Will Russia’s Oldest Weapon Break The United West?

Putin hopes the coming Winter can break the spirit of western unity. Is he right?

SERGEI BRIK (Shutterstock-Standard usage rights)

In recent weeks Ukrainian gains have been outstanding. Until very recently, there was skepticism that Ukraine would be able to push back meaningfully.

In the end, that is precisely what happened. With a sudden unexpected push in the East, Ukrainian forces swept around Russian defenses, encircling troops and instigating a chaotic withdrawal. Towns were retaken, valuable Russian military equipment was lost, and morale amongst Russian troops was shattered.

The offensive broke a long deadlock revitalizing the Ukrainian troops and making the idea of a Russian defeat even more tangible.

Wow…To be in Putin’s shoes right now.

Things are not going to plan.

In a recent meeting with his allies, Putin has been under pressure. He received questions and concerns from his allies in India, China and Turkey. Not only that, He is facing growing pressure from inside Russia from Russian nationalists and from his military. He was even critizied by Ramzan Kadyrov the Chechen leader a long term ally.

It’s a far cry from the lightning-fast three-day victory Putin had been expecting at the war’s outset. He probably thought the worst-case scenario would be a stalemate.

Putin miscalculated a lot of things in this conflict. Two, I think, are the most significant. The Ukrainian willingness to fight and die and the Western unity and response. These two factors have combined into a deadly Molotov cocktail that has been thrown back and exploded in Putin’s face.

The Ukrainian resistance became an impenetrable wall, and now the WestWest has added spikes to that wall. The wall has now started advancing on them.

Western support with information, training, and heavy weapons has given the Ukrainian resistance a powerful bite. The Ukrainian army is now not only dedicated to the fight but growing increasingly armed and dangerous.

It’s showing more and more that it can do severe damage to the Russian army, as these recent victories demonstrate. The Russian army has faced…