Your West Point and military family background (especially "The General" is shining through, I'm sick and tired of people who know squat about tactics, operations, and strategy mouthing off. You also capture the horrors of war. My go to man for insights into the course of the war.
Elon Musk is a love-hate kind of fellow but today I love him for supplying communication to replace Urkrainian loss of internet. It has to be critically important for the Ukrainians to know what is going on and what the world thinks. We cheer every success and victory.
Thanks. We need this information from someone with a military background. I would never have known that convoys should not be bunched up for example. Please continue to keep us informed.
I wonder about sabotage and such within Russia by undercover Ukrainian agents as well as anti-Putin forces. Depending upon how long the invasion lasts, Russia riskes some very real domestic blowback that could be quite destabilizing.
How paranoid do you speculate Putin may be getting that someone close to him will have had enough? and what do you think he may do in anticipation of a betrayal?
Good news but if the Russians continue to operate this way and bleed without taking any of the key objectives (as in Kyiv) they have fixated on a bogged down military may motivate Vlad the Impaler to use more brutal tactics like cluster and barrel bombs against primarily civilian targets. The Russians participated gleefully in such tactics in Syria and did not seem to mind the bad publicity they got from it.
The Ukrainians are putting up one hell of a fight and can be counted on to do so for as long as the ammunition holds out. I do hope someone in NATO HQ is figuring out ways to get more Stingers into the country because if , God Forbid, Putin starts allowing the Russian Air Force to fly freely the factor of destruction and dying will be ramped up exponentially. All those tanks and APCs will sit outside the cities while they are carpet bombed.
Your analysis makes it sound as if pound per pound the Ukrainians are punching way over their weight by being better trained and more highly motivated. That is worth a lot but once they lose the "high ground" and the Russians start to fly risk free the killing of both Ukrainian military and civilians including children will begin in earnest. God help them all but continuing to arm them and ratcheting up the economic pressure on Putin's Russia. That will be worth a lot more than thoughts and prayers.
And that new factor is the role of Open Source Intellegence ( OSINT) in the modern battle space. Information has become weaponized and become essential militarily and politically. One just about every level the Ukrainians are running circles around the Russians in the OSINT area. It’s been invaluable tactically, psychologically and politically. I’m sure there will be case studies of this forthcoming from the military think tanks worldwide. Here’s a link to a great article that absolutely predicted this https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/02/18/a-new-era-of-transparent-warfare-beckons
Lucian, your military education is certainly proving most helpful in creating a vivid picture of what is happening in Ukraine. Many thanks for your insights!
Thank you for the very valuable insider knowledge of military tactics. I'd wager that Putin is not happy getting this much of a fight from a country that he believed would roll over and play dead when he launched an invasion.
There was a picture I saw of two Russian generals at the announcement of the nuclear forces being upped in status, and they both looked very glum and pissed off.
I wonder if they are very supportive of Putin, as well as the other people in the military. Pretty obvious money can't buy competence. Putin might have spent tons of money on his 'new and improved military', but he sure didn't make them good enough to fight a war.
I hope your description of Ukrainian forces bode well, but I fear Putin's disregard of public opinion. As per the BBC overnight Putin used thermobaric weapons, aerosol bombs, or vacuum bombs in Syria. These bombs are a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. They are extremely powerful and do not discriminate. (See Aleppo today)
Your West Point and military family background (especially "The General" is shining through, I'm sick and tired of people who know squat about tactics, operations, and strategy mouthing off. You also capture the horrors of war. My go to man for insights into the course of the war.
Elon Musk is a love-hate kind of fellow but today I love him for supplying communication to replace Urkrainian loss of internet. It has to be critically important for the Ukrainians to know what is going on and what the world thinks. We cheer every success and victory.
Thanks. We need this information from someone with a military background. I would never have known that convoys should not be bunched up for example. Please continue to keep us informed.
Insightful comments welcomed from a source with a valid military and journalistic background.
it's this sort of insight into military things that makes having you commenting on them so valuable, Lucian. for which, thanks yet again.
I wonder about sabotage and such within Russia by undercover Ukrainian agents as well as anti-Putin forces. Depending upon how long the invasion lasts, Russia riskes some very real domestic blowback that could be quite destabilizing.
How paranoid do you speculate Putin may be getting that someone close to him will have had enough? and what do you think he may do in anticipation of a betrayal?
He's hiding outside of Moscow in one or more of his many homes under heavy guard.
It’s disappointing to think we won’t see him dragged out of a spider hole.
Zelensky versus Putin, big contrast
https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2022/02/26/besieged-ukrainian-president-shows-russia-an-alternative-to-a-hiding-vladimir-putin/amp/
My comparison has been Zelenskyy to the cowards in Congress who can’t even say Trump lost or Tom Cotton on Sunday or on and on.
Great observation
Good news but if the Russians continue to operate this way and bleed without taking any of the key objectives (as in Kyiv) they have fixated on a bogged down military may motivate Vlad the Impaler to use more brutal tactics like cluster and barrel bombs against primarily civilian targets. The Russians participated gleefully in such tactics in Syria and did not seem to mind the bad publicity they got from it.
The Ukrainians are putting up one hell of a fight and can be counted on to do so for as long as the ammunition holds out. I do hope someone in NATO HQ is figuring out ways to get more Stingers into the country because if , God Forbid, Putin starts allowing the Russian Air Force to fly freely the factor of destruction and dying will be ramped up exponentially. All those tanks and APCs will sit outside the cities while they are carpet bombed.
Your analysis makes it sound as if pound per pound the Ukrainians are punching way over their weight by being better trained and more highly motivated. That is worth a lot but once they lose the "high ground" and the Russians start to fly risk free the killing of both Ukrainian military and civilians including children will begin in earnest. God help them all but continuing to arm them and ratcheting up the economic pressure on Putin's Russia. That will be worth a lot more than thoughts and prayers.
And that new factor is the role of Open Source Intellegence ( OSINT) in the modern battle space. Information has become weaponized and become essential militarily and politically. One just about every level the Ukrainians are running circles around the Russians in the OSINT area. It’s been invaluable tactically, psychologically and politically. I’m sure there will be case studies of this forthcoming from the military think tanks worldwide. Here’s a link to a great article that absolutely predicted this https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/02/18/a-new-era-of-transparent-warfare-beckons
I appreciate your reporting on this war. So much that I actually subscribed. Thanks for what you do.
Money well spent!
Lucian, your military education is certainly proving most helpful in creating a vivid picture of what is happening in Ukraine. Many thanks for your insights!
Thank you for the very valuable insider knowledge of military tactics. I'd wager that Putin is not happy getting this much of a fight from a country that he believed would roll over and play dead when he launched an invasion.
There was a picture I saw of two Russian generals at the announcement of the nuclear forces being upped in status, and they both looked very glum and pissed off.
I wonder if they are very supportive of Putin, as well as the other people in the military. Pretty obvious money can't buy competence. Putin might have spent tons of money on his 'new and improved military', but he sure didn't make them good enough to fight a war.
Good stuff. Keep it up!
I hope your description of Ukrainian forces bode well, but I fear Putin's disregard of public opinion. As per the BBC overnight Putin used thermobaric weapons, aerosol bombs, or vacuum bombs in Syria. These bombs are a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. They are extremely powerful and do not discriminate. (See Aleppo today)
Well, that's pretty terrifying.
Your articles are increasing our morale. Thank you!
Do you know if the Ukrainians are armed with mines? If not, seems they might start making IEDs.