Blazingcatfur

The war in Ukraine has offered NATO planners invaluable insight into the Russian military. NATO can use these insights to improve its tactics and strategy in preparation for any future war with Russia. What are the lessons learned?

Much has been said about Russian forces’ failures , but they have also shown some strengths. Although its casualties approach or perhaps exceed 20,000 killed in action, Russia has been able to maintain some offensive action for more than two months. The first lesson is thus that Vladimir Putin has a very high tolerance for losses.

Considering the heavy costs and low likelihood of success that now attach to Russia’s military prospects in Ukraine and the escalating economic costs of Western sanctions, Putin might have been expected to suspend major combat operations by now. So far, however, Putin remains committed to highly ambitious goals. He is as likely to escalate this situation as he is to deescalate — perhaps more likely.

Immediately after it was released on April 16, doubts emerged about the authenticity of a video the Russian Defense Ministry said showed surviving crewmen from the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, which had sunk in the Black Sea three days earlier.

A photograph obtained by RFE/RL has deepened those doubts. It appears to be a still from the same video — but the sailor it depicts has not returned to his family, and his mother, after initially being told he survived, was later told he was missing and still later that he was dead.

The war in Ukraine is unfolding in ways Russian President Vladimir Putin may have not anticipated—not only with the growing resistance of the Ukrainian people but now also with reports that his troops are sabotaging Russian equipment.

On Friday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said it had reclaimed five areas in the Kharkiv region—Oleksandrivka, Fedorivka, Ukrainka, Shestakovo, and Peremoha—in addition to part of the Cherkaski Tyshky village.

Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes.

Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.

The initial report in the New York Times on Wednesday about the generals was partially denied by the White House, which said that while the US shares intelligence with Ukrainian forces, it was not specifically shared with the intent to kill Russian general officers.