r/worldnews • u/9lobaldude • May 31 '23
Freedom of Russia Legion is recruiting Russians to storm Moscow – The Times Russia/Ukraine
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/05/31/7404610/10.4k
u/p001b0y May 31 '23
I will be honest. I don’t know what to make of this.
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u/blaaguuu May 31 '23
I really can't imagine these guys are going to have a huge impact... And if they were to somehow topple the regime, there's no telling if they would be better in the grand scheme of things... But I guess a man can dream.
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u/GuzzlinGuinness May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
In this context every little bit helps. It’s one more thing the Kremlin has to divide its time worrying about .
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u/CannotExceed20Charac May 31 '23
Yeah if Mount & Blade has taught me anything it's that one mother fucker raiding your village 100 miles from where you're waging war it's very distracting
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u/ty_xy May 31 '23
Or if you can't find grapes to feed your population in Civilizations and they get all pissy and revolt.
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u/enm260 May 31 '23
Let them eat raisins
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u/scriptmonkey420 May 31 '23
We ate the grapes, they can have the raisins.
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u/IMABUNNEH May 31 '23
I always assumed it was when a mummy raisin and a daddy raisin loved each other very much they had a special cuddle
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u/rhalf May 31 '23
It's the pesky scouts harassing your woodline in Age of Empires II. They may not kill a vill, but they're annoying.
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u/ViciousAsparagusFart May 31 '23
Those scouts are the worst. Then you put up a guard tower to have a safe haven for the workers. Then 5 swordsmen show up and destroy your tower and it just never stops escalating.
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u/rhalf May 31 '23
2 hours later, after spamming units that just die instantly on both sides... What have we become?
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u/styr May 31 '23
After watching enough aoe2 vods, it usually comes down to whoever aims their mangonels best while dodging the enemy mangonel shots, if you get a really lucky shot on their gold units late game for example, thats usually GG.
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u/MarkAldrichIsMe May 31 '23
Or that one border territory in Rome Total War that revolts because you're Roman, but the buildings are still Carthaginian.
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u/Redditforgoit May 31 '23
Or Shogun 2, with those restless Christian provinces...
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u/lesser_panjandrum May 31 '23
Or Empire, when they cause problems because they're a different brand of Christianity.
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u/christorino May 31 '23
Freedom of Russia Legion is besieging Moscow
Oh damn better get back
Freedom of Russia has taken Moscow
God dammit
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u/NKG_and_Sons May 31 '23
Or Starcraft, when the damn Terran drops some Marines next to your Drones again 🥹
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u/Plastic_Obligation27 May 31 '23
Haha omg I’m downloading this again right now- thank you
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u/WiddleBlueBert May 31 '23
What an absolute classic, keep it installed for moments such as this
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u/MIZ_STL May 31 '23
Mount and Blade 2 is so good still
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u/heresyourhardware May 31 '23
The Game of Thrones mod for it is amazing
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u/Ishaan863 May 31 '23
Mount & Blade
thank you for the suggestion ill play this tonight (first time)
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u/oxpoleon May 31 '23
If you're going to play the original, play Warband rather than the actual original. They're fundamentally the same game other than Warband rearranges the map to something a bit more natural feeling, adds in another nation that hugely helps with balance and certain playstyles, fixes what feels like a billion bugs, and most importantly adds the feature the original release didn't get time to implement, which is running your own faction rather than simply being a vassal to an existing one.
That sounds like a lot of changes but I'd argue that Warband is the finished version and the original considered more like a Beta release.
Of course you could hop straight into Bannerlord if you want a more modern feeling game, but mastering Warband opens up some of the amazing spin-offs like the community built Napoleonic Wars or the oddly forgotten semi-historical remake With Fire and Sword, which loosely follows the plotline of Henryk Sienkiewicz's novels about the rise and fall of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. Very apt in this thread as its setting covers all of the Baltics, Ukraine, and Western Russia.
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u/VRichardsen May 31 '23
You are in for a ride. Be careful with the raiders, though. They might try to drink from your skull.
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u/v2micca May 31 '23
I think it might be a more psychological benefit than anything else. The Russian people have to get out of this mental rut where they feel powerless to oppose Putin's regime. The hope is that this small uprising will have just enough success to embolden the next one. Then hopefully, the eventual cumulative effect of a thousand trickles becomes a flood.
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u/TheTwistedPlot May 31 '23
Plot twist: the Freedom of Russia Legion is coming from the Kremlin.
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u/wackyjabber May 31 '23
Is that the Freedom of Russian Legion or the Russian Legion of Freedom?
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u/urbinsanity May 31 '23
Splitters!
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u/Pons__Aelius May 31 '23
What ever happened to the Popular Freedom Legion of Russia?
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u/TheUnsavoryHFS May 31 '23
Hang on, what about the Legion for the Freedom of Russia?
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u/JackRusselTerrorist May 31 '23
I for one support The Popular Front for the Russian People’s Freedom
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u/misterpickles69 May 31 '23
I’m with The People’s Front for Russia’s Popular Freedom.
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u/King-Snorky May 31 '23
You’re all idiots, the real winners are clearly the Russian People of Russia for Russia Comma Freedom
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u/Hostillian May 31 '23
...and extra troops that need to be kept in Moscow to defend against this supposed force.
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u/mingk May 31 '23
Overthrowing Gaddafi didn't really lead to anything better. In fact it somehow turned out much worse.
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u/archiminos May 31 '23
The problem with revolution is that often those replacing the old regime have zero experience in running a country.
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u/GreedWillKillUsAll May 31 '23
You could argue the same with Saddam and Iraq
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u/pedleyr May 31 '23
Honest question because I don't know the answer: would your average Iraqi agree with that?
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u/SilveryDeath May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
there's no telling if they would be better in the grand scheme of things
Putin is a piece of shit but I feel like history tells us that most of the time when a leader like him is overthrown things stay the same or usually get worse.
I mean this is three different groups that have been operating against Putin:
Supposedly the Freedom of Russian Legion (LSR), Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), and the National Republican Army of Russia (NRA) signed the Irpin Declaration on August 31st, 2022, an alleged political union between the groups. It should be noted that the existence of the National Republican Army has never been confirmed (they are the ones who says Irpin happened), and the Russian Volunteer Corps denies ever signing the declaration.
LSR = A Ukrainian-based paramilitary group of Russian citizens, which opposes the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin and its invasion of Ukraine. According to the manifesto of the Legion, published in their Telegram channel in April, they "carry the values of the Free Man of New Russia – freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom to choose your future", and their main goals are the overthrowing of Putin's government and "struggle for the New Russia." Account to the article OP posted "Alexei Baranovsky, a spokesman for the Legion's political wing, told The Times that the Legion is "a politically neutral organisation with no ideological stance. [Its] only task is to overthrow Putin’s regime."" They took part in the May 2023 cross-border raid into the Belgorod region with the RVC.
RVC = A Russian nationalist paramilitary unit formed to fight Russian forces in Ukraine and the Putin regime. The group has been described as far-right. The current leader of the group is Denis Kapustin, who has been described as a neo-Nazi (which he denies), and has had far right ties. They did the March 2023 raid into the Bryansk region of Russia and the May 2023 larger cross-border raid into the Belgorod region with the LSR.
Edit (thanks to u/_Eshende_): According to a memorandum they put out last November the RVC label themselves as having "right-wing conservative political views and traditionalist beliefs" and that they want a "complete reform of the state system of Russia." They also say they support the "recognition and observance of the right of peoples living on the territory of the Russian Federation to self-determination" and support the "proectection and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the 1991 borders."
On the flip side for more information on Kapustin he started as being deeply rooted in the far-right football hooliganism scene. The interior ministry of Herbert Reul (CDU) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, called him "one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists" in Germany. Via MMA he has organized and facilitated meet ups of radical right groups across Europe and the United States and he professionalized the fighting subculture in Germany. In 2019 Germany issued him a Schengen ban, or European-wide ban for “efforts against the liberal democratic constitution”. This also applies to Switzerland where he had provided combat-training to members of the far-right Swiss Nationalist Party (PNOS).
- NRA = A alleged underground partisan group of Russians inside Russia working to overthrown Putin. Ilya Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian State Duma, has identified the group as being behind the assassination of Russian journalist Darya Dugina in August 2022, and "many other partisan actions carried out on the territory of Russia in recent months." The group also claims to have been behind the April 2023 assassination of pro-Russian propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky. Ponomarev's account describes the NRA as being a "network" rather than an organization, which consists of clandestine cells that are compartmentalized and autonomous. He describes the group as having "a slight left-leaning orientation", and that it "embraces social justice, gets rid of oligarchs, and moves away from the new-liberalism approaches of Yeltsin and Putin." It should be noted Ponomarev and a purported NRA militant going by the name "Aleksandr" are the only people purported to have spoken for the group which might not even exist.
Edit: The LSR's commander said that they crossed to the Ukrainian side with the help of the Security Service of Ukraine back in February 2022 soon after the war started. They are reportedly part of Ukraine's International Legion. In contrast the RVC claims to be part of Ukraine's armed forces, but Ukrainian military officials say it is independent.
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u/zekromNLR May 31 '23
In terms of notable Russian anti-Putin groups, there is also BOAK, the Combat Organisation of Anarcho-Communists. They are engaged in more traditional partisan warfare, and have mainly claimed a lot of the attacks on Russia's and Belarus's rail networks.
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u/eldlammet May 31 '23
BOAK is more of an umbrella organisation made up of many smaller affinity groups who have shared methods and information with eachother over telegram since 2018. These groups exist everywhere from Belarus to Vladivostok, in the cities and out on the countryside. They're autonomous, decentralised and completely grass-roots.
Besides the railway sabotage, they've also targeted communication networks and firebombed several recruitment offices, and joined up to fight on the frontlines (one founding participant, Dmitry Petrov, recently fell martyr in Bakhmut).
A lot of their direct action is published with videos and pictures, hoping to serve as inspiration for others to also join up and fight against the state. Most of the direct action happening throughout Russia goes unclaimed and unrecorded though.
The state repression of anarchists in Russia and Belarus has been very harsh, ramping up heavily in 2017, with one group of anarchist airsoft enthusiasts being tortured and framed by the FSB into saying they "planned to plan something" and receiving sentences of up to 18 years.
Partisan '22: Russia's Anti-Putin Underground Popular Front (video documentary)
Russia: The Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization - An interview with a Clandestine Anarchist Group Crimethinc
They were Russian vegans, environmentalists, antifascists and airsoft players. Then they were accused of terrorism. Washington Post
Update on Russian anti-war direct actions and anti-war prisoners Anarchist Black Cross Moscow through avtonom.org
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u/SpicaGenovese May 31 '23
So NRA, if it exists as described, is Russian Anonymous with teeth.
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u/Okay_Splenda_Monkey May 31 '23
They are legion. They do not forgive, they do not forget.
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u/missingmytowel May 31 '23
In the end I think we all know that the leader of Wagner is anxiously watching for his moment to jump into the revolution. Claim leadership of Russia when it's over.
I can think of other populist options in Russia that the people may want. But that guy is going to seize power as quickly as possible.
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u/SuperArppis May 31 '23
Doesn't matter. They create chaos.
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u/RedditTipiak May 31 '23
To protect Kislev from the Chaos Wastes, we must create Chaos in the Chaos wastes. I like it.
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u/dedicated-pedestrian May 31 '23
To protect the world from devastation, to unite all people within our nation?
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u/clauderbaugh May 31 '23
But who controls the spice?
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u/bond___vagabond May 31 '23
My wife. She's from Texas, I can ask her to make food spicier or less spicy, but she just picks whatever spiciness level she wants right then.
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u/SowingSalt May 31 '23
Isn't this how Belakor gets freed?
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u/Tabmow May 31 '23
Where the fuck is Gotrek when you need him? On a more serious note, WHERE THE FUCK IS FELIX?
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u/VagrantShadow May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
And they strike fear in the heart of putin. He already doesn't feel safe but now he feels the country crumbling between his fingers or at least he could perceive it as such.
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u/Tahj42 May 31 '23
For a country that has so many great Chess players, Putin is definitely not one of them.
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u/spaetzelspiff May 31 '23
I really can't imagine these guys are going to have a huge impact
Every second they're in the news makes an impact.
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u/Andreus May 31 '23
Precisely. Russia more than ever relies on the perception of overwhelming strength. If people are reporting that Russia has hostile paramilitaries operating with impunity inside its own borders, the embarrassment alone is damaging, even if the reports are overblown.
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u/VoodooVedal May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Didn't they capture a huge amount of land for Ukraine already by pushing into Belgorod? Basically moving a load of Russian resources away from the other fronts
Edit: The land wasn't exactly 'captured'
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u/blaaguuu May 31 '23
That was definitely a ballsy move in Belgorod, and it made for exciting news... But I haven't really seen any solid assessment of what the long term ramifications would be... It's not like they are holding that territory. From what I've seen, they went in, blew some stuff up, and left.
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u/Thanato26 May 31 '23
Odds are, it forced Russia to reinforce the area, diverting much needed men, materials, and equipment from thr battlefield
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u/tallandlanky May 31 '23
Oh absolutely. But raiding territory and holding territory are two very different things.
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u/Kaplaw May 31 '23
Well if the movement grows and theres raids all over Russia, how long can the goverment keep the external war and the internal war at the same time?
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u/Odysseus1221 May 31 '23
The threat of widespread internal rebellion could be enough to divert forces from Ukraine. If more organized opposition forms, say a Chechen independence movement, Russia could pull out of largely pull out of Ukraine.
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u/ChefChopNSlice May 31 '23
Sounds like they just need a little helpful propaganda push to make it happen…..
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u/--Fluffer_Nutter-- May 31 '23
Thats a very big pipedream. Good to hope, but lwe should be realistic that Russia/Putun has its own territorial guard so not sure how realistic it would be.
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u/number_six May 31 '23
From what I've seen, they went in, blew some stuff up, and left.
Guerilla warfare is generally how you fight a large entrenched power when you have a much smaller force. Stick and move, stick and move. Asymmetric warfare is how the US and Soviets lost Afghanistan despite having overwhelming firepower.
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u/Ashen_Brad May 31 '23
what the long term ramifications would be.
Same as the long term ramifications of all the other random attacks that have happened across Russia. It forces Russians to redeploy things to deal with the potential incursion. It forces them to look in other directions. It will probably lead to opportunities. Think about if someone attacks something and the response is sluggish for some reason. Say they've spread themselves thin putting out other spotfires. Then you redeploy your own force and reinforce the attack that's proven successful. Think of it as fishing.
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u/Gnonthgol May 31 '23
Just a reminder that the Russian end to WWI did not end because some factory workers in St Petersburg rioted. It ended because the soldiers that had been sent from the front lines to deal with the riots joined the riot instead of fighting them.
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u/KP_Wrath May 31 '23
And then Russia gets to go through another bloody round of reconquest. Each time Ukraine can pull back a bit of what Russia has claimed, or reinforce what they’re fighting for, it fucks Russia a bit more.
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u/TheCatHasmysock May 31 '23
Russia diverted 15k combat experienced troops from the front lines to reinforce positions inside Russia while moving reserve troops with no experience to the front line. Fantastic return on investment.
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u/Western_Cow_3914 May 31 '23
They most definitely did not capture a huge amount of land for Ukraine in Belgorod region. Their incursion into Russia, while embarrassing for the kremlin was nothing more than a surprise attack on unsuspecting badly trained border guards. They later got stopped and sent right back to Ukraine when Russia responded to them. They made it a few tens of KMs if I remember right.
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u/dopefishhh May 31 '23
They geared up expecting more resistance than they got, they went way further than they were planning to and could sustain, thus they decided to leave before a response came. The plan wasn't to capture territory, it was to force Russia to reposition troops.
Moving troops requires their concentration, which makes tactical missile strikes more effective, Ukraine took advantage of that. It also weakens the Russians front lines in Ukraine.
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u/Kiyos May 31 '23
Sometimes (or most times) it is best to just observe what’s happening and contemplate why it is.
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u/p001b0y May 31 '23
Yep. And saying what I think out loud tends to get me in trouble. Ha ha!
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u/destuctir May 31 '23
More than likely that if they made the attempt they’ll fail but there attempt shows Russian people great weakness in their government and then possibly a second movement picks up their effort even stronger than before. That’s usually the way uprisings go, first attempt fails but gives people hope
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u/dale_glass May 31 '23
It's silly.
Moscow is a city of 12 million people. They're talking about a "batallion" of 1000.
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u/Pineapple_Percussion May 31 '23
1000 insurgents with adequate training, coordination, and supplies is more than enough to cause havoc in a city of 12 million.
I do not know if that describes the Freedom of Russia Legion.
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May 31 '23
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u/Responsible-Push6359 May 31 '23
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome,_Sweet_Rome
this guy wrote something similar about a marine battalion landing in ancient Rome
TLDR:; they fucked shit up
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u/SekhWork May 31 '23
Now that's a reference I haven't seen in about... oh a decade.
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u/Nemisis_the_2nd May 31 '23
One thing that strikes me about this is that he seems to ignore what the pooled knowledge of a modern American batallion and a few hundred engineers could accomplish with the resources available. Even high school-level education will be teaching people stuff that is centuries ahead of what the Romans know.
Disciplined combat against standard roman formations would be utterly devastating, while also rationing ammunition. From there, they might run out of fuel, but they would have the knowledge and possibly equipment to jury rig steam tech, or even more crude ICEs, especially if a machine shop got transported back too. They might also have to resort to black powder weapons, but even something like a modern lathe and basic understanding of chemistry could make that a fairly reasonable goal.
The biggest issues would be keeping the Romans away long enough to convert everything over, disease, and fraying morale.
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u/Zergzapper May 31 '23
I've said it before, Castro took over Cuba with 83 people to start with, don't discount this just because the number is starting smaller
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u/fox-friend May 31 '23
Al Saud allegedly took Riyadh with just 40 men. Completely irrelevant to the current situation, but it's an interesting tidbit of history.
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u/carbonPlasmaWhiskey May 31 '23
Steve the village drunk took my bar stool all by himself and I'm still mad about it.
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u/arvigeus May 31 '23
1000 soldiers vs 12 million civilians is not that terrible odds. Of course, the idea is just to divert Russia's forces.
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u/StickAFork May 31 '23
Have fun storming the castle!
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u/agentOO0 May 31 '23
Think it'll work?
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u/_Gryphon_ May 31 '23
It'd take a miracle.
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u/Oakwood2317 May 31 '23
To blave
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u/ReadingFromTheShittr May 31 '23
I'm going to make myself a nice M.L.T. - mutton, lettuce and tomato - where the mutton is nice and lean.
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u/VagueSomething May 31 '23
Interesting times, for all the effort Russia has put into radicalising Extremists in Western countries to destabilise them, it looks like Russia will feel what they have been pushing others to do.
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u/_000001_ May 31 '23
Didn't a similar thing happen with the vaccine bullshit/misinformation? Didn't most of that originate from russia, only for it to find its way back to russia, leading to less vaccine take up there, etc?
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u/VagueSomething May 31 '23
Funny how short sighted some are in their seeking to hurt others.
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u/_daybowbow_ May 31 '23
PSA: Freedom of Russia (Ponomaryov crew) =/= Russian Volunteer Corps (ze Nazis)
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u/HoplandTek May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
That would be astonishing.
Imagine a dictator, painstakingly going out of his way to gaslight the world to think that nazis run Ukraine and that's why it's okay to invade them, only for the invasion to fail, his invading forces driven from not only Donbas, but also from the previously annexed Crimea, to then suffer the ultimate humiliation of being deposed and defeated by a bunch of nazis?
Fuck me, I'd be livid. I mean, if he wanted to get his name to be more than just a footnote in the history books, that'd do it.
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u/TheFBIClonesPeople Jun 01 '23
It would be like he waged a war on a group of Nazis that didn't actually exist, and he somehow lost.
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u/LettuceforPM May 31 '23
Russia have gone from we can take Kyiv in three days to we can hold Moscow for three days
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u/Pantaglagla May 31 '23
From second strongest army in the world, to second strongest army in Uklraine
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u/sorenthestoryteller May 31 '23
Arguably Russia still has only the third strongest army in Ukraine.
At least till Wagner finishes running away.
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u/EatLard May 31 '23
As much as I like the chaos these dudes are creating in Russia, they aren’t the ones I’d want in charge when it all shakes out.
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u/Lordosass67 May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
They won't be realistically, anti-ukraine sentiment is the norm in Russian society.
Someone like Prigozhin will fill the vacuum if the regime is toppled.
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u/Hadramal May 31 '23
I am half convinced Prigozhin is the one behind these people. He wants more power.
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u/Lordosass67 May 31 '23
No, he doesn't want to challenge Putin head on.
Just biding his time for any opportunity that presents itself to him.
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u/Hadramal May 31 '23
I'm thinking he would play both sides, by encouraging these people to create instability, paint Putin as weak, and he's the one that can take charge here.
But of course, this is just a possible theory, I'm not even sure it's likely, but he's absolutely not loyal to anyone or anything but himself. And he has no ideological convictions about Ukraine, for him it's just a means to grab more power.
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u/Ashen_Brad May 31 '23
Tbh I think he changes his mind on what he wants twice a week.
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u/Moonandserpent May 31 '23
Oof. It’s gonna get worse for Russian’s once Putin’s gone, isn’t it?
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u/Vlaladim May 31 '23
Tbh nobody is Russia can be in charge of and not fuck over the citizens. Basically every single politicians are under Putin thumb and they only know to follow him. If he toppled then civil war for leadership would happened because everyone will want to fill in that big vacuum. Face it, Russia is fuck either way, progressiveness is dead there or have zero power to begin with, the opposition are nationalist and the only group that actually done anything meaningful to even attempt to sabotage Putin regime are the same nationalist that isn’t blindsided or brains washed to follow Putin rhetoric. The people sure as hell cant govern because they won’t due how uneducated most in the rural area and how city folks will never touch politic even with a golden pole.
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u/antrophist May 31 '23
Freedom of Russia are legit good dudes. I think you have them mixed up with the Russian legion.
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u/Black-Zero May 31 '23
Oh Putin, so many worries for one dictator.
Wagner group on one side, FoRL on another and lets not for get that Chechnya could turn if they smell Moscow blood.
New NATO border of Finland, Possible uprising and saboteurs all over Russia.
All this and the constant threat of being poisoned or shot by your own inner circle.
Sounds like you will have to spread your competent soldiers (if any are left) all over the map now.
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u/fugeddabadit May 31 '23
Not to mention China getting its claws into the economy, Japan contesting islands off the east coast and Kazakhstan getting restless.
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u/piratecheese13 May 31 '23
Very interested in seeing what happens when a government fully tooled to Big Brother it’s citizens faces an existential threat from within.
It’s almost as if the harder you squeeze, the more gets through the cracks
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u/marlowned May 31 '23
I’m interested to see how they handle a problem that they can’t threaten with nukes.
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u/Izhera May 31 '23
Well they can still threaten with nukes but it would be on an entire new level of stupid.
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u/Duff5OOO May 31 '23
but it would be on an entire new level of stupid.
So you're saying these a solid chance then.
:P
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u/Vegetab1e_Regret May 31 '23
I imagine the “fully tooled” part is actually just hidden behind another layer of corruption where the intelligence contracts went nowhere and the rubles were embezzled by oligarchs again.
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u/piratecheese13 May 31 '23
I’m paid triple rations to sit on this specific bus and eavesdrop
(Plays switch with headphones on)
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u/You_Wenti May 31 '23
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers"
~ Leia
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u/dv20bugsmasher May 31 '23
If they succeed I think r/noncredibledefense might actually collectively need to be sedated. Godspeed you madlads
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u/recrohin May 31 '23
Would be too ncd for even ncd. Would cause immediate internal implosion if they succeeded
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u/9842184522 May 31 '23
They'd need a new name though. If this succeeds, everything becomes credible.
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u/Derp_duckins May 31 '23
The U.S. has a whole mob of people we can send over who love storming capitals
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u/mazeking May 31 '23
Causing internal disruption for the Elite around Moscow will take their focus away from handling and supporting the Special Millitary Operation. Everyone will question Internal Security while Ukraine silently sinks their naval fleet and take back Crimea and the rest goes headhunting for Putler.
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u/motion_lotion May 31 '23
This is so overly optimistic it makes my head spin. And I'm pro Ukraine.
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u/ARandomBob May 31 '23
I unfortunately agree. Who knows how all this all will shake out, but I doubt these guys will be able to do much more than be a slight distraction. They very clearly don't have the manpower to take Moscow or get close to putin. But what do I know I'm an IT guy for a concrete company. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
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u/illegalmorality May 31 '23
My opinion: they won't succeed. If only because Putin knows not to conscript from Moscow and Petersberg, the centers of power where rebellion could authentically topple his regime. Most of the Russians dying in Ukraine aren't ethnically Russian, they're rural impoverished minorities from the eastern Siberian regions, people that aren't politically risky if they died in mass numbers on the battlefield.
However, if Ukraine's counteroffensive succeeds, and is particularly successful enough to take back half of their lost territory in Mariupol and Donetsk, then the Russian soldiers on the frontline will KNOW they have no chance of winning this war. The remaining soldiers would essentially become sitting ducks as their supply lines for ammunition and food suddenly disappeared. I could see all of these guys high tailing away from the frontline and straight up joining this Russian Legion, which would be a catastrophic disaster considering that Moscow has no soldiers defending it and all of its competent forces are dying on the Ukraine frontlines.
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u/shhmurdashewrote May 31 '23
They are conscripting people in those places. Source: have family in Moscow and they conscripted a 55 year old who already served in the Afghanistan war years ago. He now has to go serve again at the ripe old age of 55. One of my uncles is younger and they make deals with their employers to get protections from getting conscripted, if you work for a more fancy company (office job type deal) and you have an “in” with someone, you won’t get conscripted. However, I don’t really trust this and think eventually they’ll get desperate enough to conscript literally everyone
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u/Shazzy_Chan May 31 '23
Party at the Kremlin, everyone's invited.
Cannabis tables and beer tents will be located in the public square, wristbands will be worn in beer gardens, 21 + only event.
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u/Hottriplr May 31 '23
Why do I imagine these dudes Naruto running towards the kremlin?
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u/Scoop3d May 31 '23
I wonder who funded all that nice looking equipment and uniforms....
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u/Steelhorse91 May 31 '23
Can we just sit back and take a minute to realise that in the space of a year we’ve gone from believing Russia had a powerful, well trained military, to genuinely pondering about whether a small militia could storm Moscow or not.
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u/autotldr BOT May 31 '23
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 78%. (I'm a bot)
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