What strategy, they ask. What do we want, where are we going, how will we win them back, they ask. And – silence. The government is silent, the acting is silent, everyone is silent. Sorry, I’ll get up on the stool and state the obvious.
* * *
An elephant should be eaten in small pieces. First – isolation of Crimea and destruction of the refineries. Next – depopulation of Crimea, Donbas, nearby Russian border areas. Further and in parallel – destruction of deeper Russian infrastructure, gas facilities, electricity.
Considering how the Russian government treats infrastructure issues, the situation will have a cumulative effect. Well, and a fairly quick increase in passive societal resistance (maybe their leaders don’t care, but this is a long-term bonus that will eventually come into play), as well as problems with the extraction and export of raw materials, which are the basis of the Russian economy. It’s not quick, but the direction is clear. A thousand hits like a thousand cuts. And the elephant will die, and be eaten.
* * *
Will Ukraine withstand? Ukraine doesn’t need to hold on anymore, it’s not fighting with its economy. Our losses at the front during a deep defense are minimal. No breakthroughs, counteroffensives, no Bakhmut-style fortresses. Positional, creeping, stinging, and destroying. The snake bites and retreats, and thousands of their dead are strewn in the fields.
* * *
We feel for ours, each and every one. But we have no choice.
* * *
When a Russian talks about peace – I support it. Get out – and peace. When a Ukrainian talks about peace – I don’t understand what’s being discussed. There’s nowhere to go, and Moscow doesn’t offer peace.
* * *
Sorry for the cliché, someone had to voice it.
