Just as Hitler during WWII believed he could outthink and out strategize his generals so it seems the ego of Volodymyr Zelensky has convinced him he can do likewise. Zelensky has already dismissed and replaced one commander of the Ukrainian army due to obvious differences of opinion. Now, whether with the agreement of the new commander or by direct order, the campaign in Russia’s kursk region is being conducted with extremely dim prospects for success. Initial progress using small, fast-moving groups has now clearly been contained with Russian forces now increasingly bearing down on and destroying Ukrainian troops and their vehicles.
Western military strategists, some of whom quoting one of the foremost military strategists of all time, Carl von Clausewitz, are saying the entire campaign is misconceived. By diverting the most highly trained and experienced Ukrainian troops along with vital resource including some of the best remaining western vehicles, it appears all are rapidly being caught in a Russian stranglehold, or as the usual terminology goes, a massive cauldron. Unable to make the breakthroughs necessary to make Russia divert men and materiel from the Donbass, and specifically the area around Pokrovsk, the Kursk incursion has failed in its primary purpose. The present commander of the Ukrainian forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has said as much in the last few days.
The entire Kursk operation appears to be another of Zelensky’s reckless and ego-fueled notions. Just as Hitler embraced the fantasy that he had some superior knowledge and insight into how to conduct a war, it appears (asTIME magazine famously asserted) that Zelensky has fallen victim to the same kind of delusionary state. Immediate glowing headlines appear far more important to him than anything. That the consequences of his decisions create an ever more disastrous situation for the men under his command (unsuited as he is as a comedian and second-rate actor to be a military commander) doesn’t seem to faze him one bit. It appears, after a sullen period of brooding over each defeat he believes only he is capable of responding correctly. And that response inevitably results in yet another failure.
News from the Ukrainian front lines is all about the uncoordinated efforts of those they sarcastically call the “geniuses” of the officer class, a class that apparently routinely lies about the actuality on the ground in their reports, giving an altogether too rosy picture of events there. This for fear of a reprimand or demotion for lack of success or outright defeat. It is left to the troops under their command to make a video plea for assistance, munition supplies, additional reserves and so forth. Stocks of ammunition and much else are running low, the age of the only partially-trained recruits brought to the front lines by force, is rising (now between 45 and 60). Morale is disintegrating among these unmotivated troops who wish above all else to be home with their families.
But for Zelensky, endlessly presenting a false picture of things from the comfort of his Kiev office or war room, the heartbreaking problems and anxieties being experienced by his countrymen on the front lines, appear to be of no concern. To him any talk of major problems is anathema. He is apparently prone to fly into a rage at his generals if they present bad news to him just as Hitler did in such situations. His blinkered vision required so intently by his vastly enlarged ego, combined with the military acumen of a rather shallow comedic dullard apparently blank out all else from view. Some 600,000 Ukrainians have either lost their lives or been severely injured since the start of Russia’s efforts to ensure the security of its border. Yet, despite all the signs showing that it is impossible for the Ukrainian army to win, Zelensky continues his tirades about the delusional victory he claims is in prospect.
Russia, apart from engaging in a crushing attrition of Ukrainian positions has behind it defenses in depth that even were the Ukrainian forces able to push back the Russians and advance themselves some way, would never, in a million years, get through them but be totally destroyed from the ground and in the air long before they reached them. The Surovikin line as it is called was massive and extremely formidable when Ukrainian forces didn’t manage to reach them a year ago. Imagine what an invincible barrier it presents to massively weaken Ukrainian forces now. Yet to the delusional “mastermind” Zelensky who finds it so hard to demonstrate his “genius” none of this carries any weight at all. Ukraine will, according to him, accept nothing less than the recovery of all territory taken by Russia since 2014 when his successor Poroshenko took over with help from the western powers from the democratically-elected president Viktor Yanukovych.
The western elites, unable to countenance defeat at the hands of the Russians, play along with Zelensky, feeding his ego and endless requests for money and weapons. Despite it being quite obvious that the sanctions applied to Russia made it stronger and that Russia’s trading partners stayed with her and even grew closer to her and that therefore Russia would have no problem in maintaining its commitment to the war, the West’s leaders, unable to countenance the shame and humiliation it would bring, continue to live in a delusional state along with their puppet Zelensky.
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