Russian servicemen are seen in Mariupol, Donetsk People's Republic, on April 4. Ilya Pitalev / Sputnik
Moscow Times/AFP: Russia Digs In Awaiting Ukraine's Expected Offensive
Russia has boosted its defenses in occupied Ukraine ahead of Kyiv's anticipated counterattack, wagering its position on 800 kilometers of triple-fortified lines and a gush of manpower.
Now that the Ukrainian terrain, muddied by the spring thaw, has begun to dry and Russia's latest wave of attacks has fizzled out, a counterstrike may be weeks or perhaps days away.
The Russian defensive wall runs from Kherson, in Ukraine's south, to the northeast of the country, spanning more than 500 miles.
"These defensive lines consist of layered fortifications and trenches," said Brady Africk at U.S. think-tank American Enterprise Institute.
They include anti-tank ditches, raised barriers, lines of pre-fabricated defenses known as dragon's teeth, landmines and trenches for personnel, he told AFP.
Read more ....
Update #1: Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack (Reuters)
Update #2: Moscow readies its weapons for Ukraine's counter-offensive (Euronews)
WNU Editor: A lot is riding for both sides in this counter-offensive. But Ukraine needs to show to their Western backers that they have the capability to drive the Russian army back.
WNU i agree from the Ukraine’s point of view but…… from the first day of the conflict my opinion has not changed all the aid from nato is just prolonging the inevitable russian victory, the only way ukraine Has any chance of victory will be the total dedication of nato countries economies to the war effort or direct military involvement both will start WW3 and increase the potential for nuclear war and global annihilation…….
ReplyDeleteNo, Ukraine's point of view is to fight for their own freedom. Not same as yours.
DeleteThey aren’t fighting gor freedom, they are fighting because if they don’t, Zelensky’ henchmen will execute them. And what freedom do you speak of anyway? The type of freedom where you can’t speak Russian or practice your religion? Another lobotomized and fully indoctrinated westerner chiming in.
DeleteWhen you consider that the Ukrainians are fighting in regions who’s civilian population mostly speaks Russian, practices Russian orthodoxy, and voted twice to separate from Ukraine, it’s actually those former Ukrainians, now Russians, who are fighting for their freedoms from the Zelensky regime.
DeleteAre you Ukrainian, if not then they do not speak same as your ideals
DeleteWell my tax dollars and country’s military equipment is being sent over there to help Ukraine take back regions that want nothing to do with Ukraine and will only be oppressed if successful. I don’t have to be Ukrainian to understand just how ridiculous that is. But for the record, my mother is Ukrainian and supports the same insane nonsense that you do.
DeleteAssuming he is Ukrainian but he is more concern of his taxes.
DeleteThe United States has its hands all over this conflict. Can anyone remember a conflict that the United States orchestrated and turned out well in the end? Didn’t think so
ReplyDelete75% of the world is on the side of Russia, Ukraine that will stop being the whore of Europe, it was never part of Europe even ethnically, this crazy country wanting to be Nazi and Jewish all together? psycho country
ReplyDeleteThis is so stupid. Really.
ReplyDeleteFirst Ukraine officially declare a counter offensive, then Russia says its ready for it. Then they continue this path like its a secret..
I think our brainwashers has gotten lazy.
Ukraine has two, possibly three, advantages:
ReplyDeleteThere is talk of Russian defenses, but their quality remains to be seen. The Imperial Japanese Army work of Colonel Nakagawa is one standard for fortifications. American Marines were able to destroy linear WWI-type trench lines built by the IJA early in WWII by penetrating to the rear and attacking the trench lines from behind, but the IJA adopted non-linear trench systems at Peleliu that made this impossible because they could not be flanked. Pictures of Russian trenches show long lines, not the "field full of starfish" pattern finally developed by the IJA. The Vietnamese fully developed "vertical honeycomb" bunker systems in the 1960s ("the tunnels of Cu Chi") that allowed them to fight even after heavy bomber attacks were made and their surface trenches were taken, and Hizballah in 2006 developed bunkers that held off the Israeli army. There are no reports of Vietnamese or Iranian advisors assisting the Russians.
American ISR has consistently surprised Russia and may do so again. We are talking about a country that can tell India where and when a Chinese platoon is moving anywhere in the Himalayas, because of AI analysis of satellite data. American data collection is no longer limited by human review of raw data, but employs humans only in second-level review of data flagged by AI.
We don't know the mobilization schedule of Ukraine. How many soldiers and how well trained they are is a secret. Maybe they've been bled white, maybe there are legions waiting... We'll find out.
Concur,
ReplyDeleteThis will be an episode of wait and see.
What will be interesting will be the surprises involved.
Russians use local EMP bombs?
Ukrainians use a gifted MOAB to break Russian Defence lines?
But then again, maybe no surprises. Just the same thing over and over..
Attack only so far, attack stalls out, defend and get attrited by artillery.
No way of knowing. We shall see.
From REMIX
ReplyDeletePolish Armed Forces chief of staff General Rajmund Andrzejczak said that when he analyzes the war in Ukraine politically, he is pessimistic. This is, he explained, because “there is nothing that indicates that Russia will lack the resources to continue the conflict.”
He said during the session that he did not feel sanctions would stop Russia from having the funds to continue the war.
The general also offered a bleak assessment of Poland’s ability to send ammunition to Ukraine.
“We simply don’t have the ammunition. Our industry isn’t ready to send the equipment to Ukraine and to maintain our own dwindling reserves,” he said. He noted that he was tirelessly presenting such an analysis in order to raise awareness.
He continued his remarks by saying that “war is not the business of soldiers.” It is rather “a question of politics with economic factors involving finance, infrastructure, technology, food, and a range of other problems that you have to figure into the equation to be able to understand it.”
Gen. Andrzejczak observed that “Ukraine is experiencing huge financial problems,” despite the huge aid packages it was receiving from the U.S., the West and Poland.
Gen. Andrzejczak told the National Security Bureau that he regarded the security situation facing Poland as highly dangerous. Asked if the leaders of the West appreciated how far Ukraine is from winning the war with Russia, he opined that “an honest assessment of the threats was still both a surprise and a shock for most of them.”
The general also said there was no indication that Ukrainians who fled their country would return home to start reconstruction, adding that he felt that the NATO summit in Vilnius will be “a summit to define our credibility, of NATO, and the whole of the West.”
If the response was “late” and lacking in determination, then Ukraine would have no chance of a secure future.
This is simple, Ukraine only has to gain enough ground to put egg on the face of Russia, with all their problems, they will have to pull pack or sue for peace.
ReplyDelete11:00
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you on this one. If any reports are to be believed, the Russians are not going to quit so easily.
Have you read thier articles or watched thier TV?
I hate to say it, but by looks of things, they are not going to shut down over an embarrassing event.
Historically look at the 1st month of the war where they were stopped. Then the Moskove sinking, then the Ukie offensive last fall and the Kerch bridge . All embarrassing .
These guys, like the ukies are Slavs. They have a tendency/ reputaion to face embarassment and shame just fine. But the other side is that they also have a reputaion to repay it with vindictiveness and revenge.
@11
ReplyDeleteWhere is that gain exactly that you're talking about? Or you mean that they are hoping to gain some victories? If that's so, they have lost already.
I'm being very clear now: Ukraine is losing ground every minute and it seems to speed up now.
And btw, the Russians are now actively targeting stuff in the north now too. They are going to eliminate Zelensky now.
ReplyDeleteAnd about this counter offensive, i think Russia just blew up one of the new "Nato" brigade in the western city of Mykolaiv, near Kherson. Thats why Ukies lost 4 S300 and 2 Gepards. The Gepards did not work as intended and all of them got taken out because of that. Then they killed them all with 4 kalibr missiles.
ReplyDeleteThat would not be surprising,
ReplyDeleteDon't know if it is true. Russian news reported that they captured a leo 2 lasr week near kherson. Did tgey really. Not yet confirmed ,but if they did, its off to the military tech ware house reverse engineerung facility
Cool, been waiting for some footage of a Leo or our own CV90's..
ReplyDelete