Kyiv may be halting its push forward as winter approaches, but it will learn from its setbacks and come back stronger next time
ByDominic Nicholls, ASSOCIATE EDITOR (DEFENCE) ;Georgina Wray, VIDEO PRODUCER and Josh Bourne, SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR
17 November 2023
It looks like Ukraine’s counter-offensive is over for the time being; the force is exhausted and needs to regroup and replenish.
But halting its push forward is not a defeat for Kyiv; it’s a routine and expected phase of any conflict.
The trick for military commanders is to anticipate when a pause is required and to plan accordingly.
Ukraine has not reached any of its geographic objectives in its counter-offensive so far, including Tokmak, Melitopol, or even the Sea of Azov. But Kyiv will have learnt many vital lessons about planning, force integration and training.
The war is instead entering a phase of positional warfare, as recently stated by General Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The front lines are largely static and we are not witnessing the dramatic shifts in positions that were seen last year when Ukraine broke through Russian lines near Kharkiv.
But this doesn’t mean the conflict is in a stalemate. Instead, Ukraine may be focussing on building up armaments, training its military forces and maintaining vital morale as winter approaches – all in anticipation of another offensive in the future.
In this episode of Defence in Depth, Dominic Nicholls, The Telegraph’s associate editor, explains how Ukraine’s counter-offensive may have finished, but it doesn’t mean the war is over. The Ukrainian army will learn from the setbacks and come back stronger next time.
Watch Dominic’s video analysis above. Find more episodes of Defence in Depth on The Telegraph’s YouTube channel.
There is a little misdirection at the beginning of this brilliant video, followed by some highly relevant WW2 analogies.
In 1939, the U.K. had a population of approximately 10% more than Ukraine has now. When war broke out, the British Army could muster only 897,000 men, compared to France’s five million.
By the end of 1939, it reached 1.1 million. By the end of the war it was 3.5 million.
Apart from protected professions, all men of 20-23 were required to fight. Initially it was single men only. Later, marrieds too. By 1941, all men up to 41 were called up.
Churchill when taking office in 1940, found that Chamberlain had re-armed and taken a lot of the pressure off him. Plus he had the advantage of a large navy and air force.
FDR, as Biden now, had a strident pro-Hitler isolationist contingent in the population. Famous ones being Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford; the Musks of the day.
FDR started sending us all his clapped-out stuff and charged us for it too: $200 bn in today’s money. We paid it all back. That devil Stalin got the same amount and paid nothing back.
After two years FDR joined in; but only because the Japs and Hitler declared war on him and Stalin; who he admired, had switched sides.
Whether we like it or not, we are in WW3 and Ukraine is being treated shabbily by its allies.
Nuclear War Will Happen, Putin Ally Warns:
https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-war-unavoidable-putin-ally-solovyov-1844665?fbclid=IwAR2X4-bsxi5yhxtrAAYdNHWTl6N_QHkqbCwbCCdzrfiWeriSsPm6JbxmYMg_aem_AUT70ePe8L15QUcBnL4aMu32InHpgLTe9tMlQjR5rchVlc6ZEN04EPTjg6uv1F77Vjk
Solovyov is an evil nazi but should be taken seriously. He was calling for Ukrainian cities to be bombed back in 2020.
There is an obvious response to this repeated nuclear sabre-rattling. This time it should be explained clearly to the putler murder gang.
Plus, it should be explained that no path to victory exists for putler; none whatsoever.
“Ukraine has not reached any of its geographic objectives in its counter-offensive so far, including Tokmak, Melitopol, or even the Sea of Azov. But Kyiv will have learnt many vital lessons about planning, force integration and training.”
If only the major Western countries would learn from their mistakes.
“It looks like Ukraine’s counter-offensive is over for the time being; the force is exhausted and needs to regroup and replenish.”
Yet another expert giving his thoughts on the war. The latest news is that Ukraine are back on the offensive in the Tokmak direction, and it’s the orcs that are exhausted, not Ukrainians.
He said “it looks like ….” You probably did not watch the video? He is indeed an expert and he explained in some depth why the war has in fact only just begun.
It’s worth your time F1.
Ukraine’s problems have all been caused by these experts from the West. Instead of doing what Ukraine wanted, and just supplying them with what they need, they are trying to impose NATO practices without NATO equipment. He talks about Ukraine receiving the best military hardware the West had, couldn’t breach russian defences. We all know that that is BS. Had they received the weapons they wanted, Crimea would now be back in Ukrainian hands.
He has frequently made that point. He is pro-Ukraine and has good military contacts, but his job is to present factual information without any of the gung ho we get on the more patriotic sites.
But the DT is one of the most pro-Ukraine Conservative sites in the world. (Almost the only).
Sir Scradgel thanks again for helping to keep this site relevant with your posts and very importantly your comments. Seems of all the sites I see this site, with the help of all its editors, effectively summarizes the relevant Ukrainian news. Also, and probably as important as the posts are the commentaries which brings color to the posts.
On a side note, I’ve kinda given up on labels. Seems the world is upside down. I honestly don’t have any idea what a conservative or liberal or right or left mean. I can look back in history and say my views are like Reagan or Churchill. But outside of that I need to see what the hell people stand for before I opine on their position. Just a thought.
Thanks again for all the effort and time you’ve devoted bringing Ukrainian news.
Thank you for your kind comment Cappers old chap!
For me, the “big three” are Churchill, Thatcher and Reagan. There was no one else in their class, but I also liked JFK; the last decent Dem president.
But I believe that history will show that Zel deserves a place at the top table with the big three. My admiration for him is immense. I was and still am a Poro man and when virtually all friends and family with Ukraine links told me they were going to vote for Zel back in 2019, I was amazed.
Since Feb 24, 2022, I have been convinced of his greatness. Those who rubbish him are the shit on his shoes and I hate them.
I’m not a very religious man, but I pray that God will give him the strength to get through this horrible ordeal and come out smiling when the putinaZi vermin that have caused so much pain are finally eradicated.
History will also credit St Boris for sending his NLAWS and helping to win the battle of Kyiv.
Credit also for new Foreign Sec Dave Cameron, who was the first to send military trainers to Ukraine back in 2014. Their value has been immense.
Also : Rishi, for being the first to send MBT’s and long range fires, which have done so well for Ukraine.
As for Joe, back in 1982, before he decided he was Irish, he was a statesman and a pro-British politician. He went downhill after that, but still; credit where credit’s due; he has (rather grudgingly) kept Ukraine in the game. Far from what we wanted, but still a 1000 times better than his likely Republican opponent.