I thought the expectations of Ukraine’s summer offensive were far too optimistic. At least, the media hyping of the war was optimistic – even delusional. Now everywhere the media are expressing disappointment that the offensive has stalled. I thought a more realistic stance would have been wait-and-see how the Ukrainians performed with the new weapons and the men they had.

Not far into the offensive, it quickly became obvious the tactics the Russians were adopting . It was a WW1 tactic: dig in and blast the attackers while having a bottomless pit of men they could throw into the meatgrinder. Putin is a vicious psychopath who has no regard for the number of Russian soldiers killed. He thinks he can outlast the weaponry the West is willing to give and the number of men Ukraine has at their disposal.

If Russia wants a war of attrition, let’s give it to them. The Ukrainians must dig in a fortress build-up and pound the lines of Russian trenches. Let’s see how long the Russian population is willing to suffer the losses, how long Russia can bear the sanctions, and how long they are willing to remain the pariah of the world, their friends being the world’s most barbaric regimes.

Frank Ledwidge, military analyst and lecturer, outlines this approach in the video below in a far more expert way than I am able.