CNN — Russia has lost a staggering 87 percent of the total number of active-duty ground troops it had prior to launching its invasion of Ukraine and two-thirds of its pre-invasion tanks, a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress told CNN. Still, despite heavy losses of men and equipment, Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to push forward as the war approaches its two-year anniversary early next year and US officials are warning that Ukraine remains deeply vulnerable. A highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive stagnated through the fall, and US officials believe that Kyiv is unlikely to make any major gains over the coming months.
The assessment, sent to Capitol Hill on Monday, comes as some Republicans have balked at the US providing additional funding for Ukraine and the Biden administration has launched a full-court press to try to get supplemental funding through Congress.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington on Tuesday, meeting with US lawmakers and President Joe Biden in desperate bid to secure the military and economic aid he says is vital to Ukraine’s ability to maintain the fight against Russia.
Russia has been able to keep its war effort going despite the heavy losses by relaxing recruitment standards and dipping into Soviet-era stockpiles of older equipment. Still, the assessment found that the war has “sharply set back 15 years of Russian effort to modernize its ground force.” Of the 360,000 troops that entered Ukraine, including contract and conscript personnel, Russia has lost 315,000 on the battlefield, according to the assessment. 2,200 of 3,500 tanks have been lost, according to the assessment. 4,400 of 13,600 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers have also been destroyed, a 32 percent loss rate. “As of late November, Russia lost over a quarter of its pre-invasion stockpiles of ground forces equipment,” the assessment reads. “This has reduced the complexity and scale of Russian offensive operations, which have failed to make major gains in Ukraine since early 2022.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/russia-troop-losses-us-intelligence-assessment/index.html
Comment: I’m surprised that the USI estimate of Russian losses is so close to published Ukrainian estimates of those losses. I’m sure our Pentagon has an accurate view of Ukrainian losses, but that will remain classified at the behest of Kyiv.
Russian losses look terrible, but they still pale in comparison to her losses in WWII. The same applies to Ukraine. In terms of manpower, they could keep this up for years. I’m not sure her armaments industry or logistics system can do the same. They’re using a lot of those Scooby Doo vans and civilian cars to move supplies to the front. The larger Kamaz and UAZ trucks have fallen prey to Ukrainian drones. Their North Korean ammo appears to be of low quality and reliability. But there’s plenty of it. (BTW, those little UAZ Bukhanka vans are not half bad, but nothing to build a logistical system upon.)
Ukraine will still have to depend on others for armaments and ammo. That appears to be her biggest problem. Fortunately the EU, especially Poland and Finland, as well as South Korea appear to be taking up some of the slack. South Korea has become a real arsenal of democracy, even with her constitutional restrictions on supplying combatants. Ukraine herself is doing pretty good in the drone field. She’s also raising and fitting out five new mech brigades as we speak. That’s not a sign of a nation on its last legs.
TTG
“that will remain classified at the behest of Kyiv”
I’m glad to know whose in charge in Washington, D.C.
“Ukraine will still have to depend on others for armaments and ammo. ”
Why, Zelensky said their economy grew 5% last year. Whose money will they use, their own? What’s their national debt compared to ours? Did they issue war bonds to raise funds?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_E_bond
I wonder how many Joe Biden bought with his own money? Especially now that all those “loans” got paid back!
https://vnesok.nssmc.gov.ua/en/
Hmm? Interesting, Fred, so the war turned Ukraine into one of the best investment opportunities vs an almost bankrupt country? Investment starts with ₴1000 or $1000? Since it is pegged to the dollar?* And the money was baptized “гривні/гривна” in 2006 by the man whom Putin tried to assassinate during his election campaign in 2004 : Viktor Yushchenko?
“Benefits of the Ukrainian Freedom Bond
the most reliable financial product on the market/b>
100% state guarantee of payment
one of the highest rates
it depends on the issue and can be up to 16% in UAH, up to 4% in US dollars and 2.5% in euros
investments from ₴1000 or from $1000
any Ukrainian, business or foreign investor can buy bonds a variety of investment terms
from one month to several years
0% taxes no need to pay 18% of personal income tax and 1.5% of the military fee minimal documents a simplified procedure for opening accounts
**********************
* (mental meanderings) when Paul Robinson was invited to give evidence to the Canadian House of Commons his most ardent alter ego was a former president of The Ukrainian World Congress, earlier a president of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress and a high profile lawyer in commerce and finances, Eugene Czolij. After he retired as President of the World Congress in 2018 he founded the “Ukraine-2050” NGO. Maybe a countries size matters after all? And the investment is as solid as advertised?
The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) “Ukraine-2050” is a non-profit organization established to help implement, within one generation – by 2050 – strategies for the sustainable development of Ukraine as a fully independent, territorially integral, democratic, reformed and economically competitive European state.
The main objectives of the NGO “Ukraine-2050” are fourfold, namely to promote:
(I) the full membership of Ukraine in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);
(II) the full membership of Ukraine in the European Union (EU);
(III) the Patriarchal status for both the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and
(IV) the positioning of Ukraine in the top 10 EU states by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in the top 20 countries in the United Nations (UN) World Happiness Report.
************
Strictly, I always wondered to what extent war was or is good for the economy. … But then 2.5% don’t make up for the inflation around which to some extent is related to the war.
LeaNder,
You mean Ukraine’s freedom and borders are just an investment opportunity for you? How much are you in for?
“2.5% don’t make up for the inflation around which to some extent is related to the war.”
LOL sanctions baby and all those years of zero bound interest and rigged LIBOR rates. SOFR and the FED are putting an end to the later and lack of collateral is ruining the ECB. Self inflicted wounds of the EU elite. Enjoy Germany’s decline, it’s going to continue.
I am not surprised US numbers align with Ukrainian, mostly because US doesn’t seem to have bothered to develop its own intelligence assets in Ukraine and seems to be relying on Ukrainians for such information. So the source for these numbers is likely Ukrainian intelligence rather than independent US intelligence assets. I am too lazy to look it up but I seem to remember previous discussion here lamenting US reliance on Ukrainian intelligence.
Personally, I take both Ukrainian and Russian loss estimates with an iceberg of salt. I think it’s indicative that loss figures claimed by both governments are similar, which tells me that they are likely suffering similar scale of casualties. Situation on the battlefield seems to confirm this, if either side was suffering such loopsided losses as the other side claims, the frontline would have cracked already.
BDA has not been a major strength of US Intell. See
, e.g., https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16161262.2013.781339. It is a truely complex task.
This is not easy when your forces are in contact (the number of German planes shot down by bombers was vstly over-estimated) and more difficult when the forces in contact belong to another country.
“I’m surprised that the USI estimate of Russian losses is so close to published Ukrainian estimates of those losses. ”
I’m not. Is there even a thin ray of daylight between the USI and Ukrainian puppets, er allies, proxies, or whatever the hell they are?
I don’t believe the estimate at all either. Regardless, Russia holds firm to its gains going on 2 years and is successfully attacking key enemy strong points. Ukrainians? Failed offensive, back on its heels and suffering verifiable heavy losses. Seen vids of western armor and other wonder weapons burning all over the front lines.
It’s a good thing the people paying for this nonsense – like me – have no right to know what is happening and how all the money coming out of our bank accounts is impacting this struggle. Viva la democrocia! Long live the all knowing government!
Eric Newhill,
Russia has lost half of her gains from the early weeks of the war. They have not held firm. But they haven’t collapsed either.
Ukraine has surely suffered heavy losses. A report from US officials from back in August did put Ukrainian losses at close to 70,000. Their losses of Western armor and IFVs have been low since the initial days of their counteroffensive. That one time when they appeared to lose half a dozen was filmed from multiple directions and showed multiple times. Since then, total losses have been few. Most damaged vehicles have been retrieved and a lot have already been repaired and are back in service. But Ukrainian BMPs, BTRs and T-72s suffer from the same weaknesses as Russian armor.
The majority of US taxpayer money going to Ukraine is actually going to US manufacturers producing artillery ammo, missiles and other munitions and refurbishing tanks, IFVs and other vehicles for shipment to Ukraine. Those manufacturers are spread throughout the states. The shipment of equipment and munitions to Ukraine that were scheduled for demilitarization saves the DOD money. The demilitarization process is expensive.
A report from US officials from back in August did put Ukrainian losses at close to 70,000.
What does this number signify? Ok, looked it up. 70,000 dead Ukrainians vs 315,000 Russians?
So the Russians lost almost 90% of its troops (without allies or supporting militia?) vs what percentage of Ukrainian troops? Lower of course but how much lower. 10/20/30/40?
LeaNder,
That close to 90% figure is 90% of the invading force. The total figure for the Russian Army is well over one million, over twice the size of the Ukrainian Army. As I said, these losses are staggering by modern standards, but pale in comparison to either country’s losses in WWII.
Thanks TTG. Forbes headlines:
Three Thousand Russians Were Killed Or Wounded For Every Square Mile They Captured Around Avdiivka
If I may, some other number puzzles me. It may have surfaced for us in the West in Stoltenberg’s pre-ministerial press conference on Nov. 27:
Addressing Ukraine’s offensive, Mr Stoltenberg said that Kyiv is “inflicting major losses on Russia,” has recaptured 50 percent of the territory that Russia had seized, and that it has “prevailed as a sovereign independent nation”.
Maybe the “50%” surfaced earlier. It must have been around in Ukraine much longer. Are there maps?
LeaNder,
I’ve seen several maps to go with that claim, but I don’t have them at hand. Here’s the response I gave to Eric a little while ago.
“At Russia’s high water mark, she occupied most of Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts and was at the gates of Kyiv. She also occupied most of Kharkiv Oblast and all of Kherson Oblast north of the Dnipro. She was threatening both Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. Since then she lost all north of Kharkiv and all north of the Dnipro due to a forced withdrawal from Kyiv and both the Kharkiv and Kherson counteroffensives. That 50% of what she once held.”
TTG,
I don’t see a loss of 50% of Russia’s gains. I suppose that perception is dependent on what one figures their objective was. I see Russia as having achieved the primary objective of capturing and holding their new annexed republics and as well as a defense of the land bridge to the Crimea. Ukraine is never getting that back and the US is never getting the Crimea, which, IMO, was always the US’ objective (+generally harming Russia). I don’t count Kiev and surrounding areas as losses because I think that push in the early days was a failed attempt to scare the Zelensky government into negotiations and was a never a plan to seize and hold. Kherson is, indeed, a Russian loss of previously captured territory.
As for armor gifted to the Ukrainians, they lost so much in the opening weeks of their ill advised offensive, that there isn’t much left to lose now. So, yes, the losses are trending down. I am aware of Russian IO and use of the same destroyed armor photographed from different angles to give the impression of greater losses. Even filtering out deceptive duplicate images there appears to be a huge loss.
70K Ukro KIA seems way too lite to me. Ukro official news TV reported over a million. Then later retracted the story. That UN shrew (can’t recall her name at the moment) stated 100K last year. If their losses were only 70K then their ranks wouldn’t be so depleted and they wouldn’t be implementing emergency conscription by throwing nets over old men and boys on the streets. I think the lost something like 70K in the offense alone.
Of course the US IC puts out ridiculously low figures. They seek to maintain the mirage of success so the funding will continue. I understand Z just went home empty handed. Congress must have the true figures.
Eric Newhill,
At Russia’s high water mark, she occupied most of Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts and was at the gates of Kyiv. She also occupied most of Kharkiv Oblast and all of Kherson Oblast north of the Dnipro. She was threatening both Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. Since then she lost all north of Kharkiv and all north of the Dnipro due to a forced withdrawal from Kyiv and both the Kharkiv and Kherson counteroffensives. That 50% of what she once held.
Out of 60 Leopard tanks, three were destroyed, one was damaged and abandoned, three were slightly damaged and fixed in the field and seven were damaged, evacuated and repaired. Since then Ukraine received more Leopards than were lost.
Of the 50 Swedish CV9040C infantry fighting vehicles delivered, one was damaged.
Of the more than 160 Bradlys delivered, 18 were destroyed, 23 were damaged and evacuated, and 6 were damaged and abandoned. The evacuated Bradleys were repaired and returned to action.
Ukraine received over 300 M113s, 58 were hit with 31 destroyed and 6 captured. She also received some 90 Polish and Swedish upgraded BMPs. She lost only 9 of those. All these losses are hardly devastating.
“The majority of US taxpayer money going to Ukraine is actually going to US manufacturers producing artillery ammo, missiles and other munitions and refurbishing tanks, IFVs and other vehicles for shipment to Ukraine. ”
They don’t call it a Military Industrial Complex for nothing.
“I’m surprised that the USI estimate of Russian losses is so close to published Ukrainian estimates of those losses. ”
You bewilderment will disappear if you consider that this estimate was released on the eve of Zelensky’s visit Washington.
They are Ukraine’s estimate, dressed up and a US seal of approval stamped on it.
The idea that the “US estimate” was independently arrived at is… quaint, and I never pictured you as the quaint-type.
I always wondered who was the target of these CNN/WAPO ,,familiar sources”.
Is it the western audience who should believe in the Ukrainian victory or the Ukrainians who are to be persuaded to go to the front and die for…
The Russians began the invasion with 70,000 men, 70,000 being the commonly accepted figure.
70 000 *0.87=61 000.
The figure seems credible, especially if we include the losses of fighters from the Lugansk and Donetsk republics. Indeed, the Russian command seems to have made heavy use of these troops during the partial liberation of the two republics.
On the other hand, the BBC in Russia calculates Russian losses at 30,000 -35,000, based on death announcements and other official events. This compilation is probably not exhaustive. Doubling this figure is reasonable.
Overall, the order of magnitude is 70,000 losses.
All things considered, these losses are low given the severity and extent of the fighting. Certainly harsh, but less so in the two Tetchen wars.
Furthermore, according to a French historian, the Russian leadership is extremely sensitive to losses, not for electoral reasons, but because the birth rate is too low.
Absolutely it’s true that Russian troops have suffered colossal losses. However everything I’ve read tells me that Ukraine has too, and tragically, substantially more.
So given that this is being printed and discussed at precisely the same point in time as Zelensky’s humiliating visit to the US congress, and as the US military itself is pushing Ukraine to switch over to a defensive strategy, I’m filing this estimate in the same folder where “mostly peaceful protests” has occupied the place of honor ever since those mostly peaceful times.
TTG – NATO’s lost this war. That was set in stone on February 21st 2022. I was surprised how comprehensively we lost it but I should not have been. When we see how the Western politicians run their own countries we couldn’t possibly expect them to run a war with any degree of competence.
Nor did they. It’s time to pick up the pieces.
I’m not sure we’re capable even of that. For a start you can write Europe off. That’ll go down without most even knowing how it happened. The EU, and that means Britain in tow because Brexit meant very little in terms of European politics overall, put its money on becoming a superpower and failed. Our fate in Europe is now entirely in the hands of the Russians.
The Russians may decide that Europe, with its plans for remilitarisation, expansion of NATO and ringing Russia with missile bases, is becoming too much of a nuisance. If so they’ll cut off supplies of hydrocarbons and raw materials and watch the process of European economic dereliction accelerate. Or they may decide to let us be in the hope that the current Russophobia will abate. We can only wait to see which they decide.
Judging from a recent comment from Zakharova they haven’t quite decided yet, though recent comments from Moscow hardliners indicate that at least some of them would like to take the first course. The Russians have so far lost some 50,000 men dead as a result of this ill-advised NATO frolic so I don’t suppose the average Russian in the street would mind too much if they did.
I suppose the US is better placed to recover. That’s not a would-be superpower. It still is one. It’s not self-sufficient but close enough. And the level of political awareness and sophistication in the States is of a quite different order from that in Europe. It’s from the States, after all, that almost all the political commentary on this war that’s worth having has come. And only from the States do we get a realistic critique of the cronyism that is wrecking both your country and mine and see at least some attempt to remedy it. Be interesting to see how it plays out given all that.
The Russians have so far lost some 50,000 men dead as a result of this ill-advised NATO frolic …
Is that the official Russian number? One spokeswomen Zakharova would use?
Did I express myself that bad, or are you feigning misunderstanding? It was a question is this number used in Russia or her spokeswomen. It does not show up in your transcript.
that badly … It was a question. Is this a number used in Russia or by … The number does not show in your transcript.
For whatever reason, your evasive answer made me angry.
LeaNder – my “note” at 11.58 am is on European/Russian relations after the war. It was not written in response to your query. So don’t worry!
………………..
On the question of casualties you raise, the Mediazone figures, which are the only figures I know of, don’t include LDNR KIA and are now seriously out of date. This means Russian deaths will be considerably higher now, especially since the Republics are now Russian. Add to that the permanently incapacitated and I think it unlikely that after that degree of sacrifice the Russians will stop short of the “demilitarisation and denazification” that were the original aims of the SMO.
Also unlikely they’ll be prepared to take any more aggressive nonsense from Scholz. And since that’s exactly what Scholz is determined to give them, you and I should be worried about how the Russians might respond to that.
That was the point I was hoping to make. “The Russians may decide that Europe, with its plans for remilitarisation, expansion of NATO and ringing Russia with missile bases, is becoming too much of a nuisance. If so they’ll cut off supplies of hydrocarbons and raw materials and watch the process of European economic dereliction accelerate.”
That’s only one possibility, of course, but it’s on the cards. What worries me is that none of my German friends are in the least worried about what might happen post war. They seem to think everything will go back to normal. Might I ask, is this your experience too?
Look, I am not interested in your special hobby horses …
But thanks, so you somewhat rely on the guesstimate of the cooperation of Mediazona and Meduza with Dmitry Kobak, who teaches machine learning to students of neuroscience at the university of Tübingen. In other words you rely on Russia’s declared foreign agents.
https://en.zona.media/article/2022/05/11/casualties_eng
https://en.zona.media/article/2023/07/10/stats
Nobody, save for those in power, has precise data on the losses of the Russian army during the invasion of Ukraine. Given Vladimir Putin’s extensive track record of side-stepping any questions of import, it’s unlikely that the Kremlin will disclose this information any time soon.
Mediazona, in collaboration with Meduza and Dmitry Kobak, a researcher of excess mortality and machine learning lecturer at the University of Tübingen, has developed a method to estimate Russian wartime casualties, relying solely on publicly accessible records from the National Probate Registry and data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).
By our calculations, as of late May 2023, roughly 47,000 Russian men under the age of 50 have died in the war. To be absolutely precise, we can assert with a 95% probability that the true number of casualties falls between 40,000 and 55,000. This estimate does not take into account the losses of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
https://dkobak.github.io
Note – The Zakharova reference is very brief indeed and buried in a deal of other material. (about half way down.) The remark was made recently and discussed elsewhere. This is her comment:-
“We will determine how we will continue to build relations with our European neighbours after the implementation of the goals and objectives of the special military operation.”
https://karlof1.substack.com/p/maria-zakharovas-weekly-briefing-368
I read this in conjunction with Putin’s remarks at the start of the SMO. In connection with supply arrangements for Europe he stated that existing contracts would be honoured but the renewal of these contracts would be decided on at a later time.
Europe is currently gearing up for the hoped for Cold War II after the Ukrainian conflict is over. The Russian European security demands conflict with that European aim. If the Russian European security demands are not met, I believe it’s correct to read that brief remark by Zakharova as confirmation that renewal of those supply contracts is at risk.’
……………………………..
The above selection made from the original here:-
Briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry M.V. Zakharova, Moscow, December 12, 2023
https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1920662/
These numbers look pretty bogus too me. If you just look at the number of Russian aircraft Ukraine claims to have shot down and Western sources often mirror, you understand the numbers are extremely inflated.
btw, here’s an interesting, 2 part discussion between Arestovich and Arty Green.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_G0xsICSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuEBjngC-0
wiz,
The Russian Aerospace Forces have over 4,000 total aircraft. Even her civilian fleet is suffering losses due to maintenance failures.
I look forward to watching those Arty Green videos.
TTG
Theoretical number of available aircraft is one thing.
The number of aircraft you can actually consistently employ in such a high intensity conflict is another.
Here’s another interesting video, that addresses the question of delivery of Western aircraft to Ukraine, airforce tactics, training, logistics, VKS capacities etc.
https://youtu.be/rmMclP8dlI0?t=258
” I’m surprised that the USI estimate of Russian losses is so close to published Ukrainian estimates of those losses.”
I’m not surprised at all. They are republishing off Ukrainian accounts.
If all of these stories about Russian losses were true the war would be over by now. All Ukraine has to do is to inflicted 5 : 1 losses on Russia and they win. Contrary to popular belief, totalitarian state cannot force a country to fight itself into oblivion. Some examples, Russia WW1 under the tsar and Russia in Afghanistan.
With apologies to Sir Winston Churchill, but seldom has so much been missed by so many and meaning so little. The reality is that Russia, a much large country, has not prevailed over a much smaller country and the reasons are multiple.
One of the biggest ones is that the economies of the US and the EU dwarfs that of Russia. The West also have a more functional and flexible transportation system. Russia’s military and economy are straining and getting worse. No doubt the GOP’s Fifth Column is helping temporarily, until it becomes evident even to the intellectually challenged Putin lovers that the Ukraine is helping the US right now by fighting Russia, so the US doesn’t. At the time. But if they succeed in helping Putin, then a lot of blood, including US’s, will be on their hands.
The same efforts were used in the 1930’s by the GOP to appease Hitler and it put them in the political wilderness for a generation. Only Ike stopped the momentum. But then, ignorance of history is a feature of the GOP, which is one reason they are so pumped to change it.
Europe is facing an existential threat by Russia and most people affected know it. Right now I am in Stockholm and it is amazing how many young Russians are now here working in the service and construction industries. The brain drain will eventually make the situation in Russia even worse.
As an investor, I am used to following trends and I see several and they all are working against Russia and I do not see any reversals on the horizon.
Good luck with your investments Lars. I think you will need it because I also follow trends and see several all working against America and the West and do not see any reversals on the horizon.
By way of explanation, I see first hand the simply enormous economic growth in Asia, Africa and India and that, as you must know, this results in increasing political and geostrategic power as well. I see no such growth in the West, in fact the reverse – decaying infrastructure, lack of investment in infrastructure, health and education for starters.
I’m not a “Putin Lover” but if you fail to understand and respect his Governments achievements over the last twenty years then you are setting yourself up for awful failure.
To put that another way; claims of being the “indespensable nation” will not stand the test of time
Lars,
How great is the EU economy? Why did Michelin just announce the closure of 3 plants in Europe? They’re not the only ones.
Joseph Kennedy, that’s JFK’s daddy, was the appeaser. He was a Democrat, like lots of others.
“Only Ike stopped the momentum. ”
He was a major in the 1930s with zero political influence. Just what else that is so wrong did they teach you in Europe before you came here?
“Europe is facing an existential threat by Russia and most people affected know it. ”
Right, except the Imperial remnant in NATO:
“LONDON — The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed it will cut troop numbers from 82,000 to 73,000 by 2025 — despite opposition from parts of the armed forces and the Labour party.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-presses-ahead-with-cuts-to-troop-numbers/
“One of the biggest ones is that the economies of the US and the EU dwarfs that of Russia.”
This is delusional thinking. .
I have no doubt that the MEASUREMENTS that has been adopted by the USA and the EU sufficiently weight the financialization of their economies to produce figures that show them to be behemoths.
But in terms of the making of THINGS – rather than the generation of money out of thin air – the economy of the USA and the EU is much, much smaller than you think, and the economy of Russia is much, much larger than you credit.
And – of this I have no doubt – with respect to the making of THINGS China outproduces both the USA and the EU combined, and the combined manufacturing capacity of BRICS is so far around that they can’t even see the USA in their rear view mirror.
Honestly, good luck with war between NATO and Russia, when your legions of accountants, stockmarket speculators and real-estate agents go into the front line armed with Bloomberg terminals and ledger-books.
Yeah, Right,
Post Soviet Russia, Putin’s Russia is dependent on Western machine tools and Western electronics for much of her THINGS. It wasn’t always so and it may not always be, but it is now.
And that’s why Russians are capturing as many unburned Nato tanks as possible to build washing machines.
[this joke refers to a statement by Ursula von der Leyen, our forked-tongued, unelected leader].
Basing one’s thoughts about Russia’s industrial strength on our habits is fraught with danger.
Ahem, “China”.
You also appear not to understand the meaning of the word “dependent”.
The West think that the Russians import stuff because they can’t make it themselves. You appear to share that view, hence the use of “dependent”.
Whereas the reality is that the Russians import stuff because it was cheaper and easier and, frankly, that’s the entire definition of “trade”.
Take that incentive away by imposing sanctions and the Russians will simply make it themselves: everything from nuts and bolts all the way up to composite wings and engines for commercial airlines.
They were ALWAYS capable of doing so – they weren’t “dependent on anyone – but they had preferred to import it instead because, you know, “trade”.
Hence all the miscalculations that sanctions would turn the “ruble to rubble” and Ursula’s delusional boast that the Russian economy was in “tatters!”.
Yeah, Right,
Putin’s long term goal for his defense industries was to be fully home grown and independent. Instead he got his oligarch cronies using Western technology in Russian weapons and lying to Putin that it was all indigenously produced. I have no doubt that they can eventually become self-sufficient but it’s going to take a while to develop their own machine tools and high end electronics for modern weapons. If they want to stick with 1950s era weaponry, they can do that soon if not now. BTW, they have always have some damned fine designers and their basic science is top notch.
TTG, your mindset is stuck in the early-2000s.
“Putin’s long term goal for his defense industries was to be fully home grown and independent.”
And we are up to our twelfth sanctions package, and Russia’s defense industries are outproducing both the USA and EU combined.
How…. odd.
That’s certainly an awful lot of washing machines that the Russians have had to strip down for parts.
Yeah, Right,
It’s not washing machines. It’s smuggling and sanctions dodging. Even the much vaunted Kinzhal missiles have Western circuitry.
Yeah, I keep hearing that.
Tell me again what much-vaunted Western circuitry is in a Kinzhal missile that can’t be replaced with a domestically-manufactured equivalent.
Don’t get me wrong: I can well imagine that when the remains of a pre-2021 manufactured Kinzhal is examined that some Western circuity is found. Again, there is such a thing as “trade”.
But the question is what is inside a Kinzhal that is rolling off the assembly line in 2023.
Is it stuffed full of “Western circuits” that were obtained on the black market?
Or is it stuffed with “Russian circuits” in place of that sanctioned stuff?
That is the question.
Yeah, Right,
A Kh-101 used on 21 June 2023 contained Western, including US manufactured, chips was manufactured only two months earlier. Replacing Western chips and other circuitry with Russian equivalents takes more than two years. The machinery to make those chips are still produced in the West.
Western microchips are used in almost all Russian missiles and drones: Iskander, Kalibr and Kinzhal missiles, aviation and cruise missiles X-101, X-555, X-38, X-59MK, X-31, Iranian Shahed-136 drones, and the Russian reconnaissance drone Orlan, as well as the Tornado-S and Smerch MLRS missiles.
The sources of these chips is widespread. Chips from these companies have been found in Russian weaponry: Antenova (UK), STMicroelectronics (Netherlands, Italy, France), Sierra Wireless / Semtech (Canada, US), NovAtel / Hexagon, (Canada, Sweden), Septentrio (Belgium), Linx Technologies / TE Connectivity (US), Broadcom (US), Qualcomm (US), Telit (US), Maxim Integrated / Analog Devices (US), Trimble (US), Cavli Wireless (US), U-blox AG (Switzerland). Most of the flow of these chips is through China. Sure it’s trade, but trade is smuggling when it violates export controls or what should be export controls.
Lefties like Jimmy Dore point to this video of Ukrainian soldiers who look pretty old as proof that Ukraine is running out of men to send to the front:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKAGxmJYcUI
James,
All kinds of old coots volunteered immediately after Russia invaded. Thousands came back to Ukraine from all over the world to do the same. This is not proof that Ukraine is running out of men. As I said several times now, both Russia and Ukraine lost millions in WWII and managed to fight on to victory.
TTG
I have disagreed with you before and you were proven right. You have an impressive track record. I will be surprised if you are proven right on this one. Time will tell.
Body counts are useless. Nothing but estimates that can’t be proved.
More important by a huge order of magnitude are the two thirds losses of tanks; and the 32% losses of infantry fighting vehicles & armored personnel carriers. Those can be easily proved by photographic evidence. Also critical are the several thousand destroyed Russian artillery pieces; the inability of of the VVS to achieve supremacy of the Ukrainian sky and their fear of even flying in Ukrainian airspace; plus the losses of Black Sea Fleet ships to a country without a Navy. Even if Putin is successful in waiting for the West to get tired of supporting Ukraine, IMHO it is true that he set back the modernization of Russian military by the 15 to 18 years claimed or at least by a decade.
That Bukhanka van looks like a refugee from Woodstock.
leith,
That Bukhanka does remind me of the VW van I drove for several years. It’s actually smaller, but far more rugged. I wouldn’t mind having one. But it’s still nothing to build a logistics system on.
leith
An active war has a way of driving inovation in many fields.
If anything, the Russian military modernization has been put into overdrive.
Training, tactics, logistics, supply chains, production facilities, everything
is being re-evaluated and improved upon.
Just look at the drone warfare. Russia was significantly lagging in that area at the beginning of the war. Now, the Ukrainians are increasingly complaining
of the Russians overtaking them in this field.
Wiz –
It’s true that the Iranian Shahed drones are now being produced in Russia. Plus they make their own Italmas (lawnmower) and Lancet kamikaze drones. But it’s mostly just assembly as the critical parts are fabricated elsewhere and not in Russia itself. Italmas uses an engine from Chinese company ‘Ali Baba’, Lancet uses a Czech made engine from ‘Model Motors, and the Russian-made Shahed still uses key components imported from Iran. For smaller, FPV UAVs Russia buys in mass from Ali Baba.
The electronics for all of the above are blackmarket from the West.
leith
I doubt the soldier on the ground cares if the drone, that is trying to kill him, was painted using a Chinese or Russian paint.
Wiz –
Ukraine has also bought drones from China’s AliBaba.
So your comment also works for the Russki soldier on the ground if the drone dropping grenades or mortar rounds on him and his comrades. Does he care if that drone was manufactured in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia or China’s Hangzhou? Or does he even know that the drone hunting him may be Chinese? Probably not IMO or there would be a major hissy fit by Russki milbloggers such as Rybar and his ilk on Telegram.
leith
yes, they regularly blow each other up in increasing numbers. Ukraine is also innovating
and improving.
That was my original point when I reacted to your claim that Russian modernization will be set back years if not decades.
War drives innovation and investment in defence sector.
So IMO, the modernization will not be set back but is instead quickened.
I think that once the Ukrainians realized that they weren’t going to make any breakthroughs, they decided to spend the summer destroying the Russian artillery capacity, and I think they’ve actually made nontrivial progress in that.
Peter Hug
they also spent the summer trying to make a breakthrough using small size units. They made a pretty trivial progress.
Regarding the attrition of Russian artillery systems, the famous Ukrainian artillery officer Arty Green was very optimistic a few months ago.
In a recent video he is talking about the possibility of a westward fighting retreat. So, it seems that whatever progress the Ukrainians did in suppressing the Russian army, was not enough.
Wiz –
Link on the recent Arty Green video you mention? I can’t find it. PS – I note there are a few phony videos of him on youtube, undoubtedly made by Putin’s propaganda wurlitzer.
leith,
Here’s the links provided earlier by Wiz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_G0xsICSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuEBjngC-0
Thanks TTG.
I watched Part 1. Seems to me Green is recommending an active or mobile defense if needed, and not a retreat. Makes sense to me. I’ll get to Part 2 later tonight or tomorrow.
BTW – Where he mentions the Black Stallion River, is that the Seversky Donets?
leith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_G0xsICSQ&t=655s
…the current trend is bad.. if it continues…we’ll be defending further and further to the west… (все дальше и дальше на запад)
Wiz –
It’s obvious in your video that he is talking about adjusting the defensive line, not a retreat. He suggested that perhaps, ‘if’ the Russki offensive got worse at the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna front, that the Ukros could do better defending behind the natural barrier of the Oskol and Black Stallion (Donetz) rivers.
That’s common sense planning for a limited withdrawal and establish conditions to set up a mobile defense. There is no sane reason to try defending indefensible terrain. Other than for political reasons, which is what Arty Green was griping about.
LeNader!
The damage to the European economy is not a “hobby horse”! Germany is by far the most important economy in Europe and is the paymaster of the EU to boot. If Germany suffers all Europe suffers. Including the offshore islands where I happen to live and to which I’m quite attached: some half of our trade is done with the EU.
So Germany matters. The EU, love it or loath it, matters. Under Merkel, the most powerful politician on the continent by far, the EU embarked upon the predatory expansion into the Ukraine that has led to the conflict there just as much as the expansion of NATO did. Under Merkel the EU supported the neo-Nazi controlled government in Kiev while pretending to hold to Minsk 2. Under Scholz that policy was continued. That then became a bitterly pursued proxy war with Russia and, in the attempt to ruin the Russian economy, a comprehensive economic war with Russia.
That has backfired. It has severely damaged the European economy and could damage it more.
And now your lunatic Chancellor is proposing to turn his country and Europe with it into an armed camp. The remilitarising of Germany that was agreed in the coalition talks well before February 2022 is still his intention, as is his clear intention to expand that into the remilitarisation of Europe. Forgetting in his lunacy that the supply of cheap hydrocarbons and raw materials upon which his economy is dependent is still at the mercy of the country he attempted to destroy.
“Hobby Horse”? The wrecking of the economy of a continent and the risking of worse? At the whim of a bunch of would-be neocon politicians who would never have got into power in the first place had the German electorate known what they were electing? And with laws as repressive in intention as we saw in what was supposed to be your rejected past?
You’ll never make it back to the ’30’s, LeaNder. You no longer have the clout. Give up this murderous nonsense and attempt some return to sanity.
For repression, and surveillance of “far-right” parties,
there is this:
https://www.politico.eu/article/afd-saxony-anhalt-classified-right-wing-extremist-germany/
“AfD in Saxony-Anhalt classified as right-wing extremist
I.e., the woke Stasi.
I wasn’t thinking of that so much though some in the mainstream German parties are calling for the AFD to be banned.
I was thinking more of the offences against civil liberties generally. The expression of opposition to the government’s policy can and does lead to convictions. A law was slipped past the Bundestag late at night that could lead to further criminalisation of such opposition. German journalists who do not go with the government’s line have found their bank accounts frozen.
It’s ironic that the only party even a few members of which dare to protest the German government supporting neo-Nazis in the Ukraine is the AFD itself. Ironic because the AFD is itself commonly spoken of as having neo-Nazi tendencies.
I was thinking more of the offences against civil liberties generally. The expression of opposition to the government’s policy can and does lead to convictions. A law was slipped past the Bundestag late at night that could lead to further criminalisation of such opposition.
Well, English O., curiously enough, I did not notice a decade ago how far apart our worlds are. Neither did I notice your recent sycophantic side.
Thus, it makes absolutely no sense to discuss matters, really
But you may want to tell me which law was “slipped past the Bundestag late at night”, and how it could lead to convictions.
I can help you of course. Below, a link to a site which gives you a list of all the laws passed in the last couple of years. It would help what we are talking about.
Google Translate.
https://tinyurl.com/Laws-online
German:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de
You may also have further information for me of the journalist whose bank account was frozen. I may have heard about some type of journalistic martyr, from the camp that Journalists Without Border, considered a threat to journalists over here in their last report. Am I wrong?
But bank accounts frozen? A journalist’s for opposing the governments’ politics? Now that is definitively interesting. And I would like to know which laws were used in this context.
It would help to know what we are talking about.
Note. The economic war against Russia.
Some time ago, LeaNder, I assembled some references relating to Western hopes in the early period of the sanctions war. Now that has failed the ferocity of that attack on the Russian economy is played down. At the time, however, the intentions were clearly stated. The Russian economy and financial system was to be broken.
On the trade side the EU was not only an eager participant in that sanctions war. It was the most powerful – American and UK direct trade with Russia was not so great and it was Germany above all that could damage Russia by inhibiting trade. Brief summary, therefore:-
……………………………..
This was the reasoning behind the sanctions war, set out by Bruno Le Maire at an early stage in that war (machine translation):-
“BRUNO LE MAIRE:-
“I will be very clear with you, Marc FAUVELLE, it is Russia that will suffer, not Europe. Europe will perhaps actually have a little more inflation, because perhaps gas prices will increase a little, but it is Russia which will suffer, it is the Russian economy which will suffer. And it is the Russian financial system that will collapse before our eyes. Europe, the only consequence it can have in the coming weeks is a small increase in prices, depending on the increase in energy prices.”
(Interview with Mr. Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, to France Info on March 1, 2022, on economic sanctions against Russia after its attack on Ukraine and the economic repercussions for France)
https://www.vie-publique.fr/discours/284205-bruno-le-maire-01032022-ukraine
From the same source:-
“Yes, the sanctions are effective. Economic and financial sanctions are even extremely effective. And I do not want to leave any ambiguity about European determination on this subject. We are going to wage total economic and financial war on Russia…”
“The economic and financial balance of power is totally in favor of the European Union, which is in the process of discovering its economic power…”
Also the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell , at the very start of the sanctions war, stated that the sanctions had been tailored to harm the RF as much as possible while inflicting as little damage as possible on the European economy.
On the face of it Borrell’s hope looks plain foolish. The EU is dependent on supplies from Russia. How could it threaten or harm Russia by refusing to accept supplies from it? Even if that, and the financial sanctions, had devastated the Russian economy it must have devastated its own. Especially had the Russians retaliated by cutting off all supplies to Europe. It would not have taken long in that case for the European economy to go into recession.
But it does make sense, though only if the devastation of the Russian economy had been immediate. A brief period of shortage of Russian supplies, or of no Russian supplies at all, could have been weathered by the European economy, that brief period coming to an end when Russia had been defeated in the sanctions war. As a long term strategy the sanctions war could not work for Europe. But as a means of obtaining a quick kill it would have. As said in the interview the sanctions “must strike quickly and they must strike hard.”
“We will have a G7 meeting this afternoon on the subject, and I have also called a meeting of European finance ministers tomorrow, to ensure the proper execution of these sanctions. They must strike quickly, they must strike hard, and as you have already said, we can see the effects. The ruble collapsed by 30%. Russian foreign exchange reserves are melting like snow in the sun, and Vladimir PUTIN’s famous war chest is already reduced to almost nothing. We see the collapse of the market, we also see the increase in inflation.
” We are going to see lines of Russians looking to get cash in banks. And then the central bank had no choice but to increase interest rates from 10 to 20%, which means that companies will not be able to borrow, except at very high rates, to invest. and to develop the economy. We will therefore cause the collapse of the Russian economy. they must hit hard, and we see the effects, as you have already said.”
That the West was expecting, indeed thought it was witnessing, a quick kill was shown by President Biden’s Warsaw speech at the same time. The rouble down to 200, financial chaos in Russia, increasing shortages. This was the quick kill in action, the West striking quickly and hard. President Biden:-
“As a result of these unprecedented sanctions, the ruble almost is immediately reduced to rubble. The Russian economy — (applause) — that’s true, by the way. It takes about 200 rubles to equal one dollar.
“The economy is on track to be cut in half in the coming years. It was ranked — Russia’s economy was ranked the 11th biggest economy in the world before this evasion [sic] — invasion. It will soon not even rank among the top 20 in the world. (Applause.)
“Taken together, these economic sanctions are a new kind of economic statecraft with the power to inflict damage that rivals military might.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/26/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-united-efforts-of-the-free-world-to-support-the-people-of-ukraine/
And the benefits of that quick kill of the Russian economy also laid out in the two sources cited:-
“My message to the rest of Europe, this new battle for freedom has already made a few things crystal clear. First, Europe must end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And we, the United States will help. [Applause]
“That’s why just yesterday in Brussels I announced the plan with the president of the European Commission to get Europe through the immediate energy crisis. Over the long-term, as a matter of economic security and national security and for the survivability of the planet, we all need to move as quickly as possible to clean, renewable energy.”
That completing the Trump/Grenell drive to detach Germany from Russian suppliers. Also, it was hoped, to supply Germany LNG instead. Also further impetus for Net Zero.
.And for the Europeans?
“What this Ukrainian crisis shows, and what the European response shows, is that Europe cannot be content with being an economic and financial power, even if it is effective, it must also become a military power.
“And the paradox of this whole situation is that it is the violence of Vladimir PUTIN which will finally create European strategic independence..”
That bringing the EU further along the path of becoming the United States of Europe, with appropriate independent military power. Placing Europe in the position of being able to “Project the power of a Continent”, the dream of European integrationists for decades. Also boosting European defence industry production.
Also getting rid of a decidedly inconvenient Russian President. President Biden:-
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power..”
That early period marked the high tide of Western hopes. So many goals. So many results hoped for from the sanctions war against Russia.
And the military defeat of Russia in Ukraine was another result that would have been surely automatic. For with Putin gone, the Russian economy in tatters, and the RF itself suffering the consequences of the hoped for destabilisation, it is scarcely likely that Russia would have had the requisite resources and will to fight a large NATO trained and equipped Ukrainian army.
But the quick kill did not succeed. It soon became apparent to all that the sanctions war had failed.
With that failure any prospect of Ukrainian military victory vanished.”
………………………………………
So that’s what we were after at the beginning, LeaNder. Now that the sanctions war has failed so catastrophically it’s going to be a “hobby” for very many of us Europeans, tracing the causes of the blowback.
TTG – I hope submitting that comment on the sanction was OK. It’s one I wrote some time ago and submitted elsewhere. But I do believe that, particularly in the States, the European participation in the sanctions war is overlooked.
Also, unusually for me (?) some infuriating typing errors. My excuse is that I’ve been doing a massive bake and scrambling back to the computer only occasionally. At present I’m on the last lap and about to load up the oven. I only hope the loaves are more successful than my proof-reading.
TTG
Power went out in NYC very briefly early this AM. Web surfing is slow where I am now in Queens. All the links to stories about this event are not loading in my phone. That’s weird but may mean nothing. Just FYI.
I had to switch browsers to finally get this story to load. I had two thoughts;
1) That TTG was making a great deal of sense when he wondered outloud recently how goes our defenses against drone attacks. Especially smaller drones as that’s typically what the big businesses in the MIC would likely overlook in pursuit of profit.
2) Moral Causative. America should pray that it doesn’t operate, because if it does then you can expect a humongous ass whuppin, at the very least due to support of genocide of the people of Gaza. Note – NYC is home to 1.1 million Jews in the 5 boroughs and 1.75 million in the greater metropolitan area.
———————-
Power Goes Out, Very Briefly, in New York City
An explosion was seen at a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn after lights flickered in people’s homes. The utility blamed a short-circuit on high-voltage equipment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/nyregion/nyc-power-outage-explosion.html
A momentary power outage caused lights to flicker across most of New York City late Thursday night, the authorities said, followed by what witnesses described as an explosion and rising smoke at an electrical substation in Brooklyn.
Con Edison, the electricity, gas and steam utility that services 10 million people in New York City and Westchester County, said that a piece of high-voltage electric equipment had short-circuited, causing a large flash at a substation near the Manhattan Bridge on the East River at 11:55 p.m.
Matthew Ketschke, the president of the utility, told reporters early Friday that a protective system was activated to isolate that piece of failed equipment, leading to a brief voltage dip that caused the lights across the city to flicker for about a second.
Witnesses with a view of the substation described the lights in their apartments as quickly blinking twice, followed by the explosion at the substation. People shared their accounts of the outage and the blast on social media.
“The lights flickered twice briefly,” Sean Scott, 30, a software engineer who was at home in Manhattan, said by telephone. “I looked outside and I saw some streetlights flickering.”
“Then I felt a soft boom and saw a fireball and I saw the smoke,” added Mr. Scott, who said he had a view of most of Brooklyn from his apartment.
Anna Di, 32, a chiropractor in Manhattan, described the explosion as an “orange glow” that disappeared within seconds, leaving gray smoke that rose from the substation.
“It was just shocking to see this ball of fire across the water,” she said by telephone.
Set for release in the spring / April.
April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs from the dead land –
T.S. Eliot / The Wasteland 1922
The paranoid fringe, scarcely a fringe now, will say this film proves that “the globalists” are intending to make war on the people of America, using the US military which is controlled by ZOG. For a mere $15 billion Alex Jones will happily replace “ZOG” with whatever the highest bidder orders. An independent film, controlled of course, by “the globalists.”
“It figures, right Festus (?), because they’re so sneaky and powerful. They got the tapes from Epstein Island .. (ghoulish cackle).”
I’m not so sure about that Matthew, I mean Marshal Dillon, sir. Nice ghoulish cackle though.
“Yep. Miss Kitty sure cooks up some goulash doesn’t she?”
Civil War | Official Trailer
https://youtu.be/aDyQxtg0V2w
the Austrian Colonel Reisner published a video discussing the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjMr3RZ8Ss
Reisner was one of the first to grasp the approach the Russians adopted after the failure of the Istanbul talks.
In fact before that failure: full marks to the Russians for trying for a settlement but given the ferocity of the Western assault on their economy they must have know that the West was all in and would stay all in, So in fact the Russian approach was set before Istanbul and has remained consistent since.
Reisner got that. He didn’t get the first few weeks of the SMO but then nobody did. What must have been one of the most brilliant military operations of modern times, those first few weeks, passed him by entirely. But he understood that well before the so called “Surovikin Line” the Russians had settled down to a policy of attrition whilst keeping their own casualties to a minimum.
Attrition of course doesn’t work unless the enemy keeps shovelling troops against your lines to be attrited. For a long time the Russians could rely on that. The exigencies of American politics meant the Ukrainians had to be seen to be putting up a fight. Kiev politics worked to the same imperatives. So the shovelling continued to the present day. I recollect writing to Colonel Lang’s site way back protesting that the manner in which we were sacrificing Ukrainian troops was wrong. “b” on MOA wrote that what we were doing with our proxies was a “crime”. So it was. These were in the main courageous and resourceful soldiers. Time and time again they were thrown without compunction against a wall of steel to die for no military purpose whatsoever.
But here in this video Reisner forgets his own lesson. The ludicrous firetrap of Rabotinino he pretends was a proper if ill-fated military operation. It was in no sense a responsibly constructed military operation. It was nonsense dreamed up by the table top exercise generals of NATO to keep the illusion of Ukrainian success going for that bit longer.
So too with Khrinky. Reisner pretends that that also was a realistic military operation. In his dreams. Three Marine brigades, some of the best Ukrainian troops, were mashed up in that PR offensive. As far as I know men are still being sent to die for nothing there. Probably as a result of the Milley/Cavoli/Radakin conference where Zaluzhnyi was given his lunatic instructions.
Martyanov fulminates about the NATO amateur night generals who haven’t the faintest idea how to plan a viable operation. He’s right of course but I believe there’s more to it than that. People like Milley and Cavoli gave up any pretence of being professional soldiers long since. They cheerfully sacrifice uncountable numbers of Ukrainian PBI merely to run this hopeless war down in a way that doesn’t leave the politicians with too much egg on their faces.
Does Reisner get that? Maybe but if so he’s not saying. I used to spend a little time watching this elite product of the Austrian military establishment and in the end came to the conclusion that he’s no more than a chancer himself. We in the West are plagued by these impressive looking and sounding military “experts” whose only real expertise is information war. Reisner does a fair job of putting lipstick on the pig but that’s really all he’s there for.
The estimated losses are indeed staggering. But somehow, the Russians continue to be a problem for the Ukrainians. Hmmm…..
drifter,
Russia is a big country with resources that dwarf Ukraine. Of course the Russians remain a problem for Ukraine. Given the dichotomy in size and resources, why is it that Ukraine remains a problem for Russia as the war approaches the two year mark?
Ukraine might remain a problem for Russian. But perhaps the losses are less and less an issue.
TTG
because Ukraine is not fighting alone. It is supported by dozens of NATO and non NATO countries.
Without that economic and military support, Ukraine would have folded many moons ago.
According to former Israeli PM Bennett, the negotiations that took place at the beginning of this war were progressing successfully until UK/US stepped in and put a stop to it.
wiz,
Yes, that support was critical from day one and remains critical. Without it, resistance to Russian occupation would be limited to what is currently going on in the occupied territories… guerilla warfare.
Russia (as the Soviet Union) was a much, much larger country than Afghanistan and yet they still lost there.
The assessment didn’t mention how they derived their figures. I guess the Pentagon gets to wave the ‘cannot reveal means and methods’ magic wand to just tell the senators what they want to hear.
Chritian J Chuba
if you want to see a more detailed, analytical approach to figuring out Russian military fatalities in Ukraine take a look at Mediazona:
https://en.zona.media/article/2022/05/20/casualties_eng
How is the Pentagon continuing to fund its support for Ukraine?
This article gives an indepth look:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/12/15/how-us-keeps-funding-ukraines-military-even-it-says-its-out-of-money.html