Moscow’s forces have destroyed five US-made Abrams in Ukraine and damaged another three, the newspaper has claimed
Expensive American M1 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine are increasingly falling prey to Russian drones that cost only a fraction as much, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Even “one of the most powerful symbols of American military might” is not invulnerable to the attacks, it said.
Continue reading “$500 Russian drones destroying $10,000,000 American tanks”
Guest Post by Sergey Poletaev
From time to time, people ask why Russia is not acting more decisively in Ukraine, and why it appears to be dragging its feet. Some say it’s out of weakness, others suspect some secret agreements with the West, and it seems there are theories to suit all tastes.
In reality, the answer is clear and transparent. This year and the next, Russia has budgeted about 5-6% of GDP on the Ukraine conflict, and the Kremlin’s task is to use these comparatively small resources as efficiently as possible. Their intention is to achieve the goals of the military operation without a new mobilization, and to preserve not only a calm and functioning economy but also stability inside the country.
Continue reading “Here’s Russia’s plan for Ukraine for this summer”
Russia launched a major missile and suicide drone offensive on Thursday, bombarding Ukraine’s power grid and underground natural gas storage sites.
Bloomberg reports Russia air-launched six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that hit critical infrastructure near Kyiv and a region around western Ukraine’s biggest city, Lviv. Ukraine’s air defense system was not able to intercept the hypersonic missiles. However, 18 out of 42 more traditional and slower Russian missiles were downed, and only one of 40 drones.
In a Facebook post, Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote that power plants near Kyiv, the Kharkiv region in the east, Zaporizhzhia in the south, and Lviv in the west were damaged. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram that a power plant was damaged in Odesa.
Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,
American officials speaking with the Washington Post described the ongoing war in Ukraine as providing Washington with ample information about Russian war-fighting strategies. The report comes as Kiev struggles to field enough forces to prevent Moscow from capturing more territory.
“The war remains an active and bountiful research opportunity for American military planners as they look to the future, officials say,” the Post reported. A senior defense official explained, “We immersed them in this conflict to make sure they were understanding the implications for warfare.” A second official told the outlet that the Ukraine war will be “an enduring resource.”
Guest Post by Martin Armstrong
Guest Post by Moon of Alabama
International relations professor Andrew Latham opined in a recent piece that the idea of total Ukrainian victory is delusional.
Unfortunately some people, predominantly in Europe, still stick to the delusional idea:
In professional journals, on influential websites and across the full spectrum of media outlets, observers, analysts and pundits alike continue to inform us that, yes, there is a way for Ukraine to prevail over Russia, expelling the latter from all of its territory, including Crimea.
…
[That’s nonsense.]
…
In short, Russia is winning the war and there is little to suggest that any foreseeable political, economic, tactical or technological developments are likely to alter that fundamental reality. So why are we seeing arguments about an ultimate Ukrainian battlefield triumph, in the face of all the devastatingly contradictory evidence?Well, applying Occam’s razor — the principle that “other things being equal, simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones” — I would suggest that the delusional belief that there is a pathway to total victory for Ukraine is based less on evolving military or geopolitical realities than on a simple psychological dynamic, one best summed up in the concept of “commitment escalation.”According to this concept, individuals or groups sometimes exhibit a tendency to persist with a failing argument, even as that argument becomes increasingly untenable in light of the facts. This behavior is marked above all by an adherence to prior commitments — sunk costs, as the economists might put it — regardless of their present plausibility or rationality. It is a psychological dysfunction.
Continue reading “Screw The Facts – Europe Commits Itself To Further Escalation”
Guest Post by Moon of Alabama
The Ukrainian defense of Avdeevka is falling apart.
Guest Post by Moon of Alabama
In the last Ukraine situation report I discussed the choice of General Oleksandr Syrski as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He is likely to support the more aggressive choices the Ukrainian president Zelenski will make.
For mostly public relation reasons Zelenski demands constant attacks on Russian forces and no retreat of Ukrainian forces until absolutely necessary. Syrski is willing to deliver on that even as history says that he is unlikely to be successful:
Syrski, who was born as a Russian, had lost the cauldron battles of Debaltsevo (2015), Soledar (2023) and Bakhmut (2023). Currently Avdeevka is in a cauldron and likely to fall.Rumors say that Syrski has already ordered reserves to reinforce the troops in Avdeevka.
Guest Post by Moon of Alabama
The battle of Avdeevka is about to be finished.
The city of Avdeevka, (not to be confused with the small town of Andreevka near Bakhmut), is situated immediately north-west of Donetsk city. It has been used for years as a Ukrainian fortress well positioned for artillery attacks on Donetsk. The whole city, and especially the coke and chemical plant in its northern sector, was well prepared to defend against Russian attacks.
But despite all attempts to hold on to it the Ukrainian garrison within the city is about to be encircled and fall.
Ukraine has said on Friday Russia launched the largest single day of airstrikes ever conducted throughout nearly two years of war. At least 18 people were reported killed, and over a hundred wounded after several Ukrainian cities were pummeled in drone and missile attacks.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces cited that up to 158 missiles and drones were launched, describing that this was a “record number” and the “most massive missile attack” of the conflict, excluding the very opening few days of the invasion. This was said include ballistic and supersonic missiles, launched from air and sea. Ukraine’s military claimed its anti-air defenses downed and intercepted the majority of these.
Welcome to the Capital of the most sanctioned country on Earth, Russia
Welcome to Moscow City. Let’s have a look around the financial and business centre of the Russian economy that Von Der Leyen told you was “In tatters” pic.twitter.com/IQvrCNmhbt
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) November 10, 2023
Ukrainian officials on Friday said Russian forces launched their biggest drone attack on Ukraine in weeks, which is being seen as preparation for more fighting to come this winter.
Russia sent some 40 kamikaze drones and a cruise missile, with the Ukrainian military saying it shot down up to half of the drones and intercepted the inbound missile. Ukrainian anti-air systems were reported to be active across ten regions, including in western Lviv, which is far from the front lines of fighting in the east and south.
Ukraine’s President Zelensky condemned the broad assault, saying “As winter approaches, Russian terrorists will try to cause more harm.” While there were no casualties reported, he posted a video showing firefighters battling a huge blaze after a drone impacted a building.
Zelensky vowed to a war-ravaged and weary nation, “We are strengthening air defense. We are strengthening mobile fire groups.”
Continue reading “Russia Unleashed Biggest Drone Attack On Ukraine In Weeks Friday”
According to Vyacheslav Volodin, the outcome also includes economic problems in Europe and the US, as well as a lack of manpower for the Ukrainian armed forces
MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Ukraine is fated either to capitulate on Moscow’s terms or cease to exist as a state, Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), said.
“When speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, [US President Joe] Biden, [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg and other Western officials have started calling it ‘a war of attrition.’ They have put huge amounts of money into militarizing the Kiev regime. Where has it gotten them? The simple facts are these: the West is experiencing weapons and ammunition shortages, people in Europe and the US have lost trust in politicians, and the Kiev regime’s counteroffensive has failed,” Volodin stated.
A source has told the veteran reporter that Kiev and Washington are deceiving the public about the situation on the ground
US intelligence analysts believe that Ukraine has given up on its counteroffensive against Russia and the only thing prolonging the conflict is the unwillingness of Washington and Kiev to acknowledge its failure, a source has told investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Writing on Substack on Thursday, the veteran reporter cited an unnamed source, who “spent the early years of his career working against Soviet aggression and spying” as rejecting the Ukrainian narrative about slow but steady progress in its counteroffensive.
“‘It’s all lies,’” the source said, according to Hersh. “‘The war is over. Russia has won. There is no Ukrainian offensive anymore, but the White House and the American media have to keep the lie going.’”
Continue reading “US government and media lying about Ukrainian counteroffensive – Seymour Hersh”
As leading American politicians, generals, and pundits continue advocating for open-ended support to Kyiv in their war against Russia, a sober, accurate analysis of Ukraine’s nearly completed summer offensive reveals that the heroic sacrifice Ukraine continues to make is producing little to no meaningful progress toward the objective of evicting Russia from Ukraine’s territory.
Washington should instead employ a necessary course correction and form a new policy, based on the harsh, ground-truth combat realities in Ukraine. Revising the objectives would give Washington and Kyiv a chance to preserve Ukrainian lives and American interests.
Washington’s current policies do neither.
Despite great hopes for a rapid success, Ukraine’s months-in-the-making offensive has sputtered from the outset. That shouldn’t have surprised anyone in the White House. On April 5, two months before the start of the offensive, I wrote that “Zelensky’s troops—with little to no air power and a dearth in artillery ammunition—could suffer egregious casualties while gaining little.”
Continue reading “We Can No Longer Hide the Truth About the Russia-Ukraine War”
🇺🇸🤡 Antony Blinken struggling with basic math…
50,000 square miles subtract 8,838 square miles = 41,162 square miles.
Even the most basic mathematician can see this is not "half of 50,000 squared miles." pic.twitter.com/AfYd7tt1Jk
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) September 10, 2023
