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Russia’s Military Is Dying a Slow Death in Ukraine

Ukraine War
Ukrainian service members fire with a self-propelled howitzer 2S1 Gvozdika, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in unknown location in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 7, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

On day 81 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is pressing with its counterattacks, while the renewed Russian offensive is faltering

The last Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal steelworks plant are still holding on. 

A Faltering Russian Military 

In its daily estimate of the war, the British Ministry of Defense focused on the shortcomings of the Russian military, highlighting that Moscow had lost one-third of the combat troops it committed to the invasion prior to the war. 

“Russia’s Donbas offensive has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule. Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition. Russia has now likely suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed in February,” the British Military Intelligence assessed

The British Ministry of Defense also highlighted the failures of the renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, focusing on the heavy Russian losses in tactical unmanned aerial systems and bridging equipment. Over the past week, the Russian military tried to ford a river in the Donbas three times but was repelled every time, losing more than 70 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles, among other materiel, in the process. 

“These delays will almost certainly be exacerbated by the loss of critical enablers such as bridging equipment and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones. Russian bridging equipment has been in short supply throughout the conflict, slowing and restricting offensive manoeuvre. Russian UAVs are vital for tactical awareness and directing artillery, but have been vulnerable to Ukrainian anti-air capabilities,” the British Ministry of Defense stated.

The more casualties the Russian forces suffer, the less likely they are to achieve a breakthrough in eastern Ukraine. Thus far, the Russian military has failed to achieve any of its primary objectives in Ukraine. 

“Russian forces are increasingly constrained by degraded enabling capabilities, continued low morale and reduced combat effectiveness. Many of these capabilities cannot be quickly replaced or reconstituted, and are likely to continue to hinder Russian operations in Ukraine. Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days,” the British Military Intelligence assessed.

“The main efforts of the enemy are focused on breaking through the defence of Ukrainian troops in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, as well as establishing full control over the city of Mariupol. In the Zaporozhzhia oblast, the concentration of units of the russian [sic] ccupying forces continues in certain areas,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated

Russian Casualties 

The high rate of Russian casualties continues as the war nears the three-month mark. 

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Sunday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 27,400 Russian troops (and wounded approximately thrice that number), destroyed 200 fighter, attack, and transport jets, 164 helicopters, 1,220 tanks, 555 artillery pieces, 2,958 armored personnel carriers, 195 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 13 boats and cutters, 2,087 vehicles and fuel tanks, 89 anti-aircraft batteries, 416 unmanned aerial systems, 42 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 95 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.

1945’s New Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business InsiderSandboxx, and SOFREP.

1945’s Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist with specialized expertise in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.

17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. speedster

    May 15, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    The Russian military invasion in Ukraine is comparable with the situation of the lobster in a pot of water that is gradually being heated towards boiling point.
    The water is still comfortable, but inevitably, the water will boil and the lobster/Russian invasion will perish.

    The reason for the situation described is tied up with Russia being number 136 in the global perception index.
    In a country of low corruption, people are more likely to tell the truth and not hide facts when things are not going well. Most of not all independent media has been closed in Russia , so state media provides propaganda and that will not disclose when the ukraine invasion is not successful. Also state media will tend to show propaganda inflating achievement in the invasion.

  2. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    A demobilized French soldier, author of the book “Get up and go thanks to science” Adrien Boke went to Ukraine on a humanitarian mission and spent three weeks there.

    Upon his return, he decided to convey to the French information about the events he had witnessed in Ukraine.

    “I take full responsibility for what I say. While in Ukraine, I witnessed war crimes. All of them were committed by the Ukrainian army. But in France we don’t talk about it!

    When I returned to France from Ukraine, I was shocked: TV channels invite as experts people who have not been to Ukraine and do not know anything about what is happening there now. However, they dare to speculate about these events. Between what I hear from the TV screen and what I saw with my own eyes is an abyss.

    Azov fighters are everywhere. With neo-Nazi stripes. It shocks me that Europe is supplying weapons to neo-Nazis. Not only do they not hide their views. They advertise them. I worked with these people and treated them.

    Being there, there was nothing I could do. Just watch and make videos. I have this footage and will use it as evidence of Ukraine’s crimes.

    I witnessed how the Ukrainian military shot through the knees of captured Russian soldiers and shot in the head higher-ranking officers.

    I have personally seen American videographers making fake footage from the scene of the events staging.

    All destroyed civilian buildings, given out by Ukraine for bombardment of civilians, are nothing more than the result of inaccurate shooting by Ukrainians at military facilities.

    The Armed Forces of Ukraine hide ammunition in residential buildings at night, without even informing the residents. This is called using people as a shield, ”Boke quotes one of the French media.

    The Washington Post recently drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian troops are placing military equipment in residential areas of cities in an attempt to counter the Russian Armed Forces, which threatens the lives of civilians.

    Boke also spoke about the untruthfulness of Western media reports about the events in Bucha.

    “Bucha is a staging. The bodies of the dead were moved from other places and deliberately placed in such a way as to produce shocking footage, ”the French author noted.

    The documents confirming this were submitted to the Federal Security Service – how, who – there are relevant intercepts – on what transport he came to this settlement and created the conditions for organizing this provocation.

    Soon all the collected evidence about the crimes of the Nazis in Ukraine will be seen by the whole world. And the most important thing is the help of Western countries to the Nazis of Ukraine and assistance in their crimes.

    • mhjo

      May 16, 2022 at 8:39 am

      Can someone please stop this “Alex” from copy/paste his repetetive posts

  3. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, Russia and the Donbass militia have destroyed the Ukrainians:

    165 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 879 unmanned aerial vehicles, 306 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,098 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 381 multiple rocket launchers, 1,525 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 2,934 special military vehicles. Destroyed more than 48,600 Bandera Nazis and mercenaries.

    A simple example: in any war, the approximate losses and wounded are 1:3. After 3,000 casualties, field hospitals are deployed. There is not a single Russian military hospital in Ukraine. Consequently, Russia’s losses are less than 3,000 people.

    However, in Ukraine they talk about 75,000 dead Russians. It’s the Russians. Not the Ukrainians of Donbass, not one of the 200 peoples of Russia, but Russians. Russophobia and Nazism are openly visible.

    Judging by the satellite images, Ukraine will soon collapse as a country despite the huge help from the West.

    Everyone understands that not a single NATO soldier will go to fight for a third world country inhabited (in their opinion) by third-class people. War with NATO is a nuclear war. I know for sure that our Polish soldiers will definitely not participate in a direct clash with Russia. Our lands will return to us in any case. And we will quickly clear them of Bandera Nazis. We are not Russians, we will do it faster.

    Ukraine – R.I.P.

  4. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    The French journalist revealed who really commands in Ukraine.

    In order to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, you need to contact the US representatives. One of them stated in plain text that it was he “who is in command here, not the Ukrainians.” This statement was made by the former deputy director of the French news magazine Paris Match Regis Le Sommier.

    “I was surprised that in order to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this must be done through the Americans. An American, a veteran of the war in Iraq, came up and said: I am in command here, not the Ukrainians,”
    Sommier notes that at first he wanted to kick out the reporters, he was rude. Then he ordered to get SIM cards from phones and “sign a contract until the end of the war.”

    Earlier, the Pentagon noted that the training of the Ukrainian military was indeed carried out, but this was not done on its territory, but in Europe. Since 2014, the Canadian authorities have funded a training program for fighters of the Ukrainian nationalist Azov battalion, writes Nation News. Canada helped prepare 33,346 candidates for the SBU, including 1,951 fighters from the National Guard of Ukraine.

    Jacque Bo:

    “The Ukrainian army will not win the war, just like the fascist militias. The country simply has no chance.

    Western governments insult Ukraine and its soldiers. They want to “weaken Russia” and do not allow Ukraine to ask for peace.”

  5. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    Diplomats and other officials look remarkably helpless when asked about Ukro-Nazism. They just don’t know what to say! They start to somehow get out, talk about some insignificant or easily ignored things. For example, one diplomat, in response to a question about the Nazi Jew Zelensky, says that Zelensky put up a photo of a soldier with SS symbols. So what? They’ll say it’s an accident, the secretary made a mistake and all that. Another diplomat, in response to the same question, begins to recall Bandera and Shukhevych – what is it for, if Western people do not know about it, for them this is zero information. Yes, and Lavrov, with all due respect, in general, screwed up with the answer to this question, it turned out to be a scandal with Israel.

    Tell them already someone: Ukrainian Nazism means “kill Russians.” Yes, German Nazism was different, it was: “kill Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, etc.” Yes, Ukro-Nazism is slightly different, but the essence is exactly the same – hatred as a backbone idea. Jew Zelensky is now heading a state whose only idea of ​​all existence is to “kill Russians.” There is no contradiction and there cannot be.

    And in response to such questions, it would be time to go on a counterattack, not to mumble about Western “Russophobia” (wow, you are so unfortunate that you are afraid of us), but to speak openly about systemic Western RACISM. If someone is not in the know, racism is not only about races, but also about dividing people into higher and lower according to ethnic, national and other characteristics. And the West knows and understands the word RACISM very well. As the Pope recently said about Western civilization, “We are racists.” They know this word and are afraid of it. They are afraid of their deepest essence. But all the actions of the West after the start of the operation to denecify Ukraine is sheer racism. They need to repeat this a hundred times a day! Because accusing any person of all sins just because he belongs to some nation is racism. And this is the daily practice of the West today. When German doctors refused to treat Russians, this is racism. When conductors, musicians or singers from Russia are humiliated and suppressed for their Russianness, this is racism. When Russian children in European schools are forced to repent and declare that it is a shame to be Russian in front of the whole class, this is racism. ALL of this and more is RACISM!

    When will our diplomacy and officials dare to attack the enemy not only on the military front, but also on the ideological one? How much can you mumble about “Russophobia”? How much can you justify when asking questions about Ukro-Nazism? It is necessary to declare openly that today’s Ukraine is built on the idea of ​​the destruction of everything Russian, and give examples of all the laws they adopted after the coup, all the crimes committed, both criminal and political within the country, and war crimes in the Donbass.

    And the Jew Zelensky, who, in order to save his skin, will sell not only his grandfather, but also anyone, will gladly be the Fuhrer of the nation, if only to be saved. Initially a man without ideology, an empty place, he became a Nazi and sends an army to kill Russians, yes, he is a Nazi!

  6. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    A journalist from the United States, Lara Logan, during the broadcast of the Real America’s Voice program, accused the Western media of lying about the Russian special operation in Ukraine:

    “I really think there is so much misinformation right now. We have never seen anything like it. I’ve been covering military conflicts for 35 years now and I’ve never seen anyone with their fingernails decorated with the Ukrainian flag. I mean, we are being driven into such a framework where we have to hate Vladimir Putin and believe everything bad that is said about him and love Ukraine. There is simply no other position.”

    A lot of things are happening in Ukraine that we don’t talk about. This concerns the history of Ukraine, the Azov battalion, which is funded by the US and NATO. In the photographs, they are holding NATO flags and a swastika at the same time.

    They use the Nazi emblem from the SS. Everywhere in the Ukrainian army you can see this emblem of their cult. Even female soldiers wear this black badge of their cult.

    The White House pretends that it doesn’t matter that it’s only a small number of troops, but that’s not true. Azov has carved its way into eastern Ukraine through assassinations. We don’t want to admit it.

    That is why Crimea voted for independence, why Crimea wanted to be with Russia. The Western media and the West do not want to admit the reality that Western Ukraine supports the Nazis. There was the headquarters of the Nazis SS, – said the journalist.

  7. Tom

    May 15, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    If you are tired of the lying Russian trolls you can express your views to: [email protected]

    I’m sure the owner of the website is more interested in selling advertising and growing the website rather than running off viewers who generate income from advertisers. Some advertisers probably are not interested in paying to give Russian propaganda a platform.

  8. Alex

    May 15, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    People from all over the world tell the truth and no lies and propaganda will shut their mouths:

    “Amazing”: German journalist Thomas Röper spoke about the attitude of Ukrainians towards Russians in the liberated territories.

    German journalist Thomas Röper spoke about the attitude of Ukrainians towards Russians in the liberated territories. He noted that the Ukrainians complained to him only about the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and not about the Russian military, which seemed to him “amazing.”

    Roper visited the liberated territories of Donbass and said that residents of Melitopol and Volnovakha complained that they were robbed, tortured and killed by Ukrainian soldiers.

    “I asked people about the behavior of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers and was surprised that only Ukrainians were engaged in robbery, especially before the retreat,” the journalist said.

    According to Reper, civilians noted that the Russian military behaved correctly and tried to help them, which cannot be said about the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    “I expected that there would be at least some complaints about the Russians, but I was wrong. Amazing! Even in Volnovakha, a city smaller than Mariupol and also completely destroyed. When retreating from there, the Armed Forces of Ukraine deliberately fired at the hospital from tanks,” the journalist said.

    Earlier, residents of Mariupol spoke about the horrendous conditions in which they had to exist. According to them, they ate pigeons and drank water from the pool, and the fighters of the national battalions took away food from them.

  9. William Craddock

    May 16, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Instead of listening to multiple word salads from Alex, best thing to do is actually contact NGO Aid Organizations like Rubicon out of Los Angeles that actually have people on the ground i Ukraine, to credibly refute all the above propaganda.

  10. Jacksonian Libertarian

    May 16, 2022 at 3:40 am

    In the “fog of war” the surest measure of winning or losing is the front lines. Who’s taking the most territory, is like the market price.

  11. Old Desert Coyote

    May 16, 2022 at 9:55 am

    Just for giggles I decided to find out just how large the Russian Air Force was. (Prior to the Ukraine incursion) To my surprise the Russian air force was no where as big as I had thought. By the way all my sources were from Russian Government publications.

    Any way here is the break down
    Total Aircraft (excluding transport aircraft)
    1558 Aircraft

    Fighter/Interceptor aircraft 690 (246 more than US Air Force)

    Multi Role Aircraft (fighter bombers) 225 (1155 Less than the US Air force. The US Air Force has as many multi role aircraft as the entire Russian Air Force has planes!! (Oh this doesn’t count the 650 or so FA-18 of the Navy and marine corps.))

    Attack Aircraft (Think A-10 type) Russia 468 (US Air Force 312 With many more sitting decommissioned at the Davis Monthan Air Force base Storage area)

    Bombers 125 (US Air Force 135)

    Stealth Fighters 4 (US Air Force 462)
    Stealth Bombers 0 (US Air Force 19)

    So Any way The US Air Force has 2271 aircraft and
    the US Navy/ Marine Corps has an additional 900 more.

    We could Supply the Ukraine with 100 strike aircraft and not even notice it.

  12. John

    May 16, 2022 at 10:12 am

    In the course of a special operation in Ukraine, documentary evidence was obtained that in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders, in fact, components of biological weapons were created. In violation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Possible methods and mechanisms for destabilizing the epidemiological situation in the post-Soviet space were worked out.
    The Parliamentary Commission on Biolaboratories received confirmation of non-compliance by the United States and Ukraine with a ban on the development of bioweapons.
    Evidence has already been obtained in terms of non-compliance by the United States and Ukraine with their obligations to comply with the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Development of Bioweapons.
    The Commission on Biolaboratories has begun analyzing the reports of the United States and Ukraine for 5 years on the implementation of the Convention on Bioweapons, in addition, the facts of providing false information by Washington and Kyiv to the Secretariat of the Conference on Bioweapons have been established.
    Consideration of these issues (about biolaboratories) will be held at the UN Security Council. The US authorities are obliged to answer many questions.
    Facts have been established that both the United States and Ukraine provided incomplete or inaccurate information. So there is a complete concealment in the reports of information on biological programs with the support of the US Department of Defense in Ukraine. All reports from Ukraine report a lack of national biosecurity research and development programs.
    1. In a number of cases, information on outbreaks of infectious diseases was not provided, which is a mandatory requirement.
    2. There were no reports of the participation of military personnel in the work of laboratories, as well as the facts of the transfer of biomaterials, funding of facilities and programs by the military departments.
    For example, in 2019, as part of a Pentagon program, two laboratories were built in Kyiv and Odessa for the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. The answer to the question why the United States needs secret military laboratories in Ukraine, which are not reported in the BTWC reports, is certainly related to the nature of research in the United States.
    There is also evidence of biological weapons research on patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals.
    It is obvious that the Ukrainians were used in the same way as the Third Reich used at one time.

  13. Bertram

    May 16, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    The good thing about Alex/Sasha is that he is such an obvious paid troll that he instantly discredits any theory he espouses simply by associating himself with it.

  14. Michael Veritas

    May 17, 2022 at 1:41 am

    Stravos The last Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal steelworks plant are not still holding on. They surrendered this Monday. When Russians bring in they’re heavy bombers and artillery the Ukrainians in east are toast. This 1945 blog is hilarious neocon propaganda.

  15. SSS

    May 17, 2022 at 6:35 am

    From an outsider’s perspective – it is difficult to see just who the trolls are on this and every other website. The amount of pro and anti-Russian propaganda is overwhelming.

    The best course for me is to believe NONE of it – just like I believe nothing coming from our Congress or White House. In fact, if Pelosi/Schumer and their minions all parrot the same “pro-Ukrainian drivel” then you can pretty much ensure that is the wrong side to be on. Just watch them as they fan the flames, send boatloads of cash and weapons, and do everything they can to make things worse.

    What is their motivation?

    MONEY and POWER.

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