On Monday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said one U.S. objective in its support of Ukraine was to “weaken” Russia. Former NATO commander Gen (ret). Wesley Clark recently told CNN that one way to accomplish that goal is to send Ukraine “500 tanks, a couple thousand tubes of artillery and rockets.” And, he added, “we’ve got to get (all those tanks and artillery tubes) moving if we’re going to break” Russia’s offensive in the Donbas.
While it may seem self-evident that Ukraine could defeat Russia’s attack if the West provided large numbers of tanks to the front quickly enough, the difficulties and challenges of combat realities make such an outcome highly unlikely. In a best-case scenario for Ukraine, it would take the better part of a year to be able to produce an armored combat capacity strong enough to expel the Russian army from Ukrainian territory – and as explained below, even with such weapons, Ukraine may still not succeed.
Current Tactical Situation in Russo-Ukraine War
First, let’s consider the existing military situation in the east of Ukraine today.
The biggest fight raging at the moment is the Battle of Donbas, in which up to 50,000 Ukrainian troops are defending against reportedly a Russian attack of more than 70,000 troops. Putin’s army is trying to hold the center of a 300-mile front with one portion of its force, attempting penetration of the northern shoulder of Ukraine’s defenses with armored troops that repositioned from Kyiv, and pushing on the southern shoulder with troops recently redeployed from Mariupol.
Russia is waging two efforts to support this main fight, by conducting limited offensives against Kharkiv in the north and in the Kherson region in the south of Ukraine. The intent of these two actions appears to be designed to hold significant Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) in place to prevent them from attacking the flanks of Russian troops attacking the Donbas front. Meanwhile, other contingents of UAF troops are defending the coast near Odesa and near Kyiv to guard against any future incursions from Crimea or Belarus.
Though the Ukrainian government has placed a strict embargo on its combat losses, in all probability they have suffered similar levels as that of the Russians, which are reported to be upwards of 40,000 dead and wounded. Other than the possibility of holding back some strategic reserve force, in all likelihood Ukraine has its entire armed force decisively engaged throughout the country.
Second, in order to generate an armored, mobile striking force of sufficient strength to dislodge Russian troops from their current positions, Kyiv would need to take a number of critical steps. At the top of the list, of course, is to procure sufficient numbers of armored vehicles: tanks, artillery pieces, rocket launchers, air defense systems, ammunition and fuel carriers, and other related kit.
To be effective, these weapons must be something close to interoperable, have similar maintenance requirements, and be easy enough to operate that they require minimal training time. Ideally, that would mean getting all types of combat systems that Ukraine has already been using for decades.
While it may sound good to add some modern U.S. howitzers, German tanks, and British anti-air systems, for example, trying to graft those platforms into a system designed to supply and maintain a Soviet-era force would be building in challenges and roadblocks, if for no other reason than each would require its own separate trained mechanics to maintain and repair, and separate types of ammunition from all their other systems; no logistics system could adequately accommodate such disparity.
Third, and most significant: Once the challenges of getting equipment that can be operated and maintained by UAF troops, Ukraine would need to generate a new, trained crop of soldiers almost from scratch. As noted above, the entirety of the Ukrainian army is currently decisively engaged in fierce combat throughout the country. Kyiv doesn’t have the manpower to pull those trained troops off the line and send them somewhere to be trained. New forces would have to be generated, out of contact, while the existing troops try to hold the line against Russia’s attacks. That is a far more daunting task than it seems. Here’s why.
Challenges of Training Ukraine Troops to Use New Heavy Weapons from the West
As in any military task, it is necessary to start with the desired end-state in mind. To have a fighting chance of eventually expelling Russian troops from its territory, Ukraine will need meaningful numbers of effective mechanized brigades. Each mechanized brigade would consist of some mix of tank, infantry, artillery, and air defense companies (plus maintenance and logistic units, of course). To produce a system of such combat units that can fight effectively, however, the process starts at the individual trooper level.
M1 Abrams Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
First, let’s take the tank. Soviet-style T-64 and T-72 tanks, which the UAF has used for decades, are operated by a three-manned crew: the driver, the gunner, and the tank commander. Each of these individuals first hast to learn how to do their job and do it well. The Gunner has to know how to operate the various fire control systems, sights, and techniques for engaging targets. The driver must be proficient at handling the massive vehicle, understand where the tank can and can’t maneuver, how to control the vehicle, and be responsive to the orders of the tank commander.
For his part, the tank commander must know the capabilities and limitations of the tank as well as the driver, must know how to perform the duties of the gunner, and then understand how to “fight the tank” under every environmental circumstance in which the tank may be required to operate.
Once those individual positions have been mastered, then the tank has to learn to fight as a team, which is crucial for the tank’s performance. The next step in forming an armored unit is to build the platoon, which is the tactical unit that faces the enemy. It is typically composed of three to four tanks, led by a lieutenant serving as a platoon leader.
Next, the tank platoon has to learn how to fight as part of a tank company, which is composed of three to four tank platoons. The tank company is usually commanded by a captain. The company commander, joined by his senior enlisted non-commissioned officer and other sergeants, has to fight the platoons as a coordinated team, ensuring that each platoon does its job, but also must know the different tasks he must assign to other platoons so that all work in unison to accomplish a single objective.
T-80 Tank firing. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
After that, the tank company has to learn how to fight together within the battalion, usually commanded by a Lt. Col. The battalion commander and his staff must know how to fight each of the companies to achieve their mission, and also understand their role in the larger mission, which could be anything from the main effort, a supporting effort, flank support, or as a tactical reserve. The same is then true one level higher with battalions working within a brigade.
Each of these echelons, from platoon to brigade, must be mastered if the battle force is to be successful in combat. As I personally observed in the 1990s as a part of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) which was based in Germany, training a brigade-level unit in peacetime is very time-consuming.
When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered the 2nd ACR to deploy to the Middle East, along with hundreds of thousands of other U.S. units. We had to retrain ourselves from European terrain and scenarios to desert and Iraqi scenarios as rapidly as possible.
We spent six full months firing weapons and training with the equipment and the crews who would fight the war before Operation Desert Storm began on the ground in late February 1991. We executed the final maneuver training in the Saudi deserts, at platoon, company, battalion, and finally regimental (brigade) level.
Since testing at U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center, the Department of Defense’s lone extreme cold natural environment testing facility, began in January 2020, the M1A2 System Enhancement Package version 3 main battle tank was driven more than 2,000 miles in rugged conditions across three seasons of sub-Arctic weather, fired hundreds of rounds for accuracy in extreme cold, and underwent testing of its auxiliary power unit.
Though the platform was extensively tested at U.S. Army Yuma Test Center prior to being put through its paces in Alaska, the sub-zero temperatures brought forth glitches that would have been unimaginable in the desert.
All of that was done out of enemy contact, using the equipment we had trained on for years, that was fully maintained, and led by officers and sergeants with decades of combined experience. Even then, I personally observed that not every American unit performed well. Some were nothing short of brilliant in combat, while others were tentative, and still others outright weak. For Ukraine to form an effective fighting force, they will have none of the advantages we had.
The Cold Calculations of Combat Realities
To build its army, Ukraine would have to train new troops not currently engaged in combat. It would be difficult, but definitely doable, to train new recruits at crew-level tasks of operating tanks, artillery, and other combat gear in an accelerated timeframe. Beyond that, however, there comes an increasing cost in cutting corners and timelines.
For example, in the American army, a company commander typically has five to six years’ worth of experience at the platoon level before taking the reins of a tank company. A battalion commander must have at least 16 years of experience, and a brigade commander, 22 years. The Ukrainian Army virtually didn’t exist eight years ago, so no officer will have much more experience than a company commander in the US, but even that understates the challenge.
For the majority of the eight years since 2014, the vast majority of UAF training and operations have been in static, World War I-style trench warfare; few officers or men have experience commanding tank or infantry units in mobile operations. Though officers can be taught many things, experience can’t be conveyed; it has to be earned over a period of years. Consider the ramifications of the monumental task facing Kyiv today.
Zelensky’s government must figure out how to train multiple mechanized brigades while virtually the whole of his army is actively defending his country. That means that Kyiv will either have to curtail every aspect of training and try to simply rush tanks, artillery tubes, and air defense systems into the front lines, while troops are actively fighting, in the hopes that the added equipment enables them to form offensive potential to launch counteroffensives necessary to drive Russian troops off the territory they currently possess.
An M60A1 tank from the Royal Jordanian Armed Forces fires a round at a range in Wadi Shadiyah during a massive military demonstration in front of dignitaries and media.
Or it will require Ukraine to hold the lines against Russia’s attacks throughout the country in order to form a new armored organization, from scratch, in either a third country or in a relatively safe part of western Ukraine. In that safe location, troops would have to conduct many months of training, even in an expedited way, out of contact with the enemy, so that they could later be brought into the fight at full strength.
Obviously, either of those scenarios couldn’t be started until Ukraine had received a comprehensive set of combat equipment from western countries, had the gear brought up to operational standards, and supplied with large stocks of fuel and ammunition (necessary to sustain the training phase and then a sustained offensive campaign). Just the assembling of the equipment and sustainment would take three to four months, and that only after Western countries had made the decision to provide specific kit. Only then could the months of individual, crew, platoon, company, and battalion training begin – also measured in months.
There will be the temptation to treat this like a fire brigade: if the house is on fire, you marshal everything you can, throw it all at the fire as it becomes available, and hope you can extinguish the blaze. Many will want to rush every tank, artillery tube, rocket launcher, or anti-air missile to the front as soon as it’s available, to bolster the fighting capacity of the troops right now. While that will be an understandable temptation, such a course would have little chance of success.
T-84 Ukrainian tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
War simply doesn’t work that way. It’s not merely about having a number of tanks or rocket launchers, but about having trained, disciplined troops that know what they’re doing, working as a team of teams, in various combat units working towards a single goal. It’s not unlike a sports team. It is possible to assemble a group of bone fide all-star athletes on a team, but if they don’t train together so that each works together as a team, even all-stars can get thrashed by an opponent that has less talent but works better together.
The Bottom Line
On one level, it is completely understandable that Zelensky would aggressively seek heavy weapons for his forces. But combat fundamentals aren’t impressed by emotions, the rightness of one’s cause, or how earnestly one side may desire a given outcome. If heavy weapons are inserted into the war zone piecemeal, sent to the front lines as they come in, they will add only marginal capacity to the units engaged at the front.
More importantly, it will be many weeks or months before meaningful volumes of heavy weapons could be delivered to Ukrainian combat units. Choosing to train new combat units from scratch, out of contact, would give Ukraine a better chance at producing a battle force of sufficient strength that it would have a chance to expel Russian forces, but doing so would take, in all likelihood, nine months to a year from now – and its not clear Ukrainian troops currently under fire could hold the line that long.
The ugly bottom line is this: the Battle of Donbas is almost certainly going to be won or lost with the forces engaging on the front lines today, using the equipment they have. It will take too long for Western governments to come up with a coherent equipping plan and then prepare, ship, and deliver the kit to its destination in a timeframe that could provide Kyiv’s troops the ability to tip the balance against Russia in the Donbas.
With @HARRISFAULKNER @FaulknerFocus explaining how US ramping up escalatory ladder w Russia doesn’t help Ukraine & does increase risk of nuke war – which we must avoid at all costs. Good to help Kyiv, but don’t harm our country in process. @defpriorities https://t.co/vExOKF4gZM
— Daniel L. Davis (@DanielLDavis1) April 26, 2022
Ukraine may be forced to make a choice between horrible options. Zelensky could roll the dice and try to create a stalemate to hold Russia at bay for close to a year and then mount an offensive with a trained battle force, or seek a negotiated settlement on the best terms available to stop the destruction of his army and people.
Trying to force and sustain a stalemate would guarantee Ukraine’s people continue to suffer and die and its economy to remain stagnant for the foreseeable future, and with no guarantee that creating an offensive force would later succeed (and employing it would necessarily spike the casualties again). Agreeing to a negotiated settlement in the near term would likely cement the loss of some eastern Ukrainian territory to Russia or Russian-speaking population, yet end the destruction in the rest of the country.
War is a horrible crucible that rarely produces any winners, and this one is the ugliest, bloodiest, and cruelest in Europe in nearly a century. Everyone must understand at this point there are not “good” solutions. Ukraine’s leaders must choose among a raft of unpalatable options in search of the least detestable.
I do not envy their task.
Now a 1945 Contributing Editor, Daniel L. Davis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army who deployed into combat zones four times. He is the author of “The Eleventh Hour in 2020 America.” Follow him @DanielLDavis1.
tony
April 26, 2022 at 4:04 pm
i agree, what they could do though is create a force multiplier, a few units which are mobile and are capable to bring these weapons, especially himars and such to bear in a decisive way, either to stop an attack or to help in creating gaps for an attack
so rather than mass (which could be better supplied by current tanks added to with extra ones from the same type) first create mobile fire teams, once there is time, create some elite units, and as new soldiers get drafted start them on the newer weapons rather than the sovjet ones
Frank M
April 27, 2022 at 11:58 pm
Agreed. The author has a very strong point. They’ll win or lose with the Army they have today.
alex
April 28, 2022 at 1:45 am
Documents of the killed/captured Ukrainian Armed Forces
So many of them are brought in bags from the front line that we no longer have time to sort it out.
t.me/RVvoenkor
CK
April 28, 2022 at 7:00 pm
You imbeciles couldn’t sort SIM cards from SIM games you moron. If anything is piling up it’s because you lot haven’t evolved the opposable thumbs to do so you absolute abortions.
JC
April 29, 2022 at 5:48 am
Obviously a defective and under-developed mind contaminated with foul language.
William Fraser
April 30, 2022 at 11:27 am
Oh look ! A pencil neck alcoholic spewing verbal diarrhea from his diseased mind. Slan bearla……….
Abraham Lincoln
April 29, 2022 at 11:08 am
1) The US and NATO are beginning now to create a solid Ukrainian force 6 months from now.
2) The Russian “Battle of the Donbas” so far has been weak and ineffectual. The Russian men do not want to fight. There is evidence the Russian generals realize they will probably be killed as well, so they are looking for a way out of this. Recent explosions at Russian fuel and ammo depots might be Russians sabotaging their own supply lines, so they don’t have to fight
3) The Ukranians show that they can hold Russia to a stalemate as things are RIGHT NOW.
4) The Russian economy will seize up, starting in the summer and may well be in total free fall by the autumn.
5) The Russians appear to be running out of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, so their ability to keep sending these into Ukraine will probably wane. They cannot produce more because they do not have the chips and electronics. Those came from other countries.
6) So, things may stay in stalemate for six months, at which point Russia is weakened, and Ukraine begins a counter offensive to drive the Russians out.
Nick
April 29, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Playing the Devil’s Advocate:
What you just presented – Abraham Lincoln – is Ukraine’s optimistic scenario. Regarding …
Point 3: A bloody stalemate: The Russians with 3 times the manpower can afford it. Ukrainians, like the Germans before them, can’t.
Point 4: China will clandestinely prevent the Russian economy from “seizing up” — the West being a common enemy to both Russia and China.
Point 5: Chips and electronics – a Chinese specialty.
Point 6: In six months, both Russia and Ukraine will have geared up for the final offensive.
As a Ukrainian-American, I want to believe in a common victory for Ukraine and the West but would advise us and our partners to stay sober and prepare for a very different Russian Army that invaded Ukraine two months ago expecting to be greeted with flowers.
Antipropo
April 30, 2022 at 6:15 pm
What utter Toshiba’s,do you get paid to write this nonsense?
CK
April 26, 2022 at 4:38 pm
There are some strong, valid points in this argument. The more random equipment gets sent Ukraine’s way, the harder it will be for them to maintain it all. That much is true, and I agree with that. Ukraine will have to find a way to train new forces (although there are cadres being trained in Western countries for artillery and other purposes) and for the time being, Western Ukraine is likely to be safe. I entirely agree that the Battle for Donbas will be won with that is at hand now, and at most, what is there in the next few weeks.
But again, I see this ugly argument rear its head:
“Trying to force and sustain a stalemate would guarantee Ukraine’s people continue to suffer and die and its economy to remain stagnant for the foreseeable future, and with no guarantee that creating an offensive force would later succeed (and employing it would necessarily spike the casualties again). Agreeing to a negotiated settlement in the near term would likely cement the loss of some eastern Ukrainian territory to Russia or Russian-speaking population, yet end the destruction in the rest of the country.”
No, what continues to guarantee the suffering of Ukraine’s people, the dying and the stagnation of the economy, is Russia’s illegal invasion and landgrab. Why is it that if a country finds itself under assault and naturally, takes a beating and is arguably fighting an existential battle for its life, they should agree to surrender and let themselves be anihilated?
Where do these authors come from? Did the Americans agree to such during the war of independence against the English? Tell me, when it became clear England was isolated in Europe in WW2 and devastated during the blitz, should Churchill too have demanded we surrender in the beaches, we shall surrender in the landing grounds, and in the streets? When the Soviet Union was almost completely swept aside in WW2, should they too have surrendered, or allowed themselves to be partioned so their people would stop suffering?
Where do these authors come from? I also just want to point your attention towards the last part of that sentence –
“Agreeing to a negotiated settlement in the near term would likely cement the loss of some eastern Ukrainian territory to Russia or Russian-speaking population, yet end the destruction in the rest of the country.”
Yes, it would end the destruction of the rest of the country NOW. But then one, two, three, four, six, either years later, Russia tries AGAIN. And takes just a bit more territory. Then AGAIN, because that’s what bullies do.
Ukraine tried what you suggested in 2014. Look where they are now. You think fighting for another year to avoid a repeat of that is something they won’t endure?
You’re deluded.
Eric
April 26, 2022 at 4:56 pm
I agree with CK. Ukraine already suffered genocide of approximately 4 million people 90 years ago under the soviet regime. The Ukrainians haven’t forgotten the stories from their grandparents who survived the Holodomor, and the elders who survived the gulags. Surrendering to Russia will not save them; we see how civilians are treated already when Russian forces take over. Russian rule means economic stagnation, a police state, political repression, mass suffering, people in gulags, and potentially genocide. Ukrainians will fight now to save their country and it’s millions of people because they know surrender is worse than fighting.
fred skolnick
April 27, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Eric, Brother You Lowballed the numbers. Actually, the estimate of Ukrainians who died of Starvation during The Soviet Occupation is actually between 10-17 Million.
The rest of your commentary is 100% Right On!
Qtto
April 27, 2022 at 10:14 pm
Eric,
Don’t confuse the old Soviet-Bolshevik regime–defeated in 1989, with the current Russian state!(As our western MSM wants you to do!) And, no you have NOT seen how the Russians treat the Ukrainian civilians when they prevail unless you watch the videos of Peter Lancaster or others from “non-Western-propaganda” sources. The Russian forces have not employed the typical, Western “Bomb-the-shit-out-of-’em tactics used by the US against the 3rd world armed forces and countries it has faced (and lost to).
Please try to read watch or listen to material which is NOT US-UK-NATO propaganda, before you start posting!
Abraham Lincoln
April 29, 2022 at 10:59 am
You people who imagine we should only watch russian sources crack me up.
JC
April 29, 2022 at 6:10 am
Don’t forget, this war was provoked by NATO expanding east against its promise not to, and continued to provoke while dishonoring the Minsk Agreements. The Axis of Evil is the US, the creator of wars and regime changes based on self-interest lies, hypocrisy and double standards. They need wars to feed their military industrial complex and don’t give a damn to the collateral damage they cause to human lives and destruction. It’s obvious they DON’T want this war to end, to fight till the last Ukrainian. Unless you’re ignorant or in deep denial, Russia is taking a restrained approach to this special military operation to minimise civilian casualties, unlike the Comedian’s neo-Nazis killing their own people and putting blame on the Russians. These cowardly neo-Nazis are using civilians as defensive shields and the Comedian will not allow them to surrender to safe face. Under a hopeless situation, to not surrender when there’s offer to spare your life, is utterly stupid…and delusional.
Abraham Lincoln
April 29, 2022 at 11:01 am
You Russian commenters are eternally high, whether on crack, vodka, or homemade meth is the only question.
Eric
April 26, 2022 at 4:44 pm
Cannon Crewmembers in the US Army receive 7 weeks of Advanced Individual Training during normal times. Interestingly, they only take the higher test scores for these trainees. Calculating targets requires some brains. (Source: https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/ground-forces/explosives-artillery/13b-cannon-crewmember.html )
In any case, Ukrainians can use an accelerated training timetable and they know their country is under fire so they are highly motivated. Ukraine may be sending troops to train who already generally know how to use artillery, and they just need training on the specific 155mm guns and munitions they are receiving. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to take the Ukrainians a year.
Alex, tell your Russian buddies to go home in one piece, while they still can.
Roj
April 26, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Respectfully, I don’t agree with the writer. He has grossly underestimated the ability of the Ukrainians to Resist( mobilize and innovate using anything at their disposal including weapons domestic and supplied by partners). If Ukraine did not have experienced mechanized, motorized and armored units they would have been overrun in 3 days as some analyst had thought. The idea that an American battalion commander is de facto more experienced than a Ukrainian one(since Ukraine’s army “didn’t exist” 8 yrs ago) was a major red flag in this opinion piece. Especially considering it was a Ukrainian brigade commander that showed how to defeat a Russian BTG(Mykhailo Vitaliyovych Zabrodskyi former commander of the 95th Brigade) during the Great raid of 2014. This is considered the longest armored raid in recent history and should have been an early sign of their future performance. So I understand the perspective of the writer but the issues he brings about related to the performance of mechanized units is more relevant to Russia than Ukraine. Russian Mechanized units in N.E Ukraine failed to reach Kyiv because they didn’t have well trained gunners etc. These units suffered high attrition rates at the hands of Ukrainian fighters and led to the withdrawal/retreat from Northern Ukraine.
Another thing is resistance struggles like the one Ukraine is mounting will only be determined by what the Ukrainian society decides. For now and the foreseeable future they look set to push out any Russian forces from their country. This is what will determine what kind of units are created, trained and deployed. It’s this desire that has seen powerful nation states defeated by resistance armies in Vietnam, Mozambique, Uganda, Afghanistan. Not how long it takes to train and reconstitute a mechanized unit etc.
Russia has already lost the war because they have destroyed the objective they were fighting for. By destroying cities and killing their inhabitants they’ve only increased the level of resistance regardless of how much foreign aid goes into Ukraine. Western military aid and economic sanctions will reduce the bloodshed on both sides by accelerating the resolution of this conflict militarily.
Qtto
April 27, 2022 at 10:37 pm
“…Russia has already lost the war because they have destroyed the objective they were fighting for. By destroying cities and killing their inhabitants they’ve only increased the level of resistance regardless of how much foreign aid goes into Ukraine.”
LOL! Repeating this too obvious US-UK-NATO propaganda surely doesn’t make it any more true and correct!
Fact is the Russians won this little tiff some time ago! And NO, the Russians didn’t destroy cities (as the US did in Iraq) . In fact, the Russians have taken care, to their disadvantage, to preserve as much Ukrainian infrastructure as possible!
They liberating fellow Russian ethnics from the illegal and treacherous actions of the Zelensky pirate regime (installed by the US in the 2014 Maidan revolt) in ignoring the Minsk Agreements to protect ethnic Russian areas in Eastern Ukraine, fairly negotiated in 2015!
Please learn some history before you blatantly lie about what’s happening on the ground!
JC
April 29, 2022 at 6:18 am
“Russia has already lost the war because they have destroyed the objective they were fighting for. By destroying cities and killing their inhabitants they’ve only increased the level of resistance regardless of how much foreign aid goes into Ukraine. Western military aid and economic sanctions will reduce the bloodshed on both sides by accelerating the resolution of this conflict militarily.”
This ignorance and denial in this last paragraph is laughable.
yeah yeah yeah
April 26, 2022 at 5:24 pm
The only way to ‘save’ ukraine is for US & NATO to get directly involved by having their asses to the fire instead of merely sacrificing ukrainian ones.
Right now, it’s a proxy war in ukraine, unlike afghanistan.
Afghanistan was where US gathered NATO and non-NATO asses there for almost 20 years but finally found it simply too hot for their liking.
anon, anon
April 26, 2022 at 5:37 pm
The writer suffers the typical problem with most US, and to a lesser extent other western “strategists:” the zero-casualty, zero-defects mentality.
Western training takes such an extraordinary time simply because their chains of command cannot entertain the possibility they might have to lose soldiers in the performance of their duties.
The Ukrainians right now are under no illusions that you can conduct a casualty-free war. They are already losing civilians by the thousands, and are more motivated to learn than any US cadre since WW2.
Western refusal to contemplate actual suffering during war for 30+ years has led to an entire crop of commentators who cannot see, let alone analyze, any situation that doesn’t involve conflict that actually requires sacrifice, bloodshed, and risk.
anon anon
April 26, 2022 at 5:38 pm
The writer suffers the typical problem with most US, and to a lesser extent other western “strategists:” the zero-casualty, zero-defects mentality.
Western training takes such an extraordinary time simply because their chains of command cannot entertain the possibility they might have to lose soldiers in the performance of their duties.
The Ukrainians right now are under no illusions that you can conduct a casualty-free war. They are already losing civilians by the thousands, and are more motivated to learn than any US cadre since WW2.
Western refusal to contemplate actual suffering during war for 30+ years has led to an entire crop of commentators who cannot see, let alone analyze, any situation that doesn’t involve conflict that actually requires sacrifice, bloodshed, and risk.
jack spade
April 26, 2022 at 5:51 pm
What a great article, in particular the last paragraph. This was an avoidable war, Zelensky should have gone to Putin and stroke his ego and accept some of his terms and give up on his own ego. But now, as Lt. Col. Davis writes ‘must choose among a raft of unpalatable options in search of the least detestable’. What a tragedy.
CK
April 26, 2022 at 5:58 pm
Sadly, doing that would almost certainly trigger WW3.
I don’t understand this statement “It is a proxy war” like it’s some kind of revelation. Of course it is. Russia seeks to destabilise Europe, invades its neighbours, and advocates for a world where Authoritarianism, oligarchs, corruption and repression are the norms. A world where might makes right.
It has been waging a “proxy” war on the West for nearly two decades now, poisoning dissisents, killing journalists, using chemical and radioactive agents in European capitals and cities, interfering in elections, spreading propaganda, abusing social networking sites, etc etc etc.
Like, no shit it’s a proxy war. It’s been happening for decades now! Only different is this time Russia miscalculated badly and is getting its just desserts.
All Afghanistan shows (which the Soviet Union also failed in) is that it’s easy to invade a country and nearly impossible to occupy it, in ltself a lesson Russia seems far too keen to forget in Ukraine.
FRAZIER STALL
April 26, 2022 at 6:01 pm
The Pentagon should consider gathering a quantity of US military units now stationed in turkey and romania and send them to the moldova-ukraine border.
Once the moment is ripe, Austin should move them quickly across the border and rescue the cyborg warriors at the azovstal plant and other sites. This is the brightest chance in a long while to shell out the best medals, like the ‘medal of honor’, for the best military personnel.
chinger
April 27, 2022 at 5:20 pm
This is pretty funny
Iris Noir
April 26, 2022 at 6:15 pm
Recapitulation from the newspaper politician of the European Parliament of Dr. David Iv
1989-1991 *
Russia admits the lifting of the demarcation line between East and West Germany and dissolves the “Warsaw Pact”, withdraws its troops from Eastern Europe and relies on a verbal promise by Hans-Dietrich Genscher (former German Chancellor and James Baker (former US Secretary of State)) in February 1990 that NO NATO – enlargement to the east
US troops are still occupying Germany
By 2004 *, almost all members of the Warsaw Pact will join NATO.
* The Russian remains silent. *
* 2001 *
In the German Bundestag, Putin offers the West a close partnership that would overcome past contradictions.
Everyone applauds enthusiastically…
The US forbids it.
There is a buffer between NATO and Russia with Belarus, Ukraine and the three Baltic states.
* The Russian remains calm.
* 2004 *
The Baltic states become members of NATO.
The first violation of the buffer zone.
* The Russian remains calm.
* 2014 *
The West overthrows the Ukrainian government and restores US slaves
(Which the Americans have now admitted).
At the same time, the United States, led by H. Biden (son of senile US President Joe Biden), is beginning to infiltrate Ukraine’s Black Water and American advisers and offer NATO membership.
At the same time, Hunter is in business
The Russian remains calm.
* 2014 *
Under the pressure of the American coup, there was a referendum in Crimea.
Was there a referendum in Kosovo when you bombed Yugoslavia? You hypocrites killing all over the world …
Unlike Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, not a single shot was fired, no one was killed.
To this day, 90 percent of the Crimean population agree with this procedure.
* 2014 – 2022 *
Ukraine is constantly bombing the Donbas. The government is killing its own people !! This is mainly done by Azov (worshipers of the swastika). And foreign mercenaries.
Many Russian-speaking Ukrainians, including children, died.
Ukraine has stopped paying pensions to the elderly and paying for work in these areas since 2014.
The money and supply of these areas is taken over exclusively by Russia. You don’t have internet, you don’t know that ??
* 2020 *
Following Ukraine’s example in 2014, the West is now trying to overthrow the government in Belarus, which it has failed to do, but it has been the third attack on the NATO-Russia buffer zone.
_ * The Russian remains calm. * _
* 2022 *
Putin demands * last * guarantee that Ukraine * will not * become a member of NATO and that Donetsk and Lugansk will be self-governing
* The US refuses.
The Russians invade Ukraine.
Putin demands an end to the war
Guarantee of neutrality, and
– the demilitarization of Ukraine,
– recognition of the Donetsk and Lugano People’s Republics.
Recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, and
– denazification of Ukraine
* The United States is against.
This should lead to reflection on all those who thoughtlessly parrot lies or half-truths in the American media…
We live in the EU, it hits us and you sit in the US and laugh as others die for you. For your dirty business, yikes.
I wish the world peace and prosperity and prosperity for all people. Why should people suffer for the uneaten war business? It wasn’t enough to covid and disrupt.
CK
April 26, 2022 at 6:22 pm
It’s so strange. I wonder what happened between the years of 1945 and 1989 that would cause so many Eastern European countries to want to join a defensive organisation?
It’s such a mystery to me. Nobody pointed a gun to the head of these countries and forced them into NATO. It’s almost like… they are sovereign countries, that can and should make their own decisions, and not be told by bitter defeated neighbours what they can and can’t do?
Who is Russia to interfere in anyone’s foreign affairs, Ukraine included? Here’s an idea, novel at it is. If you DIDN’T want them to flock to NATO, how about giving them a better offer? How about showing them something other than the stick?
It’s funny to see that working in action right now with Finland, Sweden, and Ukraine.
As for your last statement. If you wish for peace and prosperity for all people’s, a good place to start would be by not invading your neighbours.
Iris Noir
April 27, 2022 at 3:28 am
What do you still associate with me? I’m from the former Czechoslovakia and we didn’t attack anyone. Reach for your conscience. Why, under this expert article, apply the discussion to yourself. I think it’s better to think about analysis and self-criticism. Relations between people-as well as nations …
Like you, I can say now:
What did they do to you in Vietnam? What did they do to you in Korea? How they hurt you in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan. Goat herders have beaten you and that’s why you want to supply weapons to those poor church mice on the UKR. To die for the US? This is not the first time in history that it is.
Learn history and remember what the Munich betrayal was? As some like to put it on Putin, but it’s a lie.
Our President Masaryk did not murder or bully German-speaking fellow citizens. That is what the Ukrainian regime does.
The English, the French and Italy envied the functioning industry, and after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Vienna had nothing to eat. According to today’s view of sanctions, Germany had nothing to eat after the First World War and Weimar
opened the way since World War II.
Without Czech metallurgy and mining in Ostrava, the monarchy was economically in ruins. That’s why the Western allies threw us at Hitler, our people still remember this disgusting betrayal.
The historic long ribbon is still winding.
In Azovstal, a group of councilors and mercenaries from high members climb like wet mice out of holes.
Eastern citizens did not want to join NATO, the government dragged us there with lies and deception.
President Havel has already stated under the turf that it is necessary to destroy military blocs and live in peace. And suddenly in the Pentagon, the mountains promised forests – or threatened to allow the United States to kill in Yugoslavia. Just betrayal and betrayal.
Learn the history of Europe ladies and gentlemen. I don’t want to argue, I’m here at random because I read all the foreign news. But I am troubled by ignorance and arrogance. Do you want a war in Europe? Worldwide? It’s close.
Robert
April 26, 2022 at 9:08 pm
You do realize that an M1 crewmen in the US army only has 22 weeks of training when he’s accepted into service right? Why the hell do you think it would take Ukraine under wartime conditions twice to nearly three times as long to train an armor crewmen? That 22 weeks also includes basic training which to be honest you can slash most of the indoctrination and infantry training stuff as a pointless and unneeded luxury in wartime conditions.
So I’d say you could easily chop an eight week basic training to say four and loose pretty much nothing in armored crewmen, so really make that say 18 weeks to produce an armored crewmen the US army considers qualified. You cannot convince me there isn’t fat to be trimmed in that time period either, even simply trimming off downtime and compressing the schedule could probably get that down to 12 to 14 weeks.
Artillery operators get even less.
Seriously, why are you citing the numbers for peace time training periods (though even those are inaccurate) when those clearly have zero application in the context of a war for national survival.
There is almost no reason that competent crew couldn’t be produce in say 3 month IMO.
Furthermore acting like existing experience is somehow worthless is idiotic. The difference between a late model T-64/80 and an Abrams is in detail not purpose or employment. It wouldn’t take that long to learn the controls and basically all the general theory and doctrine carries over. If you start with a trained armor crewmen I bet you could convert him to Abrams in six weeks with no issue.
Artillery again has even less re-learning to do. I bet a two week crash course could convey any artillery crew to a new towed system, say four weeks for SPG.
Maintainer might actually be more of an issue, but again existing experience can’t simply be tossed. Actually Ukraine has a leg up here; unlike most nations they’ll have technical staff with experience maintain turbine engines in tanks, due to experience with T-80s.
NylaSim
April 26, 2022 at 9:23 pm
I agree with you. Some people are hoping for the help of Ukrainian troops to drive Russian troops out of the country, because they saw the deterioration of the Russian tanks in Plan A from the beginning, because you did not speak from the way Ukrainian troops interrupted the Russian offensive. All in all, the Ukrainian army was able to fight for many years with the Russian army in the manner of a guerrilla …. smashed a tank and ran away. What about Putin wants to attack on a large scale or want to accompany the jungle war? Only time will tell.
David Chang
April 26, 2022 at 11:53 pm
God bless all people in the world.
Thank you for speaking about the difficulties of military training, we need more time, money and people.
God bless you.
MHJ
April 27, 2022 at 2:19 am
As a souvereign country, Ukraine can ask any country to help them militarily, even Nato countries (without engaging Nato itself). Even with boots on the ground. I bet we will see this heppening soon.
Commentar
April 27, 2022 at 2:22 am
May God bless all the people but not inveterate warmongers like wesley clark.
Wesley clark is the warmonger who in 2001 alleged Pentagon planned toppling seven moslem countries in five years-Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, somalia, Sudan and Iran.
Fast forward today, 21 years later, biden and blinken and austin are planning the toppling of ukraine, russia, belarus and donbass in one or two years. Using tanks, artillery, anmo and aircraft.
Evil warmongers who’re inveterate enemies of god.
David Chang
April 27, 2022 at 4:56 am
God bless people in the world.
Yes, Mr. Davis tell about the fact.
But ck push people to resolve constitution disputes by murdering people.
As Nuclear War Policy, we should think about the hazards of nuclear war in the future.
So we have to remind socialism parties, such as Ukraine, Russia, democratic party, don’t forget that you are destroying the world, and don’t forget that you are the cause of war, because you don’t trust God, you believe socialism.
But all people in the world shall pray to God, and confess sin to God, together.
Alex
April 27, 2022 at 6:46 am
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Eric
April 27, 2022 at 9:46 am
There he goes again, Alex and his buddies, with the genocidal hate speech, justifying Russian forces’ war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Stefan Stackhouse
April 27, 2022 at 2:36 pm
The hard reality is that Putin will resort to nuclear weapons if he is facing defeat and is desperate enough. I’m not sure how Ukraine ends up with a “win” given that reality. Does a finish with Putin being gone, along with Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, etc. all being gone, constitute a “win”?
On the other hand, there is a problem with giving in to the temptation of a negotiated settlement. Russia (with either Putin or some later tyrant) might settle for just having breakfast now, but we know they will want lunch and supper later. Any negotiated settlement won’t end the war, only the battle.
Some problems don’t have solutions; you just have to cope with them.
I’m not sure what the best way is for the Ukrainians to cope. It is pretty obvious that standing as strong as possible and trying to hold the line as close to the present front as possible would be preferable. It is also obvious that the only way to stop the Russians is to create attrition to the point where they can no longer move forward. That can only work if the Ukrainians can avoid as much or more attrition themselves. Attempting a counterattack and retaking of contested land is not a good way to achieve that.
As long as the Russians can lob missiles from their own territory deep into Ukraine, that will be a problem. Only if and when Ukraine can answer with a matching reply might the Russians be deterred. Again, that assumes that they do not feel so desperate that they begin unleashing their nukes. Rather than going “Tit for Tat”, the Ukrainians might have to content themselves with going “Tit for Two Tats”, restraining themselves just enough to avoid escalation, but not so much as to allow the Russians to think that there is zero risk and cost to their long-range barrage.
It is possible that they might even come to an armistice with a continuing armed standoff, just as has been the case in Korea for seven decades. Not ideal, but the Ukrainians could live with this.
Oldrealist
April 27, 2022 at 4:06 pm
The author of the article:
1. Comes down heavy on possible difficulties that may hinder Ukraine’s military,
2. Ignores the many demonstrated difficulties the Russian army has shown
us,
3. Ignores the demonstrated morale and effectiveness of Ukraine’s army compared to the low morale and clumsiness demonstrated by the Russian army,
4. Over estimates Ukrainian casualties in defensive operations versus Russian casualties in poorly executed offensive operations,
Etc.
It makes me wonder how Russia did not win the swift victory they expected, why they failed to capture several larger cities, or, why they retreated and regrouped for a more limited goal.
Over estimating Russia’s difficulties as success and underestimating Ukraine’s stubborn defense in no way justifies the suggestion that Ukraine should capitulate on Putin’s term.
Lance Benson
April 27, 2022 at 4:33 pm
The author omits the fact that Ukraine is not starting from scratch with its “new army”–it has several hundred thousand who have been through the old army and many have experience in the Donbas trenches.
Putting up new armored brigades is no doubt a daunting task, but Ukraine was recently reported to have fielded three new ones. I have no idea how they would compare to a U.S. brigade combat team, but if they are comparable, for 3 that would be on the order of 260 tanks and 450 infantry fighting vehicles plus artillery and sustainment troops. I also have no idea where those tanks would have come from or how Ukraine would obtain others for more armored brigades, but the manpower is surely there.
Making it all work together is another daunting task, as the author points out.
Diogenese10
April 27, 2022 at 4:51 pm
The point missed is that trying to assemble enough western equipment well in range of Russian equipment Is near impossible every tank , gun, whatever sent over the border into Ukraine would have a misile waiting for it plus trashing the rail network means a long drive to get anywhere !
Vladolph Putler
April 27, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Glad to see so many folks spot the obvious deficiency in the training narrative. 😛 I would argue it’s actually a LOT less. A whole nation is in the process of mobilization. Crews that already competently operate field artillery? Could probably be trained in a couple days in a pinch. Besides, fully trained personnel can train others “on the fly” so to speak. The latter part of that approach is already a stated strategy, BTW.
As to the overall point of the author? True. Count on NOTHING. A tenet the Russians got pretty solidly backwards. Neither side currently has the clout for a large decisive offensive operation. Russia theoretically could do so easily with full scale mobilization- but even then would be short of battle worthy equipment- they are already pulling Soviet era antiques out of mothballs. Ukraine is in the process of mobilization, and quality AND quantity of equipment headed towards theatre seems to be consistently improving.
Russia is quickly running low of guided munitions, and though large, their military is largely incompetent. As hostilities spill across the Russian border, and the skies of Belogrod, Kursk, and perhaps even Tver are blackened with the plumes of truth of this reality, even brainwashed Russians will see the writing on the wall.
Can Russia win more limited objectives? Only if Ukraine and the rest of the world is willing to tolerate these “limited objectives”. Which doesn’t appear to be the case. So it’s to attrition warfare. Which means Russia loses substantial equipment it cannot hope to replace. How this plays out with Black Sea naval assets will be intriguing. And guaranteed to be lopsided, though at what scale remains a question.
Nukes keeps getting brought up. It’s not the option people think it is. Putin likes to threaten. Once he pops a nuke in Ukraine, he can no longer threaten without getting vaporized. Hell, Russia might get vaporized then and there due to the perceived threat. Would Russia retaliate? Well yes. It would be a losing game for all involved. Not the greatest, OR the smartest thing to do.
As to trolls attacking CK? Good. Touch those nerves. 😉
semcgowanjr
April 27, 2022 at 9:16 pm
Mr. Davis failed to mention perhaps the most important factor – simply getting all these supplies from Poland to Donbas or even Keiv. Ukraine is more than 700 miles across, and that’s in a straight line. Actual distance to Donbas is close to 1,000 miles over road and rail, 1,000 miles exposed to air and missile attack. Allegedly, Russian cruise missiles knocked out the electric powerplants powering the railways. Ukraine’s air transport capability is now nonexistent, leaving only road as the sole means of moving armor across the country. Things don’t bode well for Ukraine, and all that military equipment is likely to turn into rust.
Thomas Jessen
April 28, 2022 at 1:35 am
“A battalion commander must have at least 16 years of experience, and a brigade commander, 22 years.”
This is total nonsense. Obvious difference between actual battle experience and political/career manouevering.
You can never bring guns to an ongoing battle? OMG. Listen to the ukrainian commanders, they know their shit and you don’t need to take it from a desktop analyst.
alex
April 28, 2022 at 2:01 am
Documents of the killed/captured Ukrainian Armed Forces
So many of them are brought in bags from the front line that we no longer have time to sort it out.
t.me/RVvoenkor
CK
April 28, 2022 at 6:45 pm
It’s hilarious to think Alex doesn’t even realise everything he says has the opposite effect of what he means.
When I meet or see people like Alex, I truly wonder how we ever got so far. Science, medicine, being in space. Doesn’t feel possible if ever one person of our race can be that stupid.
The imbecile can’t even post something new on a new day, same old recycling, different garbage for a different day, just like his nation, reliving their WW2 hits.
It gives me great joy to remember every single nation that has lived in the past has indeed been consigned to it, and Russia is boarding that train to history with gusto.
Do svidaniya komrades!
Kevthepope
April 28, 2022 at 10:23 pm
when someone needs a shill to ask the Ukes to take pity on the poor old Russians, just get good old Lt. Col Davis on. That or the equally brilliant former Mcgregor. Though he has good points, and would be nice to use Russian stats on deaths from this month, not a month ago, which would justify the Ukes have a ton going for them, what he fails to acknowledge with the suck it up Zelensky and sue for peace is that there is NO agreeing to anything with Putin, because there is no “oh comrade, we will just stop at Donbas and maybe have a nibble to Kherson”. Putin, our modern-day cabbage patch kid looking goofball, will want A. Ukraine to basically lose its military, so he can clean it up next time NATO and the US get their next collection of weak minded idiots at the top that permit him to do so. B. No democratic anything left of Ukraine, it will be whatever stooge government that Putin deems necessary C. forget having an economy, it will be a starvation mode dependent on a country, Russia, whom is about to become China and India’s b*tch as their only means of income. They’d be better off attacking Iran as their competitor for selling oil and gas. Lasly, D. Russia will basically wipe out the Ukraine identity, and it will be fully absorbed into Russia at a soon to be date. So it’s not just some territory Colonel Davis, and you darn well know it so shame on you. This is a situation where it is worth it to punish Russia and if they are insane enough to use nukes, well, they will or would probably use them at a later date against someone else. What is important to note is so long as it’s Putin, elected or not, as the head dog, you will always have this threat. Russia is a great power, and deserves someone that is not a dog as its leader. Nobody is going to kick him out, there has never been a non strongman to lead that country, so it’s either via coup for another strongman, whom wants to make some oil money, or the world is stuck with Putin.
Dragan
April 28, 2022 at 10:52 pm
The whole narrative falls apart when one takes into account that Ukrainian army had 2500 tanks at the start of the war and now they apparently need more. This is a propaganda war, Ukraine has lost.
Alex
April 29, 2022 at 8:33 am
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Lend-lease is a commodity loan, and not cheap: for all the ammunition, equipment and food supplied by the United States, many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay. Zelensky is driving the country into a debt hole.
CK
April 29, 2022 at 10:00 am
Wow, did they run out of paper in Russia, Alex? You guys can’t print new material? Literally using the same lines, over and over again, and now in duplicate in every post!
Are you so defeated you can’t even come up with anything new? How sad. Now the idiot is talking about lend-lease at the end of his post, because he literally just copy + pasted it from another thread, with zero relevance to this one.
Here’s a reminder:
If someone wanted to know the truth about anything in Ukraine Alex, the last person they would go to is you.
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study your “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.
Alex
April 29, 2022 at 10:44 am
It’s wonderful to watch how a young Bandera Nazi is turned inside out. Soon you will meet your banger in the same boiling pot, bastards 🙂
If someone wants to know the truth about the civil war in the Donbass, about all the atrocities of the Bandera clean-ups and why Russia was forced to intervene, then it is better to watch films by independent journalists. There are already many such journalists who fight for truth and freedom. For example, a documentary by the German journalist Wilhelm Domcke-Schulz.
A documentary film about the war crimes of the Bandera Nazis during the period of Russia’s special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine is in production. It will be a real information bomb, where the war crimes of Bandera Nazis will be shown and proved.
The documentary “Remember Odessa” tells how the Bandera Nazis burned Ukrainians alive and other heinous war crimes.
The documentary “To Live and Die in Donbass” tries to fill this gaping information gap in the West. He looks into the tormented soul of the inhabitants of Donbass, who really want only one thing – to live self-determining according to their own rules and values. Not submitting to foreign forces and ideologies.
In the east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, a war has been raging since the beginning of 2014. A civil war that claimed more than 15,000 lives over the years, including several hundred children. They had to die, because the national-fascist coup government in Kyiv, funded by the West, trained and militarily heavily armed, would not tolerate any resistance to their illegitimate rule, no matter the cost.
Therefore, in April 2014, the putschists deployed the Ukrainian army, supported by dozens of right-wing extremist volunteer battalions, and have since bombed city centers, residential areas, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, killing civilians.
This perennial crime has gone completely unnoticed by the Western public. Politicians and the media avoid this topic and reports about how the devil pours holy water. Because a public discussion about the crimes of the Ukrainian regime would reveal only one thing – with what mass murderers and terrorists the so-called “west of values” in Ukraine has a common language, if only to defend their goals and interests.
Lend-lease is a commodity loan, and not cheap: for all the ammunition, equipment and food supplied by the United States, many future generations of Ukrainian citizens will pay. Zelensky is driving the country into a debt hole.
CK
April 29, 2022 at 1:19 pm
Ah, I see your tactic. You add a little shitty first paragraph so it doesn’t detect your duplicate post. Is this what it has come to now, you just posting the same exact post 2, 3, 4, 5 times per article?
Wow, did they run out of paper in Russia, Alex? You guys can’t print new material? Literally using the same lines, over and over again, and now in duplicate in every post!
Are you so defeated you can’t even come up with anything new? How sad. Now the idiot is talking about lend-lease at the end of his post, because he literally just copy + pasted it from another thread, with zero relevance to this one.
Here’s a reminder:
If someone wanted to know the truth about anything in Ukraine Alex, the last person they would go to is you.
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study your “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.
Bill
April 30, 2022 at 7:04 pm
I have to disagree, and for the following reasons.
1. The Russia force is neither well trained nor disciplined. Their morale is failing, and the units are a mix of regular and conscripted personnel.
Therefore learning the hard way, on the field of battle is entirely viable. I wouldnt try it against a well trailed near peer rival, but that is not this situation.
2. Ukraine has an armor advantage, in terms of tanks, over the Russian forces currently operating within Ukraine. These are all platforms that they are familiar with, this isnt a situation in which one side had overwhelming force on the field of battle.
3. Russia has failed to carry out basic and fundamental objectives throughout this campaign. But with that, none of them stand out as much as the failure to establish air superiority.
Russia cant control the skies, and Ukraine has successfully attacked supply lines within the Russian Federation.
4. The anti aircraft systems provided by Germany are effectively large and mobile machinegun platforms as well. But primarily they will neutralize the Russian helicopter forces.
5. Intelligence wins wars, and we have seen numerous general officers bite the dust. This degredation of Russian military leadership is so great that estimates stand at it taking a generation to replenish.
The Russian military inside Ukraine reminds me of a boxer with a glass jaw. Personally I suspect that a significant loss during this offensive and it will lose cohesion and fall apart.
They also didnt take the time needed to reintegrate after their retreat from kiyv. (And it was a retreat).
Ukraine fights with patriotic fervor, Russia with reluctance and fear.
Effectively Ukraine is kicking Russia’s ass. I expect this to continue.
I will be surprised if they occupy donbas a year from now.
Their losses are frankly not sustainable. Especially with a conscripted force more vulnerable to desertion.
Ukraine’s Airforce still flies.
The Russian flagship threatened Snake Island…and Ukraine sunk their flagship.
Russia keeps trying to advance and is held fast.
Russia cant manage their supply lines, ukraine still has working trains.
At this point Ukraine has momentum and new weapons inbound. While that presents challenges, morale is high.
Russia has lost momentum, gave up on multiple objectives,and knows with dread that the entire world is supplying Ukraine. Having lost almost a dozen general grade officers, their morale is low and could collapse.
Conventional analysis said that Kiyv would fall in a day or two.
None of that analysis saw Ukraine sinking the Moskva, striking Russia itself, Russia failing and retreating, etc.
Russia looks ill trained and their “follow the only road” strategy tells me that Ukraine has time to learn as they go.
Perhaps the biggest defeat Russia has suffered is that to the image of the strength of their military forces worldwide.
The poorest nation in Europe, Ukraine, has brought the Russian Federation’s military to its knees and their attempts to use mercenaries laughable.
How do Syrian mercs like a Ukrainian winter? They dont.