The Ukrainians have support from NATO which is no joke. Not just one developed nation but more than a dozen are supplying Ukraine with weapons, intelligence, training, etc
Morale is also important and the Ukrainians seem to be determined to resist. However I'm guessing that after Mariupol and Kharkiv are taken, their morale will begin to crack.
Of course it's easy to criticize the Russian operation but already they have almost cut off Ukraine completely from the Black Sea. Odessa is the only port city which hasn't been surrounded yet, although at this point, it's just a matter of time.
Honestly, I've personally given up looking at evidence online, especially from western sources. There have been countless instances where destroyed Ukrainian equipment has been passed off as destroyed Russian equipment. I've seen this on so many occasions that I can't even keep track anymore.
Remember the two IL-76 planes ? It was a lie. Remember the ghost of Kiev ? A fabrication, they used DCS footage. What about the heart wrenching footage of that armored vehicle crushing a car ? That was actually a Ukrainian armored vehicle.
At the same time, as much as the Ukrainians are trying their best to release footage that will help their cause, the Russians have been almost mute in this regard. I mean at this point the Russians have launched hundreds of missiles and conducted countless airstrikes.
The Russians have destroyed hundreds of targets but you barely see any footage being released from their side. I'm guessing it's because the Russians don't want to infuriate the Ukrainian populace anymore than they already have, but who knows.
Something else to keep in mind is that military analysts who don't hold any bias or grudge towards the Russians have noted that the Russians seem to be trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. So far only 300 civilians have died and with the number of airstrikes, explosions and gains made so far, it's really minimal.
No matter which side you choose to believe, the number of Russian military casualties is higher than the number of civilians killed and that speaks for itself. At the same time the Russians are waging war on not one or two but multiple fronts, which is a very difficult task no matter how you want to look at it.
As far as MANPADS are concerned, it's going to force Russian fighter jets to fly high. Unfortunately flying high will give away their positions to Ukrainian SAM systems. At this point they have destroyed most of the Ukrainian airforce and air defense assets but there are still some scattered remnants here and there.
The Russians would have been better off deploying more drones to the battlefield but I don't think that they currently have as many as they would like in their inventory. China and even Iran are far ahead of Russia when it comes to developing and adding drones to their arsenal.
In Iran's case it's really a matter of necessity, whereas in the case of Russia their over reliance on their traditional airforce assets have made them complacent and slow to act in this field.
I'm not sure if this conflict is going to morph into an insurgency since the Russian goal seems to be to force the Ukrainians to the negotiating table in order to make them accept terms.
The Ukrainians are still determined now but we'll have to wait and see how they feel after Kharkiv and Mariupol fall. Even Zelensky seems to be cracking under pressure. In a recent speech he lashed out at NATO in an overtly angry tone. We're going to have to wait and see.
Yeah.... this is something else to watch.
It has totally revealed to the world just how badly trained, armed and commanded certain aspects of the Russian military are. These helicopter/jet downing clips and torching of parked AD systems as well the countless abandonment of vehicles and equipment is simply hard-to-watch.
If a country like Iran which has managed to push its way (tooth and nail) into one of the worlds leading developers of drone and missile technology, can clearly out-shine the Russian Federation in this field. Then clearly we have viewed Russia in the wrong light thus far. And this isn't too explicitly make fun of the Russian Federation. We are all dumbfounded essentially.
If it were Iran, all of Ukraine's skies would be absolutely littered with drones of all makes and types. And precision ballistic missile and cruise missile strikes alongside long-range artillery would be going on for weeks on end with no stop. Thousands would have already been expended (with many more left over) if IRGC were to have lead the operation yet with Russia, only hundreds were employed thus far.
That FLIR/ATFLIR/TARGETING POD cam looked weird and you correctly explained. It looks old doesn't it? Idk whether or not that UI is indicative of lesser capabilities to Iranian or Western contemporaries but so far it seems to be a mixed bag as far as battlefield effectiveness goes.
Ukrainian forces have literal thousands of manpads to use against Russia with constant shipments coming in as well. They're gonna lose so many more air-borne assets as the conflicts eventually morphs into an insurgency.