Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, has said his troops are on “active defense” as Ukrainian forces are no longer attempting to gain territory after the failed counteroffensive.
“Our goals remain unchanged: holding our positions … exhausting the enemy by inflicting maximum losses,” Syrskyi told Reuters last week.
The Ukrainian commander said that Russian forces were pressing in multiple areas along the 600-mile front with the aim of taking full control of the Donbas. He said Ukrainian forces were launching small counterattacks to keep Russian forces on their toes, which he described as “active defense.”
When Ukraine first launched its counteroffensive in June 2023, it was clear they would not have much success, based on a US intelligence assessment leaked on Discord and media reports at the time. But it’s become much more apparent since the fall when Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny labeled the war a “stalemate” and said there would be no “deep and beautiful breakthrough.”
Ukraine is now facing a significant manpower shortage and is struggling to agree on a new mobilization law. Western aid is also drying up as Congress has yet to authorize over $60 billion in additional spending on the proxy war that President Biden has requested.
Despite the situation, Ukrainian political leadership is still insisting Ukraine can win. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday that Kyiv has not given up on its goal to restore the “1991 borders,” which would involve kicking Russia out of all the territory it’s captured since February 2022, as well as Crimea, which has been under Russian control and governance since 2014.
Turret Toss: The Enchanting Destruction of the enemy tank T-72B3 Rubpak “Achilles” (video)
https://ukrainetoday.org/the-enchanting-destruction-of-the-enemy-tank-t-72b3-rubpak-achilles-video/
Fear Not: US Military Aid to Ukraine Is Coming
By Kurt Volker
https://ukrainetoday.org/fear-not-us-military-aid-to-ukraine-is-coming/
Putin is losing soldiers and tanks | Bill Browder
The reality is Ukraine will NEVER retake Crimea. Any idiot knows this, but the professional comedian in charge of Ukraine clearly profits off of continued bloodshed. Putin and Zelensky are two egomaniacs. If Russia wins they get dirt that has been cluster bombed to be dangerous for generations. The invasion was foolish and had the West brokered a quick peace; the West would have won. Instead arms dealers a/k/a US Congress got greedy. They must pretend the incompetent Russian military whose blitzkrieg of Ukraine is on Year 3 will now storm through Europe and risk a direct confrontation with NATO in order to continue to justify the arms orders. Because Russia was forced to remain in the fight, Russia will now conquer the entire Donbass region and try to present that as some sort of victory to Russian people.
Zelensky risks imprisonment if the war ends because his corruption would be completely exposed shortly thereafter. For those who believe in fantasies the Comedian turned President is a great story. For those who see reality, the charismatic President is transforming into a maniacal dictator in his quest to remain in power, having banned opposition parties and cancelled elections!
Attrition warfare is tough but it’s the Russians who are being attrited more.
Seriously? Is that just wishful thinking? Ukraine with a population of around 38 million compared to Russia’s approx. 150 million is going to win a war of attrition?
So far, Ukraine IS wining the war of attrition.
Citation needed.
No. It isn’t.
I know you don’t like to provide sources, because then your intellectual and ideological depravity is on display for all to see.
Yep. That’s it.
It’s good that you can admit your failings. Even neocon shit stains can show growth once in a while I guess.
Awww. The abject POS right-wing scum calling me names. That’s adorable!
Yep, that’s me right-wing scum who’s identified as a democrat most of his adult life. I mean I guess there’s an argument to be made that mainline Democrats are right wing or at the least very authoritarian.
Sure. You definitely fit the definition of tankie. You can be a former Dem and be right-wing. You’ve just lost your way. You got to the point where something scrambled your thought-process. Was it the black president? Was it that you can’t deferentiate between an illegal/immoral invasion of Iraq and an illegal/immoral invasion of Ukraine? Was it dementia?
You tell me.
Define tankie.
Hahaha. Go to the library and look it up.
Just like most neocons words can mean whatever you want them to mean depending on your ideological needs at the time. You stupid neocon fucks are fun to eviscerate.
You can’t really believe that. I can see why you won’t provide any proof.
You guys refuse to accept proof.
It would be hard for you to come up with proof. It’s really just simple math.
These guys are delusional. I love how now that we have admissions that they are now on the defense the line instantly changes from “we are still making progress,” to “we shot down a plane!!!!!!” As if the loss of one aircraft will significantly alter the trajectory of the war. It would be funny if so many Ukrainians weren’t dying for the hubris of Biden and Zelensky.
Russia controls ~ 20% of territory that’s behind a 1000 km front.
Ukrainian bravado and efforts during 2023 have been commendable and credit must be given to a desperate nation fighting for it’s life. Combatants in any conflict want to win and should be respected for their efforts. Ultimately, Ukraine failed miserably in 2023 and the prospects for 2024 and beyond are not good.
Russia will continue to pound away as Empire led funding and interest fades away. And let’s not be mistaken; interest will continue to dwindle as will funding.
Destabilizing and crippling the Russian economy is not working. Russia is still able to supply it’s military (both with ordnance and personnel) to carry out this conflict much longer than Ukraine can and they will continue to do so. Most likely, more territory will be taken.
Barring direct NATO intervention, Ukraine’s long term prospects are grim and Zelensky’s ‘leadership’ as the Empire’s puppet is rapidly declining. He’s done and should be very concerned someone from the inside doesn’t take him out.
Your comment, “…but it’s the Russians who are being attrited more.”
Laughable, pedestrian, and, pathetically misinformed.
Please submit your resume to the U.S. Department of State.
And everything you just wrote is woefully misinformed. Take your talents to the Kremlin. Putin loves to be adored.
Incorrect on all accounts, but I do admire your ignorant tenacity as with all your posts. Great ‘counter-offensive’ in 2023 wasn’t it?
No adoration of Putin at all. Positively or negatively, Russia will prevail in this conflict and the Empire will have to get used to a multi-polar global community.
The strings from all the puppets are getting quite tangled.
The counteroffensive was done to please the Western allies so the flow of support would continues. Turns out, the Ukes were correct. (I’m sure your military prowess would let you see that.)
How’s the Russian offensive going, BTW? Lots of dead Russians and destroyed equipment, no? Is that Putin’s brilliant strategy? Meatwaves and suicide convoys? (I can post the videos if you’d like but they’re graphic and I’d rather not.)
So to please the West the Ukrainian leadership sacrificed 100,000 soldiers? That doesn’t seem like a very sound strategy.
Maybe it was 10 Gajillion soldiers!
Maybe you could admit the significant losses Ukraine took during the recent counteroffensive.
Of course the Ukes have taken losses. They are not playing baseball.
Significant losses. The whole time Ukraine was on the offense you kept claiming that it was in fact Russia who was taking heavier losses. Because we all know that the side on the defense always has a higher casualty rate, amirite? You are playing a propaganda game and your single minded pursuit of painting every development in the best possible light for Ukraine is pathetic. Listen if Ukraine had the upper hand I would be the first to admit it. They haven’t had the upper hand since Russia overextended their front line in 2022. Since Russia strategically redeployed their troops to more defensible positions and changed strategy to attrition warfare Ukraine has had a significantly higher casualty rate that Russia. This is just a fact. Admitting this fact does not take away from your moral arguments, it is just being honest andaccurate about what the current state of play is. But you are not honest, are you. You are a neocon propagandist. So of course you are going to constantly lie about every little detail.
None of what you wrote is “fact”. It’s what you HOPE is happening because you’re a cancer.
Sad man you are.
So you claim that in typical attrition warfare scenarios defenders take higher casualties?
No. But this isn’t “typical”.
Correct, one side has no air cover. Which partially explains Ukraine’s absolute failure to gain any appreciable territory during their counteroffensive.
Drones = air cover. (Try to keep up, pop-pop.)
Drones are not air cover. The fact that you think flying hand grenades constitute air cover and/or close air support shows how dumb you really are. You can’t be that stupid, can you? No you aren’t. You are just a propagandist shit stain.
Let’s pretend that drones = air cover in your formulation. So why didn’t that have any appreciable impact on Ukraine’s ability to penetrate Russia’s defensive belt?
At some point, drones might become reliable close air support and such, but my impression is they’re not there yet. The smaller ones seem to work best in pre-programmed swarms, and CAS requires more immediate adjustability based on calls from forward observers and instructions from forward air controllers.
I love that you’re so out-of-touch. That’s why I mock your ignorance. It explains why you have no f**king idea what you’re talking about. If you’re wondering why I treat you like an old man (maybe you are, maybe you’re not) is because you won’t or cant access real information.
If you can convince your grandkids to spend anytime around you, ask them to help you with a factual search of the “interwebs”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60047328
LOL you get your info on military affairs from the BBC. You are such a lightweight. I mean I understand that troll farms can’t afford to hire doctoral level education, but man they are sure scraping the bottom of the barrel with you.
You f**king a**wipe of a barely human being. Information scares the s**t out of you, doesn’t it? You can barely digest the basics.
BTW, Frank Rizzo was a fascist but he was a street-smart person. Did you know that or did you just take the name because you’re a racist imbicile?
Read what I posted. It is based on facts-on-the-ground. If not? Just keep getting info from Putin’s propaganda machine.
Sad, sad, jaggoff.
Military grade drones currently being deployed by Ukraine do not constitute close air support or air cover in the generally accepted definitions of the terms. FPV drones are flying hand grenades and not a system that would be considered close air support. A swarm of drones (as noted above by Thomas) may be getting close to approximating close air support, but because FPV drones are effectively a single use product Ukraine has not been able to marshal (or shown the ability to adequately coordinate) large enough concentrations to influence the battlespace beyond harassing actions behind the Russian lines. Got it sporto? Now once again, even if we accept that your assertion is true (which it is not) Ukraine still hasn’t shown the ability to deploy them in any way that comes close to replacing the battlespace impacts of close air support and or coordinated air cover.
“Frank Rizzo was a fascist”
Wow look at you big boy can use Wikipedia. Frank Rizzo was chosen as a reference to a Jerky Boys schtick from the 90’s for a FPS avatar and later repurposed as a sardonic homage to ignorant fascist fucks like yourself as a commenting handle.
Wow. Look who learned a few big words from his word-of-the-day toilet paper.
First: you’re trying to shoehorn your outdated notions of CAS into what is happening in Ukraine. (Makes you sound like a putz.)
Second: I live in the Delaware Valley (South Jersey) and know all about Frank Rizzo, the POS scumbag, fascist firsthand. (No Wiki required.)
Whatever the f**k you said to explain your screen name didn’t register because I stopped reading. I just didn’t give a s**t
You are in quite the tizzy tonight, aren’t you? Answer the simple question: if Ukraine essentially has close air support in the form of drones as you claim why weren’t they able to break through Russian defensive lines?
Because the Russians had drones too. This is hard for you isn’t it, son?
You have an answer for everything, don’t you :p Unfortunately you are so intent on scoring propaganda points for Ukraine you can’t keep your arguments straight. So you went from the Russians took more casualties than Ukrainians because Ukrainian drones to Ukraine couldn’t advance because Russian drones. So in this “atypical” attritional warfare scenario who is taking more casualties again? If you were well read at all in any of the pertinent literature you would know that the biggest impact that drones have had in Ukraine is in battlespace awareness and target acquisition (specifically increasing speed and accuracy). Even if we leave out superior Russian EWAR capability Russia would still have the advantage because they still have artillery dominance. Do you get it yet or are you going to keep pounding you head into the concrete like a loony at the funny farm? I suggest you look up some peer reviewed literature in the military affairs journals and do a bit of reading before coming on here an making a fool of yourself.
All of your information is out of date. Go back and identify when your sources wrote their opinions and maybe you’ll understand what’s CURRENTLY happening.
Wrong again. There has been a flurry of publications in 2023 analyzing new paradigms in drone warfare introduced by the Ukraine war. I suggest you read some of them instead of relying on propaganda rags to get your up to date info on military affairs. The academic literature is always going to be more accurate and up to date with a bit less propensity for outright propaganda. While there are some areas of consensus, as I noted above, one of them is not that small FPV drones can replace and/or replicate close air support or air cover. I notice you completely ignored addressing your weaksauce pretzel logic. Whose casualty rate is higher again? The side with drone superiority, air superiority, EWAR superiority, and artillery superiority? You are so full of shit it is coming out your ears. Try again sporto.
“Whose casualty rate is higher again? The side with drone superiority, air superiority, EWAR superiority, and artillery superiority?”
Russia vs Ukraine rate of loss is somewhere around 8-1.
I’d have to see the comparison of numbers of drones but Ukrainians appear more active with theirs on the front line.
Air superiority? Hahaha. Russia does have more aircraft but they aren’t using them in large numbers since the Patriot batteries got there.
Artillery? They’ve lost many to counter battery fire they’ve worn out the barrels of others and the North Korean ammo is shit and is inaccurate and more likely than not to blow up the artillery crew.
Now, go outside and enjoy the day.
So now you are again drawing conclusions that don’t parse with your claims. You claim that typical patterns of casualties during attrition warfare don’t apply in this situation and are in fact claiming that the casualty ratio is 8 to 1 in favor of Ukraine. You claim that this is because of drones. Conversely you claim that it is also because of drones that Ukraine wasn’t able to break through Russian lines. Do you see the deficiency in your argument? Also you don’t apparently understand the difference between air superiority, air supremacy, and air dominance; but of course why would you as you don’t seem to understand much else.
Given the information warfare that both Russia and Ukraine are engaging in I find it highly unlikely that us two are going to have access to actual casualty numbers and/or ratios. Given this truism we must depend on historical patterns to make best guesses on what the attritional patterns probably look like. Being a gullible psychophant who apparently gets the majority of their information from non-academic sources like twitter, telegram, neocon propaganda outlets, and MSM media sources you think you have access to reliable information. I hate to break it to you, but you don’t. Notice how I am careful to never quote numbers or make specific claims outside of general patterns that are supported by published academic literature and/or well understood historical verities in military affairs. In attritional warfare models unless the attacker has air superiority, a 3 to 1 numerical advantage, and are attacking poorly prepared defenses they will have a higher casualty rate than the defender. You nor anyone else have yet to demonstrate in a believable manner how drones change this equation and can overwhelm all other attritional warfare variables to result in the lopsided casualty ratio that you propose that goes against all historical examples. So try again sporto.
“Never argue with fools. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” ― Mark Twain.
Guys like this and Don Julio, etc. present statements that are essentially trolls. They’ll reference BBC, WP, NYT and imply they have some military insight, and it’s downright pathetic how they want to prop up the ‘pro-Empire’ hegemony and destruction it has caused, single handedly or via proxies, in very recent times.
Then, after they $hit all over everything and they find themselves in a corner, they’ll resort to personal insults/slander.
Earlier last year, I recall challenging them on exactly how Ukraine will succeed with it’s recent ‘counter-offensive’ and nothing. Crickets….
Sadly misinformed, unaware and not appreciative and aware of other cultures and their respective mentalities.
“unaware and not appreciative of other cultures and their respective mentalities”
Yes, this is so clear. They think that the USA is beyond reproach and if one critiques the policies of our rulers they equate that as being “anti-American.” If one points out that Russia or China may have legitimate security concerns steam starts coming out of their ears and they claim people are “pro-Putin” or “pro-Dictator.” Do you think they are just ignorant fascists or are they paid/professional trolls?
I’d find it difficult to fathom that they are paid/professional trolls, but life’s full of surprises. Can’t make a claim on their political leanings either because I don’t want to waste my time. I just think some of these characters want to perpetuate the ‘Empire-led narrative’ and are sub-amateur propagandists.
The same ones that were fist-pumping the first iteration narrative of the sabotage of Nordstream 2, “yeah, that’s right! The Russians blew up their own pipeline!” or believing in the 2003 WMD scandal in Iraq, or Bush on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln declaring, “Mission Accomplished” and then proceeding to destroy another country, or somehow thinking that Western influence would be able to change several millennia of tribal-based culture in Afghanistan.
Guess what boys? You really, really, f*cked up, didn’t you? Admit your folly, learn from it and move on. Sadly, these people can’t.
This war is not about Ukraine and the Empire doesn’t give a $hit about Ukraine, or anything else, but maintaining unipolar hegemony on a global scale. True colours were revealed in 2014 when Nuland proclaimed, “F*ck the EU!” And that is exactly what is happening to each and every single proxy out there.
Fascist.
Dude you are the one who supports literal white supremacist fascists in Ukraine. How am I a fascist?
You never said Close Air Support, you said air coverage, genius.
Regardless, i had a drone drop bombs for us in Afghanistan. You want tell me that was not CAS?
Whether it was CAS or not depends on whether it was close. Sounds interesting, though. How accurate was the drone, how close to your position was the target, and were on-approach adjustments required due to target movement?
So some larger fixed wing drones can be considered close air support depending on their payload, but Ukraine is not deploying those types of drones in large enough number to impact the battlespace. If you really fought for the U.S. military in Afghanistan you need to make penance to the Afghani people somehow. I suggest volunteering at an immigrant organization where you can specifically request to work with Afghanis.
You are the dumbass here for stating such a dumb statement about drones not being air coverage.
Before you speak, educate yourself on those topics you dont know jack about.
Oh and drones cannot take out strongholds such as bunkers.
The point is that FPV drones are not a replacement for fixed wing or larger fixed wing drone aircraft because they can’t bring the same amount of sustained concentrated firepower. You are the dumbass who can’t admit that your pet country got their asses handed to them.
It depends, but judging by Russia’s performance the last two years during offensive and defensive operations, it isn’t hard to think otherwise.
Plus Ukraine is employing dozen of thousands of drones like no one else in the world.
They kill hundreds of Russians daily sitting in trenches.
Thousands of videos as evidence
Need i share a few? They are pretty graphic though.
So why couldn’t Ukraine penetrate Russian defensive belts?
Franco Russo recently told me he supports Ukraine.
Imagine if he was not. Lol.
Well, they knew it would be a shitload since they did the counteroffensive with no air support. Something their donors (US) said they’d never do themselves. And they basically used soldiers as mine clearing equipment. And when they mentioned the high casualty rate of those soldiers, their donors (US) accused them of being “casualty adverse”. So, whatever the number, it doesn’t make their leadership look too good. And now they sit and wait for more aid because their donors (US) have higher priority wars to feed. And even if they do get their aid, it won’t be sufficient to change anything on the battlefield. Just more dead people, more destroyed infrastructure and contaminated land.
The guy always asking for sources never bothers to provide any. You are a joke.
Love it how that figure changes conveniently.
And it seems to only go higher each time someone posts it.
Did you know the total loses of Ukraine in the entire war is less than that?
But, Russia’s losses is above 300k.
Striking, right?
I know your dumbass is going to ask for sources as usual.
F cking google it, but not from RT news/TASS. According to those, Ukraine has 15 soldiers left which is even more embarrassing to Russia as they cannot take one village with all the number advantage.
Let me guess, it’s all part of the SMO. Lol
Hey dipshit. Look up gullible is written on the ceiling.
So the spin is that the ‘counter-offensive’ was to appease the West complete with further exposure of internal corruption, dissent and replacement of top brass, contradictory narratives from within Ukraine’s military leadership, etc?
Brilliant script and who better than an actor to narrate it. Bravo.
Lots of dead and destroyed equipment on both sides, but the Russians control the front and have much more resources and manpower to sustain this. Not Ukraine, and, as mentioned previously, without direct NATO intervention, Ukraine will lose more territory and eventually go to the bargaining table to cede territory currently controlled by Russia. Why? Because the Empire will direct it to.
Remember, Ukraine’s resource pool is rapidly dwindling and the now token Western alliance gestures and broken promises made to Ukraine will force this issue.
Election year, waning popularity, US support narrative now is, “for as long as we can…”
Tick-tock, tick-tock….
Another delusional Putin Lover.
Russia Lost Their Most Important Airplane
The Russian air force reportedly has been operating a fleet of nine such aircraft, lost one of 9 aircraft.
One at a time!
did you see plain remnants on the ground or you believe Putin s 1111 death from cancer and such .
Stop believing Ukies props and show evidence for a change
Start the parades.
Lol
From all the “content unavailable” headings I see the resident Zelensky fellatio aficionados are active, posting videos from Jake Broe and other faux-hawk adorned basement dwellers no doubt. The US has moved on; Israel is calling.
The arrogance here is breathtaking, as what the Ukrainian describes has never been Ukrainian strategy – it is the Russian strategy.
The Ukrainians have been under orders to take territory and then send in new conscripts to hold it no matter how many die. They send in soldiers to die in FOUR cauldrons along the border. They are the ones being exhausted.
The soldiers stuck in these cauldrons are constantly pleading for help over the radio, as they don’t have enough supplies. The Russians are happy to shell them, after which more Ukrainians are sent in. The Russians don’t advance unless they have great opportunity to take better positions somewhere. This is active defense.
The Ukrainian Syrskyi definitely knows this. So he is lying through his teeth.
Ukrainian and/or American neocon propaganda shills in:
May/June – The counteroffensive will succeed and the Russian Army will collapse.
July/August – The counteroffensive has stalled but the Ukrainians are on the verge of taking Verbove.
Late August – The counteroffensive is stalled, but the Ukrainians have breached the first line of defense.
September/October – The Ukrainians have changed tactics and are making progress.
November/December – The Ukrainians have broken through at Kriinky and now have a beach head on the eastern side of the Dnieper.
January 2024 ????
Realists:
May-December 2023 – Ukraine will have a hard time breaking through the Russian defensive belt without close air cover and a larger number of cohesive engineering units to clear mine fields.
Realists: Kill more Russians. Blow up more tanks. Destroy more air defenses. Shoot down more planes.
There, I fixed it for you.
So now Ukrainians are actively being Killed in Action in a defensive way. The truth hurts for you poor little propagandized supporters of Joey Biden.
Dark Brandon knows how this is gonna go. Europe knows how this is gonna go. Ukraine knows how this is gonna go. Russia? WWII tactics will win in 2022, I mean, 2024!
The Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht during WWII. At a loss of 20+ million souls. Normandy invasion was not necessary. My father was there. Never talked about it.
Ummm…OK. I was talking about 1940’s tactics vs modern tactics but thank your dad for his service for me. Then, maybe figure out what point you were trying to make.
9 reasons negotiations with Russia are utterly pointless
https://ukrainetoday.org/9-reasons-negotiations-with-russia-are-utterly-pointless/
Good Ukraine Update from the Telegraph
https://ukrainetoday.org/russia-ukraine-war-live-eu-condemns-germany-for-pledging-6bn-ukraine-aid/
Ukrainian Crews Set A Complex Missile Trap For Russia’s Best Radar Plane
https://ukrainetoday.org/ukrainian-crews-set-a-complex-missile-trap-for-russias-best-radar-plane/
What, up to now they’ve been on “passive offense?” I mean, jeez, has a war ever been more thoroughly and more blatantly propagandized?
“exhausting the enemy by inflicting maximum losses” – which is exactly what the Russians are doing. And the Russians have much more capability to do that than the Ukrainians.
There’s no way they can “dig in” to the same degree the Russians did from fall, 2022, to today. The Russians were already “dug in” before the New York Times did its famous article that Brian Berletic has discussed many times which came out in December, 2022. Over the past year, the Russians have brought in half a million new troops and increased their weapons manufacturing output from 2 to 7 times depending on the weapons system.
Put a fork in Ukraine. It’s done.
Bernhard’s detailed pointing out how the Ukrainians are copying the Russian “active defense” – without the ability to actually do it:
Ukraine Copies Russia’s ‘Active Defense’ Tactic
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/01/ukraine-copies-russias-active-defense-tactic.html#more