WHY IS IT TAKING THE RUSSIANS SO LONG TO DEFEAT THE KIEV REGIME?

Armchair generals who havn't taken the time to examine Russia's SMO in detail criticse Russia for not achieving a speedy victory. This is caused by a general iignorance of the prevailing conditions.

Some people with only a partial understanding of the conditions under which Russia wages its special military operation and who think in terms of the Soviet Union and the Red Army during WWII, cannot understand why Russia has not swept all before it and achieved a swift victory against the Ukrainian military and the regime in Kiev.

These are the various concrete reasons why such a speedy victory was not possible in the circumstances tht have prevailed in the Donbass region of south-eastern Ukraine and why Russia’s present war of attrition was the only viable way forward.

1. The environment in which the fighting is taking place.

This region of Ukraine, the Donbass is the primary industrial region of Ukraine. It is densely built up. The building was done almost exclusively during the Soviet era. I know from here in Slovakia just how strong the building were built in that era. The use of reinforced concrete is everywhere.

2. The length of time the Ukrainians had to prepare for this war.

The Ukrainians (with NATO nation assistance) built ultra-solid defence lines up and down over 1,000 km facing the two breakaway republics. Using the ultra-strong buildings there and creating new defensive positions of their own makes the entire battle front a major challenge to break through. The number of landmines across he bttle lines is a formidable challenge to military vehicles and infantry alike.

3. The Russian-speaking population in the Donbass requiring protection.

You might think Russia could carpet bomb the entire battle line. However, those they have come to liberate are in the villages, towns and cities they have to approach in order to fight almost hand to hand. Of course the Russians have plenty of artillery but even then with a battle front over 1,000 km long that is a challenge.

4. Russia does not have a standing army of millions as it had during the time of the Soviet Union.

If we are thinking of the Soviet Army of WWII then yes, Russia should take only a few weeks or months to plow through the Ukrainian defensive structures, whether they are within villages, towns or cities or not. But Russia does not have and could not afford such an army now. The Russian economy has been compared to that of South Korea and even California. It is only twenty or so years since Russia was a complete basket case as far as economies go.

5. Russia's initial intention and purpose in Ukraine was not to wage an outright war.

Putin/Russia tried from 2015 to 2021 to find a diplomatic solution that could lead to peace and reconciliation in the Donbass. It was never Putin/Russia's intent to go to war, neither was it Putin/Russia's intent that the Donbass region become a part of the Russian Federation. A request was made by the republics for this to happen in 2014 which Putin rejected. He tried to gain a high degree of autonomy for the republics so they could have security, of themselves, their language, culture and affiliations. Plus ensuring Ukraine would never join NATO.

6. Russia's initial military force in Ukraine was relatively small in size.

The relatively small number of Russian troops that went into various locations in Ukraine were there to try to convince Zelnsky to see sense and implement the route to peace and reconciliation that had been agree at Minsk and ratified at the UN. It only gradually became clear that Zelensky was never going to agree any negotiated settlement so the Russian military was increased... but even then was nowhere near capable of any kind of WWII-type offensive for the first few reasons above.

7. Modern forms of warfare allow oversight of the battlefield and the means to strike immediately and with accuracy.

The Russian military is faced with a formidable challenge in respect of moving forward with a massive number of planes, vehicles and men. For a start, Ukraine has the USA and all other NATO countries working for them. Their satellites can alert the Ukrainians to both large number of Russian troops gathering for an attack, the same for vehicles, stationery in groups or moving forward. Same for large numbers of troops moving forward. Knowing precise locations and having thousands of drones plus U.S./NATO missiles of the most sophisticated type with targetting from both satellites and other features allowed using Musk's 'Starlink' system the Ukrainians are able to a high degree of accuracy spot Russian movements of all types.

8. Putin has no wish to see Russian troops die in large numbers.

Apart from not being able to afford the kind of mass casualties seen by the Red Army during WWII and I mean both financially and in damage to both his reputation and support for the war in general. Putin is absolutely averse to contemplating the deaths of tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths on either side. He never wanted any of this to take place and it is certain that each death torments him to some degree as all those who are dying are brother/sister Slavs.

For all these reasons the Russian military is waging a war of gradual attrition as the best possible form of warfare in these circumstances. It maximises the enemies depletion while minimising your own. It maintains a coordinated front line where logistics can predictably arrive and support your front line troops. As I said, the front line is longer than the British Isles. You only need imagine fighting a conflict all the way up and down the UK. That is reason enough I'd say to take things one step at a time being very sure you have everything in place and coordinated so that the logistical challenge is managed well and the enemy can't flank you anywhere along the line of contact. This latter task is one of the most important of all.

We are currently seeing a gradual speeding of Russian military victories as many of the factors listed above have been overcome to one degree or another along with a general weakening and potential collapse of Ukrainian forces. With the taking of the next several major towns in the Donbass we are soon likely to see a major push forward in a number of locations across ll lines of contact. At this point, all rather vacuous armchair generals believing this should be an easy war to wage will perhaps then begin to find some reasons to celebrate at last.