February 23, 2026:
In Ukraine, the war has evolved into a series of Russian infantry attacks that fail, at heavy cost to Russia with the Ukrainians losing one soldier for every ten Russians. In the last year Russia has lost 400,000 troops while losing up to 35,000 soldiers a month. Total Russian losses since 2022 have been 1.4 million dead, disabled and missing.
Much of the current fighting is taking place in the Donbas. This area contains the two Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, which comprise about nine percent of Ukrainian territory. In 2014, when the fighting here began, Donbas had 13 percent of the Ukrainian population and 15 percent of the GDP. Donbas was then about 38 percent ethnic Russian. The two provinces comprise the Donets Basin/ Donbas which was for a long time an economic powerhouse for Russia. But that began to decline in the 1980s and accelerated when the Soviet Union fell and Ukraine became independent in 1991.
Since the Russian forces are the ones frequently ordered to attack, the Ukrainians have taken advantage of this by quickly preparing defensive positions that protect Ukrainian troops assigned to defeat these Russian attacks.
Over the last year the Ukrainians have constructed several defensive lines in Donbas. The Ukrainians use construction equipment to rapidly dig new trench lines and bunkers. What would normally take 70 troops two weeks to construct, can be built in three days with three men and construction equipment. Russia has some construction equipment but most of its fortifications are built by troops using shovels and other hand tools.
The Ukrainian defenses include mortars, artillery, drones and sometimes anti-personnel mines, but the primary defensive weapon is well trained, armed and led Ukrainian infantry. Along the 1,200 kilometers front line Ukraine has built nearly 2,200 platoon strongholds, each manned by 20-40 soldiers armed with small arms, mortars and drones. These are protected by 3,000 kilometers of anti-tank ditches plus equal numbers of barriers using razor wire and other obstacles.
These defenses also include, as needed, small corridors that allow Russian troops to advance into a kill pocket where they are ambushed by hidden Ukrainian soldiers and drones showing up when the ambush begins.
The Ukrainian tactics emphasize maximizing Russian losses while minimizing Ukrainian casualties. This includes using robotic vehicles to carry supplies to front line Ukrainian troops. Wider trenches with smooth floors and overhead protection are often used to the robotic vehicles are protected from Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
Russia persists in making what they call Meat Attacks, using masses of poorly trained infantry advancing into Ukrainian fire. Russia officers have, for the last two years, been ordered to shoot soldiers who refuse to advance. That was a return to a practice last used during the 1941-45 World War II. A growing number of Russian troops aren’t even Russian but North Korea, Cuban, African or Central Asian. These men were told they would be serving in support jobs but were then forced into infantry units. They receive as much as $2,000 a month. Most don’t survive more than a month.