Iran is done for, now it's Russia's turn.
This world is very realistic. Anyone who can only brag will find their boasting exploded in minutes when faced with real combat.
Iran was once touted by its pro-Iran fans as the world's fifth largest military power, but after only 12 days of fighting with the Middle East bully Israel, it suffered heavy losses. Its core military leadership was almost completely wiped out, 80% of its air defense systems were destroyed, 65% of its ballistic missile launchers were destroyed, and its nuclear facilities, which had been painstakingly built for many years, were destroyed in an instant.
Iran, which has completely lost its air defense capability, can only be pinned to the ground by Israel. If Trump had not strongly demanded a ceasefire from Israel, all Iranian targets would have been subject to arbitrary attacks by Israel.
Similarly, Russia, which was once touted as the world's second most powerful military country, has recently been unable to cope with the situation.
The Russian army's casualties have already exceeded one million, and its tanks and armored vehicles are almost gone. The Russian economy is heading for collapse. The Russian army's offensive on the front line is actually an illusion that the Russian president is doing his best to maintain. The purpose is to prevent the outside world, especially the United States, from seeing Russia's current weakness, so as to avoid more severe sanctions and encirclement by the Western world.
Truth will eventually come to light, and Russia's weakness is obvious to all.
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Zelensky and US President Trump held a nearly 50-minute meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague. Zelensky showed Trump Russia's weakness and exposed its lies.
Zelensky said he briefed Trump on the real situation on the battlefield and told Trump that Putin definitely did not have the upper hand.
The relevant video shows that Zelensky showed Trump the latest map of the Russian-Ukrainian war and submitted to Trump the evidence that Russia transferred the bodies of Russian soldiers to Ukraine as the remains of Ukrainian soldiers. Zelensky used this to prove to Trump that Russia is just a "pseudo-power" that brags and lies, and is not invincible.
Perhaps Zelensky's sincerity touched him, and Trump's attitude towards Ukraine seemed to have changed. After the meeting with Zelensky, Trump told reporters that although he did not like Zelensky, Zelensky had always been very friendly. He said:
"No, no, I just wanted to check in on how he was doing. He's really friendly, and he's fighting a tough battle. It's a really tough battle."
When talking about Putin, Trump's tone also revealed an unprecedented toughness. He said:
"Putin is more difficult, he has gone astray, he is confused...Putin really needs to end this war. People are dying at a rate not seen in decades."
This appears to be the first time Trump has publicly accused the Russian president of going astray.
Some analysts believe that the main reason for Trump's change in attitude towards the Russia-Ukraine issue is that Russia's asking price is too high and it is trying to obtain something far beyond its capabilities.
Trump once put extreme pressure on relatively weak Ukraine, but was more considerate of Putin, with whom he spoke several times and held direct peace talks with Russian negotiators. But recently, Trump has become increasingly frustrated with the Russian president because of Putin's extreme demands and his refusal to accept a ceasefire agreement.
The Ukrainian people's heroic resistance to death not only moved the whole of Europe, but also shattered Trump's delusion of putting strong pressure on Ukraine to make concessions. Under pressure from the American people and European allies, he had to begin to favor Ukraine.
In an interview with reporters yesterday, he said he might consider providing some Patriot missiles to Ukraine. The subtle change in Trump's attitude has invisibly brought huge pressure to Russia.
Objectively speaking, the biggest bargaining chip that Russia, which is already extremely weak, has for Ukraine is to bet that Trump will give up his support for Ukraine and appease it to fulfill its dream of annexing Ukrainian territory. However, Trump himself is an extremely unreliable and fickle person. He dare not go against the mainstream public opinion of most Americans who want to support Ukraine to defeat Russia. In addition, the United States' European allies all want to defeat Russia, and Trump does not want to completely ignore their voices.
The attack by the US B2 strategic bomber on Iran's nuclear facilities should have strongly deterred Russia, making it deeply aware of the gap in military technology between Russia and the US. Russia realized that if the US was bolder in aiding Ukraine, Russia would become another poor worm that was pressed to the ground and rubbed.
Under shock, it is not ruled out that Russia will send people to conduct secret negotiations with the United States to find a decent way to end the war.
It is reported that today a Russian government plane with the tail number RA-96018 took off from Moscow, landed in St. Petersburg, and then flew directly to the United States, but it is not yet known what kind of personnel and expert team are on board.
Any Russian with a little self-awareness should have realized long ago that it is impossible for Russia to defeat Ukraine, which is supported by the West.
European aid to Ukraine continues to grow.
Yesterday, EU foreign policy chief Kallas said that 80% of the EU's aid initiative to provide Ukraine with 2 million artillery shells has been implemented. The procurement plan with a total amount of 5 billion euros is progressing steadily towards the set goal.
The UK will deliver 350 upgraded ASRAAM missiles to Ukraine, the Guardian reported. The missiles will be funded by £70m of interest on frozen Russian assets.
The second batch of Mirage 2005 fighter jets donated by France has arrived in Ukraine.
New weapons and equipment developed by Ukraine itself have also entered mass production.
On June 24, Ukraine revealed that it would give Putin a surprise!
Ukraine's domestically produced "Peregrine" ballistic missile is nearly ten times more powerful than the HIMARS. Its warhead weighs 480 kilograms and has a range of 500-700 kilometers, covering Moscow.
In addition, Ukraine's latest unmanned attack boat "Catlan" has been equipped with weapons with a range of 100 kilometers, which can attack targets 100 kilometers away. The boat has a range of 3,000 kilometers and can cruise at sea for six days. This weapon will be a deadly threat to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
According to (Defense Express), Ukraine has developed a glide bomb similar to the Russian KAB with a range of 60 kilometers, and products with a range of 80 to 100 kilometers are also under development.
Thanks to the assistance of its allies and the rapid growth of its own military-industrial capabilities, Ukraine is becoming more and more confident in winning.
Russia's defeat is inevitable, and Zelensky is trying to find a good place for Russian war criminals.
Yesterday, Zelensky said in The Hague: "Justice is equally crucial. A mechanism must be established so that war criminals have nowhere to hide in Europe and the world." He pointed out that a special court should be established in The Hague to hold those most responsible for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine accountable and ensure international judicial trials for war crimes.
The NATO summit that opened in The Hague on June 24 reached a milestone consensus, with NATO leaders attending the summit pledging to spend 5% of GDP on defense investment by 2035. The declaration states that member states will propose "annual plans" to gradually achieve this goal. The document also emphasizes continued support for Ukraine because "Ukraine's security is NATO's security."
If NATO countries really increase their defense investment to 5% of GDP, it will be an extremely astonishing figure, which will undoubtedly form a crushing advantage over NATO's poor and sour opponent Russia. Any delusion of Russia's expansion into Europe will be shattered by the ruthless reality.
As the strength of the two countries increases and decreases, the balance of victory in the Russia-Ukraine war is tilting towards Ukraine.
The Russian military god "Girkin", who is still imprisoned, expressed his opinions in prison. He made a prediction about the upcoming Russian-Ukrainian war. He said:
“Our offensive against Sumy, Kharkiv and more will ‘stagnate’ and stop in the next 2-3 weeks and will fall into a ‘snail’s pace’ as in Donbass. The enemy will significantly increase the use of drones and missiles to strike deep into our territory. In mid-to-late summer they will launch 1-2 or more strong and dangerous counterattacks. By the fall, our position will remain the same or slightly improve, or will deteriorate and how much will deteriorate will depend on the results of these battles.”
It seems that even Russia's own military gods are extremely pessimistic about Russia's upcoming war situation.
Battlefront:
Yesterday, Ukrainian drones attacked the Moscow region of Russia.
A fire broke out at an RF ammunition depot in the Trans-Baikal region of eastern Russia, 5,300 kilometers from Ukraine. The attack was so far away that it could have been carried out by Ukrainian special forces or anti-war activists in Russia.
General Silsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, claimed that the Russian offensive in the Sumy region had been completely stopped, and that the Ukrainian army had pinned down 50,000 Russian troops in this direction.
In other directions, there was no obvious change in the battle lines of the two armies.
Today is the 1219th day of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The Ukrainian army's battle report showed that 1,100 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the past 24 hours. The Russian army suffered a total loss of 1,015,750 people.
The Ukrainian army destroyed 1 tank, 7 armored vehicles, 48 artillery pieces, 117 tankers and logistics vehicles, and 1 set of special equipment.
Text/Wen Tao Paian