[dabigv13]

I've said similar before, but the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan and the US pulled out of Vietnam, even though they were much larger countries with much bigger economies. This was the result of exhaustion.

Even if Ukraine succeeds in retaking Crimea, what is to stop Putin from continuing to prosecute the war? He would still have the same advantages as a much larger country that you pointed out. If Ukraine retakes Crimea but Russia is unable to counter, or obtain or manufacture enough weaponry or draft enough soldiers to change the situation on the battlefield, I think this would be considered by the author to be a victory by exhaustion for Ukraine, not a victory through tactical or strategic acumen in the deployment of combined arms maneuver, so I'm not sure there is much tension in what the author is proposing and the hopeful end state in your post.

Ultimately the West must be prepared for this to be a long war and that it will end when one side is exhausted, not when Ukraine achieves some combination of the right advanced weapons systems and the right tactics to use them in some sort of rapid breakthrough or encirclement. This was the takeaway for me from the article and I think it's correct.

[dabigv13]

I've said similar before, but the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan and the US pulled out of Vietnam, even though they were much larger countries with much bigger economies. This was the result of exhaustion.

Even if Ukraine succeeds in retaking Crimea, what is to stop Putin from continuing to prosecute the war? He would still have the same advantages as a much larger country that you pointed out. If Ukraine retakes Crimea but Russia is unable to counter, or obtain or manufacture enough weaponry or draft enough soldiers to change the situation on the battlefield, I think this would be considered by the author to be a victory by exhaustion for Ukraine, not a victory through tactical or strategic acumen in the deployment of combined arms maneuver, so I'm not sure there is much tension in what the author is proposing and the hopeful end state in your post.

Ultimately the West must be prepared for this to be a long war and that it will end when one side is exhausted, not when Ukraine achieves some combination of the right advanced weapons systems and the right tactics to use them in some sort of rapid breakthrough or encirclement. This was the takeaway for me from the article and I think it's correct.