When Putin's forces invaded Ukraine, he expected victory to be quick and painless. According to US and Western intelligence, when the Russian leader declared war on February 24, he anticipated that Kyiv would fall in a matter of days. The city has been in the hands of the Ukrainians for more than a decade. Thousands of square miles of territory that had been taken by Russian troops early in the war have been liberated by the country's forces. The US has declared Putin's war efforts a failure. There is still no end in sight for the conflict that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and left Ukrainian cities in ruins. The poor performance of the Russian military has surprised Putin and others, but it's only one of several unexpected twists in the past 10 months of war. There are some unexpected moments here. The way in which Russia invaded Ukraine was the most surprising. Putin and some Western intelligence thought that Kyiv would not be able to hold out for a long time. During the early days of the war, Russian mistakes and gaffes, along with the poor communication of objectives to officers and troops tasked with fighting the war, allowed to an array of Russian mistakes and gaffes. Russian forces were expected to move in large groups consisting of soldiers, armor, and artillery, but that didn't happen. We would have thought that they would have done a better job. Jeffrey Edmonds, a Russia expert at the Center for Naval Analyses and a former CIA military analyst, told Insider that Russia did not lead with a massive air campaign. He said that they didn't think they'd invade that way. Russia underestimated the will of the Ukrainians to defend their homeland and the strength of their military. The ability of the Ukrainians to defend against the invasion was another surprise. That has continued throughout. After just a few weeks, the Russian troops retreated from the capital region of the country. Over the course of the war, Ukrainian troops have been able to liberate thousands of square miles of territory from the Russians. The recent liberation of Kherson was one significant accomplishment. The first major city to be captured by Putin's forces was the southern city. It was a big victory for Russia but it was not able to hold it. The way the weapons were used on the battlefield made a huge difference. The ability of the US to provide the HIMARS and the ability of the Ukranian to integrate it into its arsenal were unexpected. The damage they could deliver to Russian forces was celebrated by the Ukrainian armed forces and their top officials. Kyiv's forces launched two major counteroffensives along the war's northeastern and southern fronts after months of fighting in the east of the country. The southern offensive to take back Kherson had been telegraphed by the Ukrainians for months. Ukrainian forces hit hard as Russian troops moved to defend the southern front. The counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country started in late summer and involved a push on Russian positions. Russian troops were forced to abandon a lot of weaponry and see huge swaths of land liberated from them. The counteroffensive by the Ukrainians was a big surprise to everyone, including the Ukrainians, according to the author. The current counteroffensive in Kharkiv is no exception to that, according to the Pentagon press secretary. There have been many attacks far behind the line in Russian-controlled territory. There have been attacks in Russia as well. Two of the Russian bases located hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border were hit by explosions. According to reports, the drones were launched from Ukrainian territory. The soviet-era drones were blamed for the attacks. There was some speculation but it is not clear. It pointed to a major force protection failure and a longer reach than expected, as it raised eyebrows that Russian bases could be targeted so deep. "I don't think anyone thought they'd have the ability to reach into Russia and attack strategic air bases." Those strikes weren't the only ones. Ukraine appeared to attack Russia's naval forces at southern Crimea's Sevastopol using USVs and drones. Some of the ways in which they've been used and the success of the operations with them have been somewhat surprising. Immediately after Russia's February 24 invasion, Western countries wasted no time in condemning Putin for launching the attack, a response that the Russian leader did not anticipate. Since the beginning of the conflict, NATO and the European Union have provided military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but have also imposed sanctions on Russia. The door to NATO expansion has been opened by Putin's miscalculations, something he has historically been against. Germany and Switzerland have reversed their military, foreign, and financial policies due to the war. The European solidarity on the war was surprising to everyone. "He said that." There is an upwelling feeling that this is not acceptable. There is no obvious off ramp for the war to continue. Moscow has signaled that it intends to keep fighting. Ukraine is bracing for the possibility of new Russian offensives in the new year after Putin said this would be a long process.
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