,all this steadily increases the chance of repeating what the Russian Army did in WWI, and that instead of the cossacks pushing the 2nd line to force the 1st line into sacrificial battle all the troops suddenly turn and head for the guys who were commanding the cossacks, guns in hand and ready to use.
Just not yet.
Totally agree
I wonder if Putin has studied that history? Or if his self destructive side has created his future.
They are now rolling out tanks as old as Putin:
A video showing long obsolete Soviet-era T-54B and T-55A tanks - designed to be used in the armies of Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin - on a train carried across Russia, presumably destined for the frontlines of the war, has emerged.
Recent report on US efforts to expand munition production.
The Army is spending $1.45 billion on capacity âto expand 155mm artillery production from 14,000 a month to over 24,000 later this year,â and 85,000 in five years
The Army is under contract to build another facility with a company in Canada, and is standing up yet another with the General Dynamics unit in Garland, Texas, to make additional shell bodies. Iowa is expanding its capability, and there is some production expansion into Kansas, Bush noted.
The Army is investing $349 million to more than double its monthly production of launchers to 41 a month and 330 missiles per month, Camarillo said. Production for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems will increase from 566 rockets per month to more than 1,100 by FY26.
Will the above & promised tanks arrive soon enough so Ukraine can begin itâs planned counteroffensive this May?
Leaked Pentagon documents show:
a portrait of a depleted Russian military that is struggling in its war in Ukraine and of a military apparatus that is deeply compromised.
Thatâs not new. But also that:
The documents lay bare the American assessment of a Ukrainian military that is also in dire straits.
That certainly is new & different from what the US main stream media has reported. From reading those reports I gathered that Ukraine has kicked Russia military & soon will be victorious.
The Ukraine appears to be in a similar position that the Finns were in 1939.
The Finns initially kicked Soviet military. But spring was approaching and the Finns were vastly outnumbered and âArtillery ammunition was exhausted and weapons were wearing out. The Finnish government, realizing that the hoped-for Franco-British military expedition would not arrive in time, as Norway and Sweden had not given the Allies right of passage, had little choice but to accept the Soviet terms.â
Finland ceded a portion of Karelia, the entire Karelian Isthmus and land north of Lake Ladoga. The area included Viipuri (Finlandâs second-largest city [Population Register] or fourth-largest city [Church and Civil Register], depending on the census data[193]), much of Finlandâs industrialised territory, and significant land still held by Finlandâs military â all in all, nine percent of Finnish territory. The ceded territory included 13 percent of Finlandâs economic assets.[194] 12 percent of Finlandâs population, 422,000 to 450,000 Karelians, were evacuated and lost their homes.[195][196][197] Finland ceded a part of the region of Salla, Rybachy Peninsula in the Barents Sea, and four islands in the Gulf of Finland. The Hanko peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a military base for 30 years. The region of Petsamo, captured by the Red Army during the war, was returned to Finland according to the treaty
Finnish concessions and territorial losses exceeded Soviet pre-war demands. But Finland still managed to keep its independence. Though its foreign policy NEVER challenged Soviet Union policy or actions until the Soviet Union dissolved.That was the price the Finns paid.
Interesting. That isnât what I gathered at all.
I see such stories as:
I never see any stories about Russian victories. YMMV
Differing goals of US from Ukraineâs goals.
US:to prevent the loss of Ukraine independence and bleed Russia military. A success across the boards.
Ukraine:Ukraine goals have shifted. Initially survival of the Ukrainian nationâaccomplished. In the beginning, Zelensky was like a drowning man:glad of any help. I use the drowning man illustration because a drowning man sometimes pulls the rescuer down with him to drown also.
Zelensky, I suspect, and certainly the US has been surprised at the Ukraine success[1] so far. The Russians have been pushed from Western Ukraine to 2 eastern Ukrainian provinces and the Crimea.
Zelenskyâs goals have shifted from survival to regaining the two eastern provinces AND the Crimea. At least that is what Zelensky has been saying. Though it is possible that is a negotiating ploy. We, the American people and government, donât know. The Ukrainians are holding their cards close to their chest. Our government doesnât know the true casualty figures nor when and where the planned Ukrainian offensive will occur. Or even if it will occur. There is a US fear that the planned offensive will be too successful pushing into Russia proper causing a Russian nuclear response.
And the pentagon is investigating the leak but does not indicate the truth of said leaked papers.
So I am in a quandary perhaps filled with wrong or misinformation. I know the past 20 years of failed US invasions & Vietnam failure to boot [and saying nothing about US governmentâs inability/unwillingness to control the US defense industry]. And thus I fear the US calculations are faulty this time also.
So my mind wanders to a old Laurel & Hardy movie where Stan Laurel says;âThis is another fine mess youâve have gotten us into Ollieâ [US government].
Confusion about a possible shift in the Ukrainian governmentâs stance on recovering Crimea from Russian occupation prompted a flurry of public clarifications on Thursday from officials in President Volodymyr Zelenskyâs administration, who reiterated their vow to liberate all of Ukraineâs territory.
The seemingly mixed messaging began after a top Zelensky adviser was quoted on Wednesday as saying that if Ukrainian forces successfully advanced to the Crimean border, Kyiv would be willing to have talks with Moscow about the territory, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The notion that Ukraine could be open to peace talks before Russian forces withdrew from all of its territory was a marked departure from its previously declared positions.
[1] That success has been driven by Zelensky hectoring the US/NATO from more & more lethal weaponry. Zelensky has obtained HIMARs & promise of western tanks. He upped his demands to include fighter aircraft; which the Poles have agreed. I am not surprised at the Poles. They are next to Russia and they wish the conflict and the killing to be confined to the Ukraine if possible.
The bottom line is that despite the Russian âoffensiveâ and their massive losses in men and materiel over these last two to three months, theyâve captured virtually no new territory. Letâs hope the Ukrainians do better 
In a lengthy report dubbed the âWhite Papers,â two former high-ranking members of the US Special Forces and an ex-major with the Canadian Armed Forces revealed some of the problems that the Ukrainian military is facing on the battlefield.
They said Kyivâs military command structure is currently âin disarray,â affecting the countryâs ability to carry out counter-offensives effectively.
âFor this (Ukrainian Army) to work, the whole chain of command has to be reading from the same playbook, and that doesnât happen,â one of the authors claimed.
The report noted Ukraineâs âcrumblingâ military communications system, which could result in considerable military and civilian casualties.
The war-torn nation is dealing with a significant problem involving command philosophies, according to the report, even in training Ukrainian soldiers.
Kyivâs current military command philosophy is based on the Soviet model, a âcommander-centricâ system with no delegation of authority in training, planning, and operations.
Such a system reportedly causes slow decision-making on the frontline.
Retired NATO commander Maj. Gen. David Fraser backed the assessment, saying there is a clash of civilizations within the Ukrainian defense forces.
âYouâve got the Soviet-era Ukrainian leadership now confronting the western trained rank and file,â he said. âWeâve now got two (military) philosophies now clashing at the same time theyâre fighting a war.â
Do I know if the above is true? No.
I guess we wait to see if the predicted Ukraine offensive occurs and if it is successful.
The US Civil War the Union had the same problems for the first three years. Then Grant was put in charge of the army. It got bloodier but it was over.
When Ukraine finds a great war time general this will get sorted. The report is a timely uncovering of the problem.
Some big differences. The Union had an army twice the size of the confederate army plus they had the industrial base. Neither which the Ukrainians have. The Ukrainian army is better trained & equipped. But Russia has 3 times the population of Ukraine.
A bloodier war benefits Russia. Such a war means Ukraine runs out of soldiers. Ukraine needs a war of maneuver.
The Kerch Bridge has been destroyed by the Ukrainians. So there is no rail link to Crimea. The Crimea must be supplied with trucks. And Russia does not have enough trucks.
If the Ukrainians push through somewhere between Kherson & Mariupol they could cut off the Russian supply line to Crimea. A serious blow to Russia. Then the Ukrainians sit & starve the Crimea Russians to surrender just fighting a defensive battle killing more Russians. At a minimum they are in a better negotiating position.
Starving an enemy takes time, sometimes a lot of it. With extraordinary methods even a starving area can be kept afloat, or kept alive even with diminishing resources (think Berlin Airlift, or Red Ball Express). Iâm not sure Ukraine has the kind of time that Russia does, at least as long as Putin clings to power. He.does.not.care. Full stop. He doesnât have to, he has consolidated power to the point where no one can oppose him. I donât know what the knock-out blow would be, I wish Ukraine had one, and soon.
Ukraine has our industrial base in the west. Russia has a very small industrial base and not all that much of an military industrial base it seems.
Ukraine has about ten times as many men and women who will fight and fight hard than Russia. Having a larger army of guys who will turn tail does not count.
Exactly what advantage does Russia have? I am not seeing it.
But as long as we are told Russia has the advantage our dollars flow. I am not going to dissuade you of that.
Until this quote you are arguing my case. Thanks. But you are very wrong. There wont be any negotiation. No one is interested.
Source?
Thanks!
Murph
Wishful thinking.
Sure, Russia doesnât have the American technology, but the technology it does have allows it to keep the entire planet under a certain pressure.
You forget that Putin is unpredictable and if what you write became reality, he could push a button and Kiev would become The Kalahari Desert 2.0.
Once, decades ago, I met a Russian who, despite being a political refugee, told me with pride that Russia had never lost a war. He was a nobody, but the Russians, like the Serbs, have a pride that is hard to match.
So he believed the propaganda and really didnât know Russian history? With google it is easy to see he really had no clue what he was saying.
According to statistics compiled by Vladimir Solovyov, a great Russian historian of the late nineteenth century, Russia lost more than 70% of the 50 wars in the north and west from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.
At the beginning of the XIX century, the campaign of Russian Emperor Paul I in India ended in complete failure, and in a few decades, Russia was defeated in the Crimean War (1853-1856). At that time, European powers were firmly united against Russia. Thanks to the unity of Europeans and the plight of Russia after the war, it was defeated in the Berlin Congress of 1878.
I could go on and on but I will let you read their history.
Andy
⌠and more recently they lost the Cold War. Bigtime.
Right that is in the article too lol. Itâs amazing that what people will believe.
Andy
This is what matters most.