Thanks for the insight. I’ve read your material across many platforms. It is always balanced and helpful in understanding the military situation in this war.
I am not an analyst. But I suspect Putin has been bluffing and intentionally leading western analysts and thinkers in wrong direction, granted that he may have miscalculated and blundered to an extent. Time alone will prove who's stupid in this war. West or Russia. I believe Putin is indeed a very shrewd chess player.
My money is on Zaluzhnyi outsmarting him in a myriad of ways and reasons, not the least of which is Surovikin being a product of the culture he came from: self promotion through brutality. The well known corruption of the Russian military brass is one thing (including, ironically, degrading their own forces for self gain) that hampers their efforts. The bungling waste of the remainder of Russian armaments (w sanction limited resupply) on civilian targets and attrition of cannon fodder mobiks under his watch is symptomatic of deeper problems that he has yet to alter. Meanwhile, Zaluzhnyi is making him guess about when and where Ukraine will choose the next battle(s). I highly doubt there will be any reprieve in UAF offensive capability through the winter. I could be wrong, but this guy seems to only get a limited chunk of the holistic battlefield approach that a truly effective general would have while Zaluzhnyi has demonstrated it already, and quite masterfully.
Thanks for the insight. I’ve read your material across many platforms. It is always balanced and helpful in understanding the military situation in this war.
A very helpful and balanced analysis especially about the political and military mismatch RU faces
I am not an analyst. But I suspect Putin has been bluffing and intentionally leading western analysts and thinkers in wrong direction, granted that he may have miscalculated and blundered to an extent. Time alone will prove who's stupid in this war. West or Russia. I believe Putin is indeed a very shrewd chess player.
The best part of this first article was the caveat. I look forward to the conclusion. I will refrain form further comment until I read part two.
My money is on Zaluzhnyi outsmarting him in a myriad of ways and reasons, not the least of which is Surovikin being a product of the culture he came from: self promotion through brutality. The well known corruption of the Russian military brass is one thing (including, ironically, degrading their own forces for self gain) that hampers their efforts. The bungling waste of the remainder of Russian armaments (w sanction limited resupply) on civilian targets and attrition of cannon fodder mobiks under his watch is symptomatic of deeper problems that he has yet to alter. Meanwhile, Zaluzhnyi is making him guess about when and where Ukraine will choose the next battle(s). I highly doubt there will be any reprieve in UAF offensive capability through the winter. I could be wrong, but this guy seems to only get a limited chunk of the holistic battlefield approach that a truly effective general would have while Zaluzhnyi has demonstrated it already, and quite masterfully.
Love reading your articles Mick and following on twitter. Cheers Clarkey.