Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "Russia's Kharkiv offensive – what is the plan?" video.

@a.brekkan4965 The facts are unfair to Russia. 😢
10
@seanp9277 lol, you’re still trotting out “the West doesn’t understand Russian military thinking”? 😂 Where is the thinking? We are aware of Soviet offensive doctrines such as Deep Battle. It’s just that we are puzzled to see the doctrine applied so badly.
6
@seancidy6008 I hate to drag out the well worn cliche, but you should know by now the maxim “Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake. The Ukrainians clearly did have a plan, which was to fall back to more defensible position and punish Russian forces for taking the less defensible ground. Defense is always reactive. The question is whether your reaction is any good.
2
@Ross-e5r You are welcome here. You’re drawing resources from Russia paying your salary while being counterproductive to Russia’s war effort. Meanwhile, by appearing busy you’re keeping your job and avoiding being sent to your death. It’s a win for you and a win for our side. But it’s one more paper cut for Russia. It’s minuscule, but it adds up.
1
@FabiusPolis What has been the cost in men and materiel in each case? is an important question. In the case of Ukraine’s offensive, it was unarguable that a relatively light and highly mobile Ukrainian force not only took significant territory but did so at a greater cost to Russia forces. The Ukrainians killed and captured many soldiers and destroyed or captured a great deal of Russian equipment and supplies. The current Russian offensive also seems to be very expensive for Russia. They are paying a high price for territory that now will be expensive to hold, let alone force a breakthrough. I doubt they will be able to move artillery into what is a hard to defend killing zone. Looking at previous battles in history, Operation Market-Garden was a costly strategic failure but a “tactical success”. Allied forces advance all the way to the Rhine River but failed to take the final bridge at Arnhem. And it was a very costly strategic failure, almost destroying British Airborne at Arnhem, and costing a lot of allied lives along the road to Arnhem. Market-Garden also had an opportunity cost, as the resources spent might have been put to better use elsewhere. That said, I’m pretty sure that the Dutch on the allied side of the Rhine were happy to be liberated from the Germans, even though they also suffered casualties. However,I don’t want to make a direct comparison. Market-Garden was a much greater blunder than the current Kharkiv offensive. Another difference is that the allies had a much greater industrial capacity to recover from the blunder. The one possible success for the Russians is if the shift in the front lines threatens Kupiansk. I don’t know enough about the geography or force disposition to say one way or the other. I’d say the most grievous blow that Ukraine has suffered recently was the replacement of Shoigu. That might have far reaching strategic consequences.
1
@seancidy6008 with regard to reinforcements, you are clearly unaware of how defense in depth works. I’m not going to explain it to you. But look up the acronym QRF in the defense context.
1