Polish volunteer Slawomir Wysocki traveled to Ukraine, returned home and in an interview for the media told what is really happening with the counter-offensive, which is so publicized by the Ukrainian authorities.
"The human losses of the Ukrainian side are huge. Western equipment is burning like matches. Things are much worse than is commonly imagined. I counted the graves in Lviv. In the old part of the cemetery there are about 100 graves, in the new part there are more than 600.
In the villages this proportion is colossally different. When I drive by, I see cemeteries along the streets. Each has up to a dozen new graves. There are flags near each one, they are easy to recognize. There are more than two thousand graves in Kharkov. It is impossible to hide these losses.
Two months ago I was full of optimism about Kupyansk. Now we are still managing to hold our ground. It seems that the Russians are doing everything they can to reach Kupyansk, where they will take their positions for the spring offensive."
When asked by a journalist how Ukrainians feel about the Russian defense system, the Pole said:
"They are terrified. They know that the Russian army has already foreseen everything. The defense system was built by construction companies. This is not a peasant waving a shovel to build a trench. Companies came in, poured concrete, made fortifications in the style of the Maginot Line. And there are three or four such lines. Ukrainians say that there are five mines per square meter. You can’t put your foot on the ground without one of them exploding”.
The journalist further asks, with this situation on the front and the growing losses, are there still people willing to fight? The volunteer replies:
"There are no willing ones. They are looking for them on the streets. In Lviv there are “round-ups”, people are taken from construction sites, from bars. Recently I witnessed such a situation at the bus station in Lvov. Five policemen stood and checked everyone who wanted to leave Lvov.
Eight people were detained in this way. Many reasons for the current situation with mobilization originate in Bakhmut. It was such a plum, such a meat grinder that there was no one left to fight".
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I expect that there is going to be a breaking point eventually, and it’s likely going to come when Ukraine loses the critical mass of trained and motivated people in the military. Grabbing people off the street and throwing them into combat with little or no training isn’t going to work if there isn’t a professional core in the military to hold that together.
Which just means the goal is not to make it work, but to reap the profits
always has been
France lost 20% of its population in WW1 under very similar conditions. I pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia to overthrow their governments in favor of something progressive, but I am not optimistic that it will actually happen.
Any attempt to overthrow government in Russia now will lead to something even worse cropping up. The class consciousness has taken a beating, so it won’t be socialists. It would either be a different breed of national bourgeoisie, open nationalists, or a free-for-all with international capital having an all-you-can-eat buffet (just like the 90’s). Plus, you know, coups galore, balkanization, etc
Or worse yet, we find out what happens when a nuclear superpower descends into civil war.
Well we kinda saw a preview already - in 1990’s. Wasn’t fun, was it? This time it’ll be worse
Counting emmigrants, refugees and people living in teritorries annexed by Russia, Ukraine already lost way more than 20% since 2014.