The Russian-Ukraine War/ Tactical and Strategic Summary

Guest Post by M.J. Shields

The Russian military’s planning staff is competent and satiric. The Russians painted all their mechanized force reconnaissance vehicles and apparatus with the letter “Z” prominently on tops and sides.

This keeps all their stuff from being mistakenly shot to hell and to pieces by marauding attack jets and helicopters. And the reference to Zelinsky that “we’re here for you buddy” is laughably ironic.

So the most important Russian element of the first phase; being the probe down both sides of the Dnieper River to Kiev, is the main event in this three-pronged, 3-ring apocalyptic show.

For securing the capital has symbolic importance in establishing a new, militarily neutral direction for Ukraine: Kiev is the capital and most populous city. **https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyiv

Preceding or simultaneous to this beginning phase, Russian air assets seem to have taken out any large-formation capability of Ukrainian forces in Operation Desert Storm style. And most videos as of this time and date appear to show calm skies above Ukraine.

There is a common video now of an aircraft being struck by a missile and crashing into a building below.

So the Russians are certain to rule the sky.

That brave pilot seems to be the last of his kind. Interestingly, the Russians seem to keep their air assets in reserve whenever possible, relying on drones, Spetsnaz, and mobile radars and military satellites to keep an eye on the battlefield. And there are probably many scout/sniper teams operating as information sources, and maybe with new SVDM sniper rifles.

The Russians move mainly at night. And they do not say much, if anything, during operations. This writer just having watched a you-tube video of a Russian staff Lieutenant General rather honestly stating that Russian forces are not “carrying out strikes in residential areas.”

Hated or loved, right or wrong, Russia under Putin has decided that it must re-establish the Warsaw line or be engulfed, overrun and possibly destroyed and parceled-up by the autocratic, elitist rulers of the modern and belligerent combined European power–masquerading as a virtuous NATO.

And we see this new entity in dialogs between various ostensible NATO members without direct instructions or participation by Washington.

This war is an inverse Cuban missile crisis, but this one more dangerous than the last of October 1962.

For the world is seeing a massive tectonic shift in the geo-political structure created by the victors of WW2.

Putin has just ordered his entire nuclear force to what is the equivalent of our DEFCON 1or 2.

As of 26 February, this writer saw verifiable footage of heavy armored assets being ordered into the operations area from the Russian side. So having destroyed nearly every Ukrainian base and depot, the Russians now have their enemies pincered into the larger cities.

That heavy armor and supporting mechanized infantry are probably not intended for a direct assault on the cities.

Most likely the armor will gather near known strong points and form up in positions as mobile artillery, along with rocket launchers, to strangle off the city if necessary and to get the current regime to capitulate.

This writer saw a valid you-tube video of a fast-moving jet aircraft flying over a wooded area in or near Kiev. The defending force gave away its position by firing all at once at the passing jet.

The unmistakable muzzle flashes of hundreds of weapons were visible.

There is a news blackout generally underway. The main western outlets are fast to create an atmosphere of obvious propaganda and disinformation. The Russian side is mostly obfuscatory in a military way.

The Russian campaign is conservative and keeps most of its assets in reserve. It is selective about its targets. And if you watch any live cams, the regular life of most Ukrainian people is not affected by the fighting. The high professionalism of the armed forces under Putin is obvious and commendable.

The Russians have a valid point though: “Why should they live with guns pointed right at their dinner tables?”

The situation could easily escalate to Armageddon. Putin has probably already gamed scenarios and is willing to go all the way if the situation moves in that direction.

America is trapped in a multi-front cultural revolution that has killed or paralyzed most of its national institutions. The US Navy is perhaps the only American force that might enter a big nuclear fight regardless of orders. Otherwise, The United States is out of the picture, and the survival of the world is more and more in the soft hands of the European “elites” and their seeming total stupidity and arrogance.

This situation is especially significant for this writer. For he was in the military and came of age in the 1980s and does recall distinctly a different time in history whereby the Soviet Union was mysterious and vilified; but it was not attacked or provoked too seriously. With it, we lived.

Yet the aura of Russian military prowess was never directly confronted. The Cold war became an endless series of close encounters and brinkmanship. Clint Eastwood played an American absconding a super-performance Russian jet and flying it out. And we had John J. Rambo taking on North Vietnamese battalions. And the Wolverines wreaked havoc on the invaders!

But ominously, Chernobyl heralded a change in the order, and old systems collapsed, and then The Russian Federation was born.

This battle in middle Earth will play out. And it is Ukraine that begins the larger campaign.

And to observe the biggest Russian operation since WW2, is generationally speaking, quite sensational.

They maneuver and plan well. They are once again the invincible land power between the East and Europe, as they were after mostly beating the Nazis and helping to finish the Japanese.

Pray ye. Pray ye.

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M.J. Shields lives in Pennsylvania, USA. And he holds a BA in American Studies from Penn State University and was former US military. He enjoys geo-political, military, tactical, and strategic world analysis and writing.

And he is a life-long practitioner of Gojo-Ryu and Shotokan karate styles.

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