Russia's 'Meat Grinder' Tactics In Ukraine War Perspective
Date
10/22/2024 2:05:09 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Reports have emerged in recent months of particularly savage casualties among Russian troops fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine as the Russian military bids to capture as much territory as it can, possibly with one eye on a potential ceasefire deal.
Much will depend on the outcome of the US election. US presidential candidate Donald trump has said he will end military aid to Ukraine if elected, bringing the war to an end in“one day.”
This could mean that Kiev will be forced to cede Ukrainian territory along current lines of occupation. Analysts have commented that this was one of the motivations for Ukraine's Kursk offensive inside Russia in August since territory captured by Ukraine would be a valuable bargaining chip in negotiations.
Meanwhile, Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine has been particularly bloody, with US intelligence reports of casualty numbers of up to 1,000 per day, dead and wounded. This calls to mind the“meat grinder” tactics of previous Russian and Soviet military campaigns.
The“meat grinder” is a collective battlefield approach that values high troop density and intensity to overwhelm the enemy. It is a uniquely Russian approach nine decades in the making, consisting of a combination of two much older strategies, namely attrition and mass mobilization.
At the heart of attrition is the notion of abundance. The opponent is physically and psychologically exhausted by the sheer force of numbers as wave after wave of cannon fodder is relentlessly deployed.
Mass mobilization is the large-scale movement of troops to a particular location with the intention of overpowering the adversary. Neither approach recognizes the intrinsic value of individual lives.
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