WSJ: Russia's pace on Ukraine front is strikingly slow – slower than in all wars of the century

Russia is not close to victory now – its pace of advance on the front is slower than in almost all major campaigns over the past century. About reports The Wall Street Journal.

Russia, after almost four years of full-scale war against Ukraine, is still far from having full control over the Donetsk region. Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that during the same period, the Soviet Union and its allies in World War II repelled the German invasion and captured Berlin.

"This is a striking lack of speed. I just don't see any signs of strategic change on the battlefield right now," he said.

Other unnamed analysts noted that the slow pace of the occupiers' offensive does not reflect the full picture of a full-scale war, as Moscow is waging a "battle of attrition" of both military and human resources.

Pasi Paroinen, an analyst at the Finnish company Black Bird Group, believes that Ukrainian forces "bought some time," but the price of this is also an important question.

Unnamed senior Western military officials and Ukrainian officers on the front lines claim that the Russian army is not on the verge of a breakthrough.

• on December 9, Chief Syrsky spoke about the pace of Russia's advancement and called their result "insignificant".
• He also called false perception of Russian success in Pokrovsk – Ukraine is stubbornly holding the line.