Russia Fails to Reach Objectives for First Day Amid Brave Ukrainian Defense – Opinion

The Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t going as easily as I think Vladimir Putin thought it would go.

They are currently facing tough fighting from both the Ukrainians, as well as the thousands of protestors in Russia that have voted against the war. That’s quite something, given the oppressive state of Russia and how they would face immediate retribution. Protesters still came out.

The Ukrainians fought back and retook an airport that the Russians had stolen. So, Russia isn’t going to be able to do what they wanted because they haven’t met the goals they were trying to meet by now – which was to seize all the airports.

This observation can be seen by the UK Ministry of Defense. It is worth noting that at least one spot in Ukraine has been halted by the Russian advance.

The following are confirmed developments in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/YqFUyj2HbO

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 25, 2022

Another Russian plane was also set on fire by the men.

⚡️Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashenko shared this video purportedly showing air defense systems take out a Russian aircraft over Kyiv’s Darnitsky region moments ago. There were other explosions reported in the capital. pic.twitter.com/e9wL7ZckUQ

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 25, 2022

Ukrainian fighters and air-defense systems are creating havoc. Russia lost seven helicopters: an Su-24, Su-25, and two Su-30s. Kyiv is about to be hit by something huge. After Russia’s bombernet became active, this happened. https://t.co/7cLsUUF05r @Forbes https://t.co/aGGodPaTc1

— David Axe (@daxe) February 25, 2022

Also, there are reports that Ukrainian border guards bravely defended an island in Black Sea. Then, they were ordered to withdraw from the defense of Russian troops. The 13 guards then sent out this very definitive message to the Russians: go f**k yourself.

Last words to some brave Ukrainians pic.twitter.com/cRYCzGRQtB

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 25, 2022

The Russians bombed the island and believed to have eliminated all of the guards. The President Volodymyr Zelensky gave praise to the guards, and promised that they would be honored posthumously with medals for their service as Heroes of Ukraine.

Zelensky stated, “Much of the regular population was also armed to defend the country.”

If this report is correct, it may also be a problem for Russia to attack Ukraine. Multiple reports state that Russians arrested claim they didn’t know their mission was to attack Ukraine.

Ukraine Armed Forces Update: Claiming captured Russians didn’t know they were being sent on combat missions. Starshyna Buynichev Konstantin Sergeyovich – 74th Motor Rifle Brigade: “Nobody thought that we were going to kill people. “We weren’t going to fight. We were just collecting information.” pic.twitter.com/pTgJjhvukG

— David Brennan (@DavidBrennan100) February 24, 2022

They were, according to captured 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade records, not informed they would be attacking Ukraine. The men believed they were in Crimea on a training mission, but were instead dropped in Ukraine. Now, that seems hard to believe, and maybe that’s a cover story. But, if that were true, that you had Putin hoodwinking his military to get them there, that’s not exactly the best cover story either. That makes it sound like they may not have everyone on board with what’s going on — versus the Ukrainians, who are very willing to defend their country.