Putin shakes up leadership in Ukraine war as defense officials warn of eastward focus (Gen. Alexander Dvornikov)

What you posted: “Zhukov used Ukrainian civilians to clear minefields and identify German positions.”

What Eisenhower wrote in his book, Crusade in Europe,” where he recalls a conversation he had with Zhukov after the war:

“Highly illuminating to me was his description of the Russian method of attacking through mine fields. The German mine fields, covered by defensive fire, were tactical obstacles that caused us [the western Allies] many casualties and delays. It was always a laborious business to break through them, even though our technicians invented every conceivable mechanical appliance to destroy mines safely. Marshal Zhukov gave me a matter-of-fact statement of his practice, which was, roughly, ‘There are two kinds of mines; one is the personnel mine and the other is the vehicular mine. When we come to a mine field our infantry attacks exactly as if it were not there. The losses we get from personnel mines we consider only equal to those we would have gotten from machine guns and artillery if the Germans had chosen to defend that particular area with strong bodies of troops instead of with mine fields. The attacking infantry does not set off the vehicular mines, so after they have penetrated to the far side of the field they form a bridgehead, after which the engineers come up and dig out the channels through which our vehicles can go.’”

Now, the quality of the infantry he used for this purpose may be in question, and some may even have been penal conscripts (i.e., not the most experienced troops). But in all my years of reading on this subject I have never come across any reliable or accepted source that claimed Zhukov used Ukrainian civilians to clear minefields. Can you cite your source?

the utter brutality and savagery of Barbarossa and the war on the Eastern Front, which was, for Russia, literally an existential threat, was something we have never faced

Actually, we have -- The Civil War.

Like Putin now, Lincoln went through several commanders in the East before he settled on Grant. Grant was not squeamish about the number of casualties on the way to taking Richmond and winning the war.

The key in the south will be to destroy Ukrainian fuel supplies and immobilize the forces in Donbas. Then the Russians can implement a pincer operation from the north and the south between Donbas and Zaporizhzhia. The trapped Ukrainian forces can be dealt with at leisure. They are most likely more willing to surrender than the Azov Battalion in Mariupol.

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