'Little by little, the Russians are winning'

BBC via MSN ^ | February 13, 2023 | Orla Guerin

[hcmama]

The battle for Bakhmut is a war within a war. Some of the fiercest fighting of the invasion has happened here. And now the Kremlin's forces are gaining ground, metre by metre, body by body. Wave after wave of mercenaries from the notorious Wagner group have been sent into battle here. There are reports of fields of Russian corpses.

Moscow now has effective control of both main roads into the city, leaving just one back route left - a slender supply line.

"They have been trying to take the city since July," says Iryna, press officer of the 93rd Brigade. "Little by little they are winning now. They have more resources, so if they play the long game they will win. I can't say how long it will take.

[hcmama]

I have detected a real sea change in the coverage of this conflict in the past week or so. The New York Times and Washington Post are both running stories about the Biden Administration warning Ukraine that they can't keep supplying them at the levels they are now.

[Bull Man]

Sea change, yeah…they are being forced by reality to back fill the garbage propaganda they have been shoveling for the past year. Gosh, I wonder if the Ghost of Kiev will arrive to save the day! /snark

[EEGator]

I was wondering why, after almost a year, the State Department has told all Americans to leave Russia.
Shouldn’t they have issued that a year ago, if at all?

[albie]

And I’m huge increments Zalinsky becomes richer and richer

[JonPreston]

I have detected a real sea change in the coverage of this conflict in the past week or so.

You're right. There comes a time when the propAgenda is defeated on the battlefield.

[BobL]

“I have detected a real sea change in the coverage of this conflict in the past week or so.”

The problem is that, just like Afghanistan, they cannot cover up areas that are liberated by Russia, with Bakhmut about to be the biggest prize yet of the war.

So then the question becomes how do the break the news to the 90% of Americans who ‘catch the news’ for 10 minutes every morning, or watch CNN? They figure, probably correctly, that if they slowly ‘guide’ their flock towards the truth, those people will tend to forget all of the prior lies (many of which we see here, by the way), and therefore will not believe us, telling the truth, when it comes to future lies by the media/government/FR Operatives/etc., such as we’re now winning our ground war against China (in the future, that is).

[hcmama]

I have been amazed at how ahistorical the coverage of this conflict has been. When I was reading this article I thought, yeah, this is what the Russians do. This is what they've always done. There is no Russian analog in military history of "shock and awe" or "blitzkrieg" or "rapid preponderance."

They gut it out and take territory at enormous cost to themselves and the defenders. They specialize in these bloody wars of attrition where artillery is their deity.

Everything possible should have been done to prevent this war from happening in the first place. There was a real opportunity for a diplomatic alternative last year and it should have been pursued.

[srmanuel]

Remember back a year ago before the war started, we had daily newsflashes about all the troops Russia was amassing on the Ukrainian Border and wondering would Putin invade or not ??

Now, Putin supposedly has even more soldiers than the initial invasion on the border ready to begin a new offensive, evidently, they have elementary training, outfitted with weapons and are ready to begin.

How many newsflashes are you seeing now on a daily basis ??

Throughout this past year we’ve had one article after another proclaiming Russia is losing, their economy is in shambles, their military stinks and they can’t resupply their army and Putin is about to die or be overthrown.

Fast Forward one year and it’s NATO who can’t resupply Ukraine, western economies are tanking and Russia is now slowly gaining ground and is poised to start a major new offensive.

It would appear NATO and Western Leaders have told one lie after another about this war, hopefully some leader with common sense will wake up and say this isn’t working we need to change course.

[hcmama]

I think the official reason for the new bulletin was that Russian officials may start arbitrarily singling out Americans in their criminal justice system.

[Steven Tyler]

Cept this time the Uke losses are enormous and Russian losses are small.
It’s a bloodbath for the Ukes and Russia is achieving that goal

[Erik Latranyi]

The cost to rebuild Ukraine will be more than the war.

[ganeemead]

Rebuild ukraine will not be physic ally possible; it won’t happen.

[silverleaf]

Or that an assassination campaign of Russian officials just might maybe be blamed on instigation and training by a certain American alphabet agency

Which the Russians have warned they are aware of

[Night Hides Not]

As many have said, to include Santayana, “those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.”

[Phoenix8]

Casualty claims vary wildly depending on whose propaganda you read.

Basically it’s mirror opposite.

[Zhang Fei]

Ukraine ping

hcmama: [I have detected a real sea change in the coverage of this conflict in the past week or so. The New York Times and Washington Post are both running stories about the Biden Administration warning Ukraine that they can’t keep supplying them at the levels they are now.]

---

Ukraine is being supplied at minimal levels. US appropriations are out in the open. About $50b a year in total, roughly what was spent on Afghanistan annually for 20 years. Ukraine’s problem is that it is doing too well on the little it’s been given, so its suppliers don’t feel any urgency to provide more. Meanwhile, at the ground level, the strain is such that it seems the war effort is always on the verge of collapse.

---

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fighter-jets-f16-case/32262419.html

[Ukraine has clearly been an incredible nation in so many different ways and I mean that very, very sincerely— not only the resilience of the entire nation to just keep going but to be able to effectively dull a country of so much greater size, aggression, military might, and hold them at bay. It is unbelievable. In many ways, they’re their own worst enemy, because actually it means we don’t see how desperate the situation is because everyone thinks Ukraine is having great victories and there are times when they have, but actually, they are still under extreme pressure.

And I think that half the problem is trying not to oversell how well Ukraine have done, even though they have done extremely well. They’ve clearly been able to match the Russian Air Force to a large extent on the terms that they can. Yes, some of these longer-range missiles are harder to attack. And yes, some of that is done through surface-to-air systems rather than air-to-air systems. I’d like to believe Ukraine will find a way no matter what. So, it isn’t a deal breaker, but I don’t want to say that because I don’t want people to give the impression that yes, well, they’ll probably be fine. Because I think the risks are too high of them losing if we don’t help them to the maximum extent.]

[ArcadeQuarters]

It’s hard to find truth from any side but every new battle is deeper into Ukraine.

[hcmama]

JP Morgan Chase is on it!

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/13/ukraine-plots-post-war-rebuilding-effort-with-jpmorgan-chase-as-economic-advisor.html?&qsearchterm=rebuilding%20ukraine

[wildcard_redneck]

"The cost to rebuild Ukraine will be more than the war."

When the Ukrainians lose they deserve nothing from Americans. The Ukrainians were key players in the coup against President Trump. The first impeachment was driven by President Trump's call to Zelensky and Ukrainian-born "whistle-blower" Col. Vindman was the impetus. Col. Vindman was offered the high position of Defense Minister of Ukraine twice by the Ukraine - why?. The coup against President Trump led us into the Ukraine War and the death of hundreds of thousands of people and the impoverishment of America. We are led by traitors and snakes.

Vindman, 44, explained during his impeachment testimony that he had been offered the position three times but declined the position because of his loyalty to the United States. The lieutenant colonel was born in Ukraine, but his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was a toddler.

Vindman claimed he did not know why he was offered the high ranking position of defense minister.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/vindman-reveals-that-he-had-been-offered-a-position-as-defense-minister-of-ukraine

And, amazingly, after President Trump was only out of office a little over a year we were at war with Russia at the behest of the Ukraine.

[nathanbedford]

""They have been trying to take the city since July," says Iryna, press officer of the 93rd Brigade. "Little by little they are winning now. They have more resources, so if they play the long game they will win. I can't say how long it will take."

Ukraine is the size of Texas therefore one must ask what is the strategic significance of Bakhmut? Will its loss lead to the disintegration of Ukraine and an inevitable Russian onslaught of the whole nation or can Ukraine simply withdraw and mount defenses in more defensible terrain?

The size of Texas, Ukraine is also a badly damaged nationstate with much of its population gone, much of its electricity destroyed and its infrastructure done away with together with much of its economy. What is the significance of Bakhmut to Ukraine as a surviving national entity?

Is not the real question whether "playing the long game we will win" has no significance other than generating a disintegration of Ukraine's fighting ability?

Why do we believe that Ukraine is more vulnerable to disintegration "in the long game" than Russia? Ukraine enjoys the resources of much of NATO while Russia labors under international sanctions. The question is which set of problems and assets will prevail?

I do not presume to have the answer, I am trying to frame the right question.