There are reasons why countries lost wars. Throughout history countries fought wars, and countless people died, 'serving' their country or patron. I was watching a short clip on 'Twitter' the other day, which was showing a sea of Ukrainian flags near Kharkiv as a car passed by the local cemetery. Endless rows of fresh graves. Thousands I'd say. 'Killed in Action' most of them, I presume. And there are numerous cemeteries like that one all over the country. There are no official figures. Or if some Ukrainian government official is submitting a figure, invariably accompanied by the claim that Russian losses are substantially higher, they are unrealistic according to most unbiased 'observers'.
But these days the average age of the Ukrainian soldier is forty three, and an increasing number of women are drafted to replace the losses. While a Western, pro-Ukrainian source, paid for by Western tax-payers, which has been publishing figures of dead Russian soldiers, counted under 40.000 killed so far. Estimates by Western 'observers' of Ukrainians KIA run as high as half a million. One day we will know the truth, but my guess is that we will be shocked by the number of young men, and women, we sent to their graves in Ukraine, fighting our 'Proxy War' as we try to 'Regime Change' Russia. Because that is what this war was about from the very beginning. Securing NATO enlargement, and weakening Russia, preferably through 'Regime Change'.
There are no 'observers' left who claim that this Ukrainian 'Spring Offensive' is about to strike gold. And most admit that it has been a total failure, which is about to become a disaster now that Avdeevka is going to fall. Some are clinging to successful operations in Kherson, crossing the Dnieper and setting foot on the Russian side of the river, but what are they going to do in those marshes with winter approaching? It is not as if they established some major bridgehead, and secured logistic support. Soldiers elsewhere along the front are calling on 'Kiev' to stop telling them to go on the offensive, since they lack weapons and ammunition, while the Russians appear to have an endless supply of both, and plenty of reserve forces.
Even 'observers' who already predicted the 'Spring Offensive' would be a dud expected the Ukrainians to reach the 'Surovikin Line', but even that never happened. Those firmly on the Ukrainian side are now looking for scapegoats, and the 'Telegraph' of the London government ran a story that the (other) NATO-countries were to blame, because they told 'Kiev' that Ukraine couldn't invade Russia, going around the Donbas. Whatever.
By the looks of it F-16's may be provided this winter, and one Dutch politician who has been feverishly advocating for war with Russia, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, posted a clip on 'Twitter' depicting a 'fly by' of two Dutch F-16's allegedly piloted by Ukrainians. As if that is all there is to it. I predict they won't do Ukraine any good, and will only serve the ego's of people like Sjoerdsma as more Ukrainians won't come home to see their children grow up. These politicians have no conscience. Only blind hate and ideology. His party is about to be decimated in the next elections, and he will be looking for a job by the end of this month. May I suggest enlisting in the Ukrainian Army, and volunteering for front-line duty, to go and see for himself what all his handiwork accomplished? At age forty two he will even bring the average age down.
It is bad enough if your country gets embroiled in a conflict which escalates into a real war, because a diplomatic solution could not be reached. But imagine having to go to war to prove your country 'worthy' of NATO- and EU 'membership', doing the bidding of the Sjoerdsma's, in a day and age where both behemoths are about to go the way of Goliath against David? What a senseless way to die.
Now, I do understand that my take on what this war is about, and how it is developing, or what will be in store for Ukraine and the Ukrainians is contested. And that there will always be people who insist the writing was not on the wall. Who may even accuse me of having been instrumental to this horrible failure to teach the Russians a lesson in obedience, as they were forced to hand over their natural wealth to the Good Samaritans of Wallstreet. But I do maintain that this plan to destroy Russia through sanctions and engaging them in war was never going to succeed. Our political, and even our military leaders, miscalculated, and lacked an understanding of the force they were up against. Our modern, all-inclusive LGBTQ+ military got its backside whipped in Afghanistan and Syria. What were we thinking?