{"id":124309,"date":"2023-11-02T12:09:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T16:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=124309"},"modified":"2023-11-02T18:27:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T22:27:20","slug":"economist-ukraines-commander-in-chief-on-the-breakthrough-he-needs-to-beat-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=124309","title":{"rendered":"(Economist) Ukraine\u2019s commander-in-chief on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five months into its counter-offensive, Ukraine has managed to advance by just 17 kilometers. Russia fought for ten months around Bakhmut in the east \u201cto take a town six by six kilometers\u201d. Sharing his first comprehensive assessment of the campaign with The Economist in an interview this week, Ukraine\u2019s commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, says the battlefield reminds him of the great conflict of a century ago. \u201cJust like in the first world war we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,\u201d he says. The general concludes that it would take a massive technological leap to break the deadlock. \u201cThere will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n

The course of the counter-offensive has undermined Western hopes that Ukraine could use it to demonstrate that the war is unwinnable\u2014and thus change Vladimir Putin\u2019s calculations, forcing the Russian president to negotiate. It has also undercut General Zaluzhny\u2019s assumption that he could stop Russia by bleeding its troops. \u201cThat was my mistake. Russia has lost at least 150,000 dead. In any other country such casualties would have stopped the war.\u201d But not in Russia, where life is cheap and where Mr Putin\u2019s reference points are in the first and second world wars in which Russia lost tens of millions.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a> (my emphasis).<\/p>\n

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🧵This week The Economist spoke to Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine\u2019s commander-in-chief, on the state of the war. It\u2019s a fascinating & important interview. \u201cJust like in the first world war we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/UZjnFqEOWQ<\/a><\/p>\n

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) November 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n