Does America Have a Goal or Strategy for Ukraine? On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the G7 had agreed to impose a price cap regime on Russian oil. As with most other actions by the U.S. and Europe related to Russia’s unjust war against Ukraine, the announcement of the cap was big on rhetorical flourish, but thread-bare on any evidence of a coherent strategic objective.
(19FortyFive Contributing Editor Daniel L. Davis, author of this article, analyzes the situation in Ukraine on Fox News above.)
The intent of the cap is to set a global price just above Russia’s marginal cost so that Moscow won’t make a profit on the sale of oil but high enough that Russia won’t stop producing altogether. Current global demand can’t be met without the nearly nine million barrels of oil per day provided by Russia, and if Putin were to stop producing suddenly, the resulting supply shock could send the price of oil into the stratosphere.
The purpose of the cap, Yellen claimed, would be to “deliver a major blow for Russian finances and will both hinder Russia’s ability to fight its unprovoked war in Ukraine and hasten the deterioration of the Russian economy.” It remains to be seen if the G7 can make good on its aspiration and actually develop and implement a worldwide price cap scheme. But along with other actions sponsored or endorsed by the United States government, it is far from certain what end state Washington hopes to obtain.
On February 7, about three weeks before Putin ordered the Russian military to invade its smaller neighbor, President Biden threatened to “impose the most severe sanctions that have ever been imposed” should Russia invade. Four days later, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan explained that President Biden “believes that sanctions are intended to deter. And in order for them to work — to deter, they have to be set up in a way where if Putin moves, then the costs are imposed.”
Yet after the threats of sanctions failed to deter Putin, Biden adjusted the rationale when he claimed that in fact “no one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening.” Instead, he continued, the sanctions were designed to show Western “resolve,” which, over time, “will impose significant costs on him (Putin).” Even with this new claim on his justification for sanctions, there was no explanation for what these “significant costs” were designed to accomplish. The Administration’s lack of focus didn’t stop there, unfortunately.
In late April, Secretaries of Defense and State, Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken, traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to explore ways the U.S. could help Ukraine’s military. Following their meeting, Austin said the United States wanted to see Ukraine remain a “sovereign country,” and that the U.S. wants “to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” It’s what Austin, Blinken, and Biden have not said, however, that illustrates a continuing problem with American foreign policy.
To date, none of America’s top leaders have said how our support for Kyiv is expected to achieve the outcomes sought. No one has articulated what a “weakened” Russia looks like or how we’ll know when that standard has been reached – or even why weakening Russia is a vital interest to the U.S. that is worth taking huge risks. These are not just academic or hair-splitting questions. They are foundational. Here’s why:
Since even before the war began, the United States has had no vision for the end state it wishes to produce. For example, if Biden’s objective prior to 24 February genuinely was to deter Russia from launching a war, it should have been clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a threat of sanctions alone would not have been sufficient to convince Putin not to invade.
Washington would have had to be aggressively engaged diplomatically with both Kyiv and Moscow to use the full heft of U.S. power to find a route to prevent war. There is no evidence the U.S. put any serious diplomatic effort towards averting war. Without a clearly articulated objective, there was nothing to guide the various departments of the Administration on how to achieve the desired outcome. The result was predictable: policy failure.
Virtually the only objective voiced by any member of Biden’s national security team since the war began has been Austin’s aforementioned desire to see Russia “weakened.” Yet if the White House doesn’t know what a weakened Russia looks like, how will it ever know if its actions are contributing towards a successful outcome beneficial to America? That’s where we are right now.
We send multiple rounds of multi-billion-dollar support to Ukraine, including some modern and some antiquated gear, but it is not a coherent set of military kit tied to enabling a specific capacity in the Ukraine Armed Forces. The White House leads multiple tranches of sanctions against Russia, but there is no declared purpose as to what they are intended to produce.
Since we don’t know what we’re trying to accomplish, no one can tell the American people how much the effort is going to cost, how long it’s going to last, or even what success would look like. If this sounds familiar, it should: it is basically the same aimless, incompetent foreign policy the United States has been pursuing for decades.
RGW-90 rocket launcher in Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-We fought a generational war in Afghanistan that never bothered to set an objective; no one in power even articulated what success would look like, and thus no victory of any sort was ever achieved;
-We started a war in Iraq beginning in 2003 that quasi-ended in 2011, only to return again in 2014 – without any president bothering to set an attainable military objective or even articulating what the Force was there to accomplish so the American people could know when the operation could successfully end – and it continues without success or end to this day.
-We have had the same malady in our actions in Syria, Libya, Somalia, Niger, and many other locations in Africa: the government has not identified any attainable military objectives whose accomplishment would benefit our country and signal the end of the mission – and thus none have benefitted the U.S. and most still drone unsuccessfully on.
The cost to the United States for all these failures has been profound – and now we’re creating a new mission without a clear objective and no identifiable end state. The Russia-Ukraine war just passed the six-month mark. The danger isn’t as much that we might still be trying to divine the Administration’s objectives six years from now – though that sad outcome is entirely possible – but that this war could one day spill over Ukraine’s borders and get us sucked into a war we should never have fought and from which we could never benefit.
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 @DanielLDavis
TheDon
September 3, 2022 at 1:33 pm
We should.
1 immediately supply and help europe meet winter energy
2 quickly transition 1/3 to small modular nuclear
3 ship coal short term.
4 take gasprom off line to russians.
You need a mixture of sources.
A stream cycle needs coolant as does nuclear.
Turogenerators burn fossile fuels very efficiently with little cooling.
Design of turbogen plants able to multifuel allows switch in case of supply disruptions.
All a/c should be hybridized with solar.
The world quickly responding to euopes needs this winter allows them to tell Russia to pound sand.
Cold Russians can go to their new friends for energy needs.
I’m sure NK and China are going to help. (We’ll see, Ha)
MortenHJ
September 3, 2022 at 1:36 pm
I will propose a simple goal for the US in Ukraine. Restore order in Europe’s borders. Give a clear message to anyone who wants to play Hitler that it won’t work.
(same goal for the US as it was in 41-45)
cynic
September 3, 2022 at 1:42 pm
US/NATO politicians can’t just say “Russia invaded Ukraine due to our negligence, and there’s nothing we can do about it due to our incompetence”. They have to do something to avoid looking as weak as they are. If they didn’t sanction and deliver weapons, what would they have to announce to the public? Nothing.
Eric
September 3, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Daniel Davis is just an idealogue at this point and I don’t think he’s even writing these articles in good faith any more. The entire premise of this article is false. Ukraine definitely has goals and many of them align with US goals to support Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and punish Russia for their war of aggression.
Davis says that “Current global demand can’t be met without the nearly nine million barrels of oil per day provided by Russia” implying in his second paragraph that oil demand is inelastic, but that’s not true. When oil prices go up, demand goes down. Just like you would expect in a market. It’s not rocket science, it’s supply and demand. Also, some countries have not embargoed Russian oil, so the oil is still on the market for China and India.
In the middle of the article, he does get into a valid point about transparency around U.S. goals, which are vague.
Also, in the articles by Daniel Davis’s that I have read, he fails to mention the risk of not helping Ukraine.
Overall, I strongly disagree with Davis’s work here.
KB
September 3, 2022 at 1:51 pm
The Steward of Gondor speaks again.
How about this for a goal: keeping 40 million people out of the clutches of a brutal kleptocracy? And how about checking that kleptocracy’s power by keeping Ukraine’s resources out of their hands?
How about reducing that kleptocracy’s influence by showing their armed forces to be much less powerful than they pretended, and reducing their power by having those armed forces used up in large numbers?
I think that the United States has done very well.
Goran
September 3, 2022 at 2:00 pm
As long as Ukrainians are willing to stand up to a bully, they should be helped. That aside, let me remind you of what you said a few months ago;
“Today Kyiv still controls Kharkiv, Odessa, and still large portions of the Donetsk region. If the fighting continues, however, it is possible that by the end of the summer, some or all of those territories could fall to Russia.”
Kharkiv? Odessa? Here we are, closing in on your time frame and wondering if Ukrainians will take back Kherson by then. I’d be really embarrassed if I were you.
The peace agreement is an ideal option though, but on fair terms;
-sanctions against Russia are lifted
-Ukraine has absolute independence (that includes joining international alliances)
-parts of Ukraine that have ethnic Russian majority get a high level of autonomy (education, culture, infrastructure)
-Ukrainian authorities gain control of all of the border crossings towards Russia
That would be the closest thing possible to what is fair, but Putin does not care about fairness and this is unfortunately likely to continue.
Longo
September 3, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Small detail, we are NOT fighting a war in Ukraine, Ukrainians are. With or without US support, it is an existential war for Ukraine. For the US this war presents a golden opportunity to: (1) Defang the bear; (2) try our new weapons in the real world; (3) support our war industry. Not to mention to be in the right side of history defending our western values.
Scottfs
September 3, 2022 at 2:10 pm
Russia invaded Ukraine in a wanton act of aggression. How long this war lasts is up to Ukraine and Russia.
The United States should make it clear we will not resume normal relations with the aggressor Putin as long as one Russian soldier remains on Ukrainian soil.
It is not our place to dictate what Ukraine decides for itself.
Russia supplied North Vietnam with weapons of destruction as well as ‘advisors’. Tell Putin we are returning the favor.
Scooter Van Neuter
September 3, 2022 at 2:33 pm
This utterly inept administration has no plan for anything, obviously.
There we go again
September 3, 2022 at 2:52 pm
The goal is probably simple enough: continue until Russia buggers off, unless Ukraine says its over before that goal is reached.
What is your goal mr Davis? You have been going on for a while now against US support for Ukraine. So enlighten us what your goal is.
pagar
September 3, 2022 at 3:32 pm
The goal is (before big guy kicks the can) to punish Russia as much as possible for Russian laptop disinformation ploy during 2020 presidential election runup.
Unfortunately, the goal requires buckets & buckets of innocent human blood.Wonder how big guy gonna explain it to the great administrator the moment the two meet each other.
HAT451
September 3, 2022 at 3:34 pm
The proposed cap on what Russia should be paid for it’s piped gas to Europe explains why Foxnews published an article titles “Russia’s Gasprom Indefinitely Shuts Gas Flow to Europe” a few days after the cap was proposed.
All counties would need to consent, including as China, India, Brazil, and South Africa i.e. the BRICS. Likewise, there is nothing to prevent other countries buying Russian gas speculatively from Russia only to resell it. Given that most of Ukraine’s support comes only the English speaking countries and EU, while most of the other countries are at best neutral, enforcement of the price cap on Russian gas will be problematic.
Maarek
September 3, 2022 at 3:35 pm
Reading one of the few adequate authors of this publication and rejoicing – finally someone came to ask the question – what is the meaning of what is happening. Up until now, in hundreds of publications, I haven’t seen anyone who could even ask that question. Thank you, my unique American friend
Frédéric
September 3, 2022 at 3:45 pm
Totally incomprehensible text. The United States is not at war for once, it is content to help a nation to defend itself. It is not for them to set war aims. It is up to the kyiv authorities to do so. And is the author of this text so ignorant that he does not realize that this is the winning strategy for weakening a hostile rival that already operated in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and which had been used by the USSR successfully against the United States in Vietnam? It is up to the Kremlin to realize that the costs of a war of invasion are infinitely greater than the benefits it can bring.
Bender
September 3, 2022 at 6:43 pm
Looks like this Daniel Davis is trying hard to get a job in the russian troll farms…
Or does he have one already ?
Jim
September 3, 2022 at 7:03 pm
The comment section brings a grab bag of views… but all seemingly have no problem at throwing somebody else’s money at Ukraine (U. S. taxpayers be damned) & are willing to fight to the last Ukrainian.
Vicious & irresponsible.
You don’t care about Americans, only your own egos.
And you certainly don’t care about Ukrainians.
Stop… stop… you neocons… Your plans to rule the world are in ashes.
No… you can’t stop or realize how wrong you are.
Americans of good will must stop you… and we will.
Jack
September 3, 2022 at 9:26 pm
All of this could be dealt with by 200,000 European NATO troops moving into Ukraine and pushing the Russians out.I’m confident that the European troops can do this without help from the US.
GhostTomahawk
September 3, 2022 at 10:10 pm
Let Europe handle Ukraine. If you want to cripple Russia, then pump as much oil as possible. Crater the price of oil, and ignite the US economy and rapidly lower inflation.
Oh wait. That’s not part of the plan. Winning and helping America isn’t the plan. Printing more money and dragging this out as a distraction from reality is.
MN
September 4, 2022 at 4:36 am
Come on guys, The Don will solve all your problems.
He will pull out from Nato and leave the US fend for themselves.
He will reconnect with his friend Putin
He will start a war with China
He will start rounding up political opponents
He will start legislation against abortion, gay marriage and free gender choice
He will start making the US great again, but only the US will know
He will pull out of the UN
He will set up concentration camps for people supporting the radical left, which is about everyone who does not support his fascist policies
He will be ending democracy and become the Orban of the great United States of America, rendering it corrupt, fascist and unliveable
See… everything will turn out for the best!
marcjf
September 4, 2022 at 5:38 am
I’ve noticed that when anyone questions the Russia Bad Losing Ukraine Good Winning narrative they usually get slated.
A comment above noted that this is an existential war for the Ukraine. Well it is for Russia too. But for NATO and the USA it is a war of choice – and when I say war I mean not just the shooting part but the wider economic, moral and political aspects.
And as a choice the West needs to be clear about what it is trying to achieve, the price it is prepared to pay and the level of risk it will run in the process.
It maybe that we would like to see the Russian army humbled and defeated, and regime change in Russia along with the restoration of Ukraine’s 2014 borders. But be in no doubt as to what that entails. It is possible that a bad peace now might avoid a worse one later, or in any event a Phyrric victory.
Rational heads need to prevail.
L'amateur d'aéroplanes
September 4, 2022 at 5:47 am
Jim? Are you stupid or paid by Putin? It is the people of Ukraine who are fighting, of their own free will, against an invader. And U.S. taxpayers will ultimately SAVE in defense with a competitor that will take decades to recover from its military and economic losses. And a Russian failure will deter China and North Korea from doing such stupidity again. When has your last sentence, is it a call to sedition? As a Frenchman, I don’t know the penalties incurred for threats to the nation in your country, but I hope you are aware that the outbreak of a civil war in the United States is the greatest gift you can give to enemies. from your country !
HMark
September 4, 2022 at 6:24 am
Warfare does not just require military weapons, it is also an economic effort – each combatant’s economic wealth and production resources opposing it’s adversary. Encumbered wealth can’t support production. Does this Administration have a goal? How about encumbering our economy with debt such that it will not support it’s own war effort?
Sergei Smirnov
September 4, 2022 at 7:23 am
It’s kinda obvious that the main goal of the Ukraine crisis, which was created by the USA in the first place, was TO DISRUPT COOPERATION BETWEEN THE EU AND RUSSIA. Progressive development of such cooperation over decades could result in the emergence of pan-Eurasian superpower, which in itself would be a major threat to the USA’s global hegemony.
So the main goal has been achieved already.
Yrral
September 4, 2022 at 8:03 am
Ukraine is doomed,winter is setting in ,it will be 15 degrees above freezing in Kiev, Ukraine never has been a democracy,but a clone of Russia ,the maps do not lie Google Ukraine Control Map Project Owl
Yrral
September 4, 2022 at 9:03 am
Sergei, Russian never been free in 100 years since the end of the Czar,US has it own problem,and do not need to be in control of dysfunctional European,who some are less functional than some countries in Latin American
David Chang
September 4, 2022 at 9:34 am
God bless people in the world.
Most people don’t obey Ten Commandments,
so we should not fight for them, but they should pay for it.
Too many people in Ukraine don’t want to against socialism since 1905, some of them join soviet socialism, some of them stand with national socialist german workers’ party, so our people pay for it with inflation today.
Even if people in Ukraine confess sin and repent to God, but many veterans died in this war, and reserve have no ability to take responsibility.
The academic opinions on political science, sociology, and psychology cannot be the right way to avoid or stop war. People in Europe should pray to God and prepare for the next war.
God bless America.
muzzle_loader
September 4, 2022 at 9:51 am
Secretary of Defense Austin come from the board of Raytheon. The goal is to make money.
muzzle_loader
September 4, 2022 at 9:54 am
Do all comments await moderation?
Jim
September 4, 2022 at 9:57 am
L’amateur d’aéroplanes,
Eight years of indiscriminate, random shelling into the
Donbas (also known as “terror bombing”) is war .
The leadership circles of Ukraine brought this on themselves (with the U. S. encouraging them). Plus the U. S. engaging in a pound sand diplomacy against Russia in the months & years before the invasion.
Actually, Russia has gotten stronger because of this stupid policy: much like the U. S. got stronger as a result of WWII, but on a vastly smaller scale.
Sir, we have a democracy (Constitutional Democratic Republic), so, it’s called democratic action where you persuade people to support or be against a policy.
And just as important, hold policy makers to account for their policies and make them responsible for their failures (by booting them out of positions of power and/or cutting off their money).
And, if they committed crimes in the course of engaging their policies… and if proven in a court of law… to prison they can go.
This Ukraine policy is a failure… neocons have piled up lots of failures… I’m sick of it and its time to hold them accountable… and, yes, stop them from hurting America anymore than they already have.
There won’t be any civil war… neocons will have to account for their failed policies including Ukraine.
Singleshot
September 4, 2022 at 10:06 am
Yeah, we have a goal: Using Ukraine as a proxy, it’s to take advantage of Russia’s blunder to greatly weaken one of our top and our longest-standing enemy.
Jacksonian Libertarian
September 4, 2022 at 11:14 am
Davis thinks sovereign nations (Ukraine) should just submit to Authoritarian (Putin) demands, and thinks fighting against foreign aggression is not a strategy (deterrence).
Remember Gulf War 1, the west fought against Authoritarian (Saddam) aggression against another Authoritarian country (Kuwait).
It doesn’t matter if Ukraine isn’t a Democracy (yet), fighting against Authoritarian territorial ambitions establishes a strategy of deterrence.
Froike
September 4, 2022 at 11:49 am
100% Jacksonian! A weak Putin/Russia=A Stabilized Europe. Good for them, and good for The World.
We have a Goal: To weaken Putin, to the point where he can’t invade another Sovereign Nation! Unfortunately, We have an Idiot in The WH who is prolonging this conflict. We should Arm Ukraine to The Teeth, and do it quickly and quietly. If Lend Lease is indeed in effect, then give Ukraine everything they need to soundly defeat Putin.
Don T
September 4, 2022 at 12:26 pm
The goal is to spend more money with the MIC so congress can get more donations. Secondary goal is to get involved hopefully in a way that does not put boots on the front lines. That hasn’t worked except for Serbia. Thanks, Bill, for a great little war victory and Grenada thanks to Ronald for that outstanding victory. all the rest since ww2 have been no goal failures. Stop jerking around with Russia and China and find another small country for a victory. I think we could take Trinidad.
David Chang
September 4, 2022 at 12:45 pm
God bless people in the world.
To weaken enemy is not the right strategy, is the same as evolution, so we should not agree with Darwin, Marx, Hitler, Lenin, Brzezinski, and Putin.
Before 2022, some military officer and strategy scholar talk about ICBM, even though democratic party and Ivy League (neo-con) don’t admit the N-war is rational.
Strategy is more important than tactics. If people think about tactics only, we’ll see N-explosion in our country.
God bless America.
Nabi
September 4, 2022 at 1:50 pm
The Russian creep, disappointed in his yearn to be Peter the Great, is lashing out frantically, maiming todlers, leaving scorched earth wherever he can. The US goal, at present, is to keep him humiliated and hung up, by what’s turned out to be the cheapest, most effective and dedicated mercenaries the West has ever supported.
Neil Ross Hutchings
September 4, 2022 at 3:19 pm
I believe the primary strategy of the U.S. is to support Ukraine as long as they are willing and able to fight, without having any specific end goal. There are a long list of related pros and cons with this strategy, both militarily and politically. I liken it to betting on the underdog in a prize fight. If the underdog wins, great payday. If the underdog loses, who cares, you go home unscathed. The U.S. will go home unscathed ànd will then count the balance sheet; sunk costs of donated aging equipment, revenues from new military sales, votes resulting from new jobs in various districts, and so on. Sure there is a small risk the fight degrades and the whole arena erupts into a riot, but if that happens, we’ll just revise the strategy.
I don’t agree with this strategy but I now do have a better understanding of the conflict thanks to 1945 writers such as Mr. Davis.
Call me when it’s over.
Eric
September 4, 2022 at 3:28 pm
Jacksonian Libertarian put it nicely and succinctly.
Jim seems to be a new addition to the troll farm. I don’t see Alex. David Chang is still here with his nonsense about God.
abraham lincoln
September 4, 2022 at 3:44 pm
Daniel Davis first told us the Ukrainians were losing and we better get used to it. Since they went on the attack, he has issued a series of “Change the subject” articles. Now he claims the US has no plan. It’s always something with these people. They never admit they were wrong. Notice the crackhead Russian commenters who come here to lie about every aspect of the Russian war. I am so sick of Russian propagandists lying about the Donbas being shelled for eight years. It is all massive lies, but we have learned never, ever to trust Russia about anything, since they lie all the time
Frank Martin
September 4, 2022 at 7:17 pm
Fresh off our shameful retreat from Afghanistan, after 20 years of being lied to & trillions spent, thousands of lives lost and/or ruined; the MILIND Complex needs a new revenue stream, so here we are yet again. We are told we must defend Ukraine’s borders, but what of our own? Our govt, in addition to wasting trillions on wars with no tangible benefits to our republic, cannot account for $21T. We are being lied to & robbed by a government as corrupt as any we criticize.
Yrral
September 4, 2022 at 9:06 pm
How many of you would send you child to face the bully,and he come to home beat up an ask for bigger gloves, knowing the outcome would be the same,that be what happens in Ukraine has even breach Russian perimeter,their on the outer wall
Frank
September 5, 2022 at 3:02 am
Daniel Davis has been right all along, especially about the current Kherson offensive. AFU have been beaten back all along the line except at their primary point of effort at Andriivka. There the Russians allowed them to push though, only to surround them once they got deep enough. They are being wiped out right now.
Andrew Nichols
September 5, 2022 at 6:01 am
The G7 can set all the caps it wants. Its now irrekevant abd self defeating They represent the shrinking but still violent Western Mainly white Minority World. As they have from the outset, the Majority World wont take sides in any practical way over a whutemabs imperial willy waving war they want no part of and the usual strategy of Washington Empire bullying that used to be effective to get compliance
will fail.
Yrral
September 5, 2022 at 7:59 am
The US intelligence should do an honest assessment of Ukraine situation,and tell Ukrainain to stop the BS,or they will not get an penny more,
Goldhoarder
September 5, 2022 at 8:21 am
Goal in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine are all the same. Create massive money laundering operations and sustain them as long as possible. This is as plain as day. Don’t overthink it. The moralizing propaganda is to sell it to the gullible.
David Chang
September 5, 2022 at 11:31 am
God bless people in the world.
Jacksonian Libertarian and Eric are wrong.
Your thought are the same as ancient Greek and Roman, Thomas Jefferson, Adolf Hitler, Karl Marx, Mao, Brzezinski, Putin, Zelensky, Club des Jacobins, Democratic Party, and more.
But General Washington have told us that moral truth is necessary to protect the country, and we have to protect our country by preventing the sin of people in other countries.
We don’t have enough soldiers, weapons, and money, but you just want to make war. So we have known that the F-22 acquisition program was delayed by Iraq war. Now we know that the NGAD and DD(X) programs are delayed by Ukraine war.
Moreover, if you think that Ukraine people should not be murder, you should accuse Democratic Party of wrong in 2012 Benghazi attack and abortion policy.
And after the socialism war in Korea, Vietnam, and more. We can see wrong in Ivy League, Democrats, political science, sociology, psychology, and socialism.
So God help us.
God bless America.
Gary Jacobs
September 5, 2022 at 11:42 am
FYI trolls: Geolocated photos indicate that Ukrainian forces are moved back into the northern edge of Kyselivka, recapturing the checkpoint on the M14 highway. That just about 5 miles from the Kherson Airport.
As well, Ukrainian forces captured a Russian defensive position near Myrolyubivka after Russian troops fled. A geolocated video showed an abandoned BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), an extensive network of shallow trenches, scattered ammunition, and stolen cars and motorcycles. Oh ya, and a HIMARS attack destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in Tomnya Balka.
I suggest all you Putin boot lickers break out your google maps to notice that the entire western flank from Kherson city is being ground down by Ukrainian forces.
Things are not going much better in North East Kherson either. The bulge up the Dnipro to the reservoir is also being ground down. Ukraine is squeezing in thousands of Russian troops west of the river.
And while the full outcome is yet to be determined, and it is certainly possible that something like an influx of Iranian drones may help the Russians soon… I still recommend you Putin boot lickers prepare yourselves for a MASSIVE defeat of Russian forces in Western Kherson that unfolds over the next 3-5 weeks. I am curious what happens if/when there are 10000+ Russian POWs and an equal number of dead… with the Ukrainians then poised to take back the mouth of the Crimean Canal in Nova Khakovka, and shut of water to Crimea again.
While Ukraine has dropped the bridges, that particular spot by the Hydro dam looks just about the perfect size for the German bridging tanks to lay out 60ft of high capacity military bridges in less than 5minutes so Ukraine can cross the Dnipro and press their advantage to the south east side of Kherson Oblast.
Bottom line: things still could swing back to Russia, but as of now it is looking very bad for them in Kherson, and Ukraine has also gone on offense near Izyum, and Easter Zaphorizia.
Have a nice day.
Dan Farrand
September 5, 2022 at 1:09 pm
Everyone wants America to be a democracy. By that people mean majority rule. The unspoken subtext is it’s majority rule with no protections for minority wishes. A tyranny of the 50.1% with the understanding that the tyrants will always be able to pay for or invent that 50.1%.
Democracies through history have been terrible at war. The best example is Athens whose democracy led it into a terrible war with Sparta and whose democracy badly mismanaged that war bringing utter disaster and ruin upon itself.
All the symptoms of that ruination are present in America today. This is an utterly stupid war that damages US and world interests at every level.
Dienne
September 5, 2022 at 2:20 pm
“Unjust war”. LOL. No one from any western NATO-supporting nation has any business talking about unjust wars. Russia, at least, was responding to actual provocation directly on its borders. We could argue whether that qualifies as “justification”, but it’s a whole lot more than fake WMD or lies about Gaddafi’s soldiers given rape drugs and all the other pretenses on which we’ve gone to war.
In any case, America does indeed have a goal for the ukraine war. Many, in fact. First, they think they can separate Russia from the rest of the world and bleed it dry (they can’t, but it is their prime motivation). Second, the goal is to launder money through ukraine to keep our domestic arms dealers in business, with, of course, kickbacks for the politicians. Third, the goal is to impose austerity here at home and even get the people to welcome it. As people find they can’t pay their bills and they’re starving and freezing, well, at least they “stand with ukraine!” And finally, the goal is to strip ukraine to the bone and sell off all their usable assets and resources.
Scooter Van Neuter
September 5, 2022 at 4:11 pm
While it’s hard to know who to believe with both side’s propaganda machines running at full tilt, the YT channel featuring intercepted mobile phone calls from Russian soldiers speaks volumes: Mass desertions, zero morale, inept commanders, no supply chains, and massive losses of men and equipment. I do believe by any metric, Russia is losing this war.
Dennis Merwood
September 5, 2022 at 7:02 pm
Anybody who is not smart enough to know that for years the US and NATO have been trying to start this proxy war to weaken the bogeyman Russia has no business typing in this comment thread. Putin was finally provoked enough to have to defend Russia’s sovereignty. And of course the other US goal was to provide enormous profits for the US MIC weapons sales. What are we up to today – $47-billion! The Russophobia by many commentors in this thread is truly disheartening.
Gary Jacobs
September 5, 2022 at 8:48 pm
Dennis Merwood – Perhaps the silliest and phoniest comment on this story. An actual student of history would understand the exact opposite of what you posted is true. I keep a handy timeline I put together for others who fall for the same BS you just posted:
2012 – In the US presidential debate Mitt Romney called Russia a strategic threat. Barack Obama responded by mocking him with ‘the 1980’s called and they want their foreign policy back’. Obama won that election… and was proceeding with his ‘Russia Reset’ policy attempting to improve relations with Putin and Russia.
2013 – One year after Obama’s re-election the US moved its last tanks out of Europe. There was no threat to Russia, in fact the US announced the pivot to asia to focus on China. There’s a lot more to it, but the bottom line is that All Putin’s notions of feeling threatened by NATO are simply a pretext to invade his neighbors. I dont think it’s a coincidence that a year later in 2014 Russia started invading Ukraine in Donbas and Crimea. When the US shows weakness and ignores its security responsibility, as well as lives in denial about the nature of people like Putin… people like Putin step into the void.
“21st TSC assists movement of last main battle tanks out of Europe”
By Staff Sgt. Alexander A. Burnett, 21st TSC Public Affairs April 5, 2013
https://www.army.mil/article/100363/21st_tsc_assists_movement_of_last_main_battle_tanks_out_of_europe
2014 – the ‘coup’:
Ukraine’s president was set to sign a trade deal with the EU in 2014. Under massive Russian pressure he did a 180 and signed a deal with Russia and other former soviet states. That’s when the people came out into the streets. Calling that a US led coup as Putin and his boot lickers do is not an accurate assessment. What I consider to be reliable polling shows that If it were put to the people of Ukraine to vote by referendum to join the EU in 2014 it would have passed by absolute majority at %53, with the no votes at %28. Keep in mind this was an economic deal. It had no mention of NATO or any other security issues at all.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/296711/ukraine-survey-on-joining-european-union/
Here’s a little more on the background of that EU-Ukraine deal. I dont usually cite The Guardian as a source because they are quite far left, but they used to be in the pro-Russia left when Barack Obama was talking about the ‘reset with Russia’…and the article linked below is from exactly that time. In that context… When Russia loses The Guardian, they have problems. As well, corruption in Ukraine is constantly mentioned by Putin and/or his boot lickers. Ironically a lot of [but certainly not all] of the corruption there was/is in Ukraine is actually pro-Russia corruption. Part of what was holding up this deal with the EU was the fate of a former Ukrainian presidential candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko, who made a fortune in the gas industry. She signed a lot of deals with Russia. She was then thrown in prison by a rival on what appear to be at least somewhat phony charges by a rival who was even more in Russia’s pocket. The EU was insisting that she be allowed to travel to Germany for medical treatment.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/26/ukraine-european-union-trade-pact
If you really want to go back further you can look up the 2004 election in Ukraine in which pro-Russian factions [if not the actual FSB/GRU] poisoned the other candidate with dioxin, and international election observers also found that the pro-Russia factions rigged at least one round of the voting.
I can go at this for days, but for now I digress.
Paul Tysinger
September 5, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Biden’s goal is simple.Have Ukraine fight a proxy war, fund them to the tune of billions, deplete our weaponry and supplies,(why not, the demented fool sold China oil from our strategic reserves,)keep us involved in this for decades, have no stated purpose or endgame, and blame the entire thing on Trump and ultra MAGA Republicans.As for the Europeans,they made their own bed when they made a deal with the devil(Putin),let them sort it out.
Ольга Орлова
September 6, 2022 at 6:17 am
How deceitful, stupid and arrogant American meat is in most comments – life doesn’t teach you anything…) Well, we’ll meet in a year, we’ll see how you will live then. If you are alive, of course =)
Yrral
September 6, 2022 at 7:50 am
A fool and his money, soon parted,Ukrainain are already spending the money by putting it in their foreign reserves,this money was supposed to help the people of Ukraine ,not Zelensky piggy bank , Google Ukrinform
David Chang
September 6, 2022 at 7:56 am
God bless people in the world.
Gary Jacobs should think about the sin of democratic party since 1776.
Putin make the socialism warfare as Gorbachev want, but democratic party don’t talk about socialism warfare of which is the ideal of Karl Marx, Hitler, Lenin, Mao, Gorbachev, Putin, Zelensky, Pelosi, Biden, and all East Asia country leader or President.
So they are making our military to be socialism troops.
God bless America.
R. J
September 6, 2022 at 11:30 am
Since the author of this article is still – ludicrously – imagining that the US financing of the unimaginably corrupt Ukrainian one-party state aims for a benefit for the US – instead of for the globalist cabal – it’s really not worth commenting on this article.
Gary Jacobs
September 6, 2022 at 4:34 pm
RJ – 2nd silliest comment on this article.
1st. Ukraine has more than 1 party.
2nd. A large part of the corruption in Ukraine is pro-Russian corruption distorting their economy and politics. Not to mention literally poisoning of political candidates. See my most recent comment above.
Your ‘globalist cabal’ tantrum is something said by a scared child who doesnt understand the world and thinks there are monsters under his bed.
Robert
September 6, 2022 at 5:56 pm
Daniel Davis has been wrong about this conflict from Day 1. Who would we listen tot him now?
Arash P
September 6, 2022 at 9:11 pm
As an Iranian, I want to thank America for antagonizing Russia!
Serhio
September 6, 2022 at 9:33 pm
Is the author mocking us or something? Is he really a fool or is he pretending? The goal is always the same, and everyone in the world knows it!!! Money, money, and money again. Plundering resources to the last drop of oil. And in the case of Ukraine, this is the division of the American budget between the top and Biden also has his own interest in protecting his stupid son. Plus, the US military-industrial complex is working at full capacity, LNG is being sold to Europe at space prices, money flows like a river. Well, what other goals? Of course, the Americans cannot directly say to the whole world, we decided to launder a lot of money and rob half of the world, because we have already devoured all our resources. To us, ordinary people who watch this circus, everything has been clear for a long time. In addition to the above goal – to weaken Russia, sell American illiquid to all NATO countries, first force them to empty their arsenals under the pretext of helping Ukraine, and then fill them with their trash. Business and nothing personal. Deprive Europe of cheap energy resources from Russia, thereby reducing its competitiveness in the industrial and agricultural markets. With the rise in the cost of fertilizers or their absence, Europe will have to buy fertilizers in the United States, or eat their GM products. So, hold on, Europe, they will use you in all poses.
Serhio
September 6, 2022 at 11:32 pm
@Gary Jacobs
“2014 – the ‘coup’:
Ukraine’s president was set to sign a trade deal with the EU in 2014. Under massive Russian pressure he did a 180 and signed a deal with Russia and other former soviet states. That’s when the people came out into the streets. Calling that a US led coup as Putin and his bootlickers do is not an accurate assessment.”
There is also a slightly different point of view. People took to the streets. OK. As long as this is a peace process, there are no complaints. President Yanukovych signed an agreement with the opposition, the guarantors of which were the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France. However, immediately after the signing of this agreement, shooting began in the street and Yanukovych was overthrown and barely managed to escape. Power was illegally seized by nationalists and bandits. Some regions of Ukraine: Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions did not recognize the illegal government and held referendums on secession from Ukraine. They were supported by Russia, since these areas are populated mainly by Russians. If Russia had not intervened, even more blood would have been spilled. We saw how the Ukrainian Nazis are able to “hold democratic discussions” from the events in Odessa, where several dozen people were burned alive, all of whose fault was that they were Russians and protested against the illegal government. And so far, Ukraine has not convicted any of the participants in this terrible crime, although many of those who participated are known by name and there are a lot of videos where they appear. Moreover, many of them do not hide their participation and, speaking on Ukrainian television, boast of their “exploits”. The American media, of course, declared all this “Russian propaganda.” However, if someone really wants to make up their own opinion, and not repeat after CNN like a parrot that these are “Russian Trolls”, then there are enough materials on Youtube (in Ukrainian and Russian, but a lot with English subtitles) in order to understand that not everything is as simple as you
describe. Type in the search bar “gorlovskaya madonna “, “alley of angels”, “odessa dom prof. soyouz”. Some part of the news from Ukraine is of course Russian propaganda. But there is also no doubt that part of the news from Ukraine is, of course, Ukrainian propaganda. There is also no doubt that the mass media in the United States have long been the mouthpiece of Ukrainian propaganda. Whatever the Ukrainian side says is unconditionally accepted on faith. Whatever the Russian side says is unconditionally declared propaganda. This is not journalism. Journalism should provide two or more points of view on the event. It should explain against what background these events occur and the cause-and-effect relationships of this event with others. As a result, we are asked to believe that it is not Ukraine that has been waging a war with the rebels in the Donbas for eight years, firing at civilians with heavy weapons (contrary to the Minsk agreements), but the rebels “are firing at themselves to blame Ukraine.” That “it was not Ukraine that fired on Donbass, but an air conditioner exploded and killed eight children of Donbass.” This is very convenient for infantile people. No need to think, it’s enough just to repeat all this nonsense of CNN. A person who is used to thinking and analyzing cannot believe it. Why did European countries and the United States completely block the broadcasting of Russian television and radio channels in the first place? To rid us all of “Russian propaganda”? That is, we are considered so stupid that after hearing two points of view we will not be able to understand where the truth is? Or because after hearing an alternative point of view, we will ask “uncomfortable” questions to which there are no answers?
Gary Jacobs
September 7, 2022 at 9:54 am
Serhio – Meh, no one denies that Ukraine has its problems with corruption. The main problem is that a large majority of that corruption is fueled by Russia meddling in Ukraine. Not to mention literally poisoning Ukrainian politicians who go against Russian dictates.
In the US we have a history of revolution against Britain for independence, as well as civil war to end slavery and clean house in the south. I am not at all opposed to Ukrainians fighting against Russian interference in their affairs. It is of course absurd to call it a US backed coup when the inciting incident was Russia leveraging the Ukrainian govt. to do something that the Ukrainian people were against by an absolute majority. And my point stands ever stronger than before.
As for the Minsk agreements, of course Russia was violating it from the start… and I wonder what the people of Donbas feel towards Russia now that so many of their lads have been conscripted against their will to fight in other areas of Ukraine as cannon fodder for the inept Russian “elite” that make military decisions. Putin himself just made a speech admonishing his own military and trying to praise the efforts of the proxy forces to boost morale. But that is of little consequence on the battlefield where Russia is now losing on almost all fronts. Ukraine has started a second offensive near Izyum, and will likely soon cut off a major Russian GLOC from Belgorod.
It’s been something like 6 weeks that Russians have tried to take Bakhmut and Soledar… and years of fighting in Pisky… and the Russians cannot advance. They are likely coming close to being combat exhausted, which could turn into combat defeated with major retreats and/or surrenders before winter. The next 3-5 weeks will be quite telling.
Have a nice day.
from Russia with love
September 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm
@Gary Jacobs
I protest! Zelensky went from a poor comedian to a billionaire in just a few years of his presidency. what do you want to say? that Zelensky is Putin’s agent? weapons supplied to ukraine are sold through the darknet – is this happening without the knowledge of the military? Are the military agents of Putin too? humanitarian aid is stolen and sold through a network of municipal shops – is this done without the knowledge of the municipal authorities? Are the municipal authorities also agents of Putin?? and all this is happening right now.
I looked at your stats. it does not indicate where the survey was conducted and in which target groups. if in Kyiv among the protesters, then this is, to put it mildly, not representative data. but you still love history.? let’s turn to history. in 1991, a referendum was held on the preservation of the USSR. in the Ukrainian SSR, 70% of the population spoke out against secession from the USSR. only 3 republics voted to leave. and so, 70% were against separation from the RSFSR, but the Ukrainian SSR was separated anyway. what kind of will of the people do you fantasize about if the very appearance of Ukraine is not legal and absolutely not democratic? it looks like your positions have completely collapsed.?♂️
Russia violated the Minsk agreements??? how??? Russia is not a party to the Minsk agreements. Russia cannot abide by or violate these agreements. The Minsk agreements were signed between the Ukrainian authorities and the leadership of the LDNR. for 8 years Ukraine has not fulfilled a single point of these agreements, but you say that Russia violated, which is not even one of the parties to these agreements? what about your logic?
and yes, you are right, we are waiting for a very hot beginning of autumn. the Ukrainian counterattack on Kherson has already choked with blood, but now the hottest direction is Balakliya. while the offensive near Balakleya is going more successfully for the Armed Forces of Ukraine than the offensive against Kherson. Let’s see what happens by the end of the week. under the settlement of Sukhoi Stavok, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also had everything successfully for the first 5 days, but now there is neither Sukhoi Stavok, nor those Ukrainian troops that entered there. but there are funnels from 36 FAB500. it is good that the civilian population was evacuated from these areas.
PS
yes, the capture of Popasno and Kademy will not look epic, but exactly until the moment you find out that the forces of the attackers are outnumbered by the forces of the defenders in positions that have been fortified for 8 years. ? Let’s see how things go after the copuses prepared by Russia for the autumn offensive begin to operate.
Lbj
September 7, 2022 at 1:37 pm
How about this…regardless of your policy choice…neocon, neolib…you send your sons to support your version of how the world should look…instead of setting your sons up as board members of the new companies popping up after US engagements. We used to buy in to your prpaganda…we no longer support either policy. That is why there are no boots on the ground. That is why the US military can’t meet their recruitment quotas. Policy wonks can’t start a war without our consent. So, the US is left with the war without an endgame strategy. Get used to it. Times have changed. You can keep blustering and sending manufactured dollars and weapons, but only until you run out of dollars. The people won’t sign up for this war. So, keep giving this author s..t about stating the obvious. Hed actually on your side, but realizes that without a stated policy including specific US interests, its a no go for further action.
Greg
September 7, 2022 at 3:05 pm
The endgame is simple. Destroy as much of the Russian military as possible using another countries soldiers. Stress their economy in a similar way to limit building it back up (it seems corruption would do that all by itself). In 15 years the demographics will eliminate the threat. Why is something so simple hard to understand. It is not diplomatic to state it this bluntly but simple to understand
Bubbaorwell
September 8, 2022 at 10:14 am
We have a very clear objective in these engagements and that is too destabilize everything we touch. We are chaos.
L Garou
September 8, 2022 at 12:17 pm
And here I was thinking it’s neo-Israel.
Long live the Khazar homeland!