Comments, questions, informed critiques, angry ranting and raving?
Tear Collection Kits available at poster's expense.
🇺🇦 Слава Україні! 🇺🇦 Sláva Ukrayíni! 🇺🇦 ☭ No CCCP 2.0 ☭
Since early April, when Pentagon briefing slides about the state of the Ukrainian army 'leaked' onto the web, the writing in 'western' media about the much discussed Ukrainian counteroffensive has become more gloomy.The hyping is largely gone and the assessments become more realistic. Three days ago the London Times offered a piece in that category:
Ukraine isn’t ready for its big offensive, but it has no choice (paywalled, archived version)
Kyiv is locked into a spring or summer push despite burning through ammo so fast that the West can’t keep up.
[W]hile the Ukrainians are moving quickly to assimilate their 230 new and reconditioned western tanks and 1,550 armoured vehicles, they still lack proper air defences for any big offensive operation. That puts them at risk from Russian airpower. Western defence sources are also uncertain whether senior commanders can adapt to the new systems as well as their soldiers on the ground.
Yet Kyiv has little real choice but to launch a major spring or summer offensive. Its leaders are increasingly boxed in. As an American defence official put it: “The Ukrainians have surprised us as well as Putin in the past, but have much less room for manoeuvre now . . . and the Russians know it.”
President Zelensky has managed the West with great skill, but to maintain its support he has to show what Washington insiders rather tastelessly call a “return on investment”.
He must also balance domestic politics. Hawks such as Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, prevent any meaningful talk about negotiations, even though some in the government think now is the time to put out feelers. One western diplomat in Kyiv described a “surreal parallel experience” as his interlocutors “discuss potential formats for negotiations one evening” and then “shout that there can be no talks with Russia” in public the next day.
During the war Kiev first burned through its standing army material and personnel. It then received a large amount of Soviet era equipment from former Warsaw Pact members and burned through that stash. It has now received 'western' arms for a third army that will largely consist of mobilized civilians with little military experience. After the counteroffensive has run its course, no matter the outcome, that third army will largely be destroyed. There will be no more material and personnel for a fourth army.
What is the INFOGRAPHICS SHOW???
When they get to Stalinesque numbers, the alarm will mean something. By my count, they have at least 30 million more to go.
Wow! Usually if I see a really long post I’ll get to a point where they are repeating themselves and then just scan the rest, but that was not the case here. There was no repeating. It just kept getting worse. Thanks for posting this information.
Puty is dumber than a box of rocks. Did he think everyone was going to jump onto his death train? Total moron.
China will happily repopulate Russia (as well as every other country it takes over).
Bad news for Putin is good news for the world!
—”... Others were placed under house arrest. The unraveling credibility of the FSB and Putin’s growing anger as the invasion turned into a massive disaster led to a dog-eat-dog attitude within the spy agency, with agents more concerned with their personal survival- either professional or sometimes literally-than with accomplishing the mission at hand.”
“I don t know whether this is the best of times or the worst of times, but I assure you it s the only time you’ve got.”
- Art Buchwald
This is interesting. Russia is writing propaganda excuses in advance for losing in Ukraine. The English translation is not very good, but it’s still telling.
Good info!
thanks
May there be much more of this:
“There are strong reasons to suspect that Wagner purposefully leaks the location of political opponents to Ukrainian forces, who in turn target them for precision strikes.”
The walls are closing in....
PFL...thanks for posting.