Russia-Ukraine War, November 2023: The Unrealistic Expectations of Ukraine's Summer Offensive

"All the ingredients of a successful counteroffensive have already been unfolding over the past weeks"
- Vox, June 12, 2023

In this episode we examine Ukraine's 2023 summer offensive, specifically why it has not achieved the lofty expectations that many Ukrainian backers were hoping for. I suspect future historians will look back at the offensive and cite it as a classic case of psychological incompetence. Too much was asked and expected of what was objectively a modest Ukrainian force. NATO trained 63,000 soldiers, less troops than Napoleon had at Austerlitz over two centuries ago, and "experts" assured publics that even though Ukraine lacked air superiority, the so-called counteroffensive could break through multiple defensive lines. Needless to say, those future historians will have ample sources and examples when telling the tales of how self-delusion dictated military policy.