Ukrainian general predicts end of war by August

LeopoldBloom · 2022-05-14T07:46:26-04:00

Ukraine - Ukrainian general predicts end of war by August (Quote) (from today's Guardian) Many of us... (40 replies).

The war against Russia will reach a turning point by mid-August and be over by the end of the year, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence has told Sky News.

Major general Kyrylo Budanov said:

"The breaking point will be in the second part of August. Most of the active combat actions will have finished by the end of this year. As a result, we will renew Ukrainian power in all our territories that we have lost including Donbas and the Crimea."

He said Russia was suffering huge losses – although he would not be drawn on Ukrainian casualties – and said he was not surprised by their scale, given Russian power was a “myth”.

"Europe sees Russia as a big threat. They are afraid of its aggression. We have been fighting Russia for eight years and we can say that this highly publicised Russian power is a myth. It is not as powerful as this. It is a horde of people with weapons."

Budanov said Russian forces attacking the north-eastern city of Kharkiv had been pushed back almost to the Russian border and that their much-reported failure to cross the Siverskyi Donets river several days ago had resulted in “heavy losses”.

"I can confirm that they suffered heavy losses in manpower and armour and I can say that when the artillery strikes happened many of the crews abandoned their equipment."

(from today's Guardian)

Many of us who grew up during the Cold War will remember how the U.S. grossly overestimated Soviet power. Our obscene military spending and buildup, which continues to the present day, was based on the mistaken belief that the USSR was our equal in terms of being a global military superpower, when in fact, it was a paper tiger. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is exposing the same mistaken assessment.

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helenS · 36-40, F

That's an overly optimistic prediction, in my opinion – because Russia has almost unlimited human resources. They don't have well-trained military personell, just obedient young men who kill until they get killed themselves. When the first 100,000 Russians are dead, they'll send another 100,000. The Russian government won't give a sh*t about their own population. 😕

I can confirm that they suffered heavy losses in manpower

-- so what? They could not care less.

Justenjoyit · 61-69, M

@helenS On the bright side less Russians in the future to start on someother country.

Elessar · 26-30, M

@helenS This assuming that increasingly hungry people will be complicit and won't revolt against the leadership. Russians don't like losers, and no amount of propaganda is going to keep Putin safe from looking like one even to Russians.

helenS · 36-40, F

@Elessar

Russians don't like losers,

But they don't lose, from their point of view. They will die and die and die until they win.
Just look up "Finnish Winter War", it was exactly the same "strategy".

Elessar · 26-30, M

@helenS Putin's point of view is not necessarily Russians' point of view, and the two are only going to diverge over time, not reconcile. It'll be hard if not impossible to sell a "we're winning" card to people who - all of a sudden - found themselves stripped of a somewhat functioning economy, jobs, credit cards, (unrestricted) Internet access, visas, and soon or later I fear even food and essentials, friends and family sent to the meat grinder; all this while not a single objective has been achieved in Ukraine since the whole thing began. Society now is profoundly different than society then, even in Russia. It'll be also increasingly difficult to keep the campaign going while the economy is inevitably headed towards collapse, and similarly, it'll be increasingly difficult to keep dissent under control at home.

There's a reason why Putin was obsessed with projecting himself as some though, undefeatable, cunning mastermind - and a blunder like does some irreversible damage to such a projected image; this might definitely be something that anyone who's ambitious and powerful enough to aim to take over his govt. could've awaited a lifetime for.

helenS · 36-40, F

@Elessar Thank you – I'll have to think about your points. 🌷

ineedadrink · 51-55, M

@Elessar The big issue is who will replace him. His security chief is even worse than he, from what I've read.

Elessar · 26-30, M

@ineedadrink Russia has a thousand years old history of replacing bad leaders with worse ones.

helenS · 36-40, F

@ineedadrink There is no need to replace Fearless Leader. Everything is going as planned. Really, I mean it.
If 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers are dead, the war will be over. Russian soldiers, on the other hand, are completely expendable. They are just biomass. If another 100,000 Russian soldiers die, they will simply be replaced by the next 100,000, and the next, and the next.

Elessar · 26-30, M

@helenS The second 100k will be far less competent than the first 100k, and the first 100k have already failed miserably. The third even less than the second wave, and the fourth even less than the third. You can't realistically expect to stop a grinder by continuing to throw meat and bones at it, hoping to stall it, while the whole world is actively working at keeping the grinder functioning and oiled.