Free Republic

Russia’s widely-anticipated winter offensive has begun. Aiming to extend its control over eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, Russian troops are attacking north and south of Donetsk city. In the northern sector, around the city of Bakhmut, the Russians slowly are advancing—albeit at staggering cost. In the south, around Vuhledar, the Russians’ losses are just as steep—but they’ve made no clear gains that could justify the casualties. Vuhledar is turning into a meatgrinder for the Russian army, with enormous implications for the wider offensive. The latest Russian attack on Vuhledar—a town with a pre-war population of just 14,000 that lies a mile...

In the space of a few days this week, France, the United States and Germany all announced they would donate to Ukraine powerful armored vehicles: French AMX-10RC scout vehicles, American M-2 infantry fighting vehicles and German Marder IFVs. So which of Ukraine’s allies is going to be the first to pledge Leopard 2 tanks? There are several candidates, and it might be only a matter of time—and not much time—before one of them opens up its arsenals and turns the engines of long-stored, surplus Leopards.

The first video has appeared online depicting the Ukrainian army’s ex-Slovenian M-55S tanks. The video depicts what appears to be a four-person M-55S crew training on its new-old vehicle. The thick mud—a sticky hallmark of Ukraine’s wet early winter—might confirm the video is recent. The M-55S despite its age could represent a glimpse at the Ukrainian army’s tank future. It’s all about the gun. The M-55S is a deeply modernized Soviet T-55, a tank type that first entered service in the late 1950s. In the 1990s, the Slovenian army paid Israeli firm Elbit and STO RAVNE in Slovenia to modify...

The Ukrainian army’s newest howitzers also are among its oldest. On Sunday, the first video appeared online depicting ex-Lithuanian M101 howitzers in front-line use by Ukrainian forces, apparently somewhere in eastern Ukraine. The 105-millimeter M101 was the standard light howitzer for U.S. and allied forces ... in World War II. But the design’s age belies its effectiveness. The 2.5-ton M101 is a classic—an artillery piece that nearly perfectly balances weight, range and accuracy. The M101 was a battle-winner 80 years ago. In the hands of experienced, motivated gunners, it still can win battles today. Especially as those gunners combine the...

The Ukrainian army has deployed some of its best brigades to eastern Ukraine, including the 92nd and 93rd Mechanized Brigades and the 1st Presidential Brigade. But these elite Ukrainian formations might not be the biggest killer of Russian troops in the east. Under-trained, under-supplied and ambivalently led, Russians in the region are freezing to death by the dozen. Shocking videos that have circulated online in recent weeks tell a tragic story. The videos, shot by the Ukrainian brigades’ hovering drones, depict Russians in the late stages of hypothermia, so cold and sick that they barely react when the drones drop...

The Russian air force had deployed three times as many fighters and attack planes as the Ukrainian air force had in its entire inventory. Ukraine’s air defenses were disorganized and, in the case of certain key long-range radars, sitting out in the open where the Russians easily could target them. The Russians had a firepower advantage. The Ukrainians had the same advantages every defender possesses over an invader: motivation, simpler logistics, familiar terrain. Either side might’ve prevailed—the Russians by dominating the air, the Ukrainians by preventing the Russians from dominating the air. We know how it turned out. The Russian...

Six years ago, the Russian navy formed a new army corps whose job it would be to defend Kaliningrad, Russia’s geographically separate outpost on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. This year, when the war in Ukraine began to go badly for Russia, the Kremlin yanked the 11th Army Corps from Kaliningrad and sent it into Ukraine. Where the Ukrainian army quickly destroyed it. The formation, deployment and destruction of the 11th Army Corps tell a story that’s bigger than the tragic tale of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The corps, sandwiched between two NATO countries along a strategic sea,...

The Kremlin this summer scrambled to form a new army corps, seeking replacements for 80,000 troops injured or killed in Ukraine and 5,000 wrecked or captured vehicles. ...As Russian casualties exceeded 50,000 this spring, the Kremlin began scraping together fresh battalions by raiding the training and garrison establishment of existing brigades. At the same time, the army announced an initiative to form scores of new regional volunteer battalions—and even offered elevated salaries of up to $5,000 a month. This should come as no surprise. The recruitment drive behind the 3rd AC collided with Russia’s unhappy demographics and conscription practices. Roughly...

May 27 was a dark day for Ukraine. That was the day Lyman, the last free town north of the Donets River in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas River, finally fell to Russian forces. Capturing Lyman helped the Russian army to consolidate its position in Donbas and secure supply lines across the region. Lyman was a domino. As it fell, it knocked down Severodonetsk, the last free city east of the Donets. And as Severodonetsk fell, it toppled Lysychansk, its twin city on the opposite side of the river. Nearly four months later, the dominos are falling in the opposite direction. A...