Russia can not claim any notable successes in the Ukraine war. A military expert explains why their strategy won’t work.
Kiev – In February, shortly following the Russian army attacked Ukraine, one might have believed that the Ukraine war will be over in a few weeks. The fighting has now lasted more than nine months, and the Ukrainian armed forces have now succeeded in recapturing large areas. Why is Russia having such trouble securing successes in Ukraine?
According to the Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman, a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Army Russia failed strategies in Ukraine, as a result of which it has to lose areas that have already been conquered. “The Russians are trying everything to achieve victory,” Vindman said on former US Senator Al Franken’s podcast. “You cannot win on the battlefields in Ukraine. The Ukrainian armed forces are too impressive.”
“Terrible” strategy of the Russian army in Ukraine
Instead, the Russian army is trying to break the “will to fight” of the people of Ukraine by shelling civilian targets in the country, the US magazine quotes as saying Newsweek the former director for European affairs in the US National Security Council. This strategy is “terrible” as Ukrainians “will not back down”. “Ukrainians will continue to support the military”
According to Vindman in an interview, 87 to 90 percent of Ukrainians are still in favor of the liberation of the occupied territories. He is probably referring to a poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, according to which “87 percent of Ukrainians reject the idea that their country would give up any territory, regardless of how long the war would last,” it says Newsweek further.
Russia shells Ukraine’s infrastructure
The current approach to Russian warfare is therefore a “failed strategy”. The shelling of the population “won’t really persuade the Ukrainians to negotiate, but that’s what they’re following.” [die Russen] agreed because they made catastrophic mistakes time and time once more during this war.”
Although the sustained shelling of Ukraine does not look like breaking the people’s will to go to war, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to attack civilian buildings. The energy infrastructure in particular is under fire. One of the focus points over the past few days has been the Port city of Odessa, which will probably be without power for weeks following drone attacks will be.
Simultaneously the will to fight seems to be shrinking in Russia’s own population. According to a non-public survey in Russia, the younger generation in particular sees the war as a mistake. Russia is “a country with a broken backbone,” said an expert from Berlin. (pron)
