The war in Ukraine has been a story of Russian hubris, human suffering and, above all, Ukrainian defiance
second battle for El Alamein in Egypt concluded in November 1942, Winston Churchill reflected on the British victory. “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end,” he warned, memorably. “But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its 11th month, it is reaching the same inflection point. It has been a story of Russian hubris, human suffering and, above all, Ukrainian defiance.an unusual number of forces on the border with Ukraine.
By October, American intelligence had acquired Russia’s war plans. The next month Bill Burns, the CIA director, was sent to Moscow to warn Mr Putin off. But the build-up continued, tracked in unprecedented detail byIn January, as Russia held sham talks with America and NATO while denying it was planning an invasion,that war was looming. “For Mr Putin, the gamble may be worth it,” we wrote.
Most officials, including Ukrainian ones, expected that Russia would quickly overwhelm its smaller neighbour. That did not happen. Though Russia’s war plans had been exposed—on February 17th British defence intelligence published an accurate map of the likely axes of invasion—its military units did not receive orders until 24 hours before the war, according to a
, a think-tank. Troops lacked ammunition, food, fuel and maps. Many wandered into Ukrainian towns without their weapons loaded. When they asked Ukrainian civilians where they were, their positions were promptly reported.made a series of blunders. Many spoke only to those Ukrainians who agreed that the country was ripe for conquest and would fall without serious fighting. Contradictory intelligence—and there was much of it—was not passed up the chain.
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