JRL NEWSBLOG: “The war in Ukraine: Stay cool on Kherson: Why Ukraine’s army should not rush to recapture the whole province” – The Economist
“… There is growing chatter that the Ukrainian army is preparing a counter-offensive in and around … Kherson in the south. It has damaged or severed most of the bridges … connect[ing] the city to other Russian-held territory, isolating Russian forces …. It is pounding Russian ammunition dumps and command posts with rockets. Ukrainian generals are buoyant; one says the city could be liberated by the end of the year. Such triumphal talk masks a more complex reality. Russia has been pouring troops into Kherson and digging in. Urban warfare is slow and costly for … troops … and … civilians …. Russia … captured Mariupol, Severodonetsk and other Ukrainian cities because it had little compunction about destroying them in the process. Ukraine would rather Kherson remain[] intact. An effective Ukrainian counter-offensive is more likely to resemble a protracted campaign of siege and attrition than blitzkrieg ….”