Alexander Mercouris
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Russia Offensive Zaporozhye Makes Fast Gains, Ukraine Faces Operational Crisis Bakhmut; German No To Tanks for Kiev
Topic 737
Russo-Ukrainian War: The World Blood Pump
Gradually, and then Suddenly
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Like most western military watchers, I was confused by grinding Russian tactics at first. We expected big arrow offensives to break thru and encircle Ukrainian units and take lots of prisoners. I think I know why they are using this slow attrition tactic. 1. Donbas is now part of Russia. They don’t want a million unhappy Ukrainians living there who might cause trouble. Drive out all the civilians with a slow advance. After the war, allow Russian civilians to return and Ukrainians who want to live in Russia and promise loyalty. The others can stay in Poland. 2. The Russians… Read more »
And the Russians want the West to think they are incompetent, cannot fight a war and that they are easily defeated. They didn’t want to make flashy manoeuvres that would attract attention, make the Western public aggrieved on Ukraine’s behalf and demand their governments take big decisive action against Russia. Softly softly catchee monkey.
A plausible German minister gave an interview the othen ther day, I think it was Ralf Stegner, saying words to effect….yes, we’ve seen it all before…thin edge of the wedge…it was guns, then rockets, then armoured vehicles, etc….now it’s tanks…next it will be aircraft and then it will be troops…we’ve got to put a stop to this mindless escalation. He sounded much too intelligent to be a politician.
For a good understanding (with diagrams) of Ukraine’s defensive lines in East Ukraine, I would recommend the MOA article of 11 Nov : Ukrainian Defense Lines And What Happens When They Are Breached. This helps to visualise what is happening in Alexander’s situational reports.
whoops: 11 Jan 2023. (sorry for typo)