“Russia has started an offensive, while it is not really ready”
Russia has started its offensive when in reality it is not ready. That’s what defense specialist Patrick Bolder of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies in BNR’s Big Five says. According to Bolder, the Russians want to bring forward Western deliveries of heavy weapons and tanks. Moreover, under the new commander Gerasimov, Russia will not be able to gain air supremacy.
As Russia continues to step up its offensive against Ukraine, the logistical problems for the Russian military only seem to get worse. Many people are needed for these attacks. And at the same time Russia must be wary of counterattacks,’ says BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg. Read the article on the logistic band within the Russian Armed Forces here.
Many people are needed for these attacks. And at the same time, Russia must be wary of counterattacks.”
Volodimir Zelensky, the comedian turned Napoleon
Time has named Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky Person of the Year 2022. He works under pressure, he understands and plays by ear, his courage is infectious. Who is that hoarse-voiced ex-comedian in a camouflage shirt who has been leading Ukraine in its fight against Russia for almost a year now? His style is Napoleonic. A gimmick, but it works.’ Read the story of the man who failed to bring down Putin.
“The fact that Russian-speaking Ukrainians see the invasion as ‘liberation’ is a symptom of Russia’s tunnel vision towards Ukraine.”
His counterpart Vladimir Putin thought he could finish the job in four days, but the war has now gone on for a year. Hopeful thinking. “The fact that Russian-speaking Ukrainians see the invasion as ‘liberation’ is a symptom of Russia’s tunnel vision towards Ukraine,” says defense specialist Peter Wijninga of the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague. Read the article about the Kremlin’s incredible mistakes here.
Why Russians are afraid of Western tanks
European countries have been fighting for weeks to lend the Leopard 2 heavy tank to Ukraine, and the shell has come through the church – the tanks are coming. The Americans are also considering sending their M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Read the article about the best tank on the battlefield here.
The Russians look not to America and Europe for support, but to the Wagner group. This mercenary army fights side by side with the Russian army in Ukraine and has made war crimes their trademark. Although the mercenaries of the Wagner group have been active on the world stage for some time, they only emerged from the shadows after the war in Ukraine. Read the article about Vladimir Putin’s cruel Cossacks here.
How Vladimir Putin underestimates his enemies
The work that Putin wanted to do in four days takes exactly one year today. Wishful thinking is one of the many mistakes made by the head of the Kremlin. Putin’s other weakness: he underestimates his opponents. Because he doesn’t understand them.
“You see in the General Staff a separation of minds between those who choose Shoygu and Gerasimov and Prigozhin.”
But this is not Putin’s only challenge, a struggle for power is taking place within the military hierarchy and its entourage. “You see a separation of minds in the General Staff between those who favor Shoigu and Gerasimov and Prigozjin,” says director Rob de Wijk of the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague. To know more.
Putin’s dirty handyman is called Ramzan Kadyrov
He has been well known to Amnesty International for many years and, after the war in Ukraine, he has also been known to the general public. Ramzan Kadyrov, 46, rules with an iron fist a million and a half souls in Chechnya, the Islamic republic of the Russian Federation in the Caucasus. His troops are committing war crimes in Ukraine. “He IS Putin’s dirty handyman,” says BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg. Read the article about “Putin’s hound” here.
The relationship between China and Russia seems to have taken a new direction. In Moscow, Putin spoke at length with Wang Yi, a former foreign minister and now top adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping. “For the first time, Putin used a very small table, a symbol of close friends.” Read in this article how Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping come together in their aversion to the West.