“We must stop this army of Grant’s before he gets to the James River. If he gets there it will become a siege, and then it will be a mere matter of time.”
Robert E Lee 1864
I was very surprised to hear about the new Ukrainian offensive into Russia, I didn’t see it coming and apparently neither did the Russians.
In one respect it makes a lot of sense, if there is a war of attrition Ukraine loses. It’s sort of like Lee sending troops against Washington to relieve pressure on Richmond. The difference of course is that Ukraine is getting plenty of supplies from the west and has decided to act proactively. If it works out it takes out a main Russian supply hub and complicates things for the troops in Donbass. This could give Ukraine a boost in getting better terms from Russia or perhaps cause them to decide that it just isn’t worth it or even bring down Putin.
Of course it’s also possible that it causes Russia to allocate resources to crush this offensive and drive into the heart of Ukraine figuring they’ve gone all in to raise the troops for this offensive, or even back Putin into a nuclear corner.
I have no idea how this ends but it’s a logical move if you want to change the course of a war that was heading for Ukrainian defeat.
What really surprises me is that this offensive is not only Ukraine having the balls to launch it but that it’s getting almost no coverage in the press.
I find that almost as interesting as the offensive.
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