List of Wars Russia Lost over the Past 150 Years

I know more than the so-called “experts” who get paid the big bucks to spout their “wisdom” on news talk shows. Retired military generals and ex-Defense Department leaders told political news pundits Kiev, Ukraine would fall to the Russian Army in 24-48 hours. A few weeks ago, I was curious and spent 30 minutes researching the Ukranian and Russian militaries on Google. I learned Ukraine has a decent military. On paper Russia has far more firepower than the Ukraine, but the Russian military is notorious for having soldiers with low morale and weapon systems that often malfunction. The experts’ claim that Kiev would fall fast made no sense to me. Furthermore, these experts questioned whether Ukrainians would have the will to fight. I wondered why they assumed Russians would have the will to fight. 7 days into this war, it seems as if my 30 minutes of research makes me smarter than the wrinkled-up generals who talk to Wolf Blitzer on CNN. CNN should fire them and hire me.

Russia’s military is performing terribly. It appears as if their generals don’t know what they are doing, their soldiers don’t even know why they are there, and their equipment stinks. Russian missiles often miss their targets, then don’t even explode. Troops ran out of gas and food after just 2 days. Their tactics are disastrous. They are feeding troops piecemeal into Kiev, and they are getting slaughtered. Much of their army is stuck in a traffic jam on 1 highway, and the element of surprise has been lost. Russia hasn’t even yet achieved air superiority over the tiny Ukranian Air Force, a phase that should have taken 2 hours. I don’t think Russia will ever take Kiev, but if they do, they will face an insurgency they will never be able to quell. Putin is a stupid bully who made a stupid blunder that may eventually bring down his regime. I’m puzzled why the world community and military experts thought the Russian military was invincible. Russia has a long history of losing wars.

Russia fought the Ottoman Empire, England, France, and Sardinia during the Crimean War from 1853-1856. Russia lost 500,000 men and was forced to give up Romania, Moldavia, and Serbia. The Crimean Peninsula was demilitarized, and Russian warships were banned from the Black Sea. It was a disastrous loss.

500,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the Crimean War of the mid-19th century. Russia lost this war.

Japan humiliated Russia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Japanese soldiers drove the Russian Army out of Manchuria. During the Battle of Tsushima the Japanese Navy sank 4 Russian battleships, 7 cruisers, and 3 destroyers; and they captured 3 battleships and 3 destroyers. Japanese losses were minimal–3 damaged battleships and 3 little patrol torpedo boats sunk. Teddy Roosevelt brokered a peace deal where Russia simply agreed to give up Manchuria.

The Japanese sunk most of the Russian Navy during the Battle of Tsushima during 1905, leading to another Russian military disaster.

Though Russia was on the allied side with England and France (the U.S. entered about the time Russia dropped out), Russia still managed to lose WWI to Germany. The Battle of Tannenberg was the main reason why Russia lost that war. Retreating Russian army groups ran right into fortified German trenches. Russia lost tens of thousands of men killed (the exact number is unknown) and 92,000 were captured. This disastrous loss sparked the Russian Revolution, and Russia sued for peace with Germany.

Russian armies retreated and ran into German fortified trenches during WWI. Over 30,000 men were killed and 92,000 were captured. Russia sued for peace.

After the Russian Revolution, Russia tried to spread communism by force to neighboring countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. All of these military efforts failed by 1921. Russia was more successful following WWII.

Russia spent 10 years fighting a war in Afghanistan from 1979-1989. The primitive Mujahadeen defeated them. Russia also failed to subdue the tiny province of Chechnya from 1994-1996 and were forced to withdraw. They returned in 1999, but it took them 10 years to defeat the Chechen insurgency. The Ukraine is much larger, and the people are fighting for freedom and democracy. Ukraine did fight a guerilla war against the Soviet Union from 1944-1953. The Soviet Union was much stronger then, and people were war weary. I see no way for Russia to win this time, and in this war there are clear cut good guys and bad guys. Putin is a brutal dictator who poisons his political rivals. Zelensky is a democratically elected Jewish comedian who refuses to flee for his own personal safety. It’s a modern-day David vs Goliath story. I am rooting for freedom and that means the Ukrainian Army needs to kill as many Russian soldiers as possible. Twitter temporarily locked my account for tweeting this wish, but I can express this opinion on my blog. Winning a war means killing.

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Tags: Battle of Tanenberg, Battle of Tsushimi, Chechen War, Crimean War, Russia's military failure in Afghanistan, Russo-Japanese War, World War I