Zaluzhnyi on modern war

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi assessed on November 1 that the war in Ukraine has taken on a positional nature and offered a series of recommendations for Ukraine to restore maneuver to the battlespace. In an essay entitled “Modern Positional Warfare and How to Win It” and an interview with The Economist, Zaluzhnyi outlined the current operational environment in Ukraine and noted that, despite several previously successful Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in 2022, the war is now “gradually moving to a positional form.” Zaluzhnyi heavily stressed that the current positional nature of the war is largely a result of military parity between Ukrainian and Russian forces, noting that a deep and dramatic Ukrainian penetration of Russian lines will likely not be possible with the relative technological and tactical equilibrium currently between Ukrainian and Russian forces. In his interview with The Economist, Zaluzhnyi acknowledged that technological and tactical parity between opposing forces in Ukraine has resulted in a “stalemate” similar to the case of the First World War. In the more extensive essay on the subject, Zaluzhnyi notably refrained from classifying the situation as a full stalemate and instead framed it as a “positional” war resulting from aspects of this technological-tactical parity. According to Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s ability to overcome this technological-tactical parity will be contingent on Ukraine’s ability to secure five main operational components that have become particularly significant since the summer of 2023 — gaining air superiority; breaching Russian mine barriers in depth; increasing the effectiveness of counterbattery combat; creating and training the necessary reserves; and building up electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.

Zaluzhnyi offered a series of specific tactical solutions to the five aforementioned operational components that have created the conditions for positional warfare, which in his view will allow Ukraine to overcome military parity with Russian forces. Regarding the issue of air superiority, Zaluzhnyi argued that Ukrainian forces need to significantly improve drone capabilities to gain air superiority along the frontline. Zaluzhny argued that Ukrainian forces need to overload Russian air defenses, neutralize Russian strike drones, and degrade Russian visibility over the front by deploying cheap drones en masse, developing specific drones meant to target Russian strike drones, and employing EW complexes throughout the front. Zaluzhnyi argued that to overcome the challenges of EW use on the frontline, Ukrainian forces need to introduce necessary command and control (C2) processes for EW complexes, increase EW production capabilities, and streamline engagements with volunteer organizations that provide smaller EW complexes to Ukrainian forces. Zaluzhnyi also recommended that Ukrainian forces improve counter-EW measures and develop new drones with EWs in mind. To gain counterbattery superiority, Zaluzhnyi recommended that Ukrainian forces use more reconnaissance and strike drones to improve Ukrainian counterbattery fire and argued that Ukrainian forces need to strengthen GPS support for Ukrainian counterbattery units and increase the number of counterbattery assets. Zaluzhnyi stated that improved sensors, more widespread and varied mine clearing capabilities, and anti-drone equipment will allow Ukrainian forces to more successfully breach Russian mine barriers in depth while under concealment. 

Zaluzhnyi also highlighted wider administrative adaptations and domestic developments in addition to his specific tactical battlefield solutions. Zaluzhnyi specifically called on Ukraine to introduce a Unified State Register for draftees, reservists, and those liable for military service to prepare a necessary reserve for Ukrainian forces. Zaluzhnyi more broadly called on Ukrainian officials to incentivize Ukrainian citizens to join the military reserve and expand the number of citizens that Ukrainian forces are allowed to train. Zaluzhnyi also noted that improving Ukrainian C2 and logistics support will be critical to improving operations writ large. Zaluzhnyi stated that the formation of a “single information environment for C2 through the use of modern information technology will allow Ukrainians to get ahead of Russian forces in terms of situational awareness. Zaluzhnyi particularly highlighted the need for Ukraine to develop its own defense industry to sustain operations, long-range strike capabilities, and an asymmetric munitions arsenal to break out of military parity with Russian forces.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-1-2023-0

Comment: This is a summary, albeit a detailed summary, of General Zaluzhnyi’s recent interview with the “Economist” and an essay he wrote entitled “Modern Positional Warfare and How to Win It.” He is impressive in his frankness. He sees both sides now in a state of parity with current battlefield tactics and technology leading to positional warfare… a stalemate. And he acknowledges that this status quo will not lead to a Ukrainian victory. His solution for what needs to be done and what can be done is realistic and insightful. I’m sure the Russians read this with great interest. I suggest we do the same.

TTG

https://infographics.economist.com/2023/ExternalContent/ZALUZHNYI_FULL_VERSION.pdf

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27 Responses to Zaluzhnyi on modern war

  1. wiz says:

    He didn’t say anything new.
    It’s been clear for quite a while that drones and AI are extremely important.
    What he is not saying is that the Russians are not standing still and are busy trying to overcome this stalemate and are developing, producing and importing all kinds of capabilities.

    Ukraine on the other hand will need to be given most of what it needs.

  2. d74 says:

    I read.
    Given that time (duration) is what Ukraine lacks, among other requirements, to wage this war successfully it seems to me that the General’s plans concerning technology (research and industrialization) are a declaration of defeat.
    To put it another way: if Lee hadn’t lost and surrendered, well, he’d have won.
    My battle cry: technology is very useful when you don’t need it.

    I hope I’m wrong.

  3. F&L says:

    TTG –
    The “Eek On I Must” magazine is a publication of MI6 (Am I Sick?) as I suspect you’ve heard.
    It could be as you say. But it could also be that Gen Zaluzhnyi’s words are either written for him by “Am I Sick” or used by them for purposes of deception. Probably not, but just possibly. Why say so? Because of these developments discussed here in these 2 telegram posts. You’ll likely know better what to think of them or not, but were you aware of this stuff about Teplinsky being hurt immediately after appointment to a high command in Kherson and these Gerasimov rumors when you composed this post? It’s particularly nasty because it’s rumored and partly substantial that Terplinsky and Shoigu are not compatible. So much so that when T was injured (his command got walloped hard with artillery or missiles and there were officer deaths) it was bruited about that Shoigu had leaked their coordinates to the enemy. That sounds like malicious disinfo but they’re taking it so seriously, some of them, that they’re saying that Putin actually called Shoigu to check on the rumor’s validity. Either way, the Avdeeka thing sounds like an unholy mess, really terrible.

    https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/3067

    The wounding of General Teplinsky could lead to the loss of the Kherson region. Does Gerasimov have his own plans for this?
    Three sources at once in the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense expressed fears that due to the injury of the commander of the Dnepr group of troops, Mikhail Teplinsky, our army could have serious problems in the Kherson region.
    “It’s no secret that the situation on the left bank of the Dnieper is not going smoothly for us. You have reported this several times . In principle, the change of commander of the Dnepr group was associated with panic, violation of discipline, friendly fire and other problems. But General Teplinsky didn’t even have time to restore order before he was wounded,” says one of our interlocutors, drawing truly gloomy forecasts.
    According to another interlocutor, soon after Teplinsky was wounded, the Ukrainian army improved its position in the area of ​​​​the settlements of Cossack Camps and Krynki. “Mikhail Yuryevich’s injury, as far as I heard, is serious. Although they talk all sorts of things here. I’m afraid that if an adequate replacement is not urgently found for him, we may lose at least part of the Kherson region. An army without control fights very poorly,” the interlocutor shared his fears.
    Moreover, all sources believe that Valery Gerasimov may be involved in the retreat in the Kherson region. “Sorry, the topic is the wounding of General Teplinsky. It is no secret that Valery Vasilyevich proposed retreating from Artemovsk and Tokmak in order to save strength and use people in other directions. He was not allowed to do this. Taking into account the creation of several bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnieper, Gerasimov may propose a retreat in the Kherson region. Of course, under the pretext of strengthening other directions – in particular, Avdeevka, Kupyansk, Ugledar – three important goals for us,” a high-ranking interlocutor at the Ministry of Defense told us.

    https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/3035
    Valery Gerasimov wants to transfer troops from near Artemovsk and from the Zaporozhye direction of the front to storm Avdeevka.
    He expressed this idea during a conversation with several generals close to him, our source at the General Staff said. Gerasimov remains of the opinion that it will be difficult for us to retain Artemovsk (Bakhmut) and Tokmak. But, according to him, there are chances to take Avdeevka.
    “Valery Vasilyevich wants to rationally distribute efforts. After all, if our guys have to die, then at least let them die for a goal that can be achieved,” our interlocutor explained.
    However, he does not know whether Gerasimov’s idea will be realized. Such a transfer of troops is fraught with the loss of control over Artemovsk and part of the Zaporozhye region (including over Tokmak, which the Chief of the General Staff has long proposed to give to the enemy in order to save forces and resources), therefore Vladimir Putin personally must give the go-ahead. And for the president, “any retreat now will be extremely painful, even if we advance in another direction of the front.”
    As for Avdeevka , the losses there, unfortunately, are growing. According to preliminary data, as of Thursday evening, October 26, the number of our military personnel killed in this direction of the front exceeded 3,200 people.

    • Mark Logan says:

      F&L,

      I’ve been wondering what the Ukrainians are up to in Kherson, perhaps a ploy in which a few battalions can keep a Russian division engaged in a game of Whack-A-Mole, but the assignment of Teplinsky to the area indicates the Russians are worried about something in it.

      Perhaps now that the lower dam is gone, leaving the upstream dam which is under Ukrainian potentially capable of completely shutting off all flow during the winter is that worry. Could result in a frozen river bottom and flood plain, opening the entire region wide open for a broad offensive.

      • F&L says:

        Mark Logan,
        I’m confused myself. Especially with this post today below on some tactical thing in the Kherson theatre. The guys in the comments don’t seem to understand which side is which. The supervisor allows Russians & Ukrainians in his comment section so it’s a madhouse. I’ll see what I can figure out but it’s random data points for me after ogling Gaza for a week. There’s all kinds of so-called info out last night & today about the EU and US pushing Ukraine for negotiations with Ru behind the scenes as I guess you know.
        —————————-
        https://t.me/grey_zone/21630
        03.11.2023
        Krynki, Kherson region, Russia.

        “The view from the other side.”

        / the meat grinder is going on. The situation is difficult. Those p///s who say that everything is under control there have learned nothing from when they told that there is no one at the dachas on the left bank of the Dnieper…
        @romanov_92

      • F&L says:

        You can also read this update to the post above. Too long to copy out. A minor disaster, probably not important strategically but a deplorable f up anyway.

        https://t.me/grey_zone/21631

  4. English Outsider says:

    General Zaluzhnyi will be very lucky if he can get the Russians to take him seriously. But he, or some other Ukrainian, might be lucky. The Russians are still after neutralising remnant Ukraine and maybe some big Ukrainian figure will offer a way forward to that.

    Unlikely. There are now no big Ukrainian figures around who will willingly see the monuments go and General Zaluzhnyi isn’t one of them.

    https://forward.com/news/462916/nazi-collaborator-monuments-in-ukraine/

    But maybe something’ll be worked out. Hope it can. Watching Kiev take the Ukrainian people, what’s left of them, through the last days in the bunker has been a tragic sight for the last year and more.

    Maybe something will be worked out with the US too. The American electorate has a short memory and is volatile. It’s not that interested in foreign policy in any case. Such interest as it has will be focused more on Gaza now. The Ukrainian commitment is something Washington will be able to slide away from if it wants to.

    Europe? Europe, my own country with it and let’s not pretend “Brexit” changed matters in any respect, is “screwed”. That’s actually the term Mearsheimer used of the US – no idea about that but that’s been the case with Europe for at least a couple of decades; and the downward trend has been markedly accelerated, or at least underlined, by the blowback from the sanctions war.

    You don’t know it, TTG, but when I get to the computer, which is far too often these days given that the yard work calls with increasing urgency, I’ve been leading a double life. Not only here but on English sites doing a fair imitation of Cassandra. “We are doomed” sort of thing.

    Which is not that unusual a cry in England! A failing economy, mass immigration, a decaying infrastructure, an overloaded NHS, a dysfunctional government – that and the unfortunate fact that we’re bust is generally accepted. But it’s irritating that we’ve added to our woes, severely intensified them in fact, by allowing our politicians to get us caught up in the Ukrainian debacle. The entirety of Europe has allowed the politicians, Scholz at their head and the UK egging him on, to get thoroughly entangled in that briar patch. And if we don’t look out we’ll be rammed in further. We now have to consider what happens after the Ukrainian war is over:-

    ” Well before 21st of February last year it was clear that we were saying to the Russians “Come out and fight!”. Well, they have.

    ” But none of all this indicates how the Russians intend to solve the problem of remnant Ukraine. Occupy it and that’s cost and trouble. Don’t occupy it and it remains a NATO proxy spearhead that, as Sleboda says, will cause endless problems. And there are enough courageous and determined fighters among the ultra-nationalists to ensure those problems are severe.

    “So the limited and modest objectives of the original SMO are now as long as a piece of string. There have been indications recently that in order to stop remnant Ukraine being a problem in the future, the Russians recognise they will have to get their late 2021 European security demands met. In full. That is the extent to which that original SMO could now go.

    “Since the Russians have evinced no desire to extend military operations to Europe itself, and won’t unless there’s further military escalation from NATO, the only means they will have of getting those demands met will be economic.

    “It could be a long and most disagreeable Cold War II, for us Europeans.”

    That’s Cassandra from several months back. Putin stated at the start of the SMO that the question of whether European supply contracts would be allowed to run out would be considered at a later date. We’re now getting very close to that later date. Time is fast running out for the Europoodles to change course. And for Washington to decide whether it’ll let them.

    • F&L says:

      Nothing is doomed really. It just hardly ever is totally undoomed. My lunch looked very nice an hour ago and smelled delicious too. Now it’s gone. I ate it. Was it doomed? You heard of club med. Now join Doo-Med! and receive our one time discount rates.
      Want to see doomed? Check out Stalingrad today. Go here and scroll up a few. People are jumping off roofs and windows – young people in the prime of life. Or try some of our decaying cities with shootings, homelessness and fentanyl overdoses. These international spectacles are just another stupid picture of greedy thieving wasteful selfishness, laziness, illness, bad luck and entropy entropy entropy.
      https://t.me/ghest_vlg/2152

  5. F&L says:

    More proof if anyone needs it of how deeply similar are the ruling mastodons in the two great nuclear weapons powers. How cruelly and stupidly they treat their hundreds of millions of citizens is almost impossible to surpass. They are the two great human hordes of cattle. But fear not – the behemoths of China and India are human anthills, not cattle ranches and in America’s case free human-being shooting ranges every single day. China being almost infinitely superior. Do you think it’s a holy thing to burn your wife alive if she outluves you, while taking care to never hurt a cow? Of course the united states’ prefers India and if it’s not careful might end up with a President of Indian origin. Did you make through Piers Morgan’s obnoxious condescending interview with even make re obnoxious candidate Rami Swami without turning it off 5 times before the 40 minute mark? Rami Swami ain’t becoming president this go ’round. He needs to absorb a goood deal more of our culture than a wife burning superstition with cow deities is liable to grock soon. That’s right, Candidate Swami – we raise cows and eat em with salt and pepper sometimes bbq sauce, served rare preferably, no cows ruling in heaven in America, sorry. And that’s because the Indians don’t have slanty eyes and resemble the millions of “slopes”, “nips,” and “gooks” killed by the millions by American militarism’s finest in wars you all remember. Also, Swami – we here killed and wiped out zillions of Injuns, and the cowfat cholesterol clogs our brain’s fine capillaries so we’re crude and plain vanilla dumb so we think that killing Indians is part of our noble heritage, even though the history is all wrong. More seriously, Sri Ramaswamy – you showed literally ZERO human empathy or compassion at all, you came across as a heartless, souless whippersnapper. Our God, is a mighty, vast, immensely powerful god of Compassion first and foremost, and only then, a bloody egotistical genocidal murderer who brutally kills his only son and diabolically sentences his number one assistant the devil to eternal hell, called the earth most days of the week, where he practices vampirism and moneylending at usurious interest and let’s man get on with being a wolf to man like he was brought up to be by generations of people who saw their children die before the age of three usually – so guess what, they never learned to be very nice. Get you priorities straight and try again. But beware. Kamala Harris may turn out to be really awful and she’s part Indian, so .. . Don’t feel bad Mr Swami – you’re Indian and we’re not having it yet, sorry, just like gayboy Petey Buttigieg, not the Indian kid, butt the Indiana Kid and he’s blown it too, know what I mean?
    ——————–
    https://t.me/anatoly_nesmiyan/14064
    A fairly indicative example of the fact that in Russia decisions are made in complete isolation from any, even the most superficial, analysis. There is a governing decision, and no one has a headache about the rest. Any doubt about the correctness of the instructions issued from above can be fatal for the doubter.
    The fact is that bans on abortion have never led to an increase in the birth rate anywhere in the world. Even in openly religious countries like Poland. In Texas, which has strict abortion regulations, the birth rate still fell.
    For Russia, this is all completely irrelevant, since during the post-Soviet era the number of abortions (despite the fact that they are not prohibited) has decreased by almost an order of magnitude; prohibiting them in such conditions is complete idiocy. And this means, among other things, that the problem is not with them at all.
    But the decision has been made, and they are diligently implementing it, without going into details – is it worth it? The bosses, due to their natural stupidity, follow the simplest path. Since the birth rate has fallen, it means that if we prohibit interruptions, it will rise. The fact that the process may not be linear does not occur to the bosses, and if it does, they are frightened by the echo in the empty space and run away.
    And this is not only the topic of abortion. It’s about everything. All Russian management is reflexive. It has encountered an obstacle and is trying to get around it. Not even once does the slightest desire to understand the problem arise. And there is no one to ask – they recruit the faithful, from whom it is impossible to ask as they are smart. Those recruited can only smartly report that measures have been taken, pleasing the ears of their superiors. https://t.me/rusbrief/171152

  6. mcohen says:

    Thanks for Posting the link.I know nothing about warfare but it all looks familiar.Standard chess opening down the middle.
    What was expected from these minds.
    Air,fire,earth but not so much water as it is not a factor.

    I wrote a poem after a vision in a forest while tripping on mushrooms

    I see ruby
    Black swans in their finest
    Flying across the azure sky

    So air it is.

    The impossible to defend against.Air borne nano weapons delivered by drones.
    Modern day version of mustard gas but much more destructive.Imagine fighting in a haz suit.That is what is being tested at the moment.
    https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/AUPress/Book-Reviews/Display/Article/1731239/nanoweapons-a-growing-threat-to-humanity/

  7. mcohen says:

    Then of course there is the nanobonena that slips in once peeled.

  8. John Minehan says:

    I tend to didcount this.

    The Ukrainians made significant gains against the Russians using “Ludendorf Tactics.” With ATACMS , this puts them within the possibility to control the LoCs into te Theater by fires.

    Recent strikes against the Black Sea Fleet makes that asset into a Target and demonstrate dissatifaction with the Russians in the “occupied terretories.”

    The Russian falure to drop the Ukrainian electrical grid after maore than a year demonstrates that the Russians lack IMINT and HUMINT. Without these resources at an Operational or Strategic level, they cannot sustain a Recon Strike compless, despite their success withg Recon-Fires complexes at the tactical level. The Russiabs have also not been able to leverage their air superiority above the tactical level.

    Aditionally, the Russians have not been able to launch an effective counter-offensive anywhere,

    These are ungoing weaknesses that the Russians have not been able to resolve,

    • English Outsider says:

      On the electrical grid, what most Western analysts do is this. They imagine a Russian aim. They tell us what that aim is. When the Russians don’t do it they tell us the Russians have failed.

      Happened with the “Battle of Kiev”. The analysts told us the Russians intended to storm Kiev. Big fail when they didn’t. But in fact the Russians were not proposing to storm Kiev. So it was all made up.

      Same with the missile strikes on the grid. The analysts say the Russians intended to take the grid out but failed. But what if they were intending to degrade AD? Or disable enough to impede military transport – the Ukrainian were down to hauling steam engines out of storage at one time.

      Of course we don’t know for certain what the Russian aims were. The Russians are usually close mouthed about their next move. But one thing we can be fairly certain of. It’s not what most of the Western analysts are shooting a line about.

      In reality we’re now just sitting around waiting. We’re waiting to find out whether the Ukrainian military defeat occurs before Ukrainian political or social breakdown.

      You’ll note Arestovich is shooting his mouth off. Nothing unusual there in itself. Except he’s getting away with it. That even though he’s openly criticising “Bankova”. That, and the US press recently demoting Zelensky from his previous position as Saviour of the Rules Based International Order, indicates political change in the air.

      And the money Uncle Sam and the Europoodles have been pouring in is not only not getting to the Kiev military in proper amounts. It’s sure as hell not getting to anyone much but the officials, skimming it furiously before it all runs out. The population figures are appalling and it’s mainly the poor left. This is worse than Germany before the end and there’s no prospect of it getting anything but worse.

      As for the military position, forget about dreams of Istanbul II or any hopes of a DMZ. Russia knows it’s in the scrap of its life against NATO. To defeat NATO they have to kill the NATO proxies. Who are obliging by crowding themselves up against the “Surovikin Line” to get killed in quantity.

      So military defeat or political or social breakdown. We should have no illusions. This thing is over and all we’re doing is waiting to see how.

      • TTG says:

        EO,

        “But in fact the Russians were not proposing to storm Kiev. So it was all made up.”

        You’re telling a modern day “Fox and the Grapes” fable. The Kremlin sought a quick, comparatively bloodless decapitation of the government in Kyiv. They didn’t conduct those air assault and armored thrusts just to perpetrate the Bucha massacre. They failed in their effort to take out Zelenskiy and had to withdraw at great cost.

        Two thirds of Western aid to Ukraine is in the form of arms, munitions and other war fighting materiel. That aid is getting to the Ukrainian war fighters and is being used to destroy Russian armor and artillery and kill Russian troops. That isn’t to say there is no corruption in Ukraine. Continuing SBU arrests show there’s still work to be done on that front.

      • John Minehan says:

        The USSR took down Kabul effectively with an Airbourne and SOF operation in 1979. The Russian siezure of Crimea in 2014 involved very clever use of SOF.

        Given this history, why would the Russians not try to replicate this with Kiev?

        If the Russians want to see “Ukrainian political or social breakdown” why wouldn’t they drop the Ukrainian Grid? We did it in about 3 days in Iraq 20 years ago, so it is not rocket science.

        The Russians did better in the South, away from Kiev from the beginning. The 2022 Ukrainian Offensive was less successful than portrayed.

        The Ukrainians, until recently, were not good at Counterfire or Tageting generally, They tended to fire expensive drones against every 2S1 that prsented. I would suspect a lot of the early successes, the dead Russian Generals, the ships and te hits on the bridges were down to luck as much as anything, but they are getting better.

        That General may just want to get the Russians over confident.

        The Russians have more problems they are not fixing than the Ukrainians.

  9. leith says:

    Ukraine has been doing an excellent job in counter-battery. And although they have not done the same for the air war, they’ve done a fair job in keeping the Russkies from achieving air superiority.

    Breaching the minefields, which in some cases are up to ten miles in depth, is going to be key for a breakthrough. Why wouldn’t they use rockets with FAE (Fuel-AirExplosive) warheads? They may need that Carpet Minefield Clearing and IED Neutralization/Detonation System made in Haifa by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. Seems a better solution than those mine clearing tanks. Definitely faster than combat engineer troops clearing mines one by one in the middle of the night. And certainly more efficient than trying to stampede a large herd of livestock through those minefields (snark).

    • F&L says:

      There’s debate over “12 F-16s in Poland on the way to Ukraine soon” – yesterday and also “5 F-16s already in Ukraine” etc presumably with pilots but it’s unknown as far as I know. We can believe whatever we choose to but for the Russians to believe the Economist is kind of like believing that arsenic is good for your health. The fighter plane stuff didn’t come from that magazine AFAIK, but if you believe anything you hear then you also believe that Putin is dead an in a refrigerator and that Prigozhin died of a cocaine overdose while playing with a live hand grenade in the cabin of a jet plane.

      • TTG says:

        F&L,

        I doubt the F-16s in the numbers the West is talking about will do little than replace Ukraine’s battlefield losses. Masses of drones and associated technological advances seems to be what will make a difference. Of course Russia is getting better in this field as well.

        • F&L says:

          Huge psychological weapon with all the advertising about their frightening long range missile armament, not to mention the terrors induced by the fact that they are one of the aircraft that can carry nukes. You haven’t forgotten that they can take out the bridge (?). The sneakier and more weaselishly inclined of Ukraine, Perfidious Albion etc may be waiting till March next year or late February to destroy the bridge as a particularly nasty surprise party for his nibsovich’s Presidential election. If you buy into current rumors, the US wants Zelensky replaced and is insisting, quietly, on a Ukraine Presidential election sometime early next year. Who knows how brutal and stupid and things will get?

        • F&L says:

          Speaking of Psychological warfare. Gen Charles Brown USAF now Chairman JCS – nickname “Ruthless.” Ruthenia, etc are old names for Russia. It says “no Russia” – Ruth less, just as brainless means no brains. Sounds like a psycho worse than my dad, but that’s also Psychological propaganda similar to Reagan babbling on about the Apocalypse at the close of a debate with Mondale. Or let’s hope so.

          In other news – the oldest forest in the world is suddenly today located in Cairo NY. As you know I look for hidden messages. Xi Rho – Ξ Ρ is the ancient Christogram of Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome. The question arises – who is Christopher Graham?
          Maybe Cairo NY is some Roy Cain. Roy .. Royal .. Rey ..
          King Cain. First killer made king? But Cain could be Inca. An Incan royal? I pay attention because the oldest forest in the world story was featured prominently worldwide in the Google News feed on the browser search pages. Chi Rho, keep in mind, might reference Rich Ho – anyone know a Rich Ho?
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rho
          https://q1057.com/new-york-state-is-home-to-the-worlds-oldest-forest-do-you-know-where/

          https://t.me/mayday_7700/3003
          For information about the new Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Committee of the US Army Chief of Staff, Charles Brown Jr.

          He demanded that the White House “begin preparations for a war with Russia or China” and remember that such a battle “will be comparable in scale to World War II.”

          Nicknames among his colleagues are “Ruthless” and “Swamp Thing” (in 1991, after the fuel tank of his F-16 exploded over the United States, he spent 15 minutes in the swamp). Received the “Wolf 46” patch in the USAF F-16 Wolfpack.
          Black person.
          Loves beer, bourbon, barbecue and chicken strips.

          In his youth he admired the pilots of the Enola Gay (Hiroshima), but quickly apologized.
          He was the head of the forces of strategic containment of Russia and “nuclear integration” at the Ramstein airbase in Germany (in Russian, he taught European pilots how to shoot nuclear weapons). Responsible for flights, incl. drones near the borders of the Russian Federation and “exercises on nuclear bombing of St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Crimea.”
          He was responsible for planning “air operations” (bombing, in other words) “in the area of ​​responsibility of 20 countries.”

          https://t.me/mayday_7700/3311

          Admiral Lisa Franchetti became the head of the US Navy – she became the first woman on the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the post of “naval commander” (despite the sign of sailors ).
          From 2020 to 2022, the admiral worked as the director of strategy and plans for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, where she took part in 3 exercises on the war with Russia, and commanded the AUG near Korea – when the United States was intimidating Kim Jong-un.

          In 2018, Franchetti commanded the first-ever Tomahawk strike from a Virginia-class nuclear submarine against Syria from European waters. “The target was complex: three targets in Damascus and near Homs were close to Russian forces and air defense systems, the defeat of which the United States wanted to avoid,” writes Navy Times . According to ex-Admiral Foggo, “there were some real problems there” – but Lisa said “I’m not afraid of the Russians” and gave the command to fire a salvo. The result – “the targets were destroyed, collateral damage was minimal, the Russians were not hit.”
          Supports the new Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles “Ruthless” Brown Jr. , in demanding that Biden “begin preparing for war with Russia or China.”

          • TTG says:

            F&L,

            I was excited about that oldest forest in New York article until I realized it was a fossilized forest. What a let down. I thought it was something to rival the bristle cone pines in California or the Stelmužė oak in Lithuania.

      • F&L says:

        TTG
        Did you get this far?
        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Oregon,_New_York
        I couldn’t find a town or city New York in the state of Oregon.
        Cairo NY .. Cai OR NY.

        I wonder what Cai could stand for? But it could signify
        CA IRONY – I couldn’t find a town called Irony, California. But there is an Irony wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from California. Seeing a Pinot Noir on the same webpage,
        NOIR CAY.
        TTG – do you see what I see? A quay in northern IR. Is that Iraq or Iran? Or another country or place. Or Black Cay. Who’s Cay? Is he YAIR ONC, AIR ON CY, Are these radio station call letters? Is CY Kentucky? Have we located the missing “e k” or “e k” of JEKYLL? You’ve almost got a Jelly with K. Kentucky Jell. Was he a 9-ball hustler? Golfer?

        I’m joking around of course, but it’s interesting.

        • TTG says:

          F&L,

          Never been to New Oregon, NY. I have been through Cairo pronounced care ro or kay ro.

        • leith says:

          Never been to either Cairo or new Oregon. But I’ve been to Skinny-Alice NY where I had some damn delicious walleyed pike at a fish fry 50 years ago. Wouldn’t do it lately though, my brother in law says the lake is now full of pesticides.

          • Stefan says:

            I was through Cairo NY recently going upstate and to Vermont to view autumn foliage. I had to send a picture of the Cairo NY city sign to my friends in Cairo Egypt.

  10. aleksandar says:

    I wonder if Zaluzhnyi is delusional or stupid.

    1 – He is in no way able to implement his 5 points strategy for a positionnal war.
    He has neither industrial means, nor manpower, nor resources to do so.

    2 – 300 000 KIA, 100 000 disabled, Ukr army is broken.

    3 – There’s no stalemate.
    Russian army is making progress, bit by bit.

    Avdeevka is already lost, the only MSR is under Russian artillery fire.
    A month or 2 and it’s over.
    ( Bakhmut or Debaltsevo tactical error again and again.)

    Behind Avdeevka there’s nothing, no line of defense all the way to the Dnieper.

    • TTG says:

      aleksandar,

      300,000 KIA? I don’t even believe the Ukrainian figure of 300,000 Russians KIA. Where is Russia making progress? Even at Avdiivka, they’re sending their Zerg rushes up the slag heap only to have them picked of by Ukrainian drones and artillery. Then they repeat. They have proven they can wage a good defense. They’re probably better at that now than they were two years ago. From their high water mark in early Spring of 2022, they’ve lost half of what they gained. Even Crimea and Sevastopol are becoming more liabilities than assets.

      Avdiivka may eventually fall. Russia has the manpower. Neither they nor the Ukrainians have come close to the losses they suffered in WWII. But a victory there will get them no further than Bakhmut or Severodonetsk to the Dnipro. And at what cost in materiel?

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