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(Free link) The battle for Bakhmut has become a bloodbath for both sides as Russia steps up its attempts to take what used to be a quaint, tree-lined city. Ukrainian defense officials said Moscow is losing around 50 soldiers a day to maintain a slow, bruising advance to reach the city’s easternmost gates. Snip If the Russians break through to take control of Bakhmut, it would open a path to the political and economic centers of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk in the Ukrainian-held portions of the Donbas area, once one of the country’s main industrial regions. Moscow tried to seize the...

Russia removed a top military commander in Ukraine following criticism from some of President Vladimir Putin’s top allies over the officer’s responsibility for a recent chaotic retreat in the country’s northeast that underscored Russian weaknesses on the battlefield. Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin, responsible for the Central Military District, Russia’s largest, was the last of Russia’s regional commanders still in place amid Moscow’s faltering invasion. It was unclear whether he had been suspended or removed from his post. Gen. Lapin was the top Russian commander for a part of Ukraine’s northeast that Kyiv’s forces retook in a lightning offensive in September....

Russia’s defense minister said 200,000 men had entered the army as part of a mobilization drive that began last month as the rapid advance of Ukrainian forces into Russian-occupied territories outpaces Moscow’s ability to pour in reinforcements. The suggestion that Russia is already two-thirds of the way toward the target the minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced last month follows criticism of the call-up process—including from Russian President Vladimir Putin. But it raises questions as to whether the depleted Russian military will be able to cope with the sheer numbers of new recruits and use them effectively. Western military analysts say Moscow...

As Russia tries to take the initiative in eastern Ukraine, Moscow has had to find fresh manpower from some unlikely places for what is shaping up to be a crucial phase of the war. Since the beginning of what the Kremlin calls its special military operation, it has tried to pursue its campaign with an army at peacetime strength. The results have been mixed. Though Russian forces have made gains in the east and south of the country, they sustained crushing losses in Moscow’s initial attempt to seize Kyiv, by some counts losing as many soldiers as the old Soviet...

When I went through ROTC training we were were obviously taught to respect the numerical superiority of the Soviet bloc Armour units deployed across the Iron Curtain. But I remember some of our NCO instructors mentioned that Russian enlisted personnel lacked strong NCO guidance....that they were heavily dependent on top-down leadership. After all these years...this holds true today.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s nuclear forces to go on high alert last week, he looked down a long table at his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, who nodded in assent. ... Russian troops’ failure to quickly seize Ukraine, however, has shown Mr. Shoigu’s changes, while real, didn’t create the fearsome fighting force he touted. Poor logistics, flawed strategy and ill-prepared troops mean any victory will be immensely costly, and an occupation hard to sustain. ... “By agreeing to these assumptions and this type of operation, he has essentially thrown the Russian military into a disaster.”

“This is the Holy Grail of gold mining effectively, given the quality and given the scale,” The news is good for both Polyus and the Russian government. Unlike other producers that move their bullion on world markets, Polyus sells its gold exclusively to large Russian state banks, which then resell it to the country’s central bank. Once mining begins, the bank can use the mine’s gold to support its ruble currency or sell it for extra foreign currency in times of crisis. According to Polyus, Sukhoi Log is likely to be producing more than 1.6 million ounces of gold every...