“Russia has sustained casualties of between 300,000 and 400,000 killed and wounded in the war in Ukraine so far, and in the heaviest fighting at Avdiivka is losing between 500 and 1,000 a day according to a briefing by western officials.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, nevertheless acknowledged that Ukraine’s counter offensive on the Zaporizhzhia front has essentially culminated, although “three brigades” are believed to have made it across the Dnipro river near Kherson.
“Neither side is capable of mounting a decisive operation on land,” one of the officials said, and it appeared that “a prolonged conflict” was likely to follow in which long term US and European military aid would be crucial.
A significant force, described as three brigades, had established a position across the Dnipro that the Russians have proved unable to dislodge, although it was unclear, they said, how much armour the Ukrainian military had been able to get across the river.
But despite the cross-river success, the officials said they expected that Ukraine would most likely only be able to make incremental “village at a time” progress, a similar pace to summer efforts south of Orikhiv and Velyka Novosilka.”
And The RuZZian Boys on FR are disappointed…
“As U.S. Wavers on Ukraine Aid, Europe Steps Up”
“European powers are increasingly helping Kyiv hold the line against Russia as the war slips toward stalemate”
“European governments are boosting their assistance to Ukraine as worries grow that Washington’s failure to approve new aid could cause Ukraine to lose ground in the war against Russia.
Europe and the U.S. increasingly believe that Ukraine will struggle to win significant territory in the near term and are focusing their efforts on enabling Kyiv’s forces to hold the line against Russia.
Following Ukraine’s failure to gain meaningful territory in its counteroffensive this year, the war has largely reached an impasse. Western leaders now worry that Ukraine’s growing shortfall in money and ammunition could offer Moscow an opportunity next year to regain areas it lost to Ukraine last year.
Until now, the U.S. has borne much of the burden of helping Ukraine militarily, with tens of billions of dollars in assistance. Now, Europeans are planning to take a growing role.”
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“France said this month it was allocating more than $200 million in additional money for Ukrainian purchases of French equipment, doubling the fund’s size. The Dutch government pledged more than $542 million to help Ukraine obtain ammunition, and Belgium said last month it would provide Ukraine with more than $1.85 billion next year, using proceeds from a tax on the profit made by Russian central-bank assets sitting in a Belgian financial institution. “