Russia Just Had Its Worst Day of the Entire War
Paul J. Warburg
20 min
Pro-Russian pressure from the United States actually hurts the Russians far more than the Ukrainians, and it really does seem that Russia can't possibly do anything to win the war. It is encouraging to know that Ukraine's strategy is definitely, definitely working.
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Valery Gerasimov
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Vladimir Putin
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Donald Trump
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Chapters
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0:00
Russia's record-breaking casualty day
On Tuesday of this week, Russia suffered its highest casualty day of the entire war with 2,250 casualties in a single 24-hour period. This record matches the current trend and trajectory of where the war is going, potentially to be broken several times by the end of the year. Three of Russia's five worst days occurred just in September and October of this year.
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1:35
Russian incompetence and Gerasimov's lies
The main cause is a new batch of Russian incompetence, specifically regarding the city of Dobropilya which General Gerasimov claimed to have captured on October 16th. Gerasimov is lying directly to Vladimir Putin about progress reports that sound incredible but are untrue, causing him to throw more men into the fire. This dynamic shows Gerasimov might be feeling pressure from Putin to actually deliver results rather than just making claims.
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7:32
US pressure hurting Russia more than Ukraine
While the United States pressures Ukraine with criticism and aid cuts, this pro-Russian stance actually hurts the Russians far more than the Ukrainians. The pressure forces Vladimir Putin to push for progress on the battlefield without results, causing Russia to chew through resources even faster. For every ounce of Russian incompetence, there is a pound of Ukrainian ingenuity taking advantage of those mistakes.
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9:14
Ukrainian soldier experience and drone dominance
The average Ukrainian soldier sits in their position for a long time, growing in experience and improving the system as a whole. Ukraine is now on track to reach 50,000 Russian casualties each month, eliminating more soldiers than Russia can recruit to replace them. Ukraine's drone forces are currently doing about 30% of all Ukrainian military casualties while accounting for only about 2.5% of the entire force.
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13:26
Advanced battlefield tactics and fortifications
Ukraine uses observation drones versus strike drones with AI to identify movement near the front lines quickly. In September, Ukraine had their best month of the entire war, taking back more territory than Russia could take from them. Behind current front lines, Ukraine has been building specialized and thorough fortifications designed specifically with learnings from this specific war in place.
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16:03
The beaver dam analogy for Russian failure
Russian forces are like water trying to overcome a beaver dam, but behind that is a massive human-engineered reinforced concrete dam. Even if the flood flows over the current dam, there are more dams and professionally engineered structures built to withstand such floods. It is ridiculous to think Russia can overcome infrastructure built to withstand what it cannot even overcome currently.
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19:20
Mobilization fears and ultimate strategic outlook
Russia cannot possibly do anything to win the war, though it can still cause more loss of life to innocent people. Russian mobilization is not creating new units for concentrated pressure but rather plugging gaps in existing units slowly. Ukrainian officials and European officials say that Russia can't win the war, which is encouraging despite the deep discouragement of continued loss of life.
Key points
- 0:00
Russia suffered its highest casualty day of the entire war with 2,250 casualties in a single 24-hour period.
- 0:00
Three of Russia's five worst days occurred just in September and October of this year.
- 1:26
General Gerasimov claimed to have captured Dobropilya on October 16th, a claim that was completely untrue.
- 1:26
Gerasimov is lying directly to Vladimir Putin about progress reports that sound incredible but are untrue.
- 6:44
Pro-Russian pressure from the United States actually hurts the Russians far more than the Ukrainians.
- 9:21
Ukraine is now on track to reach 50,000 Russian casualties each month.
- 10:36
Ukraine's drone forces are currently doing about 30% of all Ukrainian military casualties while accounting for only about 2.5% of the entire force.
- 13:43
In September, Ukraine had their best month of the entire war, taking back more territory than Russia could take from them.
- 15:37
Russian forces are like water trying to overcome a beaver dam behind which lies a massive human-engineered reinforced concrete dam.
- 16:48
Even if the flood flows over the current dam, there are more dams and professionally engineered structures built to withstand such floods.
- 17:53
It really does seem that Russia can't possibly do anything to win the war.
On the map
Who and where
Places · 3
- Russia 57
- Ukraine 36
- United States 6
People · 4
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Valery Gerasimov 7
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Photo 1
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Vladimir Putin 3
President of the Russian Federation
Photo 2
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Donald Trump 2
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Photo 3
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy 1
President of Ukraine since 2019
Photo 4
1. Photo: Vadim Savitsky, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Valery Gerasimov)
2. Photo: Пресс-служба Президента России, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Vladimir Putin)
3. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)
4. Photo: Press Service of the President of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Volodymyr Zelenskyy)
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