Russia - threadbanned users in OP

my starting point is that all information in a war is distorted , as I dont speak Russian i cant vouch anything they say and Ukrainian information is bound to be exaggerated so unless you have losses and potential replacements that the Russians and Americans agree on, I just assume they have a certain flexibility to ration out what they have. If the Russians are weaker than the Ukrainians then eventually the lines will crack in their direction.

My general view is that articles written in Time, The Economist, WP etc that contain criticisms of Ukraine at least have a chance of being true as these establishment publications wouldnt allow their writers to essentially put out Russian propaganda. a logical assumption I hope?

the flip of that , was that during the Summer offensive, all the articles about Ukraine likely to make it to the Sea of Asov, I could take a view of whether they passed the smell test because there was likely to be a narrative/disinformation element to it. As it was it was clear to me it was going nowhere after about 2 weeks, I might have said so back the way at the time, to which the easiest response was "youre wrong", while getting a feverish amount of likes, luckily this site is so tedious to search back so I cant be arsed to look for updates ;-)

Thats Shredding with a capital "S". Strange, at one point it shows 2 parallel lines of white dots while around them are literally hundreds of the same white dots randomly spaced? Most likely Cluster munitions, after the tanks were shelled with something heavier. What a sheer waste of human life and resources. Putin may your nightmares cause you an agonizing death, the same kind that you caused so many people during your miserable life.

Unfortunately, you are most likely right about Putin dying in bed surrounded by doctors and nurses, unlike Joe Stalin who died alone on the floor, in very messy circumstances. Over time he had executed all of his doctors, so there was no one available willing to attend him when the time came. The Guards had to wait until his daughter arrived and went into his room and found him. But one can live in hope.........

I think you may be getting some stuff wrong in 2nd para above.

I am not sure, but don't believe an identical strategy to Russia could be implemented, even if that were best. Western countries would not have the landmines to give Ukraine. They have never really fought that way, and there is a UN Convention against the anti-personnel type landmines, which a lot of Ukraine's backers have signed (even if I don't think the US has?).

It is a bit similar to the cluster bombs IMO, which of course Russia has used freely, even on towns and cities. Many allies of the US have signed the UN Convention against these. US still has large stockpiles, but afair stopped making more even though it did not sign this Convention, maybe because a lot of their allies won't handle, buy or use them any longer.

In any case I think Ukraine believed themselves (still believe) they have the military strength to at least get back some more territory, once they get the tools off their supporters to do so (still waiting I would argue), so why would they set up a strategy of fixed defensive lines etc. to freeze Russia where they are now? Should be borne in mind that there are citizens of their country suffering under Russian occupation in that territory at present. So I expect it is a lot more than a line on a map, or a piece in future discussions with Putin for Ukraine's govt.

I think you may overestimate the level of control over Ukraine's military decisions the US (or West) has + are getting close to Russian govt. line that they are a puppet who will just attack and defend from Russia as and when "master" Uncle Sam says so, which is a load of rubbish IMO. The lever the US have is whether to support them or not, and if so by how much, and what types of support.

Is there any possibility of tunneling under defensive lines for Ukraine or would it be pointless without tanks and heavy infantry

"Now the 2 potential states appear to be, stalemate or a war of attrition which the Russians by virtue of their size are more likely to win."

I know russia by land area is big but with only 9 people per square kilometer does it actually have the economic and labour resources to utilise that physical size particularly with thousands being sent to their deaths by putin and many more running away from the country in recent years?

The economy of the russian federation is a fraction of that of the EU and putin in invading Ukraine has in reality declared war on all of the EU which has the military support of all of NATO while putin can only rely on the military support of Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Iran with other neighbours that continue to trade with putin fully aware that to support him militarily would lead to their own economies and people suffering because of putin's dreams of empire building. Even before the war and imposition of sanctions the economy and the industrial resources putin had to work with mean a long conflict in spite of your opinion does not give him a better chance of victory in my opinion.

If nothing else, it would be another check mark under 'WW1 w/ drones'.

Neither side is going to be able to break the stalemate as things stand.

Tunnel warfare was,I think huge in WW1.They tunneled and did a Guy Fawkes number under the other side's troop concentrations.

One particular undermining operation at Messines took out something like 10,000 in a single explosion,the Lochnagar crater is huge which you can visit today

And something the Ukrainians know a thing about between coal and salt mines

There's a good movie called Beneath Hill 60 about that.