Posted on 04/19/2022 9:51:24 AM PDT by Mariner
KYIV (Reuters) - Russia's new offensive in eastern Ukraine is going "very cautiously" and will fail because Moscow's forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defences, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Rusisan forces were trying to find "sensitive spots" in Ukraine's defences but added: "Their offensive will fail - I give you a 99% guarantee - they simply do not have enough strength."
"The battle for Donbas, which was announced and apparently began yesterday, is under way and is going very cautiously. The battle will not go in Russia's favour," he said on national television.
Russian forces were trying to push through Ukrainian defences along almost the entire front line in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
What else can they say? We’re doomed?
Wha?
Ukraine Army is cut off and surrounded!!! I read it on Sputnik!
🤣
I can’t wait until the end of this conflict to see you and your fellow Propaganda Pushers have to eat your words or slink away in silence.
That time is not too distant in the future!
It took the Soviets a couple of years, and millions of lost troops, to figure that out in WW2. It could be that the only reason it eventually worked in World War II was that enough time went by for the cream to rise to the top in the Soviet officer and NCO corps, because mobile operations require a greater degree of professional skill and competence.
It may be that this version of the Russian army, which has not fought a major war in a long time, lacks sufficient competency among its officers and NCOs to enable mobile warfare. As a result, they are reliant on lumbering, broad front advances that will succeed only if they can overwhelm a much weaker enemy by sheer weight of combat power.
Right back atcha!
Like the Ukraine or American media is any better.
Where do you dolts come from anyway?
It is the dolts on this site who have made the claim. Dolt is what dolts do.
“It may be that this version of the Russian army, which has not fought a major war in a long time, lacks sufficient competency among its officers and NCOs to enable mobile warfare.”
It may also be that they are probing a large front for weakness.
Well, hopefully at any rate. I guess it depends on if outside nations, naming no names, decide to enter into the fray.
The problem with that approach is that if you find a weakness, you then have to redirect other forces to exploit that, and the time that takes gives the defender the chance to strengthen that same spot. You lose the element of surprise.
Better off using whatever intelligence you have to pick the best area you can, and then commit to it massively. If it isn't "weak", you still have committed enough force to win anyway. That's what the Germans did in France in 1914, 1940, and again in '44, what the Russians did in their great offensives of '44, and what we did in both 1991 and 2003.
A general attack looking to find a weak spot before committing just telegraphs what you are doing to the defender.
Ironically, it’s a “Boris” who is showing the way—leading in the provision of quick armaments.
Russia does not appear to have an effective NCO corps.
the yahoo article is piss poor with no battle details.
.
Ukes took towns in the Karkov area.
Russ took towns and are breaking out big in the Izyum area.
Russ took towns on the Zappa line and near Kherson.(minor advance)
https://southfront.org/war-in-ukraine-day-54-russian-major-offensive-in-donbass-began-18/
.
The following link has a lot more detail and is a 40 min video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1pq0R3UseY
Good point. And it takes a lot of time and lost lives to try to develop one by trial and error during a war. The Russians may not even want the kind of independent-thinking NCO’s we cultivate.
“The Russians may not even want the kind of independent-thinking NCO’s we cultivate.”
They never have. That’s been one of their shortcomings for...well, pretty much forever. Unlike the US, Russian military operations are very much top-down, with no subordinate delegation. With us, the mission is what counts, and all hands know the mission; and if leadership goes down, they will still seek to accomplish the mission, by improvisation if necessary. The Russian experience is that if leadership goes down, the troops are stymied, and panic or fall apart, as they don’t know what to do.
When I was in during the Cold War, a Russian tank platoon leader had a two way radio but the other tanks in the platoon only had receivers, because, well, what would be the point of talking to a subordinate?
Maybe the Russians still have enough combat power to bludgeon their way through this. But I'm skeptical.
Exactly.
The Ukrainians punched well above their weight, but are running out of everything.
Russia is, well, not doing well but has a lot more supplies and men to burn.
Quantity has a quality all its own.
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