Winning 20 to 1 - So Why Could Ukraine Still Lose?
Shownotes
Jackie, a former US Army scout who now instructs corps personnel in Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps, returns to Defence Forward to explain why two cities in Donetsk oblast may decide how this war ends, and how Ukraine lives with the outcome.
Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the "fortress belt", are the last major piece of the Kremlin's stated objectives in Donetsk. Whoever holds them controls the routes beyond. Jackie explains why the ground war has become the most important part of the fight right now, and why it gets so little attention outside Ukraine.
In this episode:
- Why the fortress belt matters, and what a Russian victory claim would mean with or without it
- Loss ratio, not territory, as the measure that matters for an outnumbered army
- Drones as common as rifles at squad level
- "Blue army" mission command versus "red army" Soviet-style command
- What Afghanistan, Vietnam and the US Civil War teach about post-war narrative and veterans
- What Jackie plans to do when the war ends
Guest: Jackie (his callsign), 3rd Army Corps, ArmedForces of Ukraine. Former US Army scout with service in Iraq and Afghanistan;International Legion veteran of Kyiv, Kupiansk and Bakhmut.
Hosts: Jonathan Winch (Cylindr Defence, Copenhagen) and Dan Kucherenko (SerhiyPrytula Charity Foundation, Kyiv)
Producer: David Hoskin (Cylindr Defence, Copenhagen)
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