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Is the Russian Military Just Giving Up in Ukraine? It Feels Like It

Russian T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Russian T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Russia’s Ukraine War Is Not Going Well: After a frantic pace that often outran its own commanders, the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east has slowed down. The results are astounding. The Ukrainian forces managed to liberate approximately 3,000 square miles of territory, which constitutes more land than the Russian military has managed to capture in the last five months of warfare.

On day 202 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is consolidating its gains in the east, clearing out any last pockets of resistance and going through the piles of equipment that the Russian forces left behind on their route.

Moreover, the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south continues to press forward.

The Russian Casualties

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Tuesday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 53,300 Russian troops (and wounded approximately thrice that number), destroyed 244 fighter, attack, and transport jets, 213 attack and transport helicopters, 2,175 tanks, 1,279 artillery pieces, 4,662 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 311 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 15 boats and cutters, 3,469 vehicles and fuel tanks, 165 anti-aircraft batteries, 904 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 117 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 233 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.

There’s a War Going On in the South Too 

Meanwhile in the south, the Ukrainian military continues to push with its counteroffensive toward Kherson. Over the past few weeks, the Ukrainian forces have conducted more than 350 long-range strikes against Russian high value targets, including ammunition dumps, fuel depots, command and control hubs, air-defense positions, electronic warfare systems, and critical infrastructure.

The Ukrainian military is also claiming that some Russian units on the southern front are actively negotiating their surrender in order to save themselves from a similar fate as what happened in the east.

The morale of the Russian forces in Ukraine is at a new low after more than six months of fighting. Left for months without clear objectives and with a dubious explanation as to why they were invading in the first place, the Russian forces now have to account for the devastating superiority of the Ukrainians.

The Grain Situation

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused global food insecurity and threatened tens of millions with famine. Ukraine is one of the largest producers and exporters of grain in the world, and the war severely affected the Ukrainian agricultural production.

Ukraine

A T-72 B3 tank operated by a crew from Russia jumps during the Tank Biathlon competition at the International Army Games 2020 in Alabino, outside Moscow, Russia September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

After months of negotiations between the two warring parties and the United Nations, an agreement was reached to allow cargo ships carrying Ukrainian grain to leave Odessa, Ukraine’s third-largest city and biggest port.

The cargo ships travel primarily to developing countries in Africa and the Middle East, which are the most dependent on the Ukrainian grain and, thus, the most threatened with famine. However, the Russian government has tried to skew the facts and claim that Kyiv has been instead sending most of the grain to the developed nations of the European Union. This is a clear attempt to use disinformation and drive a wedge between the international front that has been created against Russia because of the invasion.

Expert Biography: A 19FortyFive 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.