I could maybe understand the criticism if Russia had made further gains, but you have to keep in mind that Ukraine has liberated 74,443 km² or 28,743 square miles since the start of the invasion. The offensive may not have had the effect that many hoped for after their earlier successes but they are facing defensive positions that have been set up and fortified over months. It will take some time to force a breakthrough and they are still constantly chipping away at the frontline. It's a good thing that they are advancing carefully and not just sending expendable waves of untrained soldiers like the Russians do.
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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It's an interesting product of a western world that hasnt really seen war in 70 years. It's always been far away.
We seek instant gratification, when in reality these are people's lives. It should move slowly, especially against heavily mined positions. I'm wondering if we'll see much progress until the F-16s enter the field to gain air support for the ground troops.
a western world that hasnt really seen war in 70 years
Do TV stations in the West don't show the war they produce? Because as far as I know we haven't stopped having wars where the West is involved since at least 200 years, so I'm not really sure I follow you there. Afghanistan doesn't count or what?
They showed what the US government wanted them to see.
Might be a play on the word "see" here.
Wars are distant things to North America. A product that is viewed only through glass or a screen. There has never been conventional war on modern north American soil, so it is something people go to, but not a devastation that really affects day to day life.
I'd liken the attitude more to Hollywood movies: an export of American (US) culture.
So the understanding that this is people's literal homes. That life is finite, and war is atrocious is disconnected. I can watch Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down, etc. to get a taste of war, but when I'm done with it, I want it to resolve and be over.
That's not possible for Ukrainians. Their country is still occupied. The devastation on their land will continue for decades.
Even if they crash through the lines next week, and sweep aside Russian defences like dust there are decades of rebuilding and de-mining ahead.
The cultural West must be willing to be in that journey every step of the way, or we risk another radicalized generation in the future that heard the promises, but lived the broken actions.
All in my opinion, of course, from the safety of my home.
Sure it has, but it has mainly seen it through the lens of the USA. The USA has been able to overpower other militaries on such an extreme scale that people think a war should be over in a week.
Most of the deaths were saw in Iraq and Afghanistan were from an insurgency fighting an occupying force. It wasn't the same as two industrial nations fighting. No one really covered the Iran-Iraq War, so the closest experience would likely be Korea.
Ukraine has liberated 74,443 km² or 28,743 square miles since the start of the invasion
The front lines have remained basically static since Fall '22.
Has my research on this been just been somehow skewed over the past months or does it really seem like Western media is suddenly turning on Ukraine?
Until like 1-2 weeks ago it was really difficult to find anything overly critical about Ukraine and now it seems as of there's a sudden change in coverage.
Is it just me? I think I've been rather thorough.
They're getting ready to bail I think.
I haven't been thorough at all, but it seems that way to me. Not liking it.
Ukraine: we need tanks/armor!
West: hmm, no that would be too provocative.
months later, as Russia digs trenches and lays mines
West: ok, ok, here are some tanks
Ukraine: Great, can we get better ammunition?
West: What?! No, yeesh.
months of mines and trenches later
West: Ok here are cluster munitions
Ukraine: thank you. None of this really works without air support though so...
West: What is your deal?
mine, mine, mine, trench trench
West: Ok maybe some F16s.
West: yo, what's taking so long?
Ukraine: I'm sorry? I can't hear you over ALL THE FUCKING MINES
The longer the war lasts, the happier are the military industrial complex and its shareholders.
What a detailed description of all the Wunderwaffe they've been using, thanks!
"Bully punches kid and steals $50, kid only manages to get back $30, is the kid a fucking loser?" This is what the sentiment usually feels like, even if it's not what the reporting is about, please be aware of this.
They are worried of losing control of the narrative, not of the war. They said the quiet part out loud.
Mostly slow due to mines and the dam. Recently, Ukraine has made good progress in Crimea and some surprise attacks on RF assets. It will just take some time is all.
Note: Crimea looks less and less defendable by the day. With sanctions and international support for Ukraine, Russia is the one with a ticking clock.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ukrainian officials and their supporters say they are confident they will prevail on the battlefield in the end, but warn against what they see as unrealistic expectations in media coverage and commentaries that could create a misleading narrative suggesting it cannot and will not win.
Although equipped with new U.S. and other Western-made weapons and gear, including tanks, longer-range missiles and artillery ammunition, Ukraine lacks air power and has encountered stiff resistance from the Russian forces who have planted hundreds of mines across the front line, set up anti-tank barriers and dug rows of defensive trenches.
“We are confident that they have significant combat capability available to them, and that they’re going to employ that at a time and place of their choosing to defend their country and take back sovereign territory,” Pentagon press secretary Brig.
Leonid Polyakov, a former Ukrainian vice defense minister, said that in two separate cases, once in June and another time in July, a brigade commander had pursued direct assaults during the counteroffensive in hopes of a swift victory.
An assault with armored units in June failed to break through Russian lines in the south and, in the past week, Ukraine has made a concentrated effort in the western area of the Zaporizhia oblast, according to analysts and U.S. officials.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have failed to achieve major advances, and Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corp think tank, argues that neither side has a realistic chance of scoring a definitive victory.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
"hundreds of mines"
I'm willing to bed there's like at least a thousand.
Some U.S. officials are frustrated at the pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which has gained less than 100 square miles of territory.
Some U.S. officials should read Aesop's Fables, specifically one named "The Tortoise and the Hare".
You could also say that Russia is the tortoise, so I don't think it's applicable here.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Ukraine cannot win here. Russia has the world's most devious and cruel combat engineers laying in miles and miles of entrenched defence fortifications. Backed by Russia's world leading artillery battalions, there is no way Ukraine can push back Russia without battlefield nukes.
Russia is already laying in massive quantities of entrenched long range radar, antiaircraft batteries and missiles. US cannot acquire air power over that region any longer. If you have played a realistic war flightsim like Falcon 5.0, you will know air power cannot prevail against Russia's AA tech.
The F-35 has been operating over Syria for years against those supposedly infallible Russian AA defenses. So far the only thing that's been able to hit them is a bird.
Tankies are gonna tankie.
The f35 has stealth tech specifically designed to go against Russian AA, and the Syrians had antiquated systems.
The f16 does not, and the Russians have lots of the latest generation AA because they're the ones who make it.
The F16 will be vulnerable but not completely useless, as implied by the other post.
Yes, I agree it will be very briefly useful.
lmao