https://archive.li/Z0m5m

The Russian commander of the “Vostok” Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine said on Thursday that Ukraine will not be defeated and suggested that Russia freeze the war along current frontlines.

Alexander Khodakovsky made the candid concession yesterday on his Telegram channel after Russian forces, including his own troops, were devastatingly defeated by Ukrainian marines earlier this week at Urozhaine in the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area.

“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Khodakovsky, a former official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said yesterday.

“When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities,” he said.

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Source on the thing about Nuland owning/running/operating the ISW? Not heard it before. Not saying you’re wrong of course, just genuinely want to learn more!

    they don’t hide it https://www.aalep.eu/institute-study-war-isw

    The forces are most definitely not balanced, and this whole idea of a frozen conflict is just the new narrative the west is pushing. You’ll see what happens when Russia actually starts doing offensive operations.

    • SeborrheicDermatitis [any]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      Then why did Russia fail to take Bakhmut, do you think?

      Also thank you for the link. ISW has posted some bad content in the past and this helps to explain it, I think. I appreciate it.

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Last I checked Russia took Bakhmut, and they managed to use a PMC to bleed Ukrainian army there in the process which delayed the offensive and gave Russia more time to build fortifications. Even US analysts are now admitting that they advised Ukraine against trying to hold it, and blame the losses there and the delays for the current debacle.

        • SeborrheicDermatitis [any]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          Yeah western intelligence didn’t want Ukraine to die on the hill of Bakhmut (figuratively), Ukrainian leadership chose it for symbolic/domestic reasons rather than strategic. They never did take the whole city though and have since fallen back a bit, with the Ukrainian counteroffensive managing to take a few blocks back. Not too much, though. Ofc Russia has had the gradual advantage in Bakhmut for most of the last year but it was a grinding, incredibly slow, incredibly damaging battle for both sides. It was perhaps unwise for the Ukrainian leadership to make that move, though.