With Russia refocusing its energy on capturing the eastern part of Ukraine after moving its troops from Kyiv has raised question on many people’s minds about Moscow’s bungled moves since the invasion.

What many thought would last just days, has turned out to be seven weeks of bloodbath with no closure so far.

Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, the Ukrainians have been gaining momentum trying to get Russia to back out, with a success in the north of the country. Ukraine has stalled or reversed Russian advances on most other fronts.

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The Washington Post in a piece on Friday revealed that Russia may not have strategized on all fronts before entering Ukraine.

So, has Russia really botched its invasion of Ukraine. Here are some of the possible wrong moves by Moscow:

Underestimating Ukraine:

Experts believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have taken both the will and the capacity of the Ukrainians to resist quite lightly. This has led to the failure of Russia’s plans of a swift and easy victory.

Aided by weaponry from the West, Ukraine has fought back with no signs of backing out. Even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he was open to dialogues with Putin, he did not give up.

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Zelensky also received major support from his citizens who have been ready to pick arms to fight for their country.

Sending unprepared troops:

Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine have hinted that many troops had not been told they would be invading Ukraine, with some saying all they knew was that they were participating in a military exercise.

Not enough supplies:

Russia likely believed that it would be able to take over Ukraine with days. However, the resistance it received came as a shock for Moscow. This is why, the military units quickly ran out of supplies. Several videos emerged two weeks into the invasion, showing Russian soldiers stranded on roadsides without food and fuel for vehicles.

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Massive logistical failure:

Military experts said that with no fuel, Russian units were unable to obtain supplies. Russian soldiers had to abandon tanks and several other vehicles with ammunitions and other weapons, which were later seized by Ukraine’s forces.

No proper line of command:

Experts say that as Russia’s highly centralized military does not empower troops on the ground to make decisions or issue orders,  soldiers failed to take prompt decisions on their own after facing a roadblock. They had to wait for orders from their superiors.

Failed to take control of the skies:

Military experts thought that Russia would take out Ukrainian air defense systems, bases and planes before troops would be sent across the border. However, the troops first pushed in without any air support. Instead, the troops surged in without any air support.

While Russia struggled with the several potholes on the way, Ukrainian forces began an offensive to take back territory from Russian troops. 

With gaining control of Kyiv, Ukraine showed a remarkable turnaround. But, experts said that its forces may have a very small window to make progress.

“The Ukrainians, if they are going to mount any kind of large-scale offensives, are probably going to have to do it in the next few weeks before the Russians are able to fortify the ground they’ve taken,” Mick Ryan, a recently retired two-star general in the Australian Army reportedly said. “Otherwise the Russians will dig in and they’ll be very difficult to dig out.”