Posted on 07/25/2024 3:26:11 AM PDT by Jumper
I know we will win – and how’: Ukraine’s top general on turning the tables against Russia, an Interview with Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi
Syrskyi is Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief. Two and half years into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale onslaught, he acknowledges the Russians are much better resourced. They have more of everything: tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, soldiers. Their original 100,000-strong invasion force has grown to 520,000, he said, with a goal by the end of 2024 of 690,000 men. The figures for Ukraine have not been made public.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
The Ukraine does not have a Government
The piano player was not re-elected. Elections were cancelled
The lower house term ends August 1. Elections are not planned
Russia does not have a negotiating partner
No choice but to finish the narrow and specific goals.
De-militarize
De-nazify
Correct. One party state fascist Russia must be denazified immediately. Perhaps it will happen during the next coup against Putin?
This isn’t about Ukraine, we all k ie the situation they are in
This about Russia
2022 we have more than enough people
2024 conscription age raised to 60, mercenaries
2022 we have all the ammo we need we will never run out
2024 help us NK, Iran, China
2022 we will never run out of equipment
2024 motorcycles, quads and golf carts from China
2022 we will park ships of Ukraine and rain hell on it
2024 we never liked Sevastopol or Sea of Azov
2022 we can take Kiev in days or weeks
2924 we could take kiev in days or weeks, but we don’t want it anymore
You are an ass comrade
You've already point out. It's nearly 200,000 troops. The Americans sent in roughly the same number of troops during the invasion of Iraq during 2003.
Per the Ukrainian Commander....
The Russians, IMHO, were caught with their pants down.
Prior to the war, they were roughly spending the same on their war machine as we were in terms of percent GDP. They have an economy 1/5 ours in PPP, 1/10 in terms of GDP and we’re spending about the same in terms of percent of GDP for their war machine. Their army was 55% ours, air force 47% ours, navy 43% ours.
They had modernized their force some, but it frankly wasn’t up to the task considering that Russia like us has other obligations they need to worry about: Syria, Armenia, Niger, their North West... And these sort of operations like Ukraine take a long time and require you to rotate units in and out. You can’t just send in everything and keep it there. Like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq, you set up a Time Phased Force Deployment (a schedule).
Also pure speculation, I think the Ukraine did far better than anyone could dream of. Their performance was off the charts. Not saying they’re winning, they’re not. But they held ground better and took a far bigger bite out of the Russians than what the Russians expected, and anyone else for that matter. Maybe I’m minimizing the Ukraine with this following statement, but I think 7 years of US training, massive arms deliveries (key technologies), logistical support, Intel support, even some of the command and control (some of the targeting for example was being done at Ramstein) made 2022 unlike 2014.
Russia/Putin aren’t stupid, contrary to how we present them. This is long term and a guns vs. butter type of issue. Russia is at about 7% GDP for their war machine today, still far-far away from full mobilization. Ukraine is at >33% and one can confidently state that they have total economic mobilization, albeit their conscription still hasn’t mined down to 18 year olds. They could still dig far harder than they are, but seeing how unpopular even the modest conscription modifications were in Ukraine 2023, I have my doubts they will go that way.
However, even in the conscription aspect, Russia is in a far better position than Ukraine. Which is to be expected with a 3.5 times population advantage. Russia is still primarily relying on what we once called an IRR (individual ready reserve) and that is why they increased the maximum age I’m assuming. Russia is still trying to maximize the use of financial incentives (volunteers) and recalling prior service members, while Ukraine is literally doing “snatch and grabs” off the street.
And yes, Russia wants the nationalist areas of Ukraine about as much as you want hemorrhoids. Everyone with a clue knew what they would go for, the area with a high degree of ethnic Russians, as they did with Crimea 2014. When Russia shot for Kiev, they forced Ukraine to pull resources off the areas Russia wants to take and hold, and in that respect, what our Ukraine cheerleaders and MSM quickly called a failure accomplished what it was supposed to.
That is not to say Russia would not have taken Kiev if that opportunity arrose, but given how they were doing things, it is very-very unlikely that this was their true intent (objective). Kiev was a classic/textbook feint attack: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feint (look under attacks).
Russia has pretty much achieved everything they wanted, (((politically))) block Ukraine from joining NATO, and (((militarily)) by taking Eastern Ukraine, a major industrial area and port city which is also the heart of Ukraine’s steel industry.
I think in the West there is a realization that Russia does have a voice and we can’t just steamroll them. Likewise, Ukraine was “punished,” i.e. Russia wanted to make sure Ukraine pays a price.
Arguments to the contrary are almost always a sort of strawman trying to make bogus casualty reports, some heroic story or wonder weapon the centerpiece. At this point the war is already fought and it’s merely a question of when it becomes politically tenable for someone in the West to end this stupidity. Ukraine isn’t going to have another counteroffensive, as time goes on they will only lose more land, and their last chance at taking anything back was 2023. Now it’s just death and destruction for what is already a determined outcome. In fact, as stated earlier, Ukraine will merely lose more and more ground as Russia keeps the pressure on (also forces Ukraine to commit troops to a fight and prevent the build up of forces able to conduct a counter-offensive). Basically, as time goes on, Ukraine is only in a worse position.
Ukraine started shelling Russian-Ukrainians eight years before Russia went in. They actually bumped up the assault to one-thousand shells per day, in the weeks before the Russian invasion.
WWIII may have started in 2014. I guess we’ll see.
I appreciate the response, and a fair assessment.
I will pick around the edges that lead me to a possible different conclusion of this war
1st the drive to Kiev was not just to draw forces away from other areas, but to result in forcing a change in govt and an installing of a pro Kremlin regime. To me that was their biggest failure. If that would have happened none of which followed would have
Massive arms deliveries: I wouldn’t say they were massive. They could have been. A few artillery pieces, a few himars, javelins and ammunition and one patriot early on is not massive. 31 abrams and a couple of hundred Bradleys and atacms mostly after their counter offensive was anemic at best
Europe was equally slow to act, and a dozen patriots earlier along with atacms during counter offensive would IMO have severely changed Russias territorial gains as well as have cause much larger loses to their Air Force and ground forces
Comparing Russians gdp and military spending to US is only one part of the equation, add europes ever increasing spending and production and that scale changes.
I have said for sometime now that a kinetic military solution by Ukraine that removes Russia from their lands is not likely without, and this is my key point, a collapse of support in Russia for the war which results in a political change in Russia.
The collapse of the Soviet Union did not happen as a result of military operations by the west, but was economic.
Many talk of the size of the Russian military and their production capabilities, but they are not the soviets Union. However they do have some of the same issues the Soviet Union had, a very large land mass with a “federation” held together in many regions by force and coercion.
Many of these forces have been pulled from these areas to feed the war I think this will factor in my “political “ scenario.
Finally, though many paint a more rosy picture of the Russian economy and Russian forces I see both following the adage things happen slow till the don’t.
Russia is blowing through their soviet legacy weapons,and national wealth fund, something they have relied on to maintain the pressure you write about and that is dwindling fast.
Go back 2 years ago and all the talk was how they would never run out…. Deals with China, NK, and Iran show otherwise.
If and this is a big if, the Russian advantage in the air is reduced, and Russia is forced to more and more unsupported meat waves along with some reversals in territorial gains, power centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg become more effected by the war, and the economics of running this war become more and more apparent(everyone love more and more taxes and less and less services for these increases) my scenario becomes more and more likely
We will see
Say hello to Putain for me. He is on record saying he wanted to take Eastern Europe. Not at all hysterics.
Despite the juvenile name calling I will respond with
We will see, I don’t think Trump is going to do what you think he will
And yet you didn’t answer my question
Sources?
And what name would that be?
“You are an ass comrade”
Your post #65 to Jon Preston
juvenile name calling to Jon Preston
And you have the nerve to accuse me of “juvenile name calling” Neocon
LOL
If you have followed his spelling digs and know his where about a during wildberry warehouse fire you might rethink your comments
Regardless
Cheers, glad you joined into the conversation
Youcranye, low iq amongst others
Did you know that if you don’t have a college degree you are low IQ, fascinating
Perfect, still haven’t cited sources
Neocon Hypocrite.
Calling someone a juvenile name caller when you did worse.
Childish Neocon.
Trump will end the bloodshed.
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