Former Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter has revised and updated the assessment he published on his Telegram channel on Sept. 9, in view of the developments in the Kharkov region since then, but comes to the same conclusion at the end, that Russia will still win, though the costs will now be higher for everyone involved. “The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive needs to be put into a proper perspective,” Ritter wrote in a column in Consortium News on Sept. 12. “The casualties Ukraine suffered, and is still suffering, to achieve this victory are unsustainable. Ukraine has exhausted its strategic reserves, and they will have to be reconstituted if Ukraine were to have any aspirations of continuing an advance along these lines. This will take months.
“Russia, meanwhile, has lost nothing more than some indefensible space. Russian casualties were minimal, and equipment losses readily replaced.
“Russia has actually strengthened its military posture by creating strong defensive lines in the north capable of withstanding any Ukrainian attack, while increasing combat power available to complete the task of liberating the remainder of the Donetsk People’s Republic under Ukrainian control.
“Russia has far more strategic depth than Ukraine. Russia is beginning to strike critical infrastructure targets, such as power stations, that will not only cripple the Ukrainian economy, but also their ability to move large amounts of troops rapidly via train.
