I DON’T intend to forecast exactly how long the Ukraine war will last, but its final duration will depend entirely on the outcome of the Battle of Kherson which started on August 29 and is likely to be the most critical military operation in Europe since 1945. We need to hope that the west have provided the supplies necessary for Ukraine to prevail in their quest to remove Russians from the west bank of the Dnieper river before the continental winter arrives in early November.
If Russia is able to hold on to its bridgehead in the west, they will use the winter pause to regroup and reinforce their position and will start their next major offensive to complete their capture of the south coast as spring approaches. Ukraine will continue to be strengthened over the same winter and the battle of military attrition will continue unabated, with only the ferocity changing with time. A dangerous stalemate will exist that will continue to suck in the resources and attention of both sides for the foreseeable future.
READ MORE: Commitment of Ukraine soldiers unwavering as fight to regain southern regions begins
If, on the other hand, Russia is pushed back to the east of the river and in practice far enough to stop artillery attack of Kherson City, the final duration of the kinetic war will be reduced.
Russian generals will understand only too well that a strongly opposed recrossing of the Dnieper river will be impossible, no matter how large the tantrum from the Kremlin.
Russia will have lost the opportunity to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea, thus destroying their economy, and will have been denied their current strategic objective.
Even though they are likely to lose some territory in the end, the complete capture of Ukraine will be beyond Team Putin. This being the case, Russia’s objectives are likely to shrink once more and wiser heads will have the chance to question just how long and deep the economic war of attrition with the west, and Europe in particular, should continue if a “total” win is no longer possible.
Gus McSkimming
North Ayrshire
THE prospective winner of the Tory no-talent show, Liz Truss, stated last week with undisguised glee that she would happily press the nuclear button. This would end all life on Earth. Yet such was the disgusting character of the audience that this was actually cheered.
Truss, as well as being dim-witted, is also a unhinged in the mould of Dr Strangelove. She has been one the most bellicose voices for escalating war in Russia, even though as the UK’s alleged top diplomat her role was to use diplomacy to resolve the crisis. It has been the active policy of Boris Johnson and now Truss to keep the conflict in Ukraine going no matter what the cost.
READ MORE: Liz Truss commits to keeping Trident nuclear weapons on the Clyde
In any sane country, gloating about ending the world would be enough to rule someone out of being Prime Minister. Not in the stinking rotten United Kingdom. The energy price cap in the UK is going up by 80%. This will leave millions in fuel poverty and thousands will die. The response of the bone-idle, lying, incompetent, risible clown Boris Johnson was to go on holiday twice. Yet his pals in the UK far-right, oligarch-owned UK media don’t say anything. They “praise” him without being able to name a single achievement this imbecile has managed.
The soon-to-be-fired Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi suggested that members of the public should use less electricity. These are people whose living standards have dropped by the biggest rate in history under the Tories since 2010. This was a man who claimed nearly £6000 in expenses to heat his stables. When caught, he claimed it was a “genuine mistake”.
Such is the utter failure of the Tories in every area, they are now saying that raw sewage should be turned into drinking water. The head of the Environment Agency “Sir” James Bevan said that in order to prevent droughts people would need to be “less squeamish” about this.
The Tory party is a totally unhinged criminal organisation. Its membership are racists, crooks, liars, fraudsters, faded “entertainers”, megalomaniac media barons, city swindlers, tax dodgers, fascists, slum landlords, chinless landowners, energy company executives and other assorted dregs of society.
They are not a legitimate political party. They are a cabal, a racket to steal as much as they can for themselves and leave everyone else to die if necessary.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee
I WAS amazed that a candidate for the premiership of the United Kingdom can be so out of touch with reality! So much so that her potentially being in power is frightening! She recently boldly announced that she would have no qualms at pressing the button to fire nuclear missiles at a potential enemy.
Firstly, she cannot do so without the permission of the President of the United States of America. Secondly, the Trident missile system is not a British independent nuclear deterrent but is manufactured in the US. The current price of upgrading this system is £120bn. Money that many would argue could be better spent on other priorities.
WJ Graham
East Kilbride
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