© Stanislav Krasilnikov/SputnikRussian servicemen serve a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher
The forthcoming second anniversary of Russia's military operation in Ukraine is a symbolic date, but hardly a cause for celebration. In fact, events have to be studied from a considerable remove in order to see the big picture.
Positional deadlockAny discussion of a breakthrough on the front and military defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) has long been met with the counter-argument:
Let us take Avdeevka (a key Donbass stronghold) first, and then we will talk.
On Saturday, that goal was officially achieved.
So what now? In order to crush the enemy and impose our will, we need an effective strategy, a plan for successful combat operations.
By last year, such a system was well established on the defensive side - in the absence of a multiplier advantage, neither side is yet able to break through the front with its own means and conduct successful offensive operations.
Back in the autumn, Avdeevka was described as a kind of test for the Russian Army. The Avdeevka operation began with an attempt to cut off the city and create a ring of encirclement 10km in diameter.
On October 10, after massive artillery preparations, mechanized attacks were launched in two directions - across the railway north of the Avdeevka chemical plant and from the south, from the village of Vodyanoye. Like the enemy's attacks on Rabotino in the summer, these efforts faltered, and our command - relying on artillery, attack drones, and small assault groups - shifted the center of gravity right into the city itself.
And now, after a fifth month of fighting, the Avdeevka epic has concluded.
Comment: Considering the players on the Western side, Meissyan's last question is almost rhetorical. The US doesn't care about Gaza or the Palestinians. They care that their hitherto 'unconditional support' for Israel is finally doing some real damage to the US' credibility in the world. More and more countries are looking around and saying 'no thanks' to the
Rules-based Order.
Instead, they are lining up to join BRICS. As of May 2023, and note if you will, the number of resource-heavy nations: