Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine

Russian Airborne Forces Ex-Commander: NATO Counteroffensive Plan Bad, New Ukraine Strategy Worse

The Russian Armed Forces have shifted to the offensive in the special military operation zone and are making progress along the entire contact line, President Vladimir Putin said during his annual press conference.
Sputnik
Russia's 617,000-strong military contingent is presently improving its positions along the almost 2,000 kilometer-long contact line, President Putin told attendees at his annual press conference. What's behind the development?
The failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive has exposed the ineffectiveness of NATO's strategic planning and outdated doctrines, says retired Colonel General Georgy Shpak, ex-commander of the Russian Airborne Forces.
"[NATO] placed its bet on Ukraine making it carry out a counteroffensive," Shpak told Sputnik. "They organized and planned it. But the counteroffensive failed, because the [Russian military] foresaw [their steps], built good defenses worthy of the Russian army and withstood numerous attacks."

"Now we have moved on to the second stage of this operation: to disable as much [Ukrainian] equipment and personnel as possible. This second stage is essentially coming to an end, because the Ukrainian army is exhausted, they lack manpower, their reserves are depleted, their money has run out, almost all of their equipment has been knocked out. This is the result of the work of American and British [military] advisers," the retired colonel general continued.

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NATO war planners failed to calculate the effects of many key factors, according to the military expert.
"They did not take into account current modern conditions, the huge number of [Russian] aerial vehicles that are designed for reconnaissance, observation, adjustment, and strikes. They didn't take this into account. They hoped that if they struck in several directions, our defenses would crack, but we held the line."
Shpak was also highly sceptical of NATO's 2024 strategy for Ukraine, which envisages digging in and building up forces for a possible new offensive.

"I would say that it is even worse than their counter-offensive," the general said. "Not a single defensive structure can withstand strikes of modern powerful weapons. Furthermore, it's impossible to build reinforced concrete fortifications which are over 1,000 kilometers long and 20-30 meters deep, with enormous coverage. This is all nonsense. It’s impossible to build something like that. There will still be gaps here and there, failures here and there."

"This is all theory. For me, as a military man, it’s just like a children’s fairy tale, not a thought-out plan. They have abruptly shifted from a counteroffensive to an all-out defense. I believe this will lead to their defeat," Shpak added.
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