Back at the front. Ukraine has finally withdrawn the last of its troops from had been the town of Avdiivka (30k pre-war population). As you may remember it had been under continuous assault for several months, and the UA had inflicted enormous losses on the Russians throughout that period. A major contributor to the decision to withdraw was lack of artillery ammunition to suppress Russian fires. Over the last year and a half, Ukraine had gained parity and then in many areas fires supremacy over the Russian army - an army whose tactics are based on overwhelming fire support.
The munition most needed is the 155mm artillery shell and HIMARS rockets. That resupply from the US, which has by far the largest stocks and production capability, has been cut off for months, and the UA is forced to husband its remaining resources. For those who have no military experience, large scale munitions and materiel resupply is much like the supply chain of a major industry. Once cut off, it is a slow process getting it going again.
I suppose my party, and particularly Trump and his lackey, Mike Johnson, should be proud they have materially helped give their ally Putin a victory after all this time and cost. I assume the multitudes will cheer at the next rally.
The coming weeks and months will tell us if this Russian achievement is the start of a series of successes or was a Pyrrhic victory leaving Russia's offensive power seriously damaged. Time will tell.
I have posted from this blogger before. He monitors and translates Russian postings from the Telegram network (a Russian language equivalent of X). A Colonel Shuvalov Pyotr Ilyich posted this over night. All three short pages should be readable by clicking on the first.
