Russia in Deadly Fix in Ukraine, But Does It Realize It?

Pfarrer points out the many signs that Russia has neither the strategic nor tactical ability to execute complex missions. Russia, time and again, fails to make significant headway in Ukraine and is facing increasingly hostile troops unwilling to become cannon fodder.

Pfarrer, who has advised the “full alphabet soup” of US national security agencies and is a leading figure in the analysis of the war in Ukraine, is a new special correspondent for the Kyiv Post. Here, he explains why Russia’s losses so far have been disastrous and why an abysmal summer awaits the Kremlin. Russians soon to be mobilized should not delude themselves with fantasies of victory: Like nearly all of the Russian soldiers who participated in the initial full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the newbie Russian troops will be heading straight to the meat-grinder.

After his service in the US Navy, Pfarrer served public and private sector clients as a military and counter-terrorism contractor and non-proliferation expert. Pfarrer has written extensively on counter-WMD proliferation and gray zone operations. He has written an op-ed for the New York Times and the Knight-Ridder Syndicate and has appeared as a writer and counterterrorism expert on CNN, ABC, MSNBC, Fox, CSPAN, NPR, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Al Hurra, IPR, and America tonight.