After exactly 100 days of its atrocious war against Ukraine, Russia is stuck in limbo. Moscow is unable to win, but cannot lose, either.
This adds up to a great degree of uncertainty about the outcome of the largest war in Europe since World War II, according to one of the world’s top experts on Russia.
Because of the inconclusive situation on the front lines in Ukraine, Putin’s invasion is going to cause a lot more bloodshed in the near and medium run.
100 Days of War
Friday, June 3, marked the 100th day since the bloody Moscow tyrant sent about 200,000 troops to conquer Ukraine for his wannabe Soviet Union 2.0.
According to the latest brief of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, more than 31,050 Russian soldiers have been killed in combat, so far. A total of 9,064 Russian units of military equipment have been destroyed.
The figure about Russia’s manpower losses doesn’t including an alleged 20,000 casualties among the troops of the two Russian proxy states established in the Donbass region in Southeast Ukraine.
Putin’s original invasion plan was supposed to subdue Ukraine and conquer all, or almost all, of it within 48 to 72 hours.
As that failed miserably, thanks to the spirited resistance of the Ukrainians, over the past two months, Russians have been trying to conquer all of the Donbass regions and hold onto their relatively modest conquests in the south.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians’ ability to counter-attack and liberate occupied parts of their country has been hindered by insufficient and slow supplies of heavy weaponry from the United States, Germany, and other western nations.
#Ukraine: Ukrainian forces used drone-corrected indirect fire to hit and at least damage 3x BTR-80/82A APC, T-72B pattern tank, and BMP IFV of the Russian Army in #Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/3YNf6dB1Bw
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2022
#Ukraine: Interestingly, one of the Ukrainian Helicopters that took part in the daring supply runs to #Mariupol before the fall is of recent Russian manufacture- a Mi-17V-5 manufactured for the Afghan AF as part of a 2011 order. A number of these have been passed by the US to UA. pic.twitter.com/Jw359jUJI9
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2022
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian National Guard struck a Russian supply truck with a mine, destroying it. From the appearance, we believe it is possible a German PARM DM22 HEAT off-route mine (As seen quoted) was used. https://t.co/R8klDeBP2X pic.twitter.com/LIPeWWK7wi
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2022
Russia’s Last Days in World War I
In an op-ed for The Daily Mail, British Russia expert Mark Galeotti emphasizes the raucous, hawkish rants of “demented propagandists” of the Putin regime reveal growing fear in Moscow of losing the war in Ukraine.
Russia can now “neither win nor abandon” the war in Ukraine, the expert notes. Putin forced himself into a position of no way of declaring “victory unilaterally.”
The Russia expert concurs when Putin started the invasion at the end of February, he expected to “knock out” Ukraine in no time. Instead, Ukrainians managed to give the Russian military a very bloody nose.
He cautions, however, that Russians continue to outnumber and outgun Ukraine’s defenders, at least on the battlefields in Eastern Ukraine. Although even when they have superiority, Russians are gaining a mile a day, at best.
The Russia expert concluded Putin is rapidly running out of time to win.
His military is already becoming mutinous. Western sanctions are starting to wreck the Russian economy and cause widespread misery among the population.
The situation is going to get much worse for Russia when harsh weather of the next fall and winter starts kicking in.
Putin’s main hope, in his words, appears to be that the West will get tired of supporting Ukraine.
However, in spite of some weaker links in the Free World, such as France and its disgraceful President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made it clear he will not abandon Ukraine.
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian Stugna-P ATGM continues to be used- here a Russian BMP-1/2, with men riding on it, is taken out.pic.twitter.com/weS310OqMI
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2022
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian Carpathian Sich volunteer battalion claimed the destruction of Russian armour; a T-72B3 Obr. 2016, T-64BV, BMP-2 IFV, and a BMP-1 IFV. pic.twitter.com/tOFTgL9VyP
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 4, 2022
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of June 4, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/DZfxmSows9
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 4, 2022