Ukrainian soldiers regularly cross the Dnipro River under darkness to probe Russian defense weaknesses on the other side of the waterway. (Illustration: Karolina Gulshani)
Russia should’ve never reinvaded Ukraine—they know it now, after almost 18-months of incredible Russian losses.
- Dead: 252,200. Wounded: 756,600. Armored combat vehicles: 8,303. Tanks: 4278. Artillery: 5028. Aircraft: 315. Helicopters: 313. Ships and boats: 18.
You can tell that those numbers are close to being accurate by Russia’s actions, example 1: Russia Sending ‘Ancient’ Tanks to Ukraine War as Military Struggles – “They’re ancient like mammoth’s crap,” one Russian resident in Voronezh says to another, both observing the transfer. “T-55, they ran out of new tanks, bringing up old stuff now.” Example 2: Russia was never able to gain Air Superiority, so were forced to keep their Air Superiority fighters on the ground—back in Russia or well hidden elsewhere. Example 3: Russia was forced from the Offensive position to the Defensive position, in about a year, after huge losses of experienced troops.
Lingchi (“Death by a Thousand Cuts”)
Lingchi, translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE up until the practice ended around the early 1900s. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.
Ukraine has been using the ‘Starve, Stretch and Strike’ tactic for their Counteroffensive against Russia, and they have been busy starving the Russians, stretching the frontlines, and striking the Russians almost every way imaginable.
Ukraine’s population is about 43,306,477. Russia has a population of about 141,698,923. We’re talking David and Goliath, and why Ukraine isn’t just storming Russia’s defensive positions consisting of minefield after minefield, millions and millions of mines, and in some cases mines stacked upon mines.
Here’s One Cut
Ukrainian troops regularly cross Dnipro River, probing Russian defenses in Kherson Oblast
Kherson Oblast – Ukrainian soldiers board a speedboat one by one. It sinks deeper into the water, weighed down by the men, their weapons, and equipment.
“It’s the kind of trip that can end up very good or very bad,” the unit commander, part of the 124th Territorial Defense Brigade, told the Kyiv Independent after one of these deadly missions, giving a rare glimpse of what goes on during these cross-river raids.
On Aug. 9, the Kyiv Independent’s source in Ukraine’s Armed Forces confirmed that Ukraine had successfully conducted a raid deep into Russian-held territories across the river.
The source, granted anonymity to speak freely about Ukraine’s military operations, told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine’s military had taken 16 Russian soldiers as prisoners and brought them back to the government-controlled side of the river.
Smaller groups work better to cross the kilometer-wide waterway, the officer says.
“We come in small groups to f*ck them up.”
Picking the team and preparing the attack can take up to four days. The team must be small to be as discreet as possible: A sniper to target the Russians from afar, a mortar soldier to shell their positions, two UAV pilots for reconnaissance and sometimes to attack with kamikaze drones, as well as a sapper-miner to lay mines or clear the ground.
Five soldiers are all the small speed boats can carry without being too slow or heavy.
Conclusion
Russia is never going to be allowed back into the Civilized World’s community after this reinvasion of Ukraine mistake—unless, possibly, Russia does some kind of massive disarmament like Germany & Japan agreed to after WW2.