A senior Defense Intelligence Agency official has described the war in Ukraine as a “stalemate” and said none of the weapons the US and NATO are providing will help Ukrainian forces “break through” in their counteroffensive.
“Certainly we are at a bit of a stalemate,” DIA Chief of Staff John Kirchhofer said at a conference on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. “One of the things that the Russian leadership believes is that they can outlast the support of the West.”
Kirchhofer listed some of the weapons NATO recently began providing, including US cluster bombs and British Storm Shadow missiles. “None of these unfortunately, are the holy grail that Ukrainians looking for that will allow them to break through,” he said.
Ukrainian forces have struggled to make headway since launching their counteroffensive at the beginning of June. US and European officials told The New York Times in a report published Saturday that 20% of all of Ukraine’s weaponry deployed to the battlefield was damaged or destroyed during the first two weeks of the counteroffensive.
The officials said that the rate of losses dropped to 10% in the ensuing weeks as Ukrainian forces were approaching Russian minefields more cautiously. The officials did not offer figures on how many Ukrainian lives have been expended in the assault as Kyiv is keeping a tight lid on the number of casualties.
Leading up to the counteroffensive, the Discord leaks and media reports revealed that the US did not expect Ukraine to regain any significant territory. But the Biden administration pushed for the assault anyway as it is opposed to the idea of a ceasefire.
DOES NOT SEEM A STALEMARE TO ME, but a slow grinding down of a weaker force
Ukraine has changed tactics and adopted a “non-western” approach to Russian defensive lines. They are degrading Russian artillery with counterbattery fire. (You tankies have to get information from non-Russian sources; but that’s not what you want.)
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraine-situation-report-kyivs-growing-counter-battery-advantage
Your source seems like neocon drivel.
Of course it does to a tankie like you. Why don’t you post your “sources”? All Russian? Hahaha. Yep.
These are Ukrainian sources. Over time, it is cecoming clearer that many of them are fantasies, Looking into detais, claims are made that Russia does not have counter-battery technical capabilities. Patteny not true, as seen before.
We will certainly see the outcome of this Ukrainian operation. And be able to judge accordingly.
Read up on Moon of Alabama.
That is correct. This stalemate can’t last more than few months. Longer it lasts, easier it would be for Russian army to destroy the remnants of Ukrainian/NATO military forces.
Stalemate? Better send some more poor conscripted bastards to die in the trenches for no gain. Literally the same mistakes made over 100 years ago in WWI, and by the same politicians who won’t ever see the front line themselves.
Almost any way that math is read, it says the situation is catastrophic for Ukraine. Unsurprisingly.
The Westerners who are feeding Ukraine and Ukrainians to the meat grinder are engaged in an unforgivably cynical scheme — a failing scheme.
it sure is NO WIN for Ukraine
One thing is sure, American MIC is making good money. The other benefit is the migration of European business to US. EU and Ukraine are the main losers. On the other hand, such an dishonest and evil government can’t lead US to prosperity, so, in the end, US will also join the club of the losers.
It’s amazing how poorly worded that article is, almost as if they don’t know how to write.
I assume from this that what they meant was that they lost 30% of the Bradley’s that were sent out on the first mission and then later lost 10% with each following mission. In other words if they sent out 10 only 7 made it back and then it was 9 our of 10 that made it through the mission. Thus you would need to know how many were sent out each time to determine how many were lost and how many were sent out more than once, etc. If one was sent out twice, the first time they had a 30% loss ratio the second time they had an additional 10% chance of being knocked out, etc. Even with 90% chance of making it through the battle, this doesn’t give them much chance of making it through the main defenses, which could easily take dozens of attacks to achieve at this rate.
Looking at raw numbers of vehicles delivered and vehicles destroyed it’s likely they have lost half of their Bradley’s, although perhaps half of those will be brought back for repair. The MRAP’s performed even worse, although I see nobody is giving numbers on them, they are scattered around everywhere on the battlefield.
Very good point. What all of this does not account for is — what happens when and if any of these reach the first line of defense.
So far, Ukraine did not make it properly to the line of contact.
The US gave up on MRAPs some time ago, even when its only wars were against lightly armed irregulars in deserts. Sending them into combat in a conventional war, against a modern, heavily-armed opponent, is another indication of the shortage of appropriate weapons in the West’s arsenal.
It would be a pretty good bet that many of the MRAPs scattered around Ukraine are lying on their sides and roofs. They are not models of stability.
“Pentagon Intelligence Official Says Ukraine War at a ‘Stalemate’ John Kirchhofer of the DIA said none of the weapons the US and its allies are providing will allow Ukraine to ‘break through'”
Correct IF it’s a war for territory, but it’s NOT!
It’s a war of attrition like WW 2 from Peleliu on to Okinawa and the Vietnam War.
Over 26,000 Ukrainians KIA Since June Second and most likely another 3,000 to 4,000 missing and ashes due to the TOS Thermobaric weapons.
Russia is wining the war of attrition hands down!!!
It is a war to regime change Russia. Ukraine is just a tool, and what happens to it is really beside the point for US neocons.
It is very true. But like any war objective at some pointvyou are either suceeding or throwing resources down the drain, So, what is the proveess so far in this war on Russianness? It is sort of a war on male toxicity. It is despised until you need it. Like wars. In Russia, the Russian toxicity which some of our elites hate so much – is on the rise. The pride in who they are, their ancestors and their unbreakability is on the rise. It is a tide. evidenced by a miriad small and big things in everyday life and popular culture.
At which point this war for regime change becomes a failure? Ir the Russia-obsessed segment of our society just redefines the goal? So instead of regime change – we declare that all Russians are an incorrigible race? I guess banning gender affirming health care is the last straw. The barbarians are incorrigible.
The list of regime changes we have made and plan to make is long.
“Stalemate” is the only word allowed to use when Ukraine is losing.
It’s not a “stalemate” when at least 150 Ukie slave conscripts die every day. 26,000 have died so far in this offensive. It’s not a stalemate when Ukraine is using up artillery shells and vehicles that aren’t being replaced.
But THE LINES ON THE MAP look like they’re mostly standing still. So, “stalemate”. Let’s not look at the numbers. Pro-Ukie sheep prefer to only look at map lines.
Another month of this and the Ukies will have lost almost half of their vehicles, and then Russia can safely advance.
The Ukrainian offensive failed badly using the training and instructions from NATO. They were told to “use combined arms warfare,” like “in Iraq,” which amounted to driving vehicles into mine fields. After that they went back to having infantry go first, then vehicles, and they try to “wear out” the Russians – by using seven times less artillery than the Russians, and no helicopters. This is the attrition warfare that article after article said they shouldn’t use. But the alternative is the NATO tactic that blew up their vehicles. Instead now – their infantry is being blown up. Less important to Zelensky.
(By the way, before the Iraq war U.S. tank crews trained intensely every day for more than a year, the Iraqis did not. The U.S. also had far more modern tanks. But a U.S. tank commander said that if he had to choose between old tanks but trained crews, or modern tanks and un-trained crews, he’d definitely pick the first. The trained crews are essential. Ukrainians don’t have much training with the vehicles at all. This is their third assembled army in a year.)
And nowdays many many more desert their posts and call Russians to be rescued. This cannot be mentioned in polite Wezfdrn society.
Makes one wonder what the real objective is.
Is anyone interested in bringing this war to an end?
Not anyone in a position to actually be able to stop it. The Russians have been cheated & deceived in t. he deals to cease kinetic action with Kiev. So they are understandably loath to give up shooting until they accomplish their goal of protecting Russian speakers from being terrorized and killed by the Nazi ideology driven ZELENSKY. forces,,
A rising EU political opposition wants to find an off ramp. They see what this is doing.
The EU is next door to Russia.
Stalemate is one of the preferred outcomes for the US/NATO gang. The US plan from the get-go was to mire Russia in a low-intensity conflict similar to the recent US war in Afghanistan and to use that conflict to bleed the Russian economy. This is plain from the RAND strategy blueprint on overextending and unbalancing Russia, which came out in 2019. You can find it here: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10014.html
Russia has long been aware of this and is unlikely to fall for it. While pundits in the US will proclaim it as the only solution.
I would love to see the Ukraine war end today. But the US started this war with an eye toward the destruction of Russia. I don’t know how the Russians plan to move forward in the war, but I imagine they have thought about it more deeply than the US. Which seems to be at the point of throwing the kitchen sink at it.
I imagine hardliners in the Russian military wanted to go full “shock and awe”, just level everything. Not rational as to the consequences, but rational as to ending a war decisively, with much damage.
“Certainly we are at a bit of a stalemate,” = DIA Chief of Staff John Kirchhofer
“we …” what a guy. uncle sam will fight to the very last Ukrainian
Pretty stupid remark, wasn’t it? “We”.
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2023/07/17/a-bonfire-of-the-vanities/
A Bonfire of the Vanities. Alastair Crooke.
LOL, yeah, what he isn’t telling you is that they PLANNED for a stalemate entering the conflict. A neverending war of atrician for the biggest arms manufacturers that own our government to replace the last two forver wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Joe Biden should change his signature to list Arms Dealer at the top.
No, they really expected Russia to collapse. Stalemate is their new fallback, to wait out the Russian collapse they still expect. Their fantasy holds, just with a speed bump.
That was Lloyd Austin’s words, to “bleed Russia”. For what reason? Any one know? Rather than peace for all, we start another cold (hot?) war. WTF!
Agree. I think the US neocons expected economic sanctions to work on Russia the way they did on Venezuela. The neocons did not at all expect to be in the spot they are now in. I think they are now doing an improv performance. Without much rehearsal in advance. Or even a sketch.
Of course. Pushing is a no brainer at present. US just wants Russia involved in military operations believing that it will weaken Russia economically, financially, militarily, politically and cause break in social cohesion, That is a belief by the circles obsessed by Russia, and their admirers. How mych is this rooted in reality? Does not matter. This is an article of faith. Russia delenda est!
Something that is hapoening FOR SURE, is the growing awarenes of the hate that Anglisphere harbors against Russian people. As human beings — not Russia’s politics or wars. And consequences are already here. If one pays attention to popular culture, theie is a swing in what is trending and popular. Popular culture concerts and youtube views are the best indicator of the trend. One of the biggest is rock singer and performer Shaman and his hit “I am Russian”.
The main reason for “stalemate”” is Russian decision to stay put after they straightened the front last tear. Why are they staying put? Russia is waiting ti see what happens in Europe. There are chances that some parts of Europe wiil go through Orbanization, or a shift to a dialogue with Russia to stop the slide into irreconcileable societies. These are not American concerns. And Russia does not worry about this. US is not a country – it is a planet. Russia cares much more about what bappens accross vast Eurasian continent where it happens ro straddle geographically and culturally Europe and Asia.
I’ve heard they have “captured” around 50 square miles in between lines and suffered really bad doing it.
Call it a stalemate, where Ukraine fought them to a standstill, where Russia “decided” to stop for many reasons, whatever phrase or term you want to call it but why don’t they call it a day?
Is there someone(s) pulling strings who has considerations in Brussels, London and DC that don’t have Ukraine’s full interests in mind that is preventing them?
Russia has sure dugged in to be considering a big advance and Ukraine isn’t able to push them back so a year from now it will likely be a very similar map so why not now?
God damn these Intel guys are stupid. It’s “stalemate” because Russians say so.
Stalemate is the West’s best case, its hoped for outcome now. It is hoped to lead to a frozen conflict or ceasefire without peace (and an insurgency).
The strategy now is to bleed Russia, with the goal of regime change. They want to take out Putin.
But the only opposition to Putin objects to what he is doing because it might lead to stalemate. They want an all out attack.
The West imagines that what follows Putin will be more complaint, like Yeltsin was. Of course, everyone actually on the scene as an alternative (including the West’s favorites) would actually be even more of a nationalist hardliner. The rebels wanted an all out offensive, not peace, certainly not stalemate.
This is of a piece with the past underestimation of Russia, as just a gas station, an economy that would collapse under the pressure of war.
The Trump neocon regime change failed in Venezuela, the CIA was all set to go and no one showed up. Nicaragua did not work out, not to talk about Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan and more. What makes them think they can do regime change of a nuclear power with popular elected head of state?Could they be more stupid and demented than
that? US/NATO needs regime change (plural) more than any other nation, we are being governed by war criminals, senile and deranged criminals.
How does one deal with irrational demented people?
https://www.rt.com/news/579861-north-korea-rejects-us-peace-talks/
North Korea spurns talks offer from ‘gangster-like Americans’
My congratulations to Mr. Kim for not purchasing the Kool-Aid.
There was an agreement between the West ( U.S.) and North Korea. They shut down the nuke program, we help fund nuclear power plants. You would never guess what we did(not) do. Kind of like the Russia/Ukraine grain deal. Russia agrees to give safe travel, we stop sanctions against their banks. Once again, you would never guess what we did(not) do. Enter an agreement with us at your own peril. Besides. sanctions are illegal, in violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution.