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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| The Russians Are Getting Better |
| 2023-09-08 |
| [Foreign Affairs] What Moscow Has Learned in Ukraine Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive has moved more slowly than many of the country’s allies and supporters had hoped. The Ukrainian military has proved remarkably adept at rapidly incorporating new capabilities and technologies into its operations, fighting bravely and for the most part effectively against an enemy with superior numbers, little regard for its own losses, and no regard for the laws of war. Even so, progress has been gradual, and every piece of liberated territory has come at an immense cost. Only after three months of grueling combat has Ukraine started to make more significant progress, penetrating some of Russia’s entrenched defensive lines in the country’s southeast and reclaiming territory in the provinces of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk. Some analysts have attributed the counteroffensive’s slow pace to the challenges of successfully executing joint military maneuvers or coordinating artillery, infantry, and airpower. Others have questioned whether the training the United States and NATO have provided—focused on conducting fast offensive operations rather than wearing the Russian military down through attrition—was well suited to the type of enemy and war the Ukrainians are fighting. Still others have argued that Kyiv’s Western allies have been too slow to provide weapons and equipment, which delayed the Ukrainian counteroffensive and allowed Russia to fortify its positions and mine large swaths of contested territory. Finally, the Ukrainian military is not a NATO-style force, and the armed forces’ legacy and doctrine remains, in part, beholden to the Soviet military when it comes to the way it organizes, mobilizes, and sustains itself. Although this is not necessarily a weakness, it does require that Ukraine’s Western allies reconsider what types of weapons, equipment, and training would enable Ukraine to fight the way it fights best. More at the link |
| Posted by:Enver Slager8035 |
| #4 So far Russians are doing what Peter Zeihan predicted - start with a total disaster, then throw bodies at the problem. In about 18 months we'll know if he was all the way right. Russia will be down 500k soldiers and may have to call it quits. |
| Posted by: Angstrom 2023-09-08 10:04 |
| #3 Keep Cope Alive dear "2nd Army in the world". Ukraine could break through rest of Russia's defensive lines by end of the year. Mr Maul (DIA) described the recent gains as “significant”, before telling the Economist there was a “realistic possibility” of breaching the rest of the lines, a turn of phrase that suggests a 40-50 per cent likelihood in the intelligence world. Last week General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, the leader of Ukraine’s southern counter-offensive, said Russia had devoted 60 per cent of its time and resources to building the first line of defence in the belief Kyiv would never breach it. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-09-08 09:12 |
| #2 ^IMO, MSM will be reporting glorious Ukrainian victories for months after Ukrainians surrender. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-09-08 08:56 |
| #1 Always offensive. Exhausting all resources. Defensive action would have prolonged their efforts. So now all the money and support is spent. Time for Biden to do his Afghanistan ploy. Ukrainians failed to listen to western advise. Let Russia deal with the Ukrainian mess and NATO. New DC efforts focused on China. Always war here and there everywhere. |
| Posted by: Dale 2023-09-08 08:35 |