Western officials told CNN that Ukraine’s bloody counteroffensive is “not meeting expectations on any front” as Ukrainian forces are struggling to break through Russia’s defenses.
The report said that according to Western assessments, Russia’s lines of defense have been well fortified, and Russian forces have been able to bog down Ukrainian armored vehicles with missile strikes and minefields.
One official said Ukraine’s forces were “vulnerable” to Russia’s minefields and described the Russian defenses as “competent.” The officials stressed that the counteroffensive was still in its early stages and said they remained “optimistic” that Ukraine could eventually regain some territory.
Also on Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Ukrainian officials reported progress in the counteroffensive has halted. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the assault “is not an easy walk — this is not a Hollywood movie,” echoing comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky a day earlier.
Zelensky acknowledged on Wednesday that the counteroffensive is going “slower than desired” but vowed Ukrainian forces would fight on. “No matter how far we advance in our counteroffensive, we will not agree to a frozen conflict because that is war, that is a prospectless development for Ukraine,” he said.
According to the Discord leaks and media reports, the US did not believe Ukraine could regain much territory, but the Biden administration pushed for the violent counteroffensive anyway and has rejected the idea of a ceasefire or peace talks.
Unbelievable. My country, the US, eggs on Ukraine then says the counter-offensive is not going well. What monsters those in DC are. How vile. Isn’t it obvious that Ukraine is being waved like a red flag at China? A bloody red flag.
It’s a profit center. Your Country, the US does not care about the war, the people. The IMC loves recession wars.
Itappears to me Alexia is right. This is way beyond greed … or anything human.
Hmmm, not much is beyond these people’s greed …
If you want to learn about the greed, read a documentary book by Jan Tomasz Gross “Golden Harvest”. It is about the extermination of a certain ethnic minority in Poland and how local population, motivated by greed, actively participated.
Yep, just like the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a s red flag message to Stalin.
They hoped to scare Stalin but it didn’t worked. Stalin gave them neither Poland nor China. Four years after Hiroshima, Stalin got his own nuclear bomb and saved his country.
The Bye-Done Admin. needs to get up off their arses and see the situation for what it is. It’s one thing to critique and it is another to deal with the circumstances on the ground.
Don’t expect miracles and everything will meet your expectations.
Russia had ten months to prepare for this event.
How many people are they gonna send to the meatgrinder for virtually zero gain?…
as many as they need to meet their financial/profit goals.
May be their financial/profit goals are connected with the transplantation business? It should be prosperous in Ukraine at the moment.
Until Ukraine is a sovereign country, it will have to follow orders. And those giving the orders have a romantic idea that there is no limit to the sacrifice they are prepared to make. There are signs that the soldiers themselves have had enough.
IT could have been a sovereign country , Putin was willing to do a deal all Z had to do was say Ukraine would not join NATO , he could have had the best of two worlds the EU and Russia instead he was blinded by promises from the US / UK .
Thank you BOjo.
Zelensky is deciding nothing of importance. When someone from Washington or Brussel wants to talk to Ukraine, they phone to Yermak, not to Zelensky. Of course, they are both subordinated to Washington but it is Yermak who is the clever one and who understands how Ukrainian states works.
If Ukraine wants its sovereignty back then they need to kick out US/EU and NATO. Obama overthrew the government in 2014 in a violent bloody coup.
You mean the sacrifice of a section of Western Ukrainians, Banderite Nazi’s. After the coup Eastern Ukraine rose up and refused to accept the new Nazi regime that Obama had imposed. The Western Ukraine Banderites then formed militia’s and went to cleanse East Ukraine of ethnic Russians, they actually referred to them as subhumans.
So i seem to remember a time in history when 6 million people of a certain ethnic persuasion were called subhuman and mass murdered. Any ideas? Just like they are today, except this time the 6 million have taken up arms to defend themselves from the US/EU and NATO attempted atrocities.
Arrest them all as the supreme international criminals they truly are.
Now in Ukraine they have a total mobilization. All men from 18 to 59 have to come to the military commissariat obligatory and without any invitation.
On June 23, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had detained five people who were trying to buy 1 kg of radioactive Cesium-137 for $3.5 million on behalf of a citizen of Ukraine.
1 kg = 35 oz = 2.2 lb of radioactive cesium-137.
the only thing that is good for is making a dirty bomb.
google = “Large amounts of cesium-137 were produced during atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of atmospheric testing and radioactive fallout, this cesium was dispersed and deposited world wide….External exposure to large amounts of Cs-137 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, and even death. Exposure to Cs-137 can increase the risk for cancer because of exposure to high-energy gamma radiation.”
LA Times = “Scientific experts warned Congress more than a decade ago that just four teaspoons of radioactive cesium-137 — if spread by a terrorist’s “dirty bomb” — could contaminate up to 10 square miles of Manhattan.” (or Moscow)
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-12-27/cesium-137-dirty-bomb
——
last week, commentor Michael64 on this forum was trying to convince himself and others that manufactured radiation is no worse than natural background radiation.
“the only thing that is good for is making a dirty bomb.”
Cesium-37 has a number of uses. That’s why it’s available.
This. Sometimes obvious things turn out to be true 😉
Last week Michael64 was telling you that depleted uranium was less radioactive and hence less dangerous than naturally occurring uranium – because it is depleted i.e. the most radioactive isotopes have been harvested from it.
If they are saying this on CNN it must be bad.
And the places they’re NOT saying ANYTHING also means it must be bad.
Greenwald last night eviscerated the liars in the media for their Ukraine lies if you haven’t seen him.
He made your point among others in his almost nightly MSM bash (Brazil was his later topic which was interesting too)
The problem with assessing a war like Ukraine is both sides have an incentive to lie, and independent observers on the ground are in short supply.
Consequently, when officials from one side contradict the usual cheer leading, I take that as a clue. Of course, the Yankee Empire will no doubt use the poor results as an excuse to send even more arms. I feel somebody reaching into my pocket again to pay for all this.
“Hey, why is it so warm in here and why am I in this hand basket? – Biden’s last words
No one ever thought Ukraine would prevail.. but billionaires are being made … Who cares if half of Ukraine dies.. Raytheon, Boeing and the other weapons makers are making big bucks and passing part of that on to the soulless politicians that keep the wars going.. Pure Evil…
They thought they’d be bleeding Russia with an Afghan-style insurgency, a huge Syria right on Russia’ border. Some initial successes have hidden the plan.
If we’d gotten what we expected, that would have been even worse. Syria in the heart of Central Europe.
“Extending Russia” was always self destructive for the EU, and ultimately for a US that needed Russian help in the China confrontation it seeks.
The human sacrifice for more aid isn’t going well. Not to worry, it’s early and there are still plenty of bodies available.
The bodies are there, but will they not stop going at some point?
You’d think. But as long as there are weapons, the Ukrainians are willing to keep dying is what we are told. Keeps the weapons flowing and removes responsibility.
How long will it take for the assisted living generation in Washington to comprehend that Russia is more than a giant gas station? Biden is using a proxy army trained and armed largely by the US to fight a war against one of the best militaries in the world. It is virtually certain that we have nothing conventional to defeat them on the battlefield.
More importantly, the theory that we can just wear them down until they give up is backfiring, and that was Biden’s ace in the hole!
Translation: They are not using the arms cache fast enough so we can sent them more.
I think it’s more like Ukraine is using the arms cache so fast that we can’t keep up.
How many Ukrainian soldiers have to die before Zelensky realizes he ain`t going to win ? , the yanks will keep them in the fight to the last man after all it ain`t US soldiers dying is it .
Russia currently has over a million personnel under arms. Russia is still expanding its military and is creating new military units. According to Shoigu they have already received 3,786 pieces of military hardware and are daily receiving 112 more units.
This is not all new equipment but also refurbished and upgraded depot equipment. But compared to what maybe Ukraine will be getting, the numbers are just huge.
Ukraine cannot win this war even if NATO puts “boots on the ground”, NATO knows this. NATO is Genociding Ukraine just to hurt Russia and make vast amounts of coin.
Arrest them all as the supreme international criminals they truly are.
Everyone who paid attention and didn’t have their Russian blinders in knew the Ukrainians would slow down when the met prepared defenses. I knew the tankies were going to prematurely jump to conclusions. It’ll be a long slog.
Are you counting the “combat dolphins” the Russians are training in that “over a million personnel”?
The actual number of active Russian soldiers is probably closer to 1.4 million. But they aren’t all in Ukraine.
Although some regions of Ukraine have announced a full mobilization in the last 2 days, severe losses of personnel, equipment, and ammunition force Ukraine to regroup earlier this week. Some of their Brigades took such heavy losses that they had to cobble them together to keep them on the field.
While it could be propaganda, there are several reports that Ukraine’s 42nd Mechanized Brigade (at least 3,000 soldiers) was completely destroyed last night near Zarichne, Donetsk.
Can’t say that’s right or wrong. There will be casualties. It’s war.
Take this for what it’s worth:
(Ukrainian soldier on the Southern front)
“The Russians have been trying to drive us out of our positions for days. From the direction of Zherebyanky the Russians attack with tanks and IFV. The attacks are made across the open field, through their own minefields. By capturing high ground we have fire sovereignty over this sector.”
Russians have left their defensive line and are attacking straight on!
Crazy tactics!
And more from the same soldier:
“The Russian 429th Motor Rifle Division from Ossetia was virtually destroyed. The Russians are always pushing in new reserves instead of retreating in their well-developed positions. Attacking further forward doesn’t make sense at all, since the Russians send their reserves to the kill zone where they can be effectively fought by us.”
FYI. I haven’t heard any updates about the 42nd Mechanized Brigade or the number of AFU soldiers they lost. So. I can’t say what happened there either.
I’m not a fan of U.S. needing to dominate the planet but if I was I’d be angry at Biden’s incompetence. As it looks now, Russia is going to emerge victorious with a more potent military, larger and battle hardened. It has strengthened ties with China, at least in terms of both realizing they need each other vs. the West. And the West will look like a loser in the war, wasting billions and its weapons failing to turn the result. Picking wars you are going to lose has never worked as good strategy throughout history.
Literally none of what you said will happen. And a huge LOL at the “friendship” between China and Russia. Yeah, let’s see how long that lasts.
So you are a troll. I was wondering about your comments.
A bit of truth from the western media. The evildoers are already licking their chops at the money to be made trying to ‘rebuild’ Ukraine. The Military Offense Industry makes billions destroying the country, and then reaps more billions trying to put it back together again. Nice gig if you can get it.
Meanwhile in Moscow, a mutiny is underway…as reported by literally every other news source. But no, not here on super-smart Antiwar.com. Oh no…that just wouldn’t fit the narrative.
Several people at Antiwar.com have been on the phone, Signal, Telegram, etc. for several hours trying to get a handle on the real story there instead of just taking the word of NYT or Meduza on the matter.
I appreciate the update, and while things are early, you’re making it seem like Ukraine and the West are the only one with issues in this conflict…while tanks are literally rolling in the streets of Moscow. It’s hard not to notice this.
I look forward to a comprehensive update and assessment from the Antiwar.com staff.
More likely Putin will get in trouble for not bringing this conflict to a quick and decisive end, as opposed to continuing to attempt to control the violence level.
Well, he TRIED to bring it to a quick and decisive end. And it quickly became obvious that the only “quick and decisive” option was global nuclear holocaust. So even if he gets “in trouble” for that, I’m glad he made the correct decision on it.
Someone’s going to have to take the fall for the fiasco, and obviously he’s in the hot seat since he’s the figurehead.
The obvious choice for replacing him is someone with strong military credentials — e.g. Shoigu or Surovkin — so that when the Russian forces withdraw from Kherson/Zaporizhia and declare a unilateral ceasefire, the pill will be easier for the Russian public to swallow. Putin can be blamed for the whole thing.
So I can see why some people would think that Prigozhin’s job has been to make the military leadership look bad so that they’re not acceptable to the public, making it harder to replace Putin and pull Russia’s teat out of the Ukraine ringer when the “hard-liners” finally accept that they aren’t going to get the degree of win they expected.
We see two different world’s here. My take remains that Prigozhin has an ego of monstrous proportions which cannot continue to exist unless it is fed with proclamations of glory and eternal gratitude. He’s a businessman with a giant need for adulation.
It’s equally possible that Putin has grown tired of this particular hammer in the toolkit. I just do not at this point see your notion that Putin is using him as a weapon against his “contenders”. He becomes the wrong kind of distraction with these episodes at a time when some serious tactical decisions and needless to overstate, longer term strategies have to be ironed out.
Just my take, and I claim no expertise about what is going on past what I see in the western press whose reportage I have come to value not at all.
I have no doubt that Prigozhin has an ego of monstrous proportions.
Whether he’s being used, and if so by who, is a different question.
I don’t “see” the world you’re thinking I “see.” I’m reporting on what others have offered as their hypotheses. I don’t have a hypothesis of my own yet.
One thing I’d be interested to know is where Putin is and what he’s doing. Yesterday, Russian state TV showed him speaking at a Day of Remembrance and Sorrow ceremony, and arriving for a meeting with Qatar’s PM. At the same time.
Obviously he’s a man of many talents, with a capacity to appear in many places at once 😉
I believe Frank Herbert called it the Kwisatz Haderach.
From me to you, whom I respect for making a difficult job look easy: I don’t believe anyone in this sorry tale. But my core position ignores all of this drama. Simply put: had the US president had the courage to put US troops into Ukraine, thereby risking his career via a steady count of returning body bags (al la Vietnam), I might as a former Naval Officer have been able to respect the choice. But the truth is that Biden is a coward who is willing to cut checks and sacrifice Ukrainian lives in order to avoid certain personal defeat at the end of his very mediocre career.
It’s one of those “do we get this out fast, or do we wait until we’re reasonably sure we have it right?” situations.
There are good reasons to go either way, of course, but my understanding is that Antiwar.com is going with the latter approach here.
All I can tell you is what I know, and what I know is this:
* I called Eric Garris as soon as I started seeing stuff (I’m one of several people with a standing order to ring his phone if we notice something that looks major);
* By that time, he had noticed himself and had one or more of our writers were working on it, including someone who was lining up translation by an actual Russian speaker, rather than e.g. Google Translate, of Prigozhin’s Telegram video of the camp allegedly struck by Russian regular military.
* The last time I contacted Eric (by email, since he was already aware of the overall situation) was when the WaPo story claiming a criminal charge against Prigozhin hit the web.
* I also forwarded this to him without comment (since I am not really qualified to assess its accuracy): https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1672352313091178496
I don’t know how soon we’ll have something solid to publish. There are people who work here more who know more, have better contacts, etc. I’m still wondering if there’s an actual coup going on, or a “Night of the Long Knives” vs. Wagner, or what.
I hate to ask for your patience, and I’m not in charge, but I do believe we’re doing the best job we can on it.
Never easy to tell what’s accurate and not on Twitter, but the latest I’m seeing says that Wagner troops moving toward Moscow scattered a regular army unit on their axis of advance, that a major army base near the capital is on fire, that special operations forces have “secured” the Ministry of Defence, and that tanks are surrounding the Duma. Whether any or all of that is true, who knows? It’s one of those “situation seems fluid and nothing is clear” things.
I appreciate the update, and while things are early, you’re making it seem like Ukraine and the West are the only one with issues in this conflict…while tanks are literally rolling in the streets of Moscow. It’s hard not to notice this.
I look forward to a comprehensive update and assessment from the Antiwar.com staff.
I appreciate the update, and while things are early, you’re making it seem like Ukraine and the West are the only one with issues in this conflict…while tanks are literally rolling in the streets of Moscow. It’s hard not to notice this.
I look forward to a comprehensive update and assessment from the Antiwar.com staff.
Virtually every news source in countries participating in this criminal enterprise authored by our idiot president (and his pathetic excuse for a Department of State), has been suborned by their respective governments to issue propaganda to gain necessary traction to pour lethality into that unfortunate country. They qualify as war criminals in my book.
I say the west is being led by outright cowards, and here’s a simple explanation: if they believed the crap they’re broadcasting, they would have placed US troops in Ukraine to defend the country, rather than sitting in their offices cutting checks while young men are sent to slaughter by a witless movie actor.
I personally, as former US military, am ashamed to see cowards who are big on advertising and woefully short on balls in charge of what was once a tolerably respectable country.
So right, Russia is the only country with a truly free and independent media. I’ve certainly never heard of anything so shocking as censorship in Russia.
So right, Russia is the only country with a truly free and independent media. I’ve certainly never heard of anything so shocking as censorship in Russia.
How’d your mutiny go, troll ? 😅😅😅
Where’s news about Prigozhi “declaring war” on the Russian Ministry of Defence? Doesn’t fit the narrative?
Which narrative would that be?
Last I heard, one of our writers was awaiting assistance from a Russian speaker to figure out exactly what Prigozhin’s latest video actually says, instead of just relying on claims from NYT, Meduza, et al. as to what it says, before doing a story ourselves.
FYI, according to WaPo just a few minutes ago, they’ve now opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for “incitement to armed rebellion.”
I have friends who tell me that Prigozhin is basically just a stalking horse for Putin, who is struggling against Shoigu for continued favor with the Russian state’s actual oligarch rulers. The theory is that Putin can’t be seen openly attacking Shoigu, so he has Prigozhin doing so in an over-the-top way to poison the public opinion well and keep Shoigu out of the running as Putin’s replacement and buy time.
I don’t know how much stock to place in that theory. It does make sense that Putin would be worried about being replaced over the fiasco that the Ukraine war has turned into. And it does make sense that Shoigu or someone else with strong army cred would be among the prospective replacements — only a military type would really be able to conduct the climb-down without being savaged for it. So I could see Putin using Prigozhin to keep those people looking even worse than he does without having to crawl through the mud himself and look “un-statesmanlike.”
On the other hand, at a certain point it starts to sound a lot like the story of how Donald Trump is working secretly with the still-alive JFK Jr. et al. to fight the global pedophile ring and such. So maybe Prigozhin just is a loose cannon wild man.
Solid take. This is going to be interesting to watch.
Not interesting unless you have no sense of human decency. It’s not a frigging game.
Uh, oh. What’s going on in Moscow tonight?
Sleep tight, tankies!
Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, reported on Ukrainian losses:
As of today, we have the following statistics. From June 4 to 21, we destroyed 246 tanks, including 13 Western tanks, as well as 595 armoured combat vehicles and armoured cars. Of this number, we have destroyed 152 infantry fighting vehicles, including 59 Western models, as well as 443 other armoured combat vehicles. We have destroyed 279 field artillery systems and mortars, including 48 Western systems. We have also destroyed 42 multiple launch rocket systems, 2 surface-to-air missile systems, 10 tactical fighters, 4 helicopters, 264 drones and 424 motor vehicles.
In under 3 weeks of the Ukrainian Offensive the estimated value of hardware losses is US $45 billion. Well over 13k AFU casualties. This is criminal malfeasance to send people to their death in such a manner, its a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Keep in mind that NATO has been conscripting Ukrainians against their will at gunpoint. NATO IS PURE EVIL.
This is what happens when wars are fought in the press. Every chance they get they over-hype the ability of Ukraine and over-count Russian losses. They have constantly acted as if this offensive was going to be as easy as the last one, without any reason to believe it would be.
Our media created unrealistic expectations at every turn, that in turn fed the expectations of leaders and voters in the West. It’s an odd feedback loop, where the press actually drives policy.
What if the narrative had gone like this, instead of claiming Ukraine would be vacationing on the coast of Azov by now? “We expect the Ukrainian to take heavy losses in their attempt to Push Russian forces back from their front lines.” “Success will mean limited gains while they dig in and buy more time, while inflicting heavy losses on Russian manpower and equipment”.
If that had been the narrative and if our media had been more honest about Russia capabilities this current offensive might actually seem to be going OK.
It wasn’t just that the West was demanding results, it was that the media was promising spectacular results, that has made this appear to be a major loss. In reality they haven’t lost much compared with the defense of Bakhmut and Soladar and they have retaken some ground as opposed to losing a major city and half an army.
Compare this current campaign with Bakhmut and then tell me which is successful and which isn’t.
The biggest problem that I see for Ukraine is that they won’t know when to stop. If they stop while they still have the majority of the weapons and NATO trained forces, they will be OK. Therefore the question is whether or not the US and our media will encourage them to go for broke or live to fight (and beg) another day. If they are encouraged to fight until this new army is also broken, then I have to wonder what the backup plan could be. Polish troops, F-16’s flying out of Poland too? They have just done a bigger “general mobilization”, perhaps they think that is enough to fight off Russia if they lose this army?
Who knows if Ukraine will really go for broke or not. I think they would be smart to attack as hard as they can in areas furthest from Russian defenses and air power, then dig in hard and beg for more money and equipment. That’s unless they have a backup plan none of us know about.
Was it not obvious?
The end of this empire . . . https://les7eb.substack.com/p/washingtons-ukraina-grandioznaya
Well it’s sure meeting mine.
Still no mention of the chaos that is going on in Russia right now that is being reported by news outlets across the world?
Maybe the name of this site should be changed to Antiwest.com?
I can see on the back end of the site that Dave DeCamp is working on a story.
I’m not sure HOW anything other than bare bones is possible at this point. I’m watching various sources in real time and it’s impossible to know for sure what’s true, but Wagner supposedly has Rostov and has advanced convoys at least as far as Voronezh oblast (more than halfway to Moscow). There’s been some state media disconnect, with Tass reporting that Putin has gone to St. Petersburg, then Putin’s spokesperson denying it. There’s even a report (not from a very reliable source) that Wagner is preparing to assault a warehouse where nuclear weapons are stored in Borisoglebsk (that’s in Voronezh).
Also, reports that Kadyrov’s Chechen troops are near, and preparing to move into, Rostov. There’s video that I’m looking for at the moment supposedly recording Wagner forces entering Moscow oblast (not Moscow city), and I’ve just heard a claim that at least one unit (217th Guard Paratroop regiment) has announced they’re supporting Wagner.
The proof the USA cares about Ukraine is measured by how thoroughly Ukraine is depopulated fighting this proxy war everyone knew they could never possibly win. Taiwan, are you watching?