With a myriad of sources for information, it’s hard to know where to go these days. For armed conflict, it’s hard to beat The Institute for the Study of War, found at understandingwar.org.
Much has happened in the last 4-6 weeks in the Russia – Ukraine war. Most breathtaking was Ukraine’s deep penetration into Russian territory June 1 with drones, destroying billions of rubles (and dollars) of aircraft and demonstrating an ability to penetrate deep into the Russian interior.
Let’s note how large the Russian interior is. It is the largest interior that ever interiored. The Russian high command is a bit shaken. The drones were brought in with anonymous trucks. Even to Irktusk and beyond. This is RISK board territory.
The beauty to me is that after the attack Ukraine told the world how they did it. You want to attack Russia’s interior? Here you go, here is the road map. That is delightful Putin trolling. This also sends a message to Russian soldiers and the bases where they reside. #chefskiss
NATO and the US should be, and likely are, rethinking all conventional platforms. This attack was a year in the making. It was slow but cheap.
Retaliation has been revolting. From the Institute for the Study of War: “Occupied Crimea is poised to face a severe water crisis in the coming months, a crisis that the Russian occupation of Crimea has precipitated and which ongoing Russian mismanagement and resource misallocation will exacerbate.
It gets worse. “The Russian “University Shifts” program has begun summer sessions, facilitating the deportation of Ukrainian children and teenagers to participate in university classes at schools throughout the Russian Federation,” ISW posted. The report goes on to say that over 16,000 children, aged 14 to 17 including children from occupied Ukraine, will take part in the program. Russian officials announced in April that they plan for a total of 2,000 children from occupied Ukraine to take part in “University Shifts” in Summer 2025. One wonders if they will be allowed to go home.
Ukraine is escalating the war into Russian territory. Russia is terrorizing Ukrainians in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.
Right now, Europe is arming Ukraine at new levels. The American defense budget for next year is pulling back weapons funding. From what I know from European friends, Europe is standing by for the contracts to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends. Timing is everything.
About 12 years ago, I was at a defense conference in DC. I was chatting with a former reporter I knew. He mentioned that his company was entertaining a prominent Virgina congressman to whom he’d like to introduce me. Crimea was just becoming a problem.
I met the congressman, and I had a bourbon and he had a Diet Coke as was appropriate for the era. We talked through Navy stuff and got to foreign affairs. He mentioned Crimea. I said, “no one will put their neck on the line for Ukraine.” He disagreed vociferously. He was a hardcore Republican. At the time, so was I.
I am so sad more than a decade later to be right.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.
