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Mainstream “Newsweek” Wakes up to Reality: “$113 Billion in Modern Arms Hardly Dented Russian Lines”

The Gateway Pundit By Richard Abelson Sep. 21, 2023 

Writing in Newsweek magazine, Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, Senior Fellow at Defense Priorities think tank, acknowledged what Gateway Pundit has been reporting for months: That Ukraine’s “summer offensive” is “producing little to no meaningful progress toward the objective of evicting Russia from Ukraine’s territory,” even as “American politicians, generals, and pundits continue advocating for open-ended support to Kyiv in their war against Russia.”

Davis’ sobering assessment carries the headline “We Can No Longer Hide the Truth About the Russia-Ukraine War“.

It was not clear why anyone would want to “Hide the Truth” about the US taxpayer-funded border dispute in distant Eastern Europe.

“Despite great hopes for a rapid success, Ukraine’s months-in-the-making offensive has sputtered from the outset”, Davis writes, noting that “That shouldn’t have surprised anyone in the White House.”

Two months before the start of the offensive, Davis warned that “Zelensky’s troops—with little to no air power and a dearth in artillery ammunition—could suffer egregious casualties while gaining little,” he says.  “Five days later, The Washington Post revealed the contents of a leaked Top Secret U.S. intelligence assessment which likewise predicted the Ukrainian offensive would probably fall ‘well short’ of expectations, and that ‘enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive.’”

To succeed, Davis explained, Ukraine would “have to conduct the most difficult task in modern land warfare: a combined arms operation into the teeth of a dug-in enemy force that is prepared for an attack,” complicated by the shortage of artillery ammunition along with “limited airpower and minimal air defense. “Nevertheless, on the eve of battle, some Western analysts remained optimistic.”

Once Ukraine’s “spring offensive” began on June 5, Davis writes, “that optimism quickly evaporated. In the first two weeks of the fighting, Ukraine’s spearhead brigades suffered massive losses in armor and personnel while capturing virtually no territory. By the end of the third week, they had lost an estimated fifth of their strike force, requiring Ukraine to dramatically change tactics.”

“Instead of leading with tanks and other armored vehicles (which were predictably getting chewed up in minefields and by Russian anti-tank missiles and artillery shells),” he noted, “Ukraine moved to an infantry-centric attack system.”

While this change did result in some small advances on the battlefield, “the cost was exorbitant,” Davis writes. “On Aug. 29, the BBC reported that new leaked reports suggested Ukrainian battle deaths exploded since the offensive started. Whereas Ukraine was reported to have lost 17,500 troops in the first year of the war, it is presently assessed to have lost a breathtakingly high 50,000 additional deaths, for a total of 70,000 dead and 120,000 wounded.”

Observers including Col. Douglas MacGregor and Robert F. Kennedy claimed Ukraine had lost approx. 350,000 men even before the start of the offensive. On Sept. 5, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Ukraine had lost 66,000 men since the start of its counter-offensive June 4. Since then, according to the Russian figures, Ukraine has lost another 9,000 casualties in the counter-offensive, putting the total casualties at 75,000…………………………………………………….more https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/09/mainstream-newsweek-wakes-up-reality-113-billion-modern/

September 28, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized