JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Rebound: How Moscow Has Partly Recovered From Its Military Setbacks” – Foreign Affairs
“‘All the dumb Russians are dead[,]’ … said Ukrainian officials in July … as they sought to explain why the Russian army had abandoned the overambitious strategy and amateurish tactics that defined its [earlier] conduct …. It was probably too early to make this quip. The Russians continued to do many dumb things and indeed still do. But broadly speaking …. Russian strategic decisions are finally starting to make military sense. The partial mobilization of reservists … ordered in September has strengthened Russian forces at the front. The bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure that began in October is forcing Ukraine and its allies to divert resources toward the defense of the … urban population, vulnerable to bitter winter weather in the absence of electricity. And the withdrawal of Russian forces from the city of Kherson in November has saved capable units from destruction and freed them for action elsewhere. …”