[TrumpCard]

Lots of ways to portray the losses that Ukraine has suffered and the gains it has achieved.  You all may have seen WaPo's maps, data, and charts that were published this week showing the gains and losses over time:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...raine-war/.  Again, you can read this in a number of different ways to confirm a number of different hypotheses.  But it's notable to me that Ukraine is in essentially the same spot now as it was in early April in terms of square miles of territory lost to Russia.  I know Ukraine has a bit of momentum, but I would need some convincing if you think that Ukraine has the upper hand and is likely to retake most of the remaining territory Russia currently controls.  Things may well change if NATO gets more aggressive, or even just supplies Ukraine with more weapons systems.  But right now, it looks like a stale mate with Russia already controlling 20% of Ukrainian territory.  Defmon's thread today on the Svatov area confirms that Ukraine will have a lot of trouble breaking through the current line of contact:  https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1596507771519741952.

Edit: 30 years ago, the US put the AC-130 gunship and Apache helicopters to good use in Iraq. Would those aircraft still be useful in the current fighting environment, or are they too vulnerable to drones and other upgraded anti-aircraft tech? Other than longer range munitions, like ATACMS, what other weapons system would be a difference maker for Ukraine? More MiGs or NATO-style fighters like the F-16?

[TrumpCard]

Lots of ways to portray the losses that Ukraine has suffered and the gains it has achieved.  You all may have seen WaPo's maps, data, and charts that were published this week showing the gains and losses over time:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...raine-war/.  Again, you can read this in a number of different ways to confirm a number of different hypotheses.  But it's notable to me that Ukraine is in essentially the same spot now as it was in early April in terms of square miles of territory lost to Russia.  I know Ukraine has a bit of momentum, but I would need some convincing if you think that Ukraine has the upper hand and is likely to retake most of the remaining territory Russia currently controls.  Things may well change if NATO gets more aggressive, or even just supplies Ukraine with more weapons systems.  But right now, it looks like a stale mate with Russia already controlling 20% of Ukrainian territory.  Defmon's thread today on the Svatov area confirms that Ukraine will have a lot of trouble breaking through the current line of contact:  https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1596507771519741952.

Edit: 30 years ago, the US put the AC-130 gunship and Apache helicopters to good use in Iraq. Would those aircraft still be useful in the current fighting environment, or are they too vulnerable to drones and other upgraded anti-aircraft tech? Other than longer range munitions, like ATACMS, what other weapons system would be a difference maker for Ukraine? More MiGs or NATO-style fighters like the F-16?