The war in Ukraine has turned, increasingly, into a 'Numbers Game'. Alexander Mercouris, Brian Berletic and others are trying to find the real numbers of military combatants killed on both sides in the ongoing war, as well as the status of available equipment and ammunition on both sides. Their painstaking attempts to locate real numbers among the obscure reports going around, to neutralise the loud propaganda which dominates the media-reports, are to be applauded, since it is rapidly becoming a very important predictor for the outcome.
Clearly, not every war will be won by the largest force, able to field the largest number of tanks, aircraft, drones, missiles or ships, with adequate ammunition. In fact, NATO lost effectively from 'midgets', unable to secure the peace once they occupied a country, unable to win the people over to join our 'Rules Based' world. The Soviet-Union failed to impress the public too as they dipped into the civil war in Afghanistan, which sacked their economy and the entire political system. I maintain that what NATO thought would happen when war between Ukraine and Russia broke out, didn't happen, leaving NATO holding the shorter straw. They were not prepared for a 'Classic' war, relying heavily on artillery, missiles, air-superiority, and plenty of ammunition.
Russia initially committed only a small number of its regular forces, but plenty of equipment and ammunition, deliberately holding back, and going slow. First to allow 'talks' to be successful, and when they failed to deliver a settlement, 'Plan B' came into effect, calling for 'demilitarising' Ukraine, and by extension NATO as it committed itself to support Ukraine for 'As Long as it Takes'. Now, that trademark promise done by NATO, to stay in the fight for 'As Long as it Takes', is as valuable as all the promises, agreements, accords and contracts issued and signed by that organisation, which is 'zilch, nada, nothing'. Not worth the paper. Watch your back!
In this case, assuming the number of 100.000 soldiers killed on the Ukrainian side as mentioned by Ursula von der Leyen is correct, and the estimate produced by the fiercely anti-Putin website 'Medusa' the Dutch are sponsoring, together with the BBC, of 9.000 Russian soldiers killed is correct as well, while NATO is openly struggling to find the equipment demanded by Ukraine, as well as the ammunition for this very diverse, 'hodgepodge' collection of systems, while Russia appears to have near unlimited supplies of everything, with an additional 380.000 military on their way to support the war, it is easy to predict the outcome, even is the numbers are only an estimation.
Clearly I am in no position to offer the final verdict, and the real numbers could be far different. But developments on the battlefield, and the systematic way the Russians degrade the electrical grid and other crucial parts of the infrastructure, suggest that they are correct. Or at least close enough to reflect the true situation. Reinforcements being rushed to defend Bakhmut are diverted from other areas, preventing planned offensive operations elsewhere, while none of these offensive operations resulted in a military victory for Ukraine anywhere so far. Which is not what the media in the west are telling us, since they sold us that every Russian withdrawal was a decisive military victory for Ukraine This is a problem against the backdrop of this war as a 'Numbers Game', and not first and foremost at matter of how many square miles one holds. Which is underscored by Ukraine's inability to protect the territory and the civilian population on the terrain it holds.
This war reveals a difference between Russia and its western adversaries which goes to the heart of the conflict. NATO doesn't give a hoot about the people, or the culture of the people in the countries it holds sway over. If Ukraine falls apart, with Poland, Romania and Hungary picking up the pieces, they wouldn't shed a tear, as long as Poland, Romania and Hungary are within their 'Sphere of Influence', ready to prostitute itself to 'Wallstreet', the 'London City' banks and the 'PetroDollar'. While Russia is focussed on the importance of preserving a 'Shared Experience' as the important precondition to provide security and stability, and grow economically. It doesn't really matter what we prefer as individuals, a 'Globalist' chaotic goldmine for financial predators, or a 'Community Experience', but you can't have both within one and the same political entity.
In fact, a generation of extremely cynical power-players in our part of the world, who pretend to be driven by sincere altruism, while eating the 'True Believers' alive, as 'FTX-A' and its wider entourage is practising, according to THIS article, doesn't bode well for our collective chances to make 'Globalism-WEF-style' work. Which doesn't mean that racing towards the opposite end of the spectrum, and unifying ourselves in some religious 'Community Experience' under threat of exclusion through the 'Cancel-Mechanisms' that are being weaponised in our part of the world is going to save us. First, we need to come to terms with the fact that people are not 'Like Us', but that we need to compromise and honour our signature and promises, going forward. This war in Ukraine is not my war, and NATO should have been dissolved the moment the Warsaw Pact went belly-up. But 'should have' won't do us any good today. So where do we go from here? Are we going to drag every Ukrainian to our military training grounds for a crash-course, give him or her a pitchfork and our blessings, and wait until the population is depleted too? Are we going to go nuclear? Is there anyone left on our side of the equation with a modicum of common sense and basic humanity?