In the Vuledar area, the RF made more progress today. Rumor has it that NATO* is moving forces from other areas to defend this little coal mining town. If the RF can succeed in this area, they can flank from the south the NATO forces shelling Donetsk City and perhaps keep the civilians there safer.
The RF MOD claims the destruction of 2 - M777s and 6 other artillery systems today.
*”NATO” is easier to spell than “Ukrainian Army”, and at this point may be more accurate as well.
No movement on the front lines at all.
The RF MOD reported the destruction of 4 more M777 and other artillery.
The much anticipated (anticipated for months now) Russian offensive is nigh!! Again.
Why doesn’t it happen???
1. The RF cant actually pull together enough equipment and personnel to make a larger army than they have already?
2. The RF is trying to be soooo nice to the Ukrainians?
3. Weather - this actually has some merit since it has been very very warm, and the ground may have not frozen solid enough? (But, it has been dry, so less mud than normal.)
4. The RF is playing rope-a-dope to eliminate the maximum amount of Ukrainian people and NATO equipment?
Lately, I am leaning toward #1. I lean toward #4 as well sometimes.
No movement on the front lines at all.
The RF MOD reported the destruction of 4 more M777 and other artillery.
The much anticipated (anticipated for months now) Russian offensive is nigh!! Again.
Why doesn’t it happen???1. The RF cant actually pull together enough equipment and personnel to make a larger army than they have already?
2. The RF is trying to be soooo nice to the Ukrainians?
3. Weather - this actually has some merit since it has been very very warm, and the ground may have not frozen solid enough? (But, it has been dry, so less mud than normal.)
4. The RF is playing rope-a-dope to eliminate the maximum amount of Ukrainian people and NATO equipment?
I lean towards #1 because the Russian economy has been far more damaged by the economic sanctions than they will admit to. Plus the sudden swapping of generals indicates possible internal conflict within the senior ranks, and the exodus of mostly young men. The sabotage of Nordstrom was a big blow.
Putin's gamble in playing "Russian roulette" (pun intended) with an energy-war (and & brief food-supply war, where even Russia's loose 'allies' thought he had gone too far) has not paid off in his favour.
Images of economic shooting in the foot are in my mind.
All RF has left is 'scorched earth' - destroy as much as possible. (ie #4)
The World Economy No Longer Needs Russia.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/19/russia-ukraine-economy-europe-energy/?tpcc=recirc_trending062921
@rain Thank you so much for your comment rain, I was beginning to think that no one was reading. Your comment is especially valuable because we disagree! Hurray.
@rain FYI
foreignpolicy.com is owned by the same people that own the Washington Post, which I do not consider an unbiased source of information especially about Ukraine.
Here is an unbiased evaluation of Russias economic condition especially regarding the sale of gas. Big difference. The mistake I think that the good people at the Post/ForeignPolicy make is that they think that the EU is ”the world” - it is not.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-oil-gas-revenue-windfall-2022-01-21/
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PEA2500/PEA2510-1/RAND_PEA2510-1.pdf
This is the best news that I have seen in the last year. The Rand Corporation is calling for peace! Their previous position was that the RF would simply collapse from sanctions, and that it really had no army at all, and so they were totally pro-war. If NATO stops sending weapons - as they suggest now, the war will end very quickly. Sort of between the lines they also say that they want to pull resources from Ukraine and point them at Taiwan/China much as happened when the US left Afghanistan and set resources to ramp up the war in Ukraine.
Dima (the Military Summary Channel) showed a little movement on the front line:
In Vuledar - as Dima predicted - the Russians were pushed back;
but in the Soledar area the RF made progress toward the north and south to the point that rumor has it NATO will be pulling out of Bakhmut in the next couple days.
Russian progress on the ground (what little there is) I think comes from winning artillery duels and again today NATO lost 8 artillery systems of EU and Soviet origin and 2 or 3 M777s.
On a tangent, I found this recent Noam Chomsky interview, where he mentions the war in Ukraine.
At first. I was stunned at Chomsky being 94!
With still a busy daily, writing, speaking even teaching schedule.
Anyway, the most relevant to this thread starts around 40 minutes in.
@rain Professor Chomsky apparently thinks that all the death and destruction in Ukraine, and all the economic pain in the EU is justified because it is a cheap way for the US to make the Russian people suffer and die. An interesting position if I heard him correctly.
@pintada
I don't think you heard him correctly at all.
He certainly doesn't think its justified, he has been a strong anti-USA hegemony critic & political activist all his long life. He was outlining how the USA is utilising the pain for its own profiteering benefit.
@rain said, “I don't think you heard him correctly at all.“
Thank goodness! There have been way too many people that used to seem moral and sensible that have - much to my surprise - taken that psychopathical position.
Military summary reports no movement on the front. Bakhmut may fall any day.
While discussing the Rand report above I mentioned that the US may be trying to wind the Ukraine war down to pressure China, but maybe the next target is Iran. Israel will need to attack Iran a lot more before this becomes a trend, or the proof becomes unequivocal.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/30/iran-summons-ukraine-envoy-over-drone-attack-comments
