From "The Analyst":

‘THE AMERICANS JUST DIDN’T UNDERSTAND’

In a piece published this morning in the Washington Post, it’s become clear that the Ukrainians felt pressured into attacking in a single spot of the southern front - and didn’t do it, wasting the time the Americans thought they needed.
Americans wanted the offensive to start in April to cut the time the Russians had to prepare defences but didn’t seem to understand the mud problem.
Over and over again the Americans failed to take into consideration how the battlefield was so different to the one their doctrine required for the offensive to work.
They didn’t understand the effect of drones and how fast they were changing the battle space. And for whatever reason, they didn’t seem to fully appreciate the lack of air support was fundamentally going to change the way Ukraine had to operate.
Once the offensive started they tried to second guess every move - failing to grasp the way drones and helicopters were taking out mine clearing equipment and support units. There was lack of appreciation that while trained, Ukrainian troops -70% of them had never seen battle before.
Things got so bad the Ukrainians cut communications with the American Commander in Europe who constantly tried to second guess them.
The Americans didn’t understand the land, the drones and the way the Russians operate in defence. In the end Ukraine had to do it its own way.
The problem as we have seen is that by starting it one way, getting badly mauled and then doing it a different way, it alerted the Russians and concentrated their resistance.
The failure to give Ukraine enough of what was needed quickly enough is now understood, if reluctantly.
The failure to supply aircraft the biggest mistake of all.

On the frontlines little of much consequence happened yesterday because the weather is dire and movement limited. However the Russians appear close to regaining the trench network at the top of the hills overlooking Klieshievka. If they take these then Ukrainian gains east of that point - everything the achieved in the summer months- will be lost, their positions untenable.

The situations I’ve written about in the past couple of days as to how the summer went down are enough to make me cry. When you are ‘retired’ and merely consulted ad hoc and don’t say what they want to hear, they just ignore it even when they should know better. Younger minds with less experience are always listened to because they have ‘new’ ideas.
There are no new principles in war only new machines and technologies by which to wage it. There may be new tactics and new obstacles but the environments and the principles are not new.
Yet somehow those facts are ignored.
It’s a good job the Americans were not using their own forces. It would have been a messy lesson in adapting to a new environment. They learned they got it wrong in Vietnam. They learned they got it right after the Yom Kippur lessons and Iraq.
But this is not that war.
Give Ukraine what it needs and let them win. They can and they will. Give them the tools and they will finish the job.

Slava Ukraini🇺🇦!