2024 Year in Review (Part 2)

Kursk, Strategic Air, Zelensky's Victory Strategy, North Koreans, and, The Collapse that did not Happen.

Hello All,

First off, Id like to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrated yesterday—especially those of you in Ukraine who had to deal with (another) massed Russian air assault.

Also, just a little note before I begin the second part of this year in review. Next week I will produce a piece on where things might be heading in 2025, and what I thought I would do is hold a chat for subscribers to go through anything you want to talk about from either these year in review pieces or the year going forward piece.

That chat will be on Friday January 3. I’m going to see if I can get the chat function working for this one—fingers crossed. Will update you all on the method during the post next week when I look at the year going forward.

Now, returning to 2024 and the year in review—part 2.

Ukrainian forces advancing into Kursk—the most surprising story of the second half of 2024.

If you recall, we were poised in the summer of 2024 with Ukraine in rough shape. The cut-off of US aid for the first part of the year had helped increase Ukrainian losses, and the battles of the war, such as that over Avdiivka, had led to high losses. In May the Russians had launched their Kharkiv Offensive, which many originally hailed as a strategic success (but which then quickly bogged down). After that, when it came to the Donbas, the Russians kept following what I termed their “micro-advance” strategy.

Weekend Update #87: The Russian Micro-Advance Strategy and How Ukraine might Take Advantage.

Then in August, the Ukrainians launched the most controversial action of the war.

The Kursk Offensive