It turns out that Russian logistics is in fact not up to it.

"In terms of logistics.... We have no logistics"

"Logistics, what's that ? We need more tanks ! More artillery ! More BMPs !" - a Russian general, probably

He changed the thumbnail from "pretty darn well" to "depends" 🤣

"If there ever comes to such a war" well, that didn't age well.

I'm a cultured man, I take my knowledge from a Muppet in a generals outfit.

I remember when this video originally came out and the thumbnail spelled: „pretty darn well“ to the question of how well the Russian army is trained. Now the thumbnail says: „depends“ 👌

‘Pretty darn well’ *War begins* ‘Depends’

“Amateurs talk about strategy and tactics. Professionals talk about logistics and sustainability in warfare” -General Robert Hilliard Burrow

So after 2 weeks of war in Ukraine I'd say the answer to both of the questions in the title is not well and no. Russia seems to be having trouble projecting power 50 miles beyond its borders never mind 1000 miles.

Bilkov you changed the thumbnail! It use say that the Russian army was trained pretty damn well.

I'm shocked at the complete ineptness of the Russian military. Growing up in the US in the 80s we were also told of how dangerous the Rissian military is. I understand this isn't the USSR any more but still expected a much higher level of ability from Russia.

Watching the total failure of C2 and logistics play out in real-time, plus the complete capitulation of Russian troops who have either surrendered or walked away shows just how low morale is as well. Truly a shocking display of how poorly planned and executed this plan has been since the start and I couldn't be happier. Glory to Ukraine!

I've always said Russia was a paper dragon and people thought I was crazy. Feels good to be vindicated.

I would say that the question you posed has been answered. Their logistics are abysmal. Training for the common soldier is minimal. The level of corruption in their military support structure is staggering. They have Korean era communications from a military perspective. The Russians are a second rate military that happens to be huge from a numbers perspective.

My old coworker served as a conscript a few years ago in Russia. He said that on paper there were 200 soldiers or so in his company. In reality though he said during his entire 1 year conscription, he saw no more than 50 other men. The books were all fraudulent and higher ranking officials were pocketing the salaries of the other 150 conscripts that weren't there. Additionally he said that that he spent more time doing labor for the commanders private residence than any actual military training.

Some months later we know: The Russian army has a lot of stuff, but it sucks in about every aspect but the amount of brutality.

It's interesting that most of the faults you pointed to have played out in their invasion of Ukraine. The relative weakness of logistics, use of conscripts as the primary fighting force, limits of funding, etc. Coupled with a low morale of the Russian soldiers and united opposition from the Ukrainians. But it is still very early in a conflict that could go on for weeks/months/years. #slavaukraini

"Conscripts are relegated to support teams" This one didn't age too well

Hmmmmm woulda sworn the thumbnail used to say “pretty darn well”

They are very well trained for parades

i always thought one of the reasons for the Syrian campaign was to get to understand new equipment and get troops trained on urban warefare ect.

From what I've seen of Russian military capability the past couple of weeks, they'd have a tough time beating our Coast Guard.

It'll be interesting to see what the future holds for the Russian army after all of its losses in Ukraine and after the economy has completed its nosedive because of sanctions.

Should have added that they are very lethal to civilians that can't fight back. In the face of actual enemy they get their shit kicked in.

"The russian army might be very lethal to its neighbors, if it ever comes to such a war" Yeah, about that...

2021: Russian logistics "are probably trash." 2022: Watch in real time as they get rekt'd trying to invade next door. Slava Ukrani! 🇺🇦

I came back to this video just to read the latest comments 5 months later lol

7:58 "Allegedly one Russian General said: 'It's cheaper for the Russian Army to fight in Syria than to organize training exercises in Russia.' Indeed from 2015 onward, Russia has been rotating contingents of their military in Syria, keeping them 3 to 4 months in theater to gain experience. Before that, Russian troops were gaining experience in eastern Ukraine." Let that sink in. Russia is incentivized to fight actual wars rather than just train their army *without* fighting a war.

Binkov the biggest armchair general on KZfaq

I like how the words in the thumbnail just straight up change to from Pretty Darn Well to just Depends.

the thumbnail of this video used to be "pretty darn well" and now it's "depends" lol

In mother Russia, invading army defeats itself.

I literally just watched a video of a Ukrainian guy pulling up to a tank squad that ran out of fuel. The guys asked Russian tank squad if they want him to tow them back to Russia. The Russians laughed like they legitimately thought it was funny and were so over the whole thing. Putin has significantly overplayed his hand

Lol you changed the thumbnail, before it said "pretty damn well".

Well, now you know how accurate Binkov videos are.

Served about five years ago. I can tell with near certainty that conscripts are meant to stay away from frontline-ready units. For one, as they (usually) have no positive incentive to serve, they are not trusted to operate expensive equipment. For two, as they are generally less rigorously trained, they are kept out of harm's way. That last policy can be and is broken in secret, but from what I've seen, it takes an eager conscript with a skillset that is not easily obtainable otherwise for commanding officers to take that risk. Those guys are usually prime candidates to be offered not even a regular 2-year contract, but a 5-year one with a junior officer rank to boot. Although neither of the two guys I knew who broke the rules like that accepted. Civilian life just pays too well if you're that good.

"Conscripts relegated to support duties" Russia in Ukraine: Meatshields line up! You're first!

I love how the thumbnail changed from 'pretty darn well.' to 'depends' XD

I love how you changed the message on the thumbnail from “pretty damn well” to “depends”

Russia apparently needs to add "how to fill up the fuel tanks" to their training exercises from now on. How does one of largest producer of gas and oil on the planet with massive military resources keep running out of fuel a few hundred clicks from home?

This didn’t age well. Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

The US Army Reserve, as well as the Army National Guard, mobilized reserve units on a regular basis to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. There are a lot of reservists with combat deployments under their belts. There's no real comparison, when it comes to performance, between the Russian reserves and their American counterparts. The training shown in the above video would be considered basic level field training in the US, both active and reserve, where realism that brings the training scenario as close as possible to how it would be in combat culminates a gradual ramping up of the training. I've seen videos of how the Russians reacted to contact or did other combat actions in Ukraine, below standards even by Infantry OSUT and reservist standards in the US.

Way to change the thumbnail to say “Depends” lol

Less overhead is a positive Thing. The Russian Army doesnt have a global network of basements, its tasks are fewer. Defending its territorry. Therfore, focusing on Infantry and ground-to-air missiles makes total sense.

One huge factor that hurt the Russian Land forces early in WW2 was the lack of maintenance units. It crippled the tank forces and resulted in huge material losses. Excellent video, Thank You !

The change of the thumbna tho 💀🗿

I could've sworn this video had a different thumbnail before that said "pretty darn well" in regards to it's video title, lol

5:10 - One nuance to flush out about the US "8-year service obligation" system: every US service member (in all armed forces branches) has an "8-year service obligation", starting the day they signed enlistment papers. Parts of the 8 years (anywhere between 2-8) can be served in active duty, and/or reserves/national guard of any branch. The remaining length of the 8-year obligation, if any, are "served" in a system called "individual ready reserves" (IRR). Servicemembers in IRR status aren't required to do any training or meet skills/physical proficiencies. Logically, IRRs don't get any military pay/benefits. The US military just has the right to call them back in dire circumstances. While IRR servicemembers are a potential pool of military-worthy civilians, they have zero combat readiness & shouldn't be confused with the various reserves or national guard organizations in the US armed forces.

Well now we know. Pretty shit actually.

That change from "pretty damn well" to "it depends" XXDDDDD

We need version 2 of this

Always interested in the military video from substanstial, technical view and in-depth recent data. Not just exagerating the powers, numbers, advanced tech, even the politician opinion. Keep up the good work, thanks for educate the 'common' folks like me Binkov.

Wow you nailed the topic about logistics support. That seems to be there current biggest issue in Ukraine.

it turns out, Russian Logistics is almost nonexistent

Russian airborne corps: score as high as their US coutnerparts in the video Reality: VDV go sploosh in cold sea and die

Well we can see that the Russian army is incredibly under trained and under supplies now.

It can't even manage to project its power more then 30-40 miles apparently

This video used to have a different thumbnail that said "Pretty darn well", now it says "Depends", lol.

Hahaha u changed the text in the thumbnail , clever

Not to sound like an idiot, but all U.S. reserves are trained for combat. They were the bulk of the troops that were in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, the US has a huge population of veterans that have been trained in the last twenty years.

The gravest threat to Russian forces was bullying among conscripts. Dedovshchina. Pure and simple criminality. I assume some progress has been made on the issue...

This did not age well. In real time we are seeing how Russia is nothing but a big talker with poor training and awful morale.

Did you just change the thumbnail from "Pretty darn well" to "depends" ? cuz I dig it

I don't think the criticism "this video didn't age well" is particularly valid, because you presented a reasonably balanced assessment of strengths and weaknesses with publicly available information at the time. I didn't hear about the role of "ghost soldiers" (personnel that have already rotated out but remain on the books so someone can collect a that salary line). Many personnel rosters and unit strength estimates were likely inaccurate because of a continuing culture of corruption and underfunding. It is stunning that a large number of captured conscripts are reporting that they were told this was a major military exercise as opposed to offensive combat operations into hostile territory. It is also very interesting to see how the capabilities gap was exacerbated by the self-imposed isolation of Putin and a probable reluctance of senior military leaders to sharing a more realistic assessment of strategic & tactical limitations for fear of reprisals. The strategic picture today is also much different than the conditions encountered in Georgia in 2008 and the Crimea in 2014, both campaigns that played to the Russian army's strengths. Ukraine presents very different challenges. The outcome remains unclear, although it is probable that given enough time or unrestricted destruction of civilian infrastructure, that the Russian military will prevail- and equally likely that a prolonged insurgency would be mounted by a determined opponent receiving public and covert support from NATO and other Western nations. Russia has surprisingly failed (thus far) to attain air, logistical and information supremacy. Any victory achieved by the Russian military is already tainted by a shifting global opinion and professional military reassessment of their obvious capability gaps. Putin's empire ambitions have backfired, bringing about conditions to revitalize a previously rudderless NATO, encourage Germany to rearm itself for defense and isolate his country from broad swaths of global, commercial enterprise.

How well informed is Binkov, and is his assesment up to the task?

IRL Russian forces training: 💩 equipment: 💩 logistics: 💩 war crimes: 👍 A+ war criminals

Amateurs study strategy while masters study logistics. The US has been (mostly) successful due to its mastery of logistics. Perhaps the best example of this is the first Gulf war, and the man in charge of that logistical success, Gus Pagonis. General Schwarzkopf certainly picked the right man for the job in that case.

Most important thing is Motivation. If your troops are not motivated enough for the reason of war, no amount of training or advanced weapons can secure win, take for example Vietnam.

We finally got the logistics question answered lol

We shouldn’t have been surprised really. The UK has the worlds fifth largest economy but their effective armed forces are a fraction of those of Russia, which isn’t even a top eight economy. Something didn’t add up, and now know what was missing.

Lol at the subtitle changing from 'pretty darn well' to 'depends'

Cheers Binkov. Great vid as usual.

Hey bud you might wanna re-evaluate this one.

The thumbnail should read "The Most Corrupt and Badly Maintained Army".

Lmao he changed the thumbnail to "pretty darn well" to "Depends"

This didn't age well

This video aged like milk on a hot day. The Russian military proves itself an absolute paper tiger. They wouldn't last a month against the US military.

Six weeks into the war, Russian troops have withdrawn from the Kyiv region. Safe to say this video did not age well.

Saw this when it came out. Wanted to watch it again to see how it aged.

Russian army’s credit card was declined at Ukrainian pump.

As an American. Knowing my nations sworn enemy is piss poor in waging warfare is superbly heartwarming

I would love to see this updated

Sorting comments by the newest has become the fashion as of late

turns out: No, logistics are fucking NOT up to the task

"is logistics up to the task?" i think we know the answer to that lol

Better update this video. Even a fancy sock puppet can roll snake eyes.

did you change the thumbnail??? 😂

„Afghanistan influenced russias modern army“ XaXaXa driving unprotected with tank in town getting totally rect in the process. XaXaXa flying low with old helicopter crying treason when it kisses a stinger. Oh yes they learned 😂😂😂

This title used to be Just how well trained is the Russian army? (Pretty dang good) Now he has changed it lol.

Didn't this video thumbnail used to not say "Depends" and instead said something like "Pretty darn well"? I love Binkov, but I'm hoping he didn't edit like this without admitting his mistake. It's much more admirable to admit you are wrong than to try and cover it up. Just my two cents...

"Pretty darn well." That didn't age well, lol.

Russia just lost the war, but Hitl..Putin hasn't realised yet.

Hahaha nice one changing the caption. DEPENDS instead of Pretty fucking well :P lol

Logistics!!! Why did the allies in WWII make Eisenhower supreme allied commander? It wasn't because he was a genius in battlefield tactics. It was because he was a genius in logistics.

Unfortunately there is almost zero strategic context in this video. The US has over 700 military bases in 80 countries all across the globe. With the exception of Syria the Russian military has about a dozen bases in her immediate abroad and former Soviet republics. Around half are supporting peace keepers and observers in various frozen conflicts. What possible reason would the Russians have or need to have a logistics profile like the US military - absolutely none. The US and Russian military are performing very different roles, one power projection across the globe and the other defence of the largest country in the world. This means the profile of their armed forces and their logistics will be different and the detailed like for like comparison presented in the video is actually not very insightful.

This aged like milk.

That 400k professional soldier number has shrunk quite a bit in the past month....

Now we know: paper tiger. They can only hit cities...

As of right now this video isn't aging very well