{"id":609748,"date":"2024-02-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/as-washington-emboldens-putin-ukraine-pays-the-price\/"},"modified":"2024-02-22T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T12:00:00","slug":"as-washington-emboldens-putin-ukraine-pays-the-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/as-washington-emboldens-putin-ukraine-pays-the-price\/","title":{"rendered":"#As Washington emboldens Putin, Ukraine pays the price"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-2018716344-1.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Washington\u00a0has done just about everything it can to embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. <\/p>\n<p>Congress\u2019s inability to muster a vote to renew aid to Ukraine is only surpassed by the White House\u2019s inability,\u00a0over the last 24 months,\u00a0to provide Ukraine the weapons\u00a0and ammunition it needs to win. Neither can get beyond excuses, much to the\u00a0benefit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roval of Putin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Putin has played the\u00a0Americans\u00a0well, as the war in Ukraine has taken a back seat to a\u00a0partisan\u00a0war\u00a0on Capitol Hill.\u00a0The Kremlin\u2019s disinformation campaign is making up for its dismal performance on the battlefields of Ukraine. It has effectively taken the U.S. out of the fight for the last two months and for the near future, thanks in part to the 2024 presidential elections.<\/p>\n<p>With Washington deadlocked, Russian ground forces captured Avdiivka.  They are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/17\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-war-map.html?searchResultPosition=2\">progressing<\/a> across the\u00a0entire\u00a0600-mile front.\u00a0And the issue is not that Ukraine is failing to kill enough Russians. According to Ukraine\u2019s\u00a0Ministry of\u00a0Defense, total Russian casualties on Oct. 9\u00a0were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pravda.com.ua\/eng\/news\/2023\/10\/9\/7423226\/\">282,630<\/a>; by Feb. 20, they were reported to be\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DefenceU\/status\/1759826671115305376\">404,950<\/a>. The Russians have no regard at all for the lives of their own troops. There are plenty of young men where those came from.<\/p>\n<p>Winning\u00a0the close fight in the trenches and bombed out cities still comes down to\u00a0ammunition \u2014 small arms, grenades, 155mm artillery ammo, cluster bombs, anti tank missiles, and drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Presently,\u00a0Ukraine has abandoned positions because it lacks the\u00a0ammunition to fight off the\u00a0assaults. Sustaining the warriors at the pointy end of the spear is\u00a0proving\u00a0troublesome\u00a0and perilous.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S., by default, is enabling a Russian offensive that utilizes T-54 and T-55 tanks from the Korean War era and\u00a0tactics emulating the frontal\u00a0assaults of World War I. Sheer mass is winning. Not only is Ukraine in danger of losing the close fight, but its inability to consistently interdict the flow of Russian soldiers and their equipment into the country only compounds the situation on the front lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kyiv\u00a0needs\u00a0to break the cycle \u2014 to relieve the pressure.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> that Russian forces are\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChuckPfarrer\/status\/1758524394127663352\">massing as many as 40,000 troops<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Mariupol, 15,000 in the vicinity of Zenith and Avdiivka, and still more along the\u00a0Kupiansk-Kreminna\u00a0front\u00a0should be greeted with HIMARS-delivered cluster munitions. The ordnance should not be concentrated solely on the Ukrainian side of the border, either. If they mass in Russia, they too should be on the receiving end of a HIMARS welcoming committee.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Not all is lost.\u00a0Ukraine is still doing well in the strategic fight, with deep strikes into Russia\u2019s interior and the Crimean Peninsula, targeting military bases and oil refineries. It is succeeding in the systematic destruction of the Black Sea Fleet. The Ukrainians have also removed senior Russian officers from the fight, most notably <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>\u00a0Valery\u00a0Gerasimov\u00a0and Admiral\u00a0Viktor Sokolov.<\/p>\n<p>But that is not enough to win the war. Russian\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/02\/15\/europe\/russia-ukraine-missile-attacks-thursday-intl\/index.html\">missiles and drones<\/a>\u00a0continue to strike Ukrainian cities, towns and villages, killing civilians. Air defense weapons provided by the U.S. and NATO are effective, but they cannot cover the entire country, nor engage every missile. Destroying the weapon system that launches the\u00a0missile or drone at its point of origin would be a more effective\u00a0technique if\u00a0the West would permit\u00a0deep\u00a0strikes with their weapon systems beyond Ukraine\u2019s border into Russia.<\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/ukrainealert\/ukraine-needs-urgent-air-defense-aid-as-putin-launches-bombing-campaign\/\">Peter Dickinson<\/a>\u00a0put it, \u201cAs long as Western leaders insist on restricting Ukraine\u2019s ability to strike back at Russia, Ukrainian commanders will be forced to continue fighting with a shield but no sword.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Putin is turning\u00a0losing into winning.\u00a0By just about every metric used to measure battlefield success, Ukraine is winning \u2014 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jcs.mil\/Portals\/36\/Documents\/Doctrine\/training\/jts\/cjcsi_3162_02.pdf?ver=2019-03-13-092459-350\">battle damage assessment<\/a>, the numbers of Russian soldiers killed or wounded, damaged or destroyed weapon systems and equipment, etc. But they are yielding terrain to an inferior military with a seemingly endless supply of fresh bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the horrific losses, Putin continues his fallacy as a world leader and\u00a0superpower\u00a0\u2014 and the West is playing along.\u00a0With Russian elections on the\u00a0horizon,\u00a0he finally secured that elusive victory in Avdiivka.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To send a message to any political rivals and supporters from the West, he might have even had his imprisoned political rival\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2024\/feb\/16\/russian-activist-and-putin-critic-alexei-navalny-dies-in-prison\">Alexei Navalny<\/a>\u00a0killed.\u00a0Similarly, Belarus President\u00a0Alexander Lukashenko\u2019s chief political rival\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/belarusian-political-prisoner-reportedly-dies-in-custody\/\">Ihar Lednik<\/a>,\u00a0a member of the Belarusian <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social<\/a> Democratic Party,\u00a0reportedly died in his prison cell on Feb. 20 \u2014 \u201cthe fifth political prisoner to\u00a0die\u00a0behind bars in the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Russia\u2019s bullying tactics and threats were on full display last week,\u00a0directed at NATO members.\u00a0The\u00a0Kremlin accused Estonian Prime Minister\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/02\/13\/europe\/russia-estonia-kaja-kalla-intl\/index.html\">Kaja Kallas<\/a>, Estonian Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys of destroying or damaging Soviet monuments in memory of Soviet soldiers. The three Baltic State officials were placed on a wanted list for arrest.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thebarentsobserver.com\/en\/2024\/02\/deputy-prime-minister-sends-warning-oslo-russian-rights-svalbard-must-not-be-challenged\">Yuri Trutnev<\/a>,\u00a0the\u00a0Russian deputy prime minister in charge of Far Eastern and Arctic affairs, sent a thinly veiled threat to Norway for its management of the Svalbard\u00a0archipelago\u00a0in the Arctic Ocean. In a meeting of the so-called \u201cGovernment Commission on the Protection of Russian Presence at Spitsbergen,\u201d Trutnev suggested\u00a0that Russian\u00a0rights in the Norwegian archipelago are under pressure, then tried to link the\u00a0issue to the war in Ukraine. \u201cWarriors are today spilling blood for the sovereignty of our country and the rights of people to speak the Russian language,\u201d he stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Disturbingly, this is the\u00a0same\u00a0Russian\u00a0tactic\u00a0previously\u00a0employed to justify Russian interference in Georgia, the Donbass, Crimea and Moldova.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Then\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/medvedev-threatens-berlin-london-washington-114911038.html\">Dmitri Medvedev<\/a>,\u00a0Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation\u2019s Security Council, threatened the U.S. and Europe with\u00a0with nuclear annihilation,\u00a0should Russia lose the war in Ukraine and be forced to return to its\u00a0recognized\u00a01991 borders.\u00a0His\u00a0statement came shortly after the announcement by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, that he \u201chad information concerning a serious national security threat,\u201d which turned out to be a\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/02\/15\/opinion\/how-russia-would-use-space-nukes-to-cripple-the-us-and-the-world\/\">Russian nuclear\u00a0anti-satellite capability<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin\u00a0is\u00a0throwing everything it has at the\u00a0West\u00a0to create uncertainty and exploit hesitancy. In the absence of U.S.\u00a0funding, Ukraine has secured security guarantees from the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk\/documents\/CBP-9837\/CBP-9837.pdf\">United Kingdom<\/a>,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurointegration.com.ua\/eng\/news\/2024\/02\/20\/7180010\/\">France, Germany<\/a>\u00a0and now\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/ukraine-denmark-start-negotiations-on-security-guarantee-agreement\/\">Denmark<\/a>.\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/sweden-makes-fresh-ukraine-military-aid-pledge-as-nato-membership-nears\/https:\/www.politico.eu\/article\/sweden-makes-fresh-ukraine-military-aid-pledge-as-nato-membership-nears\/\">Sweden<\/a>\u00a0announced on Feb. 20\u00a0a\u00a0$683 million package of military aid to Ukraine, and the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ukraine-war-russia-hungary-eu-summit-budget-6d0f11bc16b4b21073f92925de2046e4\">European Union<\/a>\u00a0finally passed a 50 billion euro package for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The death of Alexei Navalny\u00a0may\u00a0pose\u00a0one unforeseen\u00a0outcome for Putin,\u00a0which could become a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> changer in Ukraine.\u00a0President Biden is again\u00a0considering\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/investigations\/biden-administration-leaning-supplying-ukraine-long-range-missiles-rcna139394\">ATACMS<\/a>\u00a0delivery to Ukraine, and the German government is being pressed to\u00a0greenlight\u00a0the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/germany-should-respond-to-navalny-death-by-sending-taurus-missiles-to-ukraine-says-top-lawmaker\/\">Taurus<\/a>\u00a0cruise missile.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Speed is of the essence.\u00a0Putin believes victory is in sight. It is time for Washington to make it decisively clear that Russia will not win its war against Ukraine and the West.\u00a0The killing stops when Russia is defeated.<\/p>\n<p><em>Col. (Ret.)\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JESweet2022\">Jonathan Sweet<\/a>\u00a0served 30 years as a military intelligence officer.<\/em> <em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MCTothSTL\">Mark Toth<\/a>\u00a0writes on national security and foreign policy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/national-security\/4480786-as-washington-emboldens-putin-ukraine-pays-the-price\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington\u00a0has done just about everything it can to embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. Congress\u2019s inability to muster a vote to renew aid to Ukraine is only surpassed by the White House\u2019s inability,\u00a0over the last 24 months,\u00a0to provide Ukraine the weapons\u00a0and ammunition it needs to win. Neither can get beyond excuses, much to the\u00a0benefit and\u00a0approval of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":609749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-2018716344-1.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[78209,117,134343,10574,80445,134351,71525,4975,134904,134345,70868,73234],"class_list":["post-609748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2024-presidential-election","tag-business","tag-campaign","tag-education","tag-healthcare","tag-morning-report","tag-national-security","tag-russia","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-state-watch","tag-ukraine","tag-vladimir-putin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}