‘Lambert Strether’ of Naked Capitalism came across an article in the August issue of the Marine Corps Gazette analyzing the reasons why Russia is winning its war in Ukraine.
The anonymous author, whose pen name is Marinus, said the key to Russian victory was its use of artillery – surprisingly intense in some ways, surprising restrained in others.
The Russians took great pains to avoid hitting physical infrastructure such as electric power plants, water purification plants and railroad stations. There were civilian casualties, and, of course, it was Russia’s decision to start the war in the first place, but there was a real effort to avoid unnecessary death and destruction.
The first phase of the war was a raid, bypassing big cities and intended, in the author’s opinion, to pin down Ukrainian forces and keep them from being used elsewhere. The second phase of the war, to install pro-Russian governing authorities in areas where there was a large Russian-speaking population. In both these phases, use of artillery and guided missiles was held to a minimum.
But third phase of the war consisted of trapping Ukrainian forces in “cauldrons,” where there were no Russian ground forces and they could be pounded with artillery and missiles without restraint. The Russian bombardments, Marinus wrote, were equal to the most intense artillery bombardments of the two world wars.
Like certain French divisions in World War One, certain Ukrainian troops are saying that they will hold their ground, but they will not attack. I don’t blame them.
“The program of missile strikes exploited a capability that was nothing short of revolutionary,” Marinus concluded. “Whether new or old, however, these component efforts were conducted in a way that demonstrated profound appreciation of all those realms in which wars are waged. That is, the Russians rarely forgot that, in addition to being a physical struggle, war is both a mental contest and a moral argument.”
The four-page article is behind a pay wall, but somebody posted a copy on Reddit. I’ve taken the liberty of copying it in my turn.
.
.
.The Marine Corps Gazette is the professional journal of the Marine Corps Association, a private organization that supports the Marine Corps. If the Gazette tells me that my copying of its article is not fair use, I’ll take it down. You can get the gist of it in Lambert Strether’s post.
LINKS
A Marine’s Assessment of Russia’s Military “Operation” in Ukraine by ‘Lambert Strether’ for Naked Capitalism.
Marine Corps Gazette publishes an oddly positive assessment of Russia’s military for Ukraine Russia Report on reddit.
Tags: Marine Corps Gazette, Ukraine and Russia, War in Ukraine
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
Leave a Reply