One of the biggest issues we’re currently facing in the national security space is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It can be easy to get lost in all of the details surrounding what’s happening with this war. One of the greatest factors that comes into play here though is time-specifically, each side taking advantage of time, and how they can use it to achieve their particular goals.
In today’s episode, I’m talking more about Russia’s war on Ukraine, and what this war is really all about. Russia wants to be seen as an incredibly great power all around the world. The Russians invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and they’ve been using a systematic approach to take over, eliminate, and crucify the Ukrainian people. While the Russian military has been utilizing way more men, weapons, and materials, they’ve experienced a great deal of struggles along the way, and significant leadership failure all around. Ukraine has been able to take advantage of Russia’s weaknesses, and fortunately, they’ve had support from many other NATO countries.
The Russian military has continued to terrorize and target the civilian population using hybrid warfare, and they’ve committed atrocities that haven’t been seen in Europe since the end of WWII. There is a bit of a ‘lull’ in the war right now, but both sides are preparing to gear up and renew their efforts in the spring. It will be difficult to predict how this war is going to end, but eventually, a negotiation will have to be made. Ultimately, we will see if Ukraine can keep its country, culture, society, and government free and independent.
Episode Timestamps/Key Takeaways:
- What the Russian war on Ukraine is really all about {0:50}
- The systematic approach Russians used {2:12}
- How a continued lack of poor planning and preparation from the Russian military has come into play {3:34}
- Russia’s successful effort that involved invading and capturing a large part of southern Ukraine {5:24}
- The significance of the Azovstal Plant for Ukraine {6:14}
- How the Ukrainians were able to take advantage of Russia’s weaknesses {6:44}
- Russia’s goals regarding the war on Ukraine {10:15}
- Where we can expect the war to go from here {11:14}
- Russia’s critical strategy targeting the civilian population {14:31}
- The Russian army has swapped out commanders at least 4 times during this war, but Ukraine has not done so at all {17:23}
- How quickly each side is going to respond to each other when they’re operating on different clocks {18:41}
“The key for the Ukrainians, in addition to their fighting spirit, is the need for continued assistance from the West. High-powered weapon systems, such as the Patriot, and other combined arms operations techniques that are being trained in Germany at the behest of the U.S. and other NATO countries are needed. All of these things are going to become critical, because without them, Ukraine will not be able to hold its territory.”
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