Seven times Putin has been humiliated in Ukraine from sinking of Russian flagship to Crimean bridge explosion | The Sun
PUTIN'S prized military has suffered one humiliation after the other in Ukraine, from the sinking of the Russian flagship Moskva to the Crimean bridge explosion – and they could be defeated by Christmas.
Mad Vlad's once coveted forces could be routed out of Ukraine by the end of the year after a string a military failures have left them on the verge of complete collapse.
This once-impressive army was expected to roll over Ukraine in just 48 hours back in February – instead, cracks in Putin's floundering forces have shown an inept and drunken lot unable to achieve a single military goal.
And the humiliation shows no signs of abating as Putin's beloved Crimean bridge came under attack, pushing morale among citizens and troops to a new low.
CRIMEA BRIDGE DISASTER
Putin's bridge linking Russia to Crimea was left smoking and partially collapsed after a massive bomb blast by allegedly planted by Ukraine's secret service.
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The Kerch bridge exploded in a mystery fireball early on Saturday, killing three people, in what's being dubbed a speculator blow to Putin war efforts and a serious lapse in Russian intel.
The shock explosion – which comes just a day after Putin's birthday – blew out a section of a road bridge which runs parallel to an adjacent rail route – collapsing it into the Black Sea.
The bridge being out of action will seriously hit Putin’s supply routes to under-fire troops in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian law enforcement has suggested the attack was carried out by the country's elite secret service, the SBU, which has refused to comment on the claim, according to local outlet, Pravda.
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SINKING OF THE MOSKVA
8Russia's first-class missile cruiser, Moskva, was taken out by a surprise barrage of Neptune missiles launched from the shore with reports saying 40 sailors were killed and 200 wounded in April.
The ship – which was thought to be untouchable – had played a deadly role in the war by bombarding Ukrainian towns from positions at sea before it was sunk, near Snake Island.
Humiliating footage surfaced appearing to show the 611ft ship Moskva with smoke pouring from it and a rescue tug boat nearby.
The Moskva had taken on legendary status among Ukraine’s defenders after a band of outgunned border guards said “Russian warship, go f*** yourself!” when it ordered them to surrender.
The Kremlin has so far admitted to one fatality on the Moskva but many more are believed to have been killed.
LYMAN FALLS
After being encircled by fierce Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled its struggling soldiers out of the eastern city of Lyman in a huge embarrassment for Moscow – hours after it declared the region was Russian territory "for ever".
The awkward defeat was amplified by videos of jubilant Ukrainian fighters raising a blue and yellow national flag and performing a victory lance in the strategically-important town.
Russia's defence ministry tried claiming its troops had "withdrawn to more advantageous lines" as they try to fend off a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The debacles comes just hours after Putin signed a decree declaring the Donetsk region – where Lyman lies – as Russian territory, along with the annexed territories of Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, all of which are not fully under Moscow's control.
After the major new defeat, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's Chechen region, said Moscow should now consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
In a chilling message, he wrote: "In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons."
CONVOY OF DEATH STALLED
Images appeared to show the infamous 40-mile "death convoy" of Russian vehicles stalled near Kyiv for almost two weeks before being decimated by Ukrainian artillery.
The huge column was first seen on February 28 after grinding to a halt on the main highway leading south to the capital, which it was supposed to lay siege to and ransack.
Instead, Putin's grand military convoy was hit by breakdowns, fuel and food shortages, and supply problems.
It originally set off from Belarus and had been making its way south towards Kyiv, via Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
An estimated 15,000 troops along with fuel tankers and ammunition trucks are believed to be in the convoy.
FEARED CHECHEN CONVOY WIPED OUT
A Chechen special forces column of 56 tanks near Kyiv were wiped out in a devastating setback for Putin in the early days of the war.
According to the Kyiv Independent, the attack killed top Chechen general Magomed Tushayev, who led the 141 motorized regiment of the Chechnya National Guard.
Chechen leader Kadyrov's men were reportedly deployed to "capture and kill" Ukrainian politicians, including President Zelensky, according to the Daily Mail.
The convoy was stopped dead in their tracks by Ukrainian missile fire near Hostomel, just miles away from the killer column, and obliterated it just a couple of days into its mission.
It's believed the death toll from the shock attack to be in the hundreds. No official toll has been released.
LACK OF AIR SUPERIORITY
One of the greatest surprises of the war is Russia's failure to achieve air superiority over Ukraine.
A mix of untrained pilots, poor communication channel and intel, and deadly Western surface-to-air missile batteries saw Russian plans blown out of the sky on a daily occurrence.
In March, pictures showed the burning wrecks of Russian aircraft and the terrified faces out Putin's pilots as they were detained by soldiers and civilians after ejecting from their planes.
Footage shared online saw the airmen tied up with their hands behind their backs – some bloody after their desperate escapes.
According to Kyiv Independent, Russia has lost a total of 226 fighter jets and 234 military helicopter in Ukraine and a shocking 62,000 troops.
Russia's lack of air superiority was laid bare in a number of clips showing shot-down planes online.
In April, incredible footage captured the moment a Russian fighter jet appears to spin towards the ground in a death spiral after being struck by a Ukrainian missile.
In the same month, a similar Russian fighter jet, the Su-35S Flanker-E, was downed in a field in the Kharkiv region, near the city of Izyum.
And In one instance, Russia was accused of shooting down one of its $36m fighter planes on the anniversary of the MH-17 downing in a massive blow to Putin.
THE DEATH OF GENERALS & OFFICERS
Meanwhile, a top Russian General was captured by Ukrainian forces in September with dramatic footage showing Colonel General Andrei Sychevoi handcuffed and on his knees alongside several weary Russian troops.
The stony-faced military chief was reportedly snared by Ukrainian fighters during a counteroffensive operation in the Kharkiv region.
Just days earlier, one of the President's top colonels was killed in a suspected car bomb in Ukraine.
Bardin Artem Igorevich, appointed by the Kremlin to oversee the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk, was reportedly killed in the explosion that sent smoke pouring into the sky.
In June, Putin lost his 50th colonel in Ukraine – just one day after two of his generals were wiped out in the same ambush.
Ukraine's resistance movement has taken out a number of officials in recent weeks, with leading Russian stooges blown up, poisoned and shot, as the net closes on Putin.
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It comes as Ukrainian and Russian assassins race to take Putin out before he escalates his unwinnable war.
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