![]() Two days after Russia pulled out of an agreement for Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea, the Kremlin declared all cargo ships traveling to Ukrainian ports as potentially carrying military cargo in support of Kyiv. “In addition to this coordinated effort in the Black Sea, we have already observed that Russia targeted Ukraine’s grain export ports in Odesa with missiles and drones on July 18 and 19, resulting in the destruction of agricultural infrastructure and 60,000 tons of grain,” reads the statement. The new mines could be used to justify future attacks against civilian ships and blame Ukraine, the National Security Council said in a statement to USNI News. Russia has laid sea mines in the Black Sea that could interfere with Ukrainian grain exports, the White House announced Wednesday. To succeed in its operation to cut the Russian land bridge to Crimea, I wrotethat Ukrainian troops would have to attack through multiple belts of elaborate Russian defenses “with limited offensive air power, limited air defense, insufficient quantities of artillery shells, and a force that is equipped with a hodgepodge of modern and antiquated armor - staffed by a mix of conscripts with no combat experience and some officers and men with basic training by NATO instructors.”Īll of those factors have now predictably conspired to blunt Kyiv’s offensive, failing after six weeks of effort to even penetrate the first belt of the main Russian defensive lines. The same month that Austin was claiming Ukraine had “a very good chance” to defeat Russia in Kyiv’s spring offensive, I wrote that embracing the concept “that Russia is going to lose the war could leave the West to be caught off guard if the Ukrainian offensive fails to materially degrade Russian positions.” One month before the start of the offensive, I explained the very practical reasons why the Ukrainian attack would almost certainly fail to achieve even modest gains.
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