By XHABIR DERALLA
Russian soldiers are hiding their tanks and other military vehicles in forests and are abandoning them, while the Ukrainians are taking them over undamaged, with the remaining fuel and ammunition. That is what is being reported by the Western intelligence that have the eyes of the sky, the satellites. Military experts are struggling to find such examples in the wars throughout history.
There are no examples of such low morale of the aggressor’s army in the history of wars. It is known that aggressors have the advantage, practically always, having in mind the simple fact that they’ve got the time to get prepared for conquering other people’s homes. And, if we look at the facts on the ground during the first days of the aggression, then the conclusion is that the debacle of the Russian army is of historical proportions.
Horrific and humiliating military debacle of Russia
The New York Times published a “conservative” estimate of American intelligence that more than 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the first 20 days of the Russian aggression, including three Russian generals. The reasons for the loss of at least one of the three generals is a story on its own that speaks of a catastrophic neglect of the communication technology, but also of lack of care of the Russian leader for his soldiers, and even for the generals on the battlefield.
For a comparison, the US army has lost slightly less soldiers in the modern wars over the past 20 years (Iraq and Afghanistan). If it’s any “consolation” to the Russians and their supporters, one of the most substantial military losses of the US Army is in the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II when, in 36 days of fighting with the Japanese Army, it lost almost 7,000 marines.
The Ukrainian numbers on the losses of the Russian aggressor might be inflated, but nothing excludes the possibility of them being correct, especially if one takes into consideration that the estimate of the Western intelligence is “conservative” (lowest possible numbers, lower that the actual situation). Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov told media that in eight days after the invasion, more than 10,000 Russian soldiers had been killed.
In 1979, Russian tanks entered Afghanistan. Ten years later, Russia, then the Soviet Union, counted more than 15,000 of its soldiers killed and over two million dead Afghan civilians. Two years after the end of the military adventure in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union itself disintegrated. Analysts are rightly asking the question: If in 10 years in Afghanistan the Russians lost 15,000 soldiers, what could that mean for the Russian army when in just 20 days it has lost at least half of that number? To put it mildly, it is a horrific military and humiliating debacle for Russia.
Kyiv stands!
No matter what the exact numbers are, it’s quite certain – Russia is suffering unbelievable losses, even for its own standards. The active military composition of the Russian Federation has 1,014,000 soldiers and at least 2,000,000 reservists, which makes it the fifth most numerous army in the world, following China, India, the US and North Korea.
Russia has a huge number of members of paramilitary formations, as many as 554,000 (in the seventh place in the world, following North Korea, Vietnam, South Korea, India, Cuba and China). Ukraine was attacked by 200,000 heavily armed Russian soldiers, and at least 7,000 of them were killed in just 20 days. And Kyiv stands! So much for the Blitzkrieg of the Madman.
Ukraine – a tomb for the Russian military force, Russia is an origami superpower
In just 20 days of the Russian ”blitzkrieg”, Ukraine has become a gigantic graveyard for the Russian military forces, for the soldiers and for the huge number of tanks, armored and other military vehicles, the greatest losses of military equipment and weapons since World War II. That has probably driven Putin so paranoid, and that is why he placed the head of the intelligence department of the FSB (formerly KGB) Sergei Beseda and his deputy under house arrest.
About twenty searches have been carried out in apartments of top Russian spies in the past three weeks, because their predictions about Putin’s war had not come true, revealed Russian sources from Moscow and the emigration.
Russia might seem powerful like a big polar bear or a raging tiger, but appearances can obviously be deceiving. The Russian war machine is just one big and scary origami, without real military power.
Putin has already lost the war
The tragic dimension of this war is in that the Russians decided to get revenge by shifting their firepower on civilian targets. They conduct brutal attacks with the heaviest weapons on hospitals, maternity hospitals, kindergartens, schools… The bombing of the theatre in Mariupol, where around 1,000 civilians had been hiding, is an illustration of the pure evil that the Russians have unleashed on their peaceful neighbors, among who, according to The New York Times, they have over 11 million close or distant relatives (one fourth of the population of Ukraine).
Is this the strategy of Putin? To make Russians kill their own relatives? This “strategy”, worthy only of despise, will remain written in history and remembered until the end of time. Actually, no matter what happens with and in Ukraine, the war criminal Putin and his sinister machinery for killing civilians have already lost the war. It happened the moment they decided to kill civilians in order to compensate for the inability to achieve military supremacy in Ukraine.
The unparalleled heroism of the Ukrainian women and men
Historically, the heroism displayed by the Ukrainian women and men who are defending the doorstep of their homes has rarely been seen. Countless are the examples of people, among whom there is a huge number of women, who simply refuse to join the long lines of refugees (3,169,897 until March 16, according to the UNHCR).
Ukrainian women remain in improvised hospitals in underground shelters, but are also fighting side by side with the men against the aggressor, with self-sacrifice and heroically. Another chapter, worthy of immense admiration, which will be written in history and remembered until the end of time.
And it’s precisely the civilians, unexperienced in warfare, who are at the frontlines, together with the Ukrainian army. Indeed, unimaginable and unparalleled heroism!
Glory to Ukraine!
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
All rights reserved. The text is a personal view of the Author.
