Russian lawmakers authorize Putin to use military force outside the country

[hazard]

Re: Moskva. Russia cannot admit in public that the Ukrainians sank the ship without acknowledging that the Ukrainians remain a threat to Russia, and acknowledging the Ukrainians remain a threat to Russia when the Special Operation to Denazify Ukraine is going so excellently and well will cast doubt on the Russian central government and its policies, along with inflaming further anti special operation sentiment (because it can't be anti-war sentiment if it's not a war).

Re: Military organization. Russia has quite possibly never had an NCO corps in the first place. This is part of the reason why the Russian military and the Soviet military were so top heavy at all times, because what the West delegates to sergeants, specialists and corporals instead a warrant officer or commissioned officer has to deal with. There is also tremendous emphasis on following orders no matter what, which makes them slow and sluggish to respond to threats, especially if the local officer in charge gets knocked out. Yes, even if a major gets hit and his captains now have to figure out what to do, despite all of them having a degree of command authority over their own forces. There are no NCOs kicking men into positions and formation while the officers work out how to handle the situation.