Posted on 12/29/2022 2:45:22 PM PST by Timber Rattler
After weeks of fighting for scraps of territory on the war’s bloodiest front, Oleh, a 21-year-old Ukrainian company commander, was summoned suddenly last August, along with thousands of other soldiers, to an obscure rendezvous point in the Kharkiv region.
At his last position, relentless Russian artillery fire had stalked his men’s every step. But here, in a patch of villages, farmland and streams in Ukraine’s northeast, the quiet was deeply alarming. “The silence bothered me the most,” Oleh said. “It seemed off. How could this be?”
Even more unsettling were the orders his superiors handed down: to charge as far as 40 miles into enemy territory at high speed in an audacious, top-secret counteroffensive — directly between the Russian-occupied stronghold of Izyum and Russia’s own Belgorod region dotted with military bases. It seemed preposterous. “Some kind of dubious operation,” Oleh said.
But after a summer of heavy Russian casualties and President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to conscript reinforcements, the Kremlin’s troops were badly depleted. A shift of units south — to defend the captured regional capital of Kherson amid talk of a big Ukrainian push there — had left the Kharkiv area exposed.
It was a stunning vulnerability, confirmed by Ukrainian reconnaissance teams and small drones. And Kyiv would exploit it to change the dynamic of the war, and achieve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s goal of redrawing the battlefield map before winter.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Is that you, Baghdad Bob?
This is a very good description of the advances over the last few months, and how they happened.
Russian trolls are very sad that Russia is losing
good
Hey troll. your propaganda is behind a paywall....
WaPo is leftwing trash
tim burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
It is apparent that Putin underestimated the Ukrainians and their will to fight. The Russians had the same contempt for the Chechens in 1994.
They had the same content for the Finns in 1940. Russia doesn’t play well on the road.
... reshaped the war.
********
We shall see.
“They had the same content for the Finns in 1940. Russia doesn’t play well on the road.”
Historically, Russia has sucked on offense. But it can be quite formidable on defense IF they are fighting to prevent the fall of the Motherland.
Now this is true. Especially when they have “General Winter” fighting for them.
“Now this is true. Especially when they have “General Winter” fighting for them.”
Russia has survived because it has two of the greatest defenses ever: The weather and the vastness of space.
Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for December 30, 2022:
- Russia conducts what may be the largest missile strike so far during the special military operation;
- Ukraine's power grid continues to be degraded;
- Fighting continues around Bakhmut;
- Western analysts insist Russian fighting around Bakhmut is "senseless" but it suits Russia's strategy of attrition;
- Russia is also building extensive defensive structures across the line of contact;
- These lines force Ukrainian offensive troops to spend more time in well-prepared fields of fire resulting in major casualties;
- Russia appears to be settling into a protracted war of attrition while protecting its lines with these major defensive works.
General Winter works for both sides ... they’re both used to these weather conditions
and Ukraine isn’t trying to conquer all of Russia, just get it out of its border regions ... so the “trading land for time” tactic becomes irrelevant
take away those two, and whatcha got?
an even fight ... that’s why we’re now in the 11th month, and Russia is in slow retreat
Same article not behind paywall
👍
I was talking about Russia historically.
This invasion of Ukraine was a boneheaded move by Putin, and goes against Russia’s historical strengths. Even if Russia eventually prevails, it loses; and on several levels.
Even if Russia eventually prevails, it loses; and on several levels.
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Even if Russia eventually prevails, it loses; and on several levels.
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The WaPoo and NYT are “go to” sites for Zeepers. They are their trusted news.
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