{"id":78289,"date":"2022-03-05T19:40:20","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T01:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78289"},"modified":"2022-03-05T19:40:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T01:40:20","slug":"78289","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78289","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

An uprising in Kherson<\/a><\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s theory of how Russia would pacify a conquered Ukraine appears to have been that Ukrainians would \u2026 just sort of pacify themselves. Russia can\u2019t mount an effective long-term occupation of a country this large but it wouldn\u2019t need to, provided that Ukrainians placidly accepted their fate and welcomed their integration into Russia.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no exaggeration to say that Russia\u2019s entire war strategy rested on that dubious assumption bearing out. If Ukrainians resisted and forced Russia to commit to a lengthy pacification effort, there\u2019s no telling how long Moscow would be able to sustain it. Especially with western sanctions taking a wrecking ball to their economy.<\/p>\n

To put it another way, Putin really, truly seems to have believed his own bullsh*t about Ukrainians greeting Russian troops as liberators. In a worst-case scenario, he may have imagined that Ukrainians would resist initially but then would roll over once their cities were occupied and all hope of expelling the invader was lost.<\/p>\n

That theory was tested today in the southern city of Kherson, the site of Russia\u2019s most significant victory to date. The Russian military seized it days ago and moved in to occupy it. If Putin is right that Ukrainians will reconcile themselves to their fate once they fall under Russian control, the first evidence should emerge in Kherson.<\/p>\n

His theory\u00a0looked shaky<\/a>\u00a0yesterday. Today it looks shakier:<\/p>\n

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CNN EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: A source in Kherson just sent me this video of citizens protesting with Ukrainian flags, chanting, \u201cKherson is Ukraine\u201d and \u201cUkraine is above everything."<\/p>\n

This is incredibly brave to do in Russian-occupied territory.<\/p>\n

They're risking their lives. pic.twitter.com\/NmAy562nCm<\/a><\/p>\n

— Nora Neus (@noraneus) March 5, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n