A bloody mess

"Blood flows in the hills and valleys of Ukraine. Russian blood, mixing with Ukrainian blood. This land, rich in its ability to grow enough wheat to feed much of the world's hungry population, is now littered with broken armor and dead and mangled bodies." 

If you can believe any of the stories in the press about the war in Ukraine, it is a bloodbath. It is two immovable forces, meeting in a frozen land with very few amenities. And why, or how, is this war still going? And why did it start in the first place? I know, I know. Putin said he needed to "de-nazify" Ukraine. Huh? In any event, it sounded like a real good reason to start a three day war. Go in, decapitate the government, install a puppet regime, and leave. Bada Bing, Bada Boom. All done! 

The one thing Putin did not put into his calculus, was the 2014 annexation of Crimea. This was a tough nut to swallow for the people of Ukraine. To make matters worse, nobody, not even the UN, did a thing to prevent it or reverse it. Russia just came in, took a huge chunk of land, installed a puppet government, and left. Somehow Ukraine figured out this was only the first bite, and Russia would eventually be back for more. Oh, how they were right.

With the current war, two things are much different. First, Ukraine was ready for the Russians. This time, if Russia wanted to take anything, it would be a fight to the death. No surrender. Next, the good people of Europe were having a bad case of deva vu. Vladimir Putin was looking a whole lot like Adolph Hitler. If Ukraine fell, Moldovia or even Poland, might be next. Thus, it was in Europe's best interest to arm Ukraine to the teeth. Plus, the United States made the same decision. A year later, we have a true proxy war between Russia and NATO, with Russia suffering some catastrophic losses. 

One report has Russia losing 140,000 troops and half its battle tanks in the first year of this war. Those are eye watering statistics for the people of Russia. Many sons, brothers, husbands are amongst the fallen. And what has been gained? Not much. But Putin is still determined to take Ukraine, even if he has to conscript half the countries population. And for what? A pyrrhic victory? Seems that way.

Blood flows in the hills and valleys of Ukraine. Russian blood, mixing with Ukrainian blood. This land, rich in its ability to grow enough wheat to feed much of the world's hungry population, is now littered with broken armor and dead and mangled bodies. To the victor will go the spoils. And spoils will be all that is left should this war go on for another bloody year.