‘War is: making one’s merits more glorious and disguising one’s losses as best one can. This is exactly what Russia is doing now,” says Bouwmeester, colonel and associate professor of military strategy at the Dutch Defense Academy. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry made several discoveries in the Donbass. imminent conquest of the city of Kharkov.
So it’s not all that bad, says Bouwmeester. He understands where those messages are coming from. “In northern Luhansk, the Russians are fighting hard to actually take over the last part of the region they have already annexed.”
Wagner group
Two large divisions are fighting there, with nearly 10,000 soldiers and 150 to 200 tanks at the start of the offensive. “Behind it is a third division from Belarus,” says Bouwmeester. “That’s why you see a buildup of Russian troops. And it could be that if the Russians break through the front line, they will throw that 3rd division towards Kharkov. But we’re not there yet.’
In Bachmut, in the Donetsk region, Russian units took the place of the Wagner group. The city itself is still in Ukrainian hands.
United States: Russia has already lost the war
The US, on the other hand, sounds very different. There, Mark Milley, the top US general, said that “strategic, operational and tactical Russia has already lost the war.” But just like Russia’s euphoric pronouncements, they also need to be seen in a larger strategic picture, says Bouwmeester.