I haven’t posted for a while because, well, life. I recall that I’d been planning to post something in early December, but that’s when Hamas attacked Israel and that just really grabbed focus. Whatever I was going to post would have seemed petty in comparison to those events. And then the holidays came along, followed by other stuff, and really it only seems like now I’m able to find a spare moment for an update.
Despite not posting, I have been staying up on things, of course, and one of the best “quick take” things I read on a daily basis is the daily “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment” produced by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). On their daily report (click here for the report for Feb. 9, 2024) they include some “Key Takeaways,” which provide a great recap of events; the full report then delves into each of those post a bit more. I know I’ve posted these one other time, but I thought it was time for a re-up.
Here are the takeaways for February 9th:
- The Russian online community noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not offer any new information in his interview with American media personality Tucker Carlson and simply repeated longstanding Kremlin talking points about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for American audiences.
- Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev noted that Putin told the Western world in the most thorough and detailed way why Ukraine did not exist, does not exist, and will not exist.
- Delays in Western aid appear to be exacerbating Ukraine’s current artillery shortages and could impact Ukraine’s long-term war effort.
- Newly appointed Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi identified several of his goals as commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
- Ukrainian actors reportedly conducted a successful drone strike against two oil refineries in Krasnodar Krai on February 9.
- Ukrainian military officials reported that Russian forces are increasing their use of illegal chemical weapons in Ukraine, in an apparent violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.
- Bloomberg reported on February 9 that Ukraine is considering economic reforms in order to secure funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the event that the US Congress continues to block crucial aid.
- Russian forces advanced near Kreminna, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka amid continued positional engagements along the frontline.
- Russian paramilitary organization Novorossiya Aid Coordination Center (KCPN) is training drone operators in east (left) bank Kherson Oblast near Krynky.
- Russian occupation authorities continue to prepare for the upcoming Russian presidential elections by creating the appearance of popular support for Russian Vladimir Putin in occupied areas of Ukraine.
Here’s an infographic that a few sites produce (this one from Euromaidan Press) of a daily tally of estimated Russian losses. These are numbers reported by the Ukrainian Army/Defence Department and as assumed to be on the high side. Other entities use different metrics to calculate losses, which are generally more “pessimistic” because they rely more on uniquely identifiable characteristics, which sometimes don’t exist. Reality is probably somewhere in-between, which I guess would be about 75% of the numbers shown here. (That is, if a loss of 100 is shown here, the reality is probably closer to 75.) Also, please note that personnel losses are both wounded and killed.
I was thinking that even if there’s not much to be reported (as I’ve noted before, I mostly focus on Mariupol), I could post the takeaways and the infographic every now and then. I know that not everyone follows the events in Ukraine as closely as I do, so maybe it would be a handy way to help keep up, especially when there’s not that much in local or national news these days.