How Russian casualty figures prove Ukraine was right to disregard US advice on Bakhmut

Putin mobilized over three hundred thousand conscripts and reservists and then put them into existing forces and they began to conduct several months ago an offensive of some sorts in the Dom bass region and they continue to throw these troops against uh pretty significant defenses that the ukrainians had and and in some cases they were attacking In Waves uh and and people were being slaughtered so that's why the casualties are so significantly High because of the way the Russians use these troops and and they're frankly the disregard to for human life it's really it's really quite stunning this a great many of those casualties were in this battle that's been going on around bakamud uh where essentially there seems to be something of a stalemate we've had a little while ago claims and counter claims of whether the city had fallen or nod but the overall front lines do not seem to have moved particularly over the last few months uh let alone recent weeks we keep hearing about various new offensives or counter offenses and this huge loss of life going on all the time while there don't seem to be any particular gains on either side well yeah the Russians conducted this offensive and it has culminated and largely has failed at back boot they've been trying to take this city for nine months and they wanted to take it largely for symbolic reasons it doesn't have any real military value and even the United States uh military leadership was trying to advise the ukrainians back in January you probably should pull out of here because it's not military significant but the ukrainians had a different thought and I agree with them they said look at the Russians are going to keep attacking us here in waves and we have a an advantageous position here and as long as we're not going to be encircled we're going to stay here and fight and we're going to destroy as many of these Russian forces now and we won't have to fight them later when we conduct our own offensive in the spring so we're going to see a change here Carol maybe late May early June when the ukrainians take their off take to the offense based on the equipment that they receive from the Europeans and and the United States and the training that has taken place in the UK and in Germany as well by the United States okay uh and they've formed about 12 brigades to do this in addition to what they already have there's a lot of mud on the ground right now so I know they're not going to want to do offensive operations right now until that mud solidifies a little bit in a few weeks so we'll still wait for that that renewed offensive to begin and clearly those figures are a U.S estimate of Russian casualties um the ukrainians of course never want to talk about the casualties on their side but do we have any idea what sort of casualties they are suffering in this ongoing brutal battle around places like bakamut and elsewhere but they're likely in the tens of thousands we don't know ourselves at The Institute and we don't we don't push the ukrainians to tell us certainly we're completely biased we want the ukrainians to win this war and uh and so we don't want to do anything to disadvantage them but although we do report very accurately on what is taking place regardless of if it's uh to the ukrainian's disadvantage because something has has happened that's not in their interest that that's going to get reported but it's tens of thousands I don't think it's not the scale where the Russians are at uh for sure but nonetheless I mean they have they have paid a a significant price certainly to defend their families to defend their towns to defend their their Homeland and what they're doing is nothing in my mind nothing short of remarkable how the people and and the people who are doing the people themselves and the people who are doing the fighting the troops how United they are and steadfast and standing up to the Russians

Channel: Times Radio

Views: 2,163,427

Keywords: timesradio, russia ukraine war, russia ukraine, ukraine russia, russia ukraine news, ukraine russia war, ukraine russia news, russia ukraine war news, russia ukraine update, russia ukraine conflict, russia ukraine war live, russia ukraine war russian, russia vs ukraine war update, ukraine russian, ukraine war, russia vs ukraine, russia war ukraine, ukraine, russia ukraine war update, ukraine news, war in ukraine, russian ukraine war, russia vs ukraine war, russia

Id: wf8gN7846kU

Length: 4min 34sec (274 seconds)

Published: Tue May 02 2023

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[u/IvanVodkaNoPants]

If they had ceded Bakhmut the RF would have just gone to Chasiv Yar next. It's not like they'll just be all done, war's over, because of the taking of Bakhmut. Anyone that said to do so is an idiot.

[u/DormantSpector61]

How do they know it wasn't a ruse?

[u/AnyProgressIsGood]

I think the real proof will be how the war turns out/ when we can see UA casualty figures. Not taking extravagant casualties and increasing supply line length isn't a bad strategy. Russia is known to suck at supply lines

[u/turbo4538]

As long as the enemy keeps attacking you have to fight somewhere. Apparently Bakhmut has a lot of sturdy concrete buildings with basements, and the towns further west would be easier for the russians to destroy totally with artillery so it seems logical to make a stand in Bakhmut.

[u/Lost_Internet_8381]

Clickbait title, but a decent interview none the less.

[u/MarcusXL]

It's very difficult to say that a strategic decision is right or wrong without the benefit of hindsight-- or even with it. If Ukraine had evacuated Bakhmut months ago and decided to make a stand at Chasiv Yar or another town, we might say, "See, it wasn't a disaster to leave Bakhmut."

There's no perfect decision. It's not just a problem, it's a dilemma, with pros and cons in every scenario. We can look back and rationalize it now, but nobody could have been %100 sure that Wagner would lack the forces to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut (the most important outcome so far). If they had been encircled, even with the massive death-toll of Wagner forces, we might be calling the decision to stay a disaster.

We can at least say that the Ukrainian commanders are not fools, that they made an educated gamble that paid off. Russia might take Bakhmut but there will be no encirclement. Many of the best Russian units were annihilated while trying to storm well-prepared defences. And most importantly, Ukraine is in good shape for the counter-offensive.

[u/[deleted]]

I really doubt there was any sort of rift within the armed forces themselves. At most armchair generals who are not invovled in adivising Ukraine adivised against holding Bakhmut. If the actual advisors thought it was a bad idea Ukraine would have retreated.

[u/flekfk87]

Sometimes you can’t take the advice from the US. The US had the most efficient and best military in the world with its amazing combined force strategy etc. US has been extremely successful in making sure that they don’t get many of their own troops killed and their doctrine sort of that takes that into account.

Ukrainian don’t have the strength of the US military and probably needs to “sacrifice” more of their troops to be able to gain anything at all.