Russia’s
reputation as a great power is in tatters. Its military has been exposed as
shockingly inept and methodically brutal.
Russian
armed forces have suffered significant defeats. Driven from the outskirts of
the capital, Kyiv, early in the invasion, Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive
is now driving Russian units from the towns they had initially captured in the
northeast.
Russia’s
flagship Moskva – a guided missile carrier – has been sunk; Snake island was
recaptured from its Russian occupiers, the Kerch Strait bridge linking Crimea
and Russia was badly damaged, and now Ukrainian forces are encroaching on a
pocket of Russian forces, centered around Kherson city in the south. Ukraine is
squeezing it daily and shrinking its perimeter as the tens of thousands of
Russians there are increasingly cut off from the likelihood of resupply.
This is
Russia’s disastrous legacy in the conflict so far. President Putin has few
choices left other than to admit defeat.
The call-up
of 300,000 Russian reservists, a psychological shock to Russians and the first
such call-up since World War II, has yet to make itself felt on the
battlefields of Ukraine.
Will
they be enough in themselves to turn the tide against Ukrainian troops? While
the arrival of large numbers of Russian reinforcements is not insignificant,
there are persistent reports of poor equipment and a lack of warm clothing.
Though
battle-hardened, Ukrainian forces are also nearing exhaustion after months of
constant combat.
If
Putin’s latest plan fails, he can either go for mass conscription, which will
likely cause civil unrest or further denude his armies in the east of the
country. Able to send tens of thousands of troops to participate in September’s
Vostok military exercises during a war, the Russian president clearly still has
significant resources at his disposal.
However,
Ukraine has learned the harsh lessons of 21st-century warfare while Russia is
still mired in the past, it's poorly trained soldiers so far are no match for
the Ukrainians.
This article was originally published on aljazeera.com
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