China desires a multipolar world as much as Russia does. They want to be able to muscle everyone in their sphere of influence. Make no mistake, authoritarians were on the rise over the last few years, Russia being smashed this badly wasn't expected in Moscow or Beijing.
I strongly suspect Xi knew about the invasion and asked for a delay until the Olympics were over. They aren't honest brokers about peace because they desire an end to American hegemony as much as Russia wanted it.
China unleashed a pandemic on the world that killed tens of millions, Russia started a war of vanity. Their respective systems of mafia governance are a blight on the world.
Well? He might make you mad, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. Bakhmut is almost surrounded. The Ukrainian forces would be well advised to withdraw from their positions before they get caught in a cauldron and captured/destroyed en-masse like what happened in Mariupol. There aren't a lot of avenues left for them to escape.
Well? He might make you mad, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. Bakhmut is almost surrounded. The Ukrainian forces would be well advised to withdraw from their positions before they get caught in a cauldron and captured/destroyed en-masse like what happened in Mariupol. There aren't a lot of avenues left for them to escape.
I understand he could be right as a lot of other people are commenting on how difficult it is in Bakhmut. So he's adding nothing of value, other than stroke his own ego.
I understand he could be right as a lot of other people are commenting on how difficult it is in Bakhmut. So he's adding nothing of value, other than stroke his own ego.
Updated thread here from Bakhmut. None good. Requires translation but this account is a great follow for realtime updates from the area.
Unfortunately, Bakhmut is untenable, it has always been with Russia focusing so intensely on it with out regard to man loss. Ukraine isn't going to heavily reinforce the area to engage Russia in a battle of attrition for a largely strategically meaningless town. The tactical goal has always been to drain as much Russian military strength as possible with the eventual withdrawal should it be needed.
By all accounts though, this has been Russian major offensive, with disastrously enormous results in what may be the most pyrrhic victory in history (Russia may have lost as many as 50K troops in Bakhmut front alone).
We will soon see what the Ukraine spring offensive may look like.
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Unfortunately, Bakhmut is untenable, it has always been with Russia focusing so intensely on it with out regard to man loss. Ukraine isn't going to heavily reinforce the area to engage Russia in a battle of attrition for a largely strategically meaningless town. The tactical goal has always been to drain as much Russian military strength as possible with the eventual withdrawal should it be needed.
By all accounts though, this has been Russian major offensive, with disastrously enormous results in what may be the most pyrrhic victory in history (Russia may have lost as many as 50K troops in Bakhmut front alone).
We will soon see what the Ukraine spring offensive may look like.
Pyrrhic victory is a good way of putting it. I find it fascinating to see the strategy play out here by Ukraine as they have refused to pull out time and time again despite things looking bleak on many occasions. By all accounts Bakhmut should have been lost long ago and yet the soldiers of Ukraine somehow manage to hold on.
It does seem like only a matter of time before they are forced to pull back but as you say the time that has been bought to properly equip and prepare for the spring offensive has been incredibly valuable and potentially the turning point in the war for the defeat of the Russian forces.
I'd like to hear more about why Eduard Moskalyov was sacked tho, something seems up there and the timing is very strange. Hopefully we learn more cause the timing seems like it would be a morale killer for the guys on the ground there.
Russia is accusing the US, without evidence, of preparing to launch chemical weapons in Ukraine. i.e. Russia is planning a false flag operation in Ukraine using chemical weapons and blaming it on the US and Ukrainians. Russia appears to be getting more desperate about the situation on the ground and the upcoming western weapons shipments.
Translation:
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine - Hanna Maliar - announced that the Ukrainian troops, which have been defending Bakhmut for several months, will receive reinforcements. As she announced, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces - General Alexander Syrski - during a visit to the city of 1/2
decided to redeploy additional units to the Bakhmut area. At the same time, according to the deputy defense minister, this decision is military, not political. "Decisions are made by the military, who are not guided by political motives" - stressed Hanna Maliar. 2/2
Translation:
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine - Hanna Maliar - announced that the Ukrainian troops, which have been defending Bakhmut for several months, will receive reinforcements. As she announced, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces - General Alexander Syrski - during a visit to the city of 1/2
decided to redeploy additional units to the Bakhmut area. At the same time, according to the deputy defense minister, this decision is military, not political. "Decisions are made by the military, who are not guided by political motives" - stressed Hanna Maliar. 2/2
This is likely guided by the fact that the troops fighting for Bakhmut will feel betrayed that their brothers in arms died for nothing. It's a tactical error to put resources into keeping it
Canada bought 3,500 grad rockets from Serbia and delivered them to Ukraine via Turkey. This has apparently set off a bit of a storm in Serbia where there is a lot of support for Russia.
Canada bought 3,500 grad rockets from Serbia and delivered them to Ukraine via Turkey. This has apparently set off a bit of a storm in Serbia where there is a lot of support for Russia.
