JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Army Learns From Its Mistakes in Ukraine” – WSJ
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“Early in the war, the West was shocked at the Russian military’s poor performance. But Moscow has fixed many errors and adapted on the battlefield.”
“… After Ukraine easily swept through Russia’s lines in the Kharkiv region last autumn, Moscow spent months preparing formidable defenses …. Moscow is also deploying drones to scope out and attack Ukrainian positions … Ukrainian forces have advanced slowly in [recent] months, facing dense minefields while Russian helicopters, antitank missiles and artillery pick them off. … [But] Russia’s military … has suffered more than 270,000 killed and wounded as its army [reportedly] has lost more than 50% of its ‘combat effectiveness’ … [and] nevertheless] may need to make deeper changes to sustain a yearslong war. … [Its] Soviet-style top-down structure … allows little initiative for front-line commanders and gives priority to [Kremlin] political goals … over battlefield decision-making. [Russia] expended months and thousands of lives to take Bakhmut … with little strategic value [because of Kremlin priorities] … [and] continue[s] to deploy tens of thousands … to defend [it] …. Moreover, Russia is now largely on the defensive … and it is far easier for armies to defend than to go on the offensive. Analysts and Western officials say Russia has exhausted its offensive capacity for now and is failing to gain new ground …”