- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
Ukraine just launched a cope offensive into the territory of Russia in the Kursk region and (according to early reports) took 11 “settlements” (tiny villages) on the border. This is done to make the Western donors/handlers think Ukraine has a chance. It makes Ukraine look desperate, like an animal in its death throes.
These stunts happen like clockwork when Ukraine is about to have a catastrophic loss on the fronts. I’m guessing Russia is on the verge of making a serious breakthrough.
And you don’t even have to be a military expert to realize that in attrition warfare when one side’s front lines start to crack badly and they are steadily losing ground - it means their reserves are severely depleted and they don’t have the capability to hold the other side back. Not to mention that Ukrainian military leadership always orders their soldiers to hold ground regardless of the cost incurred to both personnel and equipment. All of this means that they have even less combat capability when it comes to conducting successful offensive operations. How desperate must they be right now?
This also highlights the problem of having to fight the war for the media. Russia is able to do things like strategic retreats, such as when they abandoned a bunch of territory in 2022, and take their time to plan their offensives precisely because Russia isn’t focusing on the media angle. On the other hand, Ukraine is entirely dependent on the west being a proxy, so they’re forced to constantly show visible results to their sponsors severely limiting their tactics and strategy.
I’m surprised this angle hasn’t been discussed more, as it’s a really important aspect of the war. On top of Russia enjoying a general advantage in material terms, it also enjoys a significant advantage in having the freedom to fight on their own terms.