Andrei Raevsky Gives...

 ... some really good responses to questions people ask him all the time. 

Why have I stopped posting maps of the situation in the Ukraine and a few other questions. 

Read the whole thing at his site. Most of it is spot on. Here is one great explanation by him of the larger framework:

The truth is that the Ukrainian forces in the Donbass have been in a de-facto operational cauldron since the first week of the SMO.  That is not the result of any special Russian military move, but a factor of geography.  Simply put, the eastern Ukraine is a gigantic cauldron.  True, it as not a locked cauldron, meaning that the Ukrainian side still could move forces into and out of the cauldron, but it was already “locked by fire” meaning that Russian forces could, and did, attack the forces moving in and out with devastating effectiveness.

Quick reminder: the Ukrainians, supported by billions of dollars from the combined West did have eight years to prepare very strong fortifications along the towns and cities they controlled before the SMO.  Maybe somebody expected the Russians to move in frontally, carpet bomb the Ukie-controlled Donbass (as the USA would do) and then frontally attack taking huge casualties in the process.  The Russians, wisely, did not oblige.  Instead, they chose to slowly grind down the Ukrainian defenses.

These tactics did, by the way, result in quite a few towns and villages being liberated by Russia (Izum, Peski and others), and quite a few tactical “cauldrons” which eventually were absorbed.  But, again, the maps did not reflect the nature of what was taking place.

Plus, of course, as was reported by Ukies (Podolyak speaking to BBC) themselves today, and as was anticipated, Kherson "counter-offensive" was a "psyop" (in Russian), LOL. You know, another Ghost of Kiev. Can VSU mount some kind of attack? Sure, platoon, company level. Lord Austin promised Kiev regime today:

(Bloomberg) -- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reinforced a pledge that Washington and its allies will continue supplying military aid to Ukraine to help it repel Russia’s invasion “for as long as it takes.”

Yes, this is how US loves to fight: to the last Vietnamese, Iraqi, Afghani, what have you. There is one problem for Kiev regime, Washington and personally Lord Austin, the US Military-Industrial Complex is not capable to sustain a real war, because it cannot produce at all or in necessary quantities (I omit here the issue of quality) what is needed to fight even one theater war such as one in Ukraine. And this is with Russians using only small fraction of their forces there.