Baldrick,

Russia's cunning plan to throw men at the Ukrainian lines until they run out of ammunition? Which army is Russia planning to destroy? Just in, Russia has just shot down another of its own Su 25s. Genius.

As Russia has been stealing EU planes, US investments etc, it looks as though the West will simply confiscate the $300bn of Russian savings and use this money to pay for weapons for Ukraine and whatever is left as reparations for the damage done to Ukraine.

Russia is suffering 5x to 10x the casualties that Ukraine is.

Russia is clearly losing this war.

"Russia's cunning plan to throw men at the Ukrainian lines until they run out of ammunition?"
- Russia doesn't have to throw anything at anyone.
They can just sit behind their OWN defensive lines which the Ukrainians have shown THEY CANT BREACH, and wait in defense - if they choose.

The Ukrainians ARE out of ammunition though.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67714719
Ukraine war: Shell shortages force us to limit firing, Ukrainian troops tell BBC

It's the Ukrainians themselves that have the task of going on the offense to take the land back.
How are Ukrainians going to take territory back with no ammunition?
No de-mining equipment? no air support?

And mostly all of Ukraine's well trained soldiers are already dead.
You're asking a ragtag group of untrained men and women dragged off the street by force to go up against Russian military who are hardened by years of combat, and produce results - with nothing with which to complete said task with.

Maybe they can chuck rocks at the Russians?

It's impossible, it can't be done, the war is lost for Ukraine.

Russia won't stand still.
They will continue to slowly grind down the Ukrainians military capabilities.
Ukraine has effectively lost the war, but the fighting will continue for a while longer at least.

- And Russia has more territory to take.

And I'm not sure there's enough support in the US to keep giving military aid.
30 U.S. House Democrats Urge Biden To Seek Negotiated Settlement To War In Ukraine
http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-house-democrats-biden-settlement-negotiations/32098773.html
- And you know the Republicans have put their foot down.
Even Lindsay Graham says no money for Ukraine without the border issues resolved, and that guy has called for Putin's assassination.

Were you not bragging about this the other day?

Ukrainian Marines on ‘Suicide Mission’ in Crossing the Dnipro River
http://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/world/europe/ukraine-kherson-river-russia.html
'Soldiers frustrated by positive reports from Ukrainian officials break their silence, describing the effort as brutalizing and, ultimately, futile.'

Read that part and take it in SM.
'frustrated by positive reports from Ukrainian officials'
(That's quite an understatement, from what I hear from reports of Ukrainians in Krynky)

Meaning: The source you get your info from is telling you lies.

"Soldiers and marines who have taken part in the river crossings described the offensive as brutalizing and futile, as waves of Ukrainian troops have been struck down on the river banks or in the water, even before they reach the other side.

Fresh troops arriving on the east bank have to step on soldiers’ bodies that lie tangled in the churned mud, said Oleksiy, an experienced soldier who fought in Krynky in October and has since crossed multiple times to help evacuate the wounded.

Some of the dead marines have been lying there for as long as two months, as units have been unable to retrieve the bodies because of the intense shelling, said Volodymyr, a deputy company commander who was attending the funeral of one of his men."

Hi AC,

Putin is resolved to keep fighting, and Russia is getting lots of assistance from her allies. Note though that if Russian forces withdrew there would be no risk of Russia being invaded whereas Ukraine would be no more if its army stopped fighting. Russian war expenditure is about three times that of Ukraine, and there is thus far no shortage of troops to throw at the front lines. Drones now play a major role in the Ukrainian defence, and I still believe that Russia's main vulnerability is its capacity to maintain its electronic warfare systems. The meat wave tactics have been Russia's moa, but it is incredibly costly in troops and equipment.

I really don't understand sm's view of you. We are simply observers who care about the world. The only difference is what we make of things.

Baldrick,

Your cherry-picking of reports ignores that Russia has failed to dislodge Ukrainian fighters in Krynky often suffering massive casualties themselves from artillery and drones on the heights on the west bank of the river.

Over the last few months, it has been Russia desperately trying to storm Avdivka, Kupiansk etc throwing 1000s of men and armour against entrenched Ukrainian positions. These Russians have been massacred leaving destroyed armour, weapons and rotting Russians cluttering up the fields.

Russia is still losing more tanks than it can replace, and satellite images show how the old tank storage areas are emptying as Russians try to patch up ancient tanks to send to the front. Most Russian soldiers are now having to walk through open fields through cluster shells to the front with most being killed before even reaching the front.

"Germany's support for Ukraine is to be 'massively expanded' next year
Germany’s aid for Ukraine will be “massively expanded” next year, the foreign minister said Monday as Kyiv heads into its second winter since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Germany has become one of Ukraine’s top military suppliers since the war started in February 2022, sending material that includes tanks, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems and Patriot missile systems.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said as she arrived Monday at a meeting with European Union counterparts that, even as Europe grapples with the war between Israel and Hamas, it’s still important to “face the geopolitical challenge here.”

She said that will include helping Ukraine through the coming winter months and “our support will be massively expanded for next year.”

Over the weekend, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition wants to increase Germany’s military aid for 2024 from the 4 billion euros initially planned to 8 billion euros. It said parliament’s budget committee will need to sign off on the plan later this week."

Where is this Dnipro River ?