians as 10 feet tall compared with Ukrainians, now some people are painting them two feet tall … It’s somewhere in between. They are still a formidable adversary.”‘

In turn, ineptitude also means not enough food:

More and more reports from Ukrainians in occupied territory about Russian soldiers begging for food. While Russia's army notorious logistical incompetence may be part of it, it appears like soldiers – or their bosses – are also selling rations on the Russian black market. pic.twitter.com/E8WeZ68gGC

— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 11, 2022

Inept isn’t helped at all by corruption, and hugely-corrupt Russia is an aid to Ukrainians — at BusinessInsider yesterday:

The head of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency has expressed his “sincere gratitude” to Moscow’s top defense official over alleged corruption in the Russian military, claiming it has forced soldiers to abandon their equipment and give up the fight.

In a March 9 letter addressed to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the head of Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Oleksandr Novikov, said that embezzlement of public funds has made an “invaluable contribution” to the defense of his country.

“Russian means and support resources for the attack on Ukraine were stolen even before they were accumulated on the border of the two states,” Novikov wrote.
…
As The New York Times reported, citing US and other Western officials, some Russian troops invaded Ukraine with ready-to-eat meals, or MREs, “that expired in 2002.”

Novikov cited the allegedly expired meals in his letter, writing that, “Due to the lack of food, the Russian occupation troops abandon military equipment and surrender to the local residents of Ukrainian villages in order to eat.”

Corruption is “endemic” in Russia, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 136th in the world when it comes to tackling the misuse of public funds (Ukraine is ranked 122nd).

Hand-in-glove Putin and corruption.
As in turn, a massive invader can be throttled by a smaller, more disciplined force — one with an un-corrupt heart (“Red Cliff“):

Beyond that, here we are once again…

(Illustration out front: ‘A Break in Reality,’ by Xetobyte, found here)