re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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France wants Putin to be able to have an off ramp

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Russia is finally going to capture Bakhmu

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Pathetic. This gang of incompetent fools is not good at anything. Worthless. Maybe the Brits, Poles and Baltic States can ship the Biden Administration a set of balls.

The only way to end this war is to give Ukraine what it needs to achieve it's goals. Russia must be defeated, They are never going to quit until they are forced to. These weapons should have been there months ago. By delaying only prolongs the fight and more people are killed. I have said for months that this administration does not want to see a total Ukrainian victory. You want to end the war? Send Ukraine what it needs for achieving it's goals. What is the sense in sending the billions that we have if you are not willing to send what is needed for victory?

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I see two explanations, neither good:

1. For some nefarious reason they want the war to continue longer term
2. Chinese handshake deal. They’re afraid of China and how they may supply the Russians which makes keeping up supplies of things like artillery to Ukraine harder. Handshake deal not to push too hard to keep China “neutral”

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Key Takeaways

A Ukrainian official stated that Russian forces have concentrated most of their available reserves to the Bakhmut area and slowed Ukrainian counterattacks in the past 24 hours.

Ukrainian counterattacks near Bakhmut have notably likely eliminated the threat of a Russian encirclement of Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut and forced Russian troops to allocate scarce military resources to defend against a limited and localized offensive effort, as Ukrainian command likely intended.

Russian forces conducted another series of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine on the night of May 18 to 19.

President Joe Biden reportedly informed G7 leaders on May 19 that Washington will support a joint effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and other fourth generation aircraft.

The Kremlin reportedly spent 3.1 trillion rubles (approximately $38.7 billion) in an undisclosed section of the Russian budget in 2023, likely to on fund the war and maintain occupied territories in Ukraine.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that he will run for reelection as a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party for the first time, prompting criticism from select Russian ultranationalists.

A Ukrainian source reported that elements of two brigades of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) have deployed to border areas of Kursk Oblast in order to conduct counter-sabotage activities and provocations.

Russian sources claimed that Russian troops continued offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove line.

Russian forces continued to conduct ground attacks in the Bakhmut area and slightly increased their tempo of ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line.

Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces are preparing defenses by flooding fields in Russian occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev claimed that the Russian military has recruited 117,400 contract personnel in volunteer formations since January 1, 2023.

The Russian State Duma adopted the final reading of a draft law authorizing regional elections under martial law.

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An overview of Russian adaptation reveals a force that is able to improve and evolve its employment of key systems. There is evidence of a centralised process for identifying shortcomings in employment and the development of mitigations. Nevertheless, much of this adaptation is reactive and is aimed at making up for serious deficiencies in Russian units. The result is a structure that becomes better over time at managing the problems it immediately faces, but also one that struggles to anticipate new threats. The conclusion therefore is that the Russian Armed Forces pose a significant challenge for the Ukrainian military on the defence. Nevertheless, if Ukraine can disrupt Russian defences and impose a dynamic situation on them, Russian units are likely to rapidly lose their coordination. Changes in the air combat environment, for example, have led rapidly to incidents of Russian fratricide.

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