while france has been burning, the war in ukraine has been grinding on and the russians do seem to be giving a little ground. there is a morale problem in the russian line. - a lot of the russian soldiers don t want to be there. - they re not particularly well fed or commanded or led. - another darker side of ukraine s war, the deserters who pay off ukrainian officials and escape to romania. there will be, i think, a reckoning who did what, who made money out of it, who fled, who fought, who gave their lives? and what will really happen to the looted objects in european museums? as these countries try to become the countries they want, they really want to be in the 21st century, part of that for them is very much about getting some of these items back. since the start of this year and perhaps before,
and american military writers used to talk about the expectation that when the ukrainians really punched through, the russians would collapse. that hasn t happened so far, has it? it hasn t happen, because they haven t been able to punch through. i mean, i think there is a morale problem in the russian lines. there s no question about it. a lot of them, a lot of the russian soldiers, don t want to be there. remember that, you know, this whole thing was supposed to be over in a matter of days. they re not particularly well fed or commanded or led. they re in a relatively good position, the russians, in that where they re dug in in these lines, they ve got a lot of overhead cover, they ve got artillery protection, they ve got helicopters backing up behind that, they ve in some cases got air superiority. so then quite a strong position. but you re absolutely right, if the ukrainians were able to find a way through the minefields and drive a wedge through those lines, i think it s perfectl
it hasn t happen, because they haven t been able to punch through. i mean, i think there is a morale problem in the russian lines. there s no question about it. a lot of them, a lot of the russian soldiers, don t want to be there. remember that, you know, this whole thing was supposed to be over in a matter of days. they re not particularly well fed or commanded or led. they re in a relatively good position, the russians, in that where they re dug in in these lines, they ve got a lot of overhead cover, they ve got artillery protection, they ve got helicopters backing up behind that, they ve in some cases got air superiority. so, their in quite a strong position. but you re absolutely right, if the ukrainians were able to find a way through the minefields and drive a wedge through those lines, i think it s perfectly possible we could see mass desertions and fleeing. and there are all sorts of reports
while france has been burning, the war in ukraine has been grinding on and the russians do seem to be giving a little ground. there is a morale problem in the russian line. a lot of the russian soldiers don t want to be there. they re not particularly well fed or commanded or led. another darker side of ukraine s war, the deserters who pay off ukrainian officials and escape to romania. there will be, i think, a reckoning who did what, who made money out of it, who fled, who fought, who gave their lives? and what will really happen to the looted objects in european museums? as these countries try to become the countries they want, - they really want to be in the 21st century, part of that for them i is very much about getting some of these items back.
it hasn t happened, because they haven t been able to punch through. i mean, i think there is a morale problem in the russian lines. there s no question about it. a lot of them, a lot of the russian soldiers, don t want to be there. remember that, you know, this whole thing was supposed to be over in a matter of days. they re not particularly well fed or commanded or led. they re in a relatively good position, the russians, in that where they re dug in in these lines, they ve got a lot of overhead cover, they ve got artillery protection, they ve got helicopters backing up behind that, they ve, in some cases, got air superiority. so they re in quite a strong position. but you re absolutely right, if the ukrainians were able to find a way through the minefields and drive a wedge through those lines, i think it s perfectly possible we could see mass desertions and fleeing. and there are all sorts of reports of russian units that are there behind the lines to shoot people who desert, becau