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Ukraine Invasion Day 183: war of attrition continues with another six months ahead [1]
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Date: 2022-08-24
Russian missile strikes hit the Chaplyne train station, in Dnipropetrovsk region, on Ukraine’s Independence Day, 22 killed. At six months in, the story of the battle of Kyiv demonstrates how long the beginning of the war has lasted.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu: "The slowdown of the offensive in Ukraine is a conscious decision due to the desire to minimize civilian casualties, the special operation is going according to plan". 😂😂😂😂 he should be a comedian
The war has reached the end of its beginning. What comes next, though, is uncertain. Ukraine has all but announced its intent to launch a counteroffensive aimed at retaking the strategic southern city of Kherson. It has made progress toward that objective in the form of daring, successful drone and sabotage attacks deep behind Russian lines in Crimea. This further shows the already demonstrated utility of U.S. equipment such as the HIMARs artillery system. All such results vindicate those who argued for overcoming fears of provoking Russia and pushing the boundaries on arms shipments by the United States.
[...]
It might be too much to label the war a stalemate; yet Ukraine’s best chances for major advances probably lie months, not days, away, after its troops have received further equipment and training. That implies that its supporters in the West must adjust their plans accordingly. While Europe has maintained admirable solidarity in the face of economic pain related to reducing dependence on Russian energy, France and Germany have lagged the United States, Britain, Poland and even Norway in terms of aid to Ukraine relative to their total economic output, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker database at Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy. If the U.S.-led Western alliance has a weakness, “burden sharing” is it. If Ukraine is to have any chance of success, the alliance must solve that chronic problem, once and for all.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
x Ukrainians are emotionally exhausted after SIX months of war, but they're fighting to stay optimistic: 'My heart is full of hope.'
https://t.co/P6QCar3i9F via @businessinsider — Syzygus (@psalm7115) August 24, 2022
Unless Russia mobilises its population and mobilizes its industry, it cannot bring to bear the weight of people and industry in order to create a much bigger, more effective force, and therefore, it will have to consider how it hangs on to what it has already taken,” retired British Gen. Richard Barrons said.
Ukraine also lacks resources for any quick reclamation of its territory, with Barrons estimating it could take well into next year to amass a force capable of driving the Russians out.
“It can only do it if the West provides political will, money at about $5 to 6 billion a month, weapons like long-range artillery, the ammunition that supports that artillery and then enables the logistics and medical support that allows Ukraine to build a million-strong army,” said Barrons, co-chair of the consulting group Universal Defence & Security Solutions.
He said the West should be prepared to continue supporting Ukraine for a long time, despite soaring energy prices and other economic challenges stemming from sanctions imposed on Russia.
www.euronews.com/...
x Six months ago, amid rumors he'd fled, Zelensky posted video from barricaded Kyiv. "The PM is here, the party leader is here, the President is here… We are all here. Our troops are here. Our citizens are here. Defending our independence. Glory to Ukraine!"pic.twitter.com/hbpDMUHIem — Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) August 24, 2022
This war is the most fundamental threat Ukraine and its people have faced in 100 years. The last time it faced such grave danger was when the Bolsheviks forcefully ended Ukraine's brief spell as an independent state and then embarked on a campaign of Russification. Can history repeat itself?
There is no doubt that this is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to achieve. His declared goal of "de-Nazification" is really an attempt at "de-Ukraineification." Reports from Russian-held regions in Ukraine relate how occupying forces are working to suppress and destroy Ukrainian culture, chiefly its language. Putin's insane plan is to annihilate Ukraine in a war of attrition. Yet he will fail.
Ukraine's independence generation leads the resistance
The Russian president launched his assault on the old Ukraine. To him, it looked like easy prey: Ukraine's economy and military were inferior to Russia's, its political sphere and society were often polarized, and support from the West was only half-hearted. Much of this was simple fact — and yet it was still a colossal misjudgment.
Now, six months after Russia first sent troops into Ukraine, Putin is dealing with a new, nascent Ukraine. The transformation began earlier, but Russia's onslaught has accelerated this change. This new Ukraine is rapidly abandoning many of the things that long connected it to Russia: a shared language, shared street names, monuments and so on. And most importantly: This new Ukraine is learning how to defend itself. And it's learning fast.
The country is stronger militarily than ever before, and it is growing stronger still — in part, of course, because of Western assistance, but also because of its own determination. Present-day Ukraine is more resilient than it was 100 years ago thanks to its "independence generation."
At 44, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was born in the former Soviet Union, is on the older end of this generation. But it's 20 to 30-year-old Ukrainians who form the heart of the country's resistance. They are fighting on the frontlines and sacrificing their lives, helping support the armed forces in a civilian capacity or tending to internally displaced people. This generation feels truly Ukrainian; it is totally natural to them. And for this, they are willing to fight. And they will succeed.
www.dw.com/…
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