Popular Press
How Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Might End
New York Magazine
(2023)
Abstract
Ukraine had high hopes for its long-anticipated counteroffensive, the goal of which is to reclaim territory Russia seized in the country’s south and east last year (as well as Crimea, taken in 2014) and force Vladimir Putin into a weak negotiating position. And although the country’s forces have made some promising recent gains, the operation has thus far been a deadly and demoralizing slog. Ukrainian soldiers have run up against vast minefields and other elaborate Russian defenses and have been able to make only slow progress, at a steep cost in men and equipment. With the limited time before the onset of the fall mud season, what can Ukraine realistically accomplish? For perspective on that question, I spoke with John Nagl, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army who has written extensively about counterinsurgency and is now a professor of warfighting studies at U.S. Army War College. (Nagl made clear that his views on the war did not reflect those of the army, or the Department of Defense.)
Keywords
- Ukraine,
- Counteroffensive,
- Mud Season
Disciplines
Publication Date
August 14, 2023
Citation Information
John Nagl. "How Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Might End" New York Magazine (2023) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john-nagl/15/