Putin Throwing ‘Meat Into the Grinder’ as War Losses Grow: Former Lawmaker

“It’s only getting worse”

1/28/23 

Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s persistence in Ukraine has been likened to “throwing meat into the grinder” by one former United States lawmaker, who also added that “it’s only getting worse.”

Richard Ojeda served in the U.S. Army from 1989-2014, reaching the rank of major before transitioning to the political realm. He was later elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from West Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, serving from 2016 to 2019. He also launched a brief, unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020, followed by an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.

Since the start of the conflict last year, Ojeda has been outspoken in his support of Ukraine against the invading Russian forces, frequently using his military background to weigh in on new developments. On Saturday, the former lawmaker shared an up-to-date graphic from the Kyiv Independent detailing Russia’s mounting losses in the conflict, offering a grim assessment of where the country stands.

“These losses are unsustainable,” Ojeda wrote. “Putin is throwing meat into the grinder and it’s only getting worse. Tanks are about to be injected into this war that are far more capable than that of Russia’s. Russia was a paper Tiger and Ukraine proved that!”

The graphic from the Kyiv Independent is updated daily with new statistics from the Ukrainian Army. As of Saturday, Russian forces had notably lost approximately 125,510 soldiers, up 800 from Friday [article is from Saturday], as well as four additional tanks and 26 additional fuel transport vehicles.

As Ojeda mentioned, the Ukrainian armed forces are set to receive a major influx of highly sought-after tanks as part of new military aid packages, including 31 M1 Abrams tanks from the U.S. and 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks from Germany and 14 Challenger 2 tanks from the U.K. These announced shipments followed an impassioned plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling on allies to provide tanks.

“I could thank you hundreds of times, and it would be absolutely just and fair, given all that we have already done,” Zelensky said during the summit on January 20. “But hundreds of thanks are not hundreds of tanks. All of us can use thousands of words in discussions, but I cannot put words instead of the guns that are needed against Russian artillery or instead of the anti-aircraft missiles that are needed to protect people from Russian air strikes.”

Russia, for its part, has been dismissive of the new shipment of tanks to Ukraine, vowing that “American tanks without any doubt will be destroyed as all other samples of NATO military equipment,” in a statement provided to Newsweek.

Newsweek reached out to foreign policy experts for comment.

3 comments

  1. Throwing meat into a meat grinder is the way of the ruskie, who, in his own words, does not value human life (unless it’s his own). This methodology worked in Soviet Union times, with many more meat puppets available, but not today. In addition to having less meat puppets, many of those who would be available, have fled or are fleeing the country en masse.

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