Vietnamese people have expressed joy on social networks over the weekend at the news that Ukrainian forces counter-attacked and recaptured a series of important cities in the northeast of the country from Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech last Friday night said that Ukrainian troops have liberated 30 settlements in Kharkiv. The Russian Defense Ministry admitted that it had to withdraw its troops from Izium, a strategically important regional city for Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. But the Russian side called the withdrawal a tactic to concentrate troops in the direction of Donetsk.
Facebooker Dr. Hieu commented on the withdrawal that the Russian side called a “planned tactical withdrawal” as follows:
“The Russians ran so fast that Ukraine couldn’t keep up. It’s just a pity that the Russian soldiers could not bring back all the washing machines and refrigerators they had stolen.”
Facebooker Nguyen Trieu Vy said, “The army of Mr. Tin successfully escaped from Kherson and Dobass according to the plan of the special military operation.”
The Russian government from the very beginning of the war in Ukraine in February called it a special military operation instead of a war of aggression.
Facebooker Oanh Vy Ly wrote:
“The Russians are running out of breath. Many netizens suggested giving the team marathon championship of the ‘retreat’ extended over 8,000 km to the Russian army, and it was well deserved.”
On his personal Facebook page, writer Nguyen Thong – with more than 27,000 followers, wrote:
“…The Russian fascists do not easily accept defeat but the reality of the battlefield is a fact. And the fact that it is losing, can lose faster than many people think…
Kind people are hoping for Ukraine to win faster to liberate the country from the brutal invaders.”
He also said that there were many people who were bitter when Russia lost, such as police General Le Van Cuong or army Colonel Le The Mau, but “history is a waterfall, all rubbish is swept away.”
Commenting on the latest developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, former intelligence officer of the Vietnam People’s Army Vu Minh Tri exchanged with a reporter from Radio Free Asia (RFA) via text message as follows:
“In recent days, the Ukrainian side has continuously won, which is understandable because they have the two most important factors, their will to fight and the very high intelligence and creativity in addition to being well equipped with very modern weapons.”
“The Russian side, on the other hand, is increasingly showing itself as an unorganized, politically exhausted army, with weapons and equipment that are less advanced and even outdated,” Mr. Tri said.
According to a former officer of the General Department of Military Intelligence, intelligence work also contributed significantly to the victory of Ukraine.
According to him, Ukraine has been very successful in using technical means to gather intelligence about the invaders, thereby hitting many of their key military targets such as headquarters, warehouses, yards, bridges, and equipment.
They have also stepped up counterintelligence work, disabling many spies and collaborators of Russian intelligence, Tri added.
Facebooker Duong Quoc Chinh, with more than 59,000 followers, told RFA that although he predicted the outcome of Russia’s loss, he was quite surprised by how quickly things progressed on the battlefield:
“In general, the Russian withdrawal was quite unexpected, quite similar to the Republic of Vietnam, so there are many questions. Of course, this outcome I also predicted, that Russia would have to lose sooner or later, but I didn’t expect that they would withdraw so quickly.”
He explained that the defeat of the Russian army was mainly due to the demoralization of unskilled and unprofessional soldiers. According to him, as the army lost morale, powerful weapons could not make up for it.
He posed a series of questions, including concern about Moscow’s potential use of nuclear weapons:
“Does Ukraine dare to attack Crimea? And if Crimea was hit by Ukraine, would Russia use nuclear weapons? Because for the Russians, hitting Crimea is hitting Russia.”
Mr. Do The Dang, a social activist in Hanoi, also wondered about the possibility of Russian troops acting indiscriminately during the chaos without foreseeing the consequences. He said:
“The general perception is that Russia is losing ground. The proof is not in the withdrawal of troops, but in addition to the retreat and resistance on the battlefield, Russia has used guided missiles to attack civilian facilities.
There are a lot of shooting at civilian facilities. It is more likely that intelligence disturbances during this stressful period lead to indiscriminate action with no known consequences.”
Recalling the Vietnamese State’s swing diplomacy and “bamboo” diplomacy, blogger Nguyen Thong wrote, “Poor people who lead bamboo diplomacy. Are you constantly composing letters congratulating Ukraine on the victory, or are you asking both sides to exercise restraint and sit at the negotiating table?”
The Vietnamese government from the outset of the war avoided criticizing Russia and did not call it a war of aggression. Vietnam has three times abstained and opposed resolutions condemning Russia at the United Nations.
According to blogger Nguyen Thong, when Ukraine wins the war, the whole world will name only Vietnam as one of the few countries that dare not criticize Russia’s invasion.
Journalist Vo Van Tao from Nha Trang said he was very happy about the news of Ukraine’s victory, but he predicted that there would still be many difficulties for President Zelenskyy’s army and people against the Russian army.
“If the invading army fails, all peace-loving people will be elated. However, there are many comments online in Vietnam that are very optimistic, saying that the war will end in early October, which is before winter, but I think this is too optimistic.”
He said that the Russian military should not be underestimated even though its morale is very low, and it should not be forgotten that Ukraine is receiving huge military and economic help from the United States and the West.
He said this support could be reduced if those countries fail to overcome the threat of cutting off Russian gas supplies in the coming winter.
Political commentator Duong Quoc Chinh believes that the best outcome for both Ukraine and Russia is that Putin is deposed by the Russians and the two countries sign a peace treaty.
Many newspapers controlled by the State of Vietnam also reported on the retreat of Russian troops.
However, there were also many Vietnamese who did not believe that the Russian army was losing ground.
On his Facebook page, Colonel Le The Mau wrote “The news that the Ukrainian army won is 100% fake news” when answering a question from a person about the update of the Ukrainian army counter-attacking and winning battles in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Izium.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
