JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Has Staked Russia’s Resources on Victory in Ukraine. Can the West Match Him?” – WSJ
“Kremlin leader seeks to turn advantage in manpower and munitions into battlefield progress, while Western will and assistance for Kyiv waver
“… [P]olitical paralysis in the U.S. and Europe … threaten[] … [Ukrainian] … [access to[] arms and money … [T]he Russian army’s limitations … suggest it is more likely to grind out [just] small gains …. The Ukrainian army is short of infantry after … heavy casualties in its … counteroffensive and [last winter’s] bloody defense of … Bakhmut …. [With] a dysfunctional draft system plagued by corruption, many … replacements are … in their 40s … with too little training. Shortages of ammunition … mean Ukraine is unlikely … to mount another major offensive [soon] …. [T]he Russian army … struggl[es] to achieve any notable breakthroughs, despite … numerical advantages in troops and equipment. [Russian] infantry and vehicles are [now] often older and of lower quality than [before]. Both sides … find[] it hard to advance across open, heavily mined terrain beneath skies buzzing with drones … attack[ing] … or direct[ing] accurate artillery …. Even at Avdiivka, Russia’s [current] main target …, it[]s … [is] inching forward at a huge cost in men and materiel. Ukraine’s weary forces [reportedly] can still mount an effective defense along the 600-mile front if they husband their resources, limiting Russia to local gains …. [Ukraine’s] defense ministry … is planning to build new defensive fortifications, having seen how effective Russia’s entrenched defenses in southern Ukraine were ….”