Counterattack begins:
With the next batch of weapons such as CAESAR, HIMARS....
These precision missile launchers bludgeoned the Russian Navy into submission, forcing them to not only retreat from Snake Island, but also further away from the Ukraine coastline.
Of course, the face-saving message from Russia is obvious:
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
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Russia is slowly and methodically losing the strategic Black Sea positions, while Ukraine is working towards liberating Kherson first (They are basically miles from the city center, but urban warfare is very dirty and slow).
The Donbas region is meant to be a quagmire; to bog down the majority of Russian assets and make no progress, hence a bottomless money and "soldier" pit. In fact, Putin has been forced to call up 60+ year old retired generals, soldiers and fighter pilots in order to continue the assault. You are talking about 150-200 lb fat retired personnel.
At the same time, he is trying to drag Belarus into a war with Lithuania, which is exactly what NATO wants.
Once the next batch of advanced weaponry goes in, Ukraine/NATO can then go all-in and start methodically pushing the Russians away from the South, away from Crimea, and then north and east through the Donbas region. Again, this is urban warfare in the trenches, so there will be a lot of give and take (just like what's been happening past few weeks) - but the momentum will increase as the precision heavy weaponry start flooding in.
Don't forget with the liberation of Snake Island, NATO can now use Odessa port to quickly ship weaponry from Poland.
And....please don't listen to all the inane "extra" money for Ukraine from NATO countries and the fake Biden admin - the weaponry were already placed and ready in eastern Europe over the past 4 years - Zelensky has been acting brilliantly to entice Putin to continue the operation. It is all a coordinated operation, taking into account various unknowns to strategize against.
Think of it as a chess match, with US and NATO thinking 15 moves ahead to the endgame, while Putin has to worry about his resources and finances at every move due to sanctions.
And..... Putin has no answers to the quagmire, so he is forcibly dragging in China as well. Here is one of many openly hostile moves in the Pacific Rim.
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
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And Xi is so scared of domestic dissent that in his HK visit to commemorate the 25th anniversary of China's takeover, he visits the processions on 7/1 and heads back across the border to Shenzhen for the night. He does not even eat in Hong Kong, and brings his own water/drinks. Xi is only in HK for 2 days before scramming back to Beijing. Apparently a poll (somehow taken) released by some dissenters show that 80% of China's population is angry at Xi's policies.
In addition to Japan, China is increasing military "practices" around Taiwan (just like Putin in Feb), and also increasing civilian militant fishing vessels into South Seas (angering SE Asia and Philippines).
This is also in addition to what is happening around Australia and New Zealand.
So... the Pacific war chessboard is set. It is a matter of time.
Unfortunately, do keep in mind this key theme - the main goal of this grand chessboard this year, is control of the future of society with respect to technological survival. Resources and food can be found elsewhere, even if they are in severe shortage short-term.
However, without ICs and advanced fab processes, lithium, noble gases, rare earths - there will be no 5G, no fast Internet, no fiber, no thin phones, no car sensors, no RT GPS performance, no superthin LCD TVs, etc. Not to mention many critical components such as smart meters, water sensors, gas pumps, etc. are now using advanced ICs in their critical nodes, data, and control centers. And the current agricultural machinery such as John Deere are critically dependent on GPS, AI chips and sensors.
Oh... and no iPads or thin laptops. We'd be back to using huge brick desktops and CRT monitors of the 80s-90s. And Internet will slow to a crawl due to lack of the latest network routers, which use multi-component optical ICs that require advanced fab processes.
This is why the Japanese are so concerned about Taiwan that they are taking the initiative to plan, place and strategize the Pacific Rim chessboard, in addition to their glaring resource needs (oil, gas, etc.)