There has been much MSM talk of Russia’s military campaign being bogged down in the Ukraine but I’m not so sure about that. The MSM often mentioned Grozny and how the Russian military destroyed the city, but they fail to mention how long it took. If they did they would have to admit the Russian strategy in the Ukraine is going to plan.
According to Wikipedia the Russian campaign to attack Grozny started on the 15th of October 1999 when their troops began to advance slowly towards the city. By late November it was surrounded. The early fighting was concentrated in the eastern outskirts of Grozny, with reconnaissance teams entering the city to identify rebel positions. The Russian tactic appeared to be to draw fire from the rebels, then pull back and pound the Chechen positions with artillery and rocket fire.
Russia's bombardments finally began to take their toll: using multiple rocket launchers and massed tank and artillery fire, the Russians flattened large parts of Grozny in preparation for an all-out assault.
On February the 21, which was four months into the campaign, Russian forces held a military parade to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day and to symbolise the final defeat of the Chechen rebels. In reality some of the Chechen rebels continued the fight in small guerrilla groups for the next two years.
If you look at the maps in The Times and other media outlets this looks like the same strategy Putin and the Russian military is using in the Ukraine.
As far as President Zelenskyy is concerned and he is clearly a brave man, but perhaps he needs to swallow his pride. He made the mistake of trusting NATO to eventually come to his aid by declaring war on Russia. However there seems no sign of that so far as none of the nations which make up the alliance wants a full scale world war which would be disastrous for all parties.
However this doesn’t mean NATO won’t march us into a war if Zelenskyy runs out of road.
⏩ Mick Hall is a veteran Left Wing activist and trade unionist.
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