Voice of Ukraine

From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (526th day): Almost every day, various Western media complain about slow progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. No doubt ruzzian propaganda is working to sow pessimism and undermine the resolve of Western partners to continue helping Ukraine. But I like today’s article in The Atlantic, which reminds that war is not an action movie:

“The Ukrainian counteroffensive, underway since the spring, is slogging through miles of trenches and minefields. Progress will depend on the battlefield, not on Western impatience.

Attacking an entrenched force, as the Ukrainians are doing now, is the stuff of military nightmares. The enemy knows you’re coming, they’ve prepared for your attacks, and their objective is to cede back as little ground as possible while making you pay in blood for every inch.

The American military, with its focus on operational excellence, executes such offensives very well. In its wars over the past 30 years, the U.S. has had almost every edge over its battlefield enemies, including superior firepower, complete control of the skies, advanced technology, and a superbly trained force.

The Ukrainians have almost none of these advantages. Their weaponry, including tanks and air defenses, has been getting better, but not fast enough. They are outnumbered by an enemy that uses untrained troops dredged from prisons as bullet sponges. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians must carefully conserve their best-trained forces to protect them from being wasted in engagement with soldiers who are in effect walking dead men.

Worse, even to get to those doomed Russian forces, the Ukrainians have to spend time—and lives—clearing Russian defense line, which is not a line but “a series of zones, sometimes miles deep, of minefields, tank traps, trenches, booby traps, and other fortifications.”

“Americans tend to think of military conflicts as having the same narrative arc as action movies: The good guys take an initial ass-kicking at the beginning, go through a Rocky-like training-and-recovery montage, and then crush the bad guys. That’s not reality.

But Ukraine survives and is taking the fight to the enemy, both on the battlefield and in Russia’s capital city. The original Russian plan, more than a year and a half ago, was to erase Ukraine as a state in a matter of days. Instead, the Russians are complaining about repeated Ukrainian drone strikes in the heart of Moscow, while President Vladimir Putin’s forces, however slowly, are ceding back occupied territory.”

We all want our Victory to come soon, but we also know that every liberated meter costs lives. Rushing would cost even more lives. We treasure our land, and we long for the liberation of all occupied territories, but we also value the lives of our military heroes who are bringing that Victory closer every day.