JRL NEWSWATCH: “All steady on the eastern front; Ukraine’s troops in the east are quietly confident; They believe they can hold the Russians off” – The Economist
“… On January 30th Jens Stoltenberg, [NATO] secretary-general, said ‘we see that they [the Russians] are preparing for more war, that they are mobilising more soldiers, more than 200,000, and potentially even more than that.’ … Ukrainian leaders … have said the same, and Russian artillery strikes have sharply stepped up in recent days. But most Ukrainian soldiers at the eastern front seem curiously unfazed. … [One Ukrainian colonel argues] that the reinforcements will not be highly trained professionals. … Many are convicts … join[ing] the mercenary Wagner Group deployed … around …Bakhmut … to get out of jail. Their motivation is low, unlike [Ukrainian forces]. … [T]he Ukrainians say that although they have the weapons and … manpower to hold the Russians at bay, they don’t have enough of the former to launch their own full-scale counter-offensive. That will depend on … three factors. The weather, troops being ready (including those … abroad learning … new Western kit) and finally the delivery of tanks and other equipment promised by Western allies. …”