I’d read Vindman’s post earlier today, thanks for reposting. It injects hope into what’s been a grindingly slow war. With training, adequate weapons and fewer restrictions, Ukraine can begin to make real headway. Russia has a much larger pool of recruits, Ukraine just doesn’t have the personnel numbers. Instead they must be aggressive and efficient in attacking military targets in Russia and have enough support to launch major offensives at the border and hold them. The longer this grinds on, the more advantage Russia will gain.
We’re fighting for democracy with our votes; Ukraine is fighting for democracy with their lives.
Thanks for sharing this update from LCOL Vindman, Tom! Any chance you can post a link to his Substack?
The battle for Kursk Oblast has been fascinating to watch unfold - with the limited data points we have to go on at this point. ISW’s updates the past few days have been all over the place. The Russian Telegram channels they monitor are also all over the place. The update from last night has them taking back gains the Ukrainians achieved the day prior since they couldn’t confirm them. The Ukrainian government’s OPSEC has been extraordinary - supposedly even NATO allies were totally unaware it was set to commence. And the fact that those NATO allies are also saying “it’s your kit, do whatever you want”. Mick Ryan did a great piece on the element of surprise in warfare the other day (relating to this offensive) and it’s worth a read if you haven’t seen it.
This has been great news. I think I hear the spooling up of those F16's which will have a profound effect on the sense of security of the Russian Air Force and ground forces. Panic is what we want to see develop in pockets of the invaders' ranks, then general disintegration of cohesion.
It's impossible to say without a picture of the situation on the ground, but it occurs to me that a sudden reversal of direction by the Ukrainians could bring them crashing down on the rear of the Russian troops trespassing in the Ukraine.
In the first reporting I saw regarding the offensive, that’s what the assumption was… that they were going to go behind and encircle the troops in northern Kharkiv. Since then, however, it appears the Ukrainians have actually remote mined the areas to the east of where they’re currently fighting. Since the fog of war surrounding this offensive is denser than normal at the moment, right now all we can do is speculate. I’m speculating the Ukrainians are aiming for the Kursk NPP just outside of Kurchatov less than 100 km (60’ish miles) from the Ukrainian border.
YW. Mick Ryan Substack - “Future Doctrina” , Philips P. O’Brien’s “Philips newsletter” and TimMack’s “The Counteroffensive” are all excellent reads if you are following the Ukraine war. Sir Lawrence Friedman (and his son Sam) also have one in which Lawrence discusses foreign affairs - primarily Ukraine lately - and Sam (£) writes about British politics
Dave, I taught with a teacher from Ukraine. We grew up calling it “the Ukraine”, referring to a region in the USSR. She explained that “the Ukraine” is now an independent country, which they call “Ukraine”, no “the”. We’ve dated ourselves 😂
The Battle of Kursk was a battle that should have been avoided but for the actions of Hitler who wanted another great blitzkrieg breakthrough like 1940 in France and the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, but he chose to attack where the Soviets were strongest in a salient that the German general staff would have disregarded or sidestepped entirely. The Germans wasted men and weapons attacking the lines of Soviet troops and tanks for nothing and in the end, had to stop and regroup, but by then, they had lost the initiative and had to fight on the defensive from then on. Again they would be hampered by Corporal Hitler and his insistence on not withdrawing or to trade space for time to counter the Soviet armies. Putin has painted himself into a corner by committing all his reserves and weaponry in Ukraine in meatgrinder plodding attacks and has little or nothing left in the larder to turn around to face the Ukrainians in his own backyard. And like the German offensive in 1941, the road to Moscow is open and there’s no one in the way, another golden opportunity?? Could this Kursk operation be another turning point in history? Only time will tell…Slava Ukraini!
The land weeps at the repeated assaults. May the beautiful country of Ukraine win and heal and return to what it was before Putin started this ghastly horror.
The results so far in the Kursk Oblast demonstrate that Russia does not have enough troops to defend its own territory - only the border has real units of troops, and they were partly police and militia in the Kursk area. What makes it interesting is that Ukraine is fighting with Russian tactics in this assault and beating the Russians hands down so far.....they are simply better soldiers than the Russians are.
This will seem tangential for the comment section of this post, yet we know our funding for Ukraine relies on Congress and the administration In office. You report this exciting fact:
“The ability of the Ukrainian military to achieve success in even small-scale operations in Russian territory will serve as a hint of the potential effectiveness of a fully equipped military force trained to western standards.”
So we tout and promote grassroots voter action (eg Chop Wood Carry Water - Jessica Craven, and Rob Hubble -Today’s Edition), demonstrated ground swell support and excitement, and of course the one person/one vote basis of The People’s Voice. (The John Lewis Voting Act WILL be signed into law after this election!!!)…
Where can you point your readers to learn and understand better the confrontational dynamic of this disconcerting and upsetting headline? Very possibly you yourself have an explanation in the ready.
Silicon Valley divided on Harris vs. Trump — but could decide election
The Peter Thiel/Elmo Muck/Mark Andreesen Broscum, of Silly Con Valley want to have no regulation of their Bitcoin crypto scam, no restrictions on mergers, and no investigations of their monopolies. Thus they want Trump. Others don't.
I guess I fear big money and dark money in politics, Citizens United, voter suppression strategies (thank you, Mark Elias!!! You wield a different kind of suppression! The law!) OK! I need to be careful what I pay attention to, look at something like yesterday‘s event in Arizona, take heart, channel that uplift into productive work, joining forces to ensure that we win in November by a landslide!
Thank you, Tom. Good for Ukraine. Poor ol' Putin will have to double down on his efforts to get is favorite sycophant elected - the ever-Putin-praising trumpster/dumpster - good luck with that. I'll be so happy when Kamala kicks the putin-trump team into oblivion.
I think this offensive was anticipated which is why NK, China, and Iran have had several meetings with Putin and his generals. Russia will be able to get war materiel from them easily enough, but training Russian troops and conscripting enough new troops will be a challenge, not to mention that the condition of Russia's planes and tanks is that of most K-cars. And Ukraine succeeded in bopping one of Russia's ships in the Black Sea. Ukrainians are top notch warriors, including many of their women, but they may hire NATO pilots to fly the F-16s they now have until their pilots get up to speed.
I’d read Vindman’s post earlier today, thanks for reposting. It injects hope into what’s been a grindingly slow war. With training, adequate weapons and fewer restrictions, Ukraine can begin to make real headway. Russia has a much larger pool of recruits, Ukraine just doesn’t have the personnel numbers. Instead they must be aggressive and efficient in attacking military targets in Russia and have enough support to launch major offensives at the border and hold them. The longer this grinds on, the more advantage Russia will gain.
We’re fighting for democracy with our votes; Ukraine is fighting for democracy with their lives.
“We’re fighting for democracy with our votes; Ukraine is fighting for democracy with their lives.”
HEAR HEAR!!!
Russia may have a much larger pool of recruits but it appears that few if any have the military training that enables them to fight effectively.
And there have been many desertions of Russian troops. Morale is terrible because Russian troops' hearts are not in this fight.
Thanks for sharing this update from LCOL Vindman, Tom! Any chance you can post a link to his Substack?
The battle for Kursk Oblast has been fascinating to watch unfold - with the limited data points we have to go on at this point. ISW’s updates the past few days have been all over the place. The Russian Telegram channels they monitor are also all over the place. The update from last night has them taking back gains the Ukrainians achieved the day prior since they couldn’t confirm them. The Ukrainian government’s OPSEC has been extraordinary - supposedly even NATO allies were totally unaware it was set to commence. And the fact that those NATO allies are also saying “it’s your kit, do whatever you want”. Mick Ryan did a great piece on the element of surprise in warfare the other day (relating to this offensive) and it’s worth a read if you haven’t seen it.
Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦
LtCol Alexander Vindman's substack: https://alexandervindman.substack.com/archive
Worth the $5/mo.
Thank you!
Here's the link to LtCol. Vindman's post today about the Kursk offensive.
https://alexandervindman.substack.com/p/the-kursk-offensive?publication_id=2053525&post_id=147554052&isFreemail=false&r=712xe&triedRedirect=true
https://alexandervindman.substack.com/p/the-kursk-offensive?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2053525&post_id=147554052&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=hoi5q&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
This has been great news. I think I hear the spooling up of those F16's which will have a profound effect on the sense of security of the Russian Air Force and ground forces. Panic is what we want to see develop in pockets of the invaders' ranks, then general disintegration of cohesion.
Slava Ukraini!
It's impossible to say without a picture of the situation on the ground, but it occurs to me that a sudden reversal of direction by the Ukrainians could bring them crashing down on the rear of the Russian troops trespassing in the Ukraine.
In the first reporting I saw regarding the offensive, that’s what the assumption was… that they were going to go behind and encircle the troops in northern Kharkiv. Since then, however, it appears the Ukrainians have actually remote mined the areas to the east of where they’re currently fighting. Since the fog of war surrounding this offensive is denser than normal at the moment, right now all we can do is speculate. I’m speculating the Ukrainians are aiming for the Kursk NPP just outside of Kurchatov less than 100 km (60’ish miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Thanks.
YW. Mick Ryan Substack - “Future Doctrina” , Philips P. O’Brien’s “Philips newsletter” and TimMack’s “The Counteroffensive” are all excellent reads if you are following the Ukraine war. Sir Lawrence Friedman (and his son Sam) also have one in which Lawrence discusses foreign affairs - primarily Ukraine lately - and Sam (£) writes about British politics
Dave, I taught with a teacher from Ukraine. We grew up calling it “the Ukraine”, referring to a region in the USSR. She explained that “the Ukraine” is now an independent country, which they call “Ukraine”, no “the”. We’ve dated ourselves 😂
Indeed, and I didn't catch it. Glad you did. Thanks.
The Battle of Kursk was a battle that should have been avoided but for the actions of Hitler who wanted another great blitzkrieg breakthrough like 1940 in France and the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, but he chose to attack where the Soviets were strongest in a salient that the German general staff would have disregarded or sidestepped entirely. The Germans wasted men and weapons attacking the lines of Soviet troops and tanks for nothing and in the end, had to stop and regroup, but by then, they had lost the initiative and had to fight on the defensive from then on. Again they would be hampered by Corporal Hitler and his insistence on not withdrawing or to trade space for time to counter the Soviet armies. Putin has painted himself into a corner by committing all his reserves and weaponry in Ukraine in meatgrinder plodding attacks and has little or nothing left in the larder to turn around to face the Ukrainians in his own backyard. And like the German offensive in 1941, the road to Moscow is open and there’s no one in the way, another golden opportunity?? Could this Kursk operation be another turning point in history? Only time will tell…Slava Ukraini!
The land weeps at the repeated assaults. May the beautiful country of Ukraine win and heal and return to what it was before Putin started this ghastly horror.
Go Ukraine 🇺🇦!
Thank you Tom! Trying to
keep up with ISW is bizarre
😅. This was a good report.
The results so far in the Kursk Oblast demonstrate that Russia does not have enough troops to defend its own territory - only the border has real units of troops, and they were partly police and militia in the Kursk area. What makes it interesting is that Ukraine is fighting with Russian tactics in this assault and beating the Russians hands down so far.....they are simply better soldiers than the Russians are.
This will seem tangential for the comment section of this post, yet we know our funding for Ukraine relies on Congress and the administration In office. You report this exciting fact:
“The ability of the Ukrainian military to achieve success in even small-scale operations in Russian territory will serve as a hint of the potential effectiveness of a fully equipped military force trained to western standards.”
So we tout and promote grassroots voter action (eg Chop Wood Carry Water - Jessica Craven, and Rob Hubble -Today’s Edition), demonstrated ground swell support and excitement, and of course the one person/one vote basis of The People’s Voice. (The John Lewis Voting Act WILL be signed into law after this election!!!)…
Where can you point your readers to learn and understand better the confrontational dynamic of this disconcerting and upsetting headline? Very possibly you yourself have an explanation in the ready.
Silicon Valley divided on Harris vs. Trump — but could decide election
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/venture-capitalist-harris-trump-19629682.php
The Peter Thiel/Elmo Muck/Mark Andreesen Broscum, of Silly Con Valley want to have no regulation of their Bitcoin crypto scam, no restrictions on mergers, and no investigations of their monopolies. Thus they want Trump. Others don't.
Cryptocurrency is the fastest road to ruin that Repubs have supported since trickle down
I guess I fear big money and dark money in politics, Citizens United, voter suppression strategies (thank you, Mark Elias!!! You wield a different kind of suppression! The law!) OK! I need to be careful what I pay attention to, look at something like yesterday‘s event in Arizona, take heart, channel that uplift into productive work, joining forces to ensure that we win in November by a landslide!
Thank you for your response.
Thank you, Tom. Good for Ukraine. Poor ol' Putin will have to double down on his efforts to get is favorite sycophant elected - the ever-Putin-praising trumpster/dumpster - good luck with that. I'll be so happy when Kamala kicks the putin-trump team into oblivion.
Vindman is on top of it. He will keep us all up to date.
I think this offensive was anticipated which is why NK, China, and Iran have had several meetings with Putin and his generals. Russia will be able to get war materiel from them easily enough, but training Russian troops and conscripting enough new troops will be a challenge, not to mention that the condition of Russia's planes and tanks is that of most K-cars. And Ukraine succeeded in bopping one of Russia's ships in the Black Sea. Ukrainians are top notch warriors, including many of their women, but they may hire NATO pilots to fly the F-16s they now have until their pilots get up to speed.