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World News / Re: Ukraine 4
« Last post by Hoodat on Today at 02:28:16 am »Putin’s poorly prepared assault on Kharkiv has achieved nothing but record Russian casualties
Today is not that day
DAVID AXE • 21 May 2024 • 12:39pm
Everyone expected Russia to launch a new offensive in Ukraine on May 9. That’s because May 9 is Victory Day in Russia – the day the country celebrates the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
It’s a symbolic day for a war of choice that’s less about territory or resources than it is about Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s conception of himself as a new Russian emperor lording over a thriving Russian empire.
But Putin’s new Russian empire is a farce, albeit a nightmarishly bloody one. And his Victory Day offensive is a farce, too. Less than two weeks after the first Russian platoons marched across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, just north of Kharkiv, the Russian operation has ground to a halt after just a few miles.
Even worse for the nearly 500,000-person Russian army of occupation in Russia, the northern offensive has overextended Russian logistics and armor support and forced unprotected infantry to attack on foot. The Russian casualty rate was high before Victory Day. Now it’s catastrophically high as Ukrainian mechanized brigades reinforce the northern front.
It’s even possible the Russians suffered their bloodiest day of the 27-month wider war as the northern offensive culminated. There were a record 1,740 Russian casualties on May 12, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry. That’s hundreds more daily casualties than the Russians suffered in previous weeks.
No one outside of the Kremlin knows what the offensive’s actual military objectives were supposed to be. But in strictly military terms, the offensive almost certainly wasn’t worth it. Not only did the Russians fail to gain control of any important terrain, they also squandered offensive firepower that might have made more of a difference elsewhere along the 700-mile front line. . .
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/21/ukraine-war-russia-putin-kharkiv-attack-failure-brigades/
Today is not that day
DAVID AXE • 21 May 2024 • 12:39pm
Everyone expected Russia to launch a new offensive in Ukraine on May 9. That’s because May 9 is Victory Day in Russia – the day the country celebrates the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
It’s a symbolic day for a war of choice that’s less about territory or resources than it is about Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s conception of himself as a new Russian emperor lording over a thriving Russian empire.
But Putin’s new Russian empire is a farce, albeit a nightmarishly bloody one. And his Victory Day offensive is a farce, too. Less than two weeks after the first Russian platoons marched across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, just north of Kharkiv, the Russian operation has ground to a halt after just a few miles.
Even worse for the nearly 500,000-person Russian army of occupation in Russia, the northern offensive has overextended Russian logistics and armor support and forced unprotected infantry to attack on foot. The Russian casualty rate was high before Victory Day. Now it’s catastrophically high as Ukrainian mechanized brigades reinforce the northern front.
It’s even possible the Russians suffered their bloodiest day of the 27-month wider war as the northern offensive culminated. There were a record 1,740 Russian casualties on May 12, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry. That’s hundreds more daily casualties than the Russians suffered in previous weeks.
No one outside of the Kremlin knows what the offensive’s actual military objectives were supposed to be. But in strictly military terms, the offensive almost certainly wasn’t worth it. Not only did the Russians fail to gain control of any important terrain, they also squandered offensive firepower that might have made more of a difference elsewhere along the 700-mile front line. . .
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/21/ukraine-war-russia-putin-kharkiv-attack-failure-brigades/