Are Ukraine counter offensives sustainable?

 UKRAINE  CONFICT  INTENSIFIES 

SHIFTING TROOPS TO STOP RUSSIAN ADVANCES 

For the last year, Russia has been in the process of advancing in all areas of the eastern front. Ukraine has slowly been pushed back and has been in danger of effectively being cut off in many of these areas. The situation is dire in the Pokrovsk area. In recent day Ukraine has shifted troops from other areas to slow and even retake some of the ground in this area. They have also moved troops to strengthen the Zaporizhzhia area. It seems some of these troops are also their elite troops who have been in the Kiev area. It may be a desperate attempt to slow and neutralize the Russian advance.

Recently it has been reported that Russian reconnaissance squads have crossed the Dnieper river in the Kherson region and found little resistance, obviously the troops from this region have been moved elsewhere. Russia does not hesitate to withdraw to defensive positions if counter attacked, but usually brings up additional resources that eventually prevail. It is expected that Russia is going to cross the Dnieper and reopen the Kherson attack and threaten Odessa, which would require Ukraine moving troops that they do not have.

At the same time Russia has made massive aerial attacks on munition depots and energy supplies all across Ukraine. It appears that Russia is not going to engage in Blitzkrieg attacks or defeat Ukraine with overwhelming attacks. One must conclude that they do not expect to militarily defeat every major city, but just keep up the war of attrition until Ukraine can no longer resist. While this could happen in the near future, interviews of Russian military leaders expect that they may be fighting for another year. This would fulfill the Russian objective of making the  Ukrainian army non threatening in the future.

It is unlikely that Ukraine can replace its troops, nor can NATO keep up with replacing the loss of equipment and supplies. The European economies are steadily deteriorating and neutral countries are unwilling to commit economic suicide to weaken Russia. Then there is the reality that other BRICS countries, especially China, will not sit by, even if defeating Russia would be possible. Escalation will bring a response that may be far worse than what is happening now. It is time to end this for the sake of the poor people of Ukraine, Russia and the world.