By David Sole
Media reports from pro-Ukrainian as well as pro-Russian sources continue to document the retreat of Ukrainian military forces under intense pressure from Russian Federation advances. The heaviest fighting continues in a long arc of combat in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Unable to stem the tide, Ukraine’s President Zelensky came to the United States for talks with President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris. He also addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
On the battlefield Russian troops have virtually surrounded and even entered the key Ukrainian “fortress city” of Vuhledar in southern DPR. Vuhledar had repeatedly held off assaults by the Russians over the past years.
Further north, the Russian military has taken control of one town after another as they advance toward the key logistical Ukrainian military hub of Pokrovsk. Even further north, the Russians are gaining control of Toretsk and gaining ground in fighting for Chasov Yar.
Western commentators take comfort that the Russian advances are slow, with no great gains in territory. What they ignore is that the aim of the Russians is to destroy Ukraine’s military personnel and hardware in a war of attrition. So far those tactics have borne fruit, with Ukraine unable to replace their heavy losses in combat. Russian losses are minimized with the overwhelming superiority of Russia in artillery, drones, missiles and complete air superiority.
Ukraine’s early August push into Russia’s Kursk region has gained Ukraine no military advantage. Rather, Russia has steadily strengthened its forces to fight in Kursk without weakening its offensive in the DPR. Ukraine’s troops, tanks and other heavy armor have been cornered in Kursk and are being systematically degraded.
Zelensky, in his September 22 US visit, was supposed to unveil a new “victory plan.” But nothing new has been announced. Of course, President Biden promised billions of dollars in more military aid but even that is questionable, as US stocks have been greatly depleted over the past 2.5 years by shipments to their proxy.
Ukraine is also still pressing for permission to use US ATACMS long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia. So far that has been denied. Russian President Putin has exposed the fact that such missiles require programming by US military experts and data retrieved by US military satellites. Putin threatened serious consequences of retaliation against the US and NATO if this occurs, declaring that it would put the US and its NATO allies “at war” with Russia.
Unable to claim any military victories, Ukraine and its Western masters are looking for petty ways to target Russia. On September 19, the regional governor of Odessa province in Ukraine announced that she had ordered a statue honoring the Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin, to be torn down. Pushkin lived in Odessa where he died in 1837 at the age of 37.
Other easy targets for Zelensky to take down are top government officials around him. This has been a continuous tactic over the years. Reports are that the Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov are to be fired.
Ukraine’s allies also are taking cheap shots at Russia that have no economic or military value. The science journal Nature announced on September 18 that the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), based in Switzerland, will be ousting “hundreds of scientists who are affiliated with Russian institutions on November 30.” CERN ended ties with the Russian Federation in 2022 following the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. The contract with the scientists expires at the end of November.
CERN is the site of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, that draws together scientists from around the world in fundamental particle physics. The Russian scientists will have to leave the country. But not all at CERN agree with this decision. Nature quotes Hannes Jung, a German physicist and member of Science4Peace Forum, who pointed out that the move would “leave a hole” and believes that “collaboration should continue working” with the Russians.
As Ukraine’s military continues toward a collapse, Western imperialists are becoming more desperate. Rather than consider any negotiations of the conflict, the US and its NATO allies may allow military adventures that risk a wider European war. Tearing down statues and hounding researchers certainly cannot reverse the military situation.
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