Further thoughts on the Russian capture of Soledar and appointment of General Gerasimov as supreme commander of the Ukrainian operation

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In last night’s Press TV (Iran) panel discussion of latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, there was a fine opportunity to explain the significance of Russia’s conquest of the Donbas city of Soledar and also the appointment of Russian Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov to overall command of the operation in Ukraine. Needless to say both developments have meanings 180 degrees at variance with what The Financial Times and other mainstream Western media are saying about them.

See Russian troops try to break through Ukrainian defenses in Soledar | Urmedium

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Published by gilbertdoctorow

Gilbert Doctorow's latest book, "War Diaries. The Russia-Ukraine War, 2022-2023" is a unique contribution to literature on the war thanks to the author's reports on the Russian home front written during his periodic visits to St Petersburg at a time when Russia no longer issued visas and nearly all Western journalists had left the country. Doctorow's two-volume "Memoirs of a Russianist" published in 2020 also constitutes a category of its own, consisting largely of diary entries rather than reminiscences written decades later.. Volume 2 focuses on the community of 50,000 expatriate managers working and living in Moscow during the 1990s, about which none of his peers has yet to write. Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher and actor in Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975). After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility. From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a Visiting scholar of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. Mr. Doctorow is a long-time resident of Brussels.

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7 thoughts on “Further thoughts on the Russian capture of Soledar and appointment of General Gerasimov as supreme commander of the Ukrainian operation”

  2. There is a lot of anticipation now. The Russian reorganization of the command structure has everyone on edge, if only just a bit. It would be wonderful to have the war ended with a quick, decisive stroke but I don’t think that will happen (unless the Ukrainian military just collapses). How will things play out in the next few weeks and months? Unknown.

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  3. Very good discussion. I agree it will be weeks, maybe months, but not years before we see the end. I watched a conference yesterday wherein Secretary of State Blinken responded to a question about the fall of Solidar. He said if it and Bakhmut fall it will have no impact on the outcome. Ukraine will still be victorious. Sad b/c they will not give in till the last Ukrainian dies. It is not just a figure of speech.

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  4. Your comments in the video (much better produced I might add) approach but do not explicitly state the now glaring reality of the war: it is a total and absolute catastrophe for NATO that can only be mitigated by the United States suing for peace right now.
    The United States’ promise to protect Europe was founded on tactical nuclear weapons (the only meat in the Article 5 sandwich) against Russian tanks streaming West across Europe. Lacking this option as well as lacking air superiority as well as having the ghost of the Vietnam protests against conscription grinning in its face, leaves the United States the necessity to fight a land war in Ukraine, something it is not prepared for in any way. France, for example, stands shoulder to shoulder in support of Ukraine? Not if French troops are formally sent there to do battle. Not a chance. Same for the U.S. etc.
    In other words, as you say, the war is lost. Gerasimov’s appointment puts the United States on notice that the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine to kill Russian troops fighting on their own soil will result in a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S. which the U.S. will lose also, though no one will really “win”.
    Blinken’s comments might lead one to believe that the United States will nevertheless use nuclear weapons. Rather than speculate on that, I will share my sudden realization that the movie Doctor Strangelove, up to and including the eponymous role of the Nazi mastermind, said everything that needed then or needs now to be said about the place of the United States in world history. A theatrical masterpiece, blessed by the efforts of wonderful actors, written by brilliant scenarists, directed by an epochal director, the movie cannot and will not be improved upon. That narrative art will never change the minds of the criminal class is unfortunately also proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the movie.

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