The amount of military to Ukraine has been a point of contention as many rightfully see this as another endless war engagement. It brings us into a proxy war with a nuclear-armed power. It looks like another foreign policy black hole, the types of international ventures that Joe Biden declared he wanted to steer the nation clear of when he announced our ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. We left Afghanistan just to go head-long into Ukraine—for the most part; it’s been an engagement that’s depleted critical areas of our military resources, like Javelins.
The Russia-Ukraine war has been chiefly a stalemate; though Russia made some gains in recent months, the recent counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv has been devastating. Swaths of land have been retaken, with Russian troops retreating. Some reports had Russian troops dropping their weapons and fleeing outright. It should also not be a shocking development that US intelligence helped Ukraine plan this campaign. Ukrainian forces have been relying on American intelligence assets to conduct other operations, like the targeted killings of Russian generals on the frontlines. Reportedly, a prolonged disinformation campaign tricked the Russians into placing their heavy military equipment out of position before the Ukrainian assault (via The Guardian):
The much-publicised Ukrainian southern offensive was a disinformation campaign to distract Russia from the real one being prepared in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s special forces have said.
Ukrainian forces are continuing to make unexpected, rapid advances in the north-east of the country, retaking more than a third of the occupied Kharkiv region in three days. Much of Ukraine’s territorial gains were confirmed by Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday.
“[It] was a big special disinformation operation,” said Taras Berezovets, a former national security adviser turned press officer for the Bohun brigade of Ukraine’s special forces.
“[Russia] thought it would be in the south and moved their equipment. Then, instead of the south, the offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee
So, we have a new phase in this war. Another question is how long Ukraine can hold onto their recent gains last, but for those who support sending endless amounts of military packages, their case just got injected with new life.
I'm not sure that's a good thing.
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