Originally Posted by
wondering
As much as I wish the Kyiv Independent numbers are accurate, I am afraid they are inflated. 205 planes? 170 helicopters? IŽd rather stick to Orxy for a conservative assessment. Same for the UK daily intel update. Imho, way too optimistic. This will be a long bloody slog. Too early to tell who will wear down first. I am sure the Russians can still draw on some serious reserves. They could dig in, hold what they have and keep harassing the rest of Ukraine for years until the West gets tired. Just like in 2014.
At the moment the Donbas is a meat grinder. Ukrainians loosing lots of service members since Russians are outgunning them by a huge margin. Ukrainians need a lot more firepower to hold the Orcs back.
For the sake of Ukraine I hope I am too pessimistic.
In my opinion it's not so much about losses but whether Russia can hold onto any gains or just be pushed back out of Ukraine.
I see this war developing into a modern WW1. Trench warfare with the addition of drones etc.
Neither side has superiority in anything. This benefits the Ukrainians who can just slowly bleed Russia.
The West getting bored may also be a factor.
Yep, in for the long slog I think.