For decades, the world has feared the Russian military…perhaps unnecessarily.
We’ve been a bit brainwashed by Cold War-era Hollywood blockbusters that depicted the Kremlin as a cabal of super-villains commanding an elite sect of fearless super soldiers and advanced military technology.
Instead, as Ukraine continues to ostensibly win their war with Russia, we’ve seen a fighting force out of Moscow equipped with Soviet-era equipment, mismanaged supplies, cowardly commanders, and morale so low that some soldiers have begun shooting themselves in their legs to get sent home.
Putin may envision himself a powerful and conniving leader, but the truth of the matter has him looking a bit more like Gomer Pyle.
This has Ukraine’s President doing some subtle gloating.
Fresh off his country’s Eurovision win, a defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed early Sunday to one day host the song contest in the embattled city of Mariupol, which is almost entirely in Russian hands aside from a stalwart group of a few hundred Ukrainian fighters who continue to hold out in a steel factory.
Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the popular contest with its song “Stefania,” which has become a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war, and its victory was a morale booster.
“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe,” Zelenskyy said on Facebook. “Next year, Ukraine will host Eurovision!”
Zelenksyy had good reason for such optimism.
The president’s optimistic words come as Russian troops are retreating from Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, after bombarding it for weeks, and Moscow’s forces continue to engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland, the Donbas.
Russia has now likely lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed in February and continues to suffer “consistently high levels of attrition” while failing to achieve any substantial territorial gains over the past month, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update Sunday.
“Russia’s Donbas offensive has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule,” the ministry said on Twitter, adding that the forces are suffering “continued low morale and reduced combat effectiveness.”
And, what’s more:
“Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days,” the ministry said.
Given the recent evidence of Russian troops simply running out of munitions, there is a real chance that Ukraine could hand the Kremlin a mighty defeat in the coming weeks, which would undoubtedly shake up the global order of things.
