All language subtitles for 08-08-2023sfdzxs

Jack Watling, a senior fellow at
the Royal United Services Institute,

spoke about the Ukrainian offensive
in a column for the Financial Times.

The main takeaway from this report:

"For the past two months, Ukraine has been
engaged in intense battles in an attempt

to break through the Russian defensive
lines, with minor incremental advances.

However, over time, Ukraine has started
to gain an advantage for itself.

The question now is whether it will be able
to push Russian forces to a breaking point.

With the start of the Ukrainian offensive
in June, Russia adopted a new tactic:

it allowed the Ukrainians to enter minefields
and then aggressively counterattacked using

tanks and anti-tank weaponry on the
flanks. After disabling Ukrainian

armored vehicles, Russia unleashed mortar
and artillery fire on infantry positions.

After attempts to break through minefields
with explosives resulted in casualties,

Kyiv adapted its tactics. It began to strike from
the flanks before attempting a breakthrough. In

this way it was able to reduce losses, but
difficulties with planning and reconnaissance

have slowed the process, with the Ukrainians
taking no more than 700 meters at a time.

This gives Russia a chance to catch its breath.
However, accelerating this process would lead to

unacceptable losses in equipment for the Ukrainian
Armed Forces. Therefore, for the Ukrainians,

the key is to balance between losses in equipment
and expanding breakthroughs when they arise.

But Kyiv has become adept at
counter-battery warfare - it is

good at finding and destroying Russian guns and
radars with high-precision Western projectiles.

The systematic erosion of Russian artillery has
been a game changer: for the first time in the

entire war, Ukrainian howitzers are able
to fire continuously at Russian positions.

Moscow still has the means to hit Ukrainian
armored vehicles in minefields, but it now

has less artillery power to hit infantry that
unloads from vehicles and advances on positions.

As a result, Ukraine succeeds in
capturing Russian positions even

when its equipment is intercepted in open areas.

This leaves Moscow having to use the equipment
even more aggressively, but the closer it gets

to the front, the more vulnerable it is. It is
being successfully hunted by Ukrainian drones.

Ukraine destroys Russian command posts,

warehouses and depots deep behind the
lines thanks to Storm Shadow. Alongside

successful counter-battery efforts, Russian
infantry is experiencing diminishing support.

Coupled with this, Ukraine also
has heavy losses in equipment.

Especially the defense forces suffer from the
constant attacks of Russian helicopters, which

hit vehicles 8-10 km from the front line, flying
at low altitude out of range of air defense.

The question is which side can withstand
the current level of attrition. On the

southern front, Russia's 58th All-Russian
Army has taken the brunt of the attack.

A quarter of its personnel are in firing positions
and they have few reserves. Ukraine, meanwhile,

has thrown additional units of the 10th Army
Corps into the fray to keep up the pressure.

At some point, Russian infantry may find
themselves scattered in a thin line along

the front, and without sufficient artillery and
armored vehicles, the defenses could sprinkle.

The weather may allow Ukraine to continue its
pressure until early November. And from that

point onwards, the course of events will depend on
which side is better prepared for winter warfare".

Admittedly, I love hindsight and this
was not the worst report I've read,

so I'll leave it without my comments. But
let's go back a little less than a year ago.

"Western officials assert that the war in
Ukraine is in an 'operational stalemate,' and

neither side can develop sufficient ground combat
capabilities to influence the course of events.

This, on August 20, 2022, CNN wrote,
citing Western unnamed officials."

And 2 weeks later was the Kharkov
operation and during the offensive

Ukraine recaptured more than 500 settlements
and 12,000 square kilometers of territory.

This is the main point I wanted to make today,
thank you for the time you have spent with me.