war by another name

… is just as deadly.

Russia's “special military operation” in Ukraine is spreading death and destruction indiscriminately, and the effects are felt all over the world.
Easy to think that these global effects are intentional, or a sign of panic in the inner circles in Kremlin, as Putin seem to want the conflict to be felt everywhere by weaponizing everything that he has at least some, however small, control over. Civilians, not only in Ukraine but all over the world, seem to be legitime targets for his very “special military operation”.

As both parties in the ongoing war use all means at their disposal, the very definition of war itself is devolving.
Russia and Ukraine fight each other on the ground, in the air, at sea, and all across the cybersphere. And both sides' many partners, suppliers, and/or more or less willing supporters, take part in redefining and expanding on how war is fought now, and will be fought in the future*.

What isn't new when it comes to military tactics though, is how Russia is feeding the meat grinder by sending more and more poorly prepared soldiers to the fronts (same as they did 80 years ago, but for entirely different reasons).
While such a tactic may work for a while, the cost in Russian lives may be hard for Russian leaders to defend as the war drags out.
Not that Putin and his henchmen so far have shown any signs of caring much about numbers of people killed – soldiers or civilians, on either side in this conflict of their own making.

That Russia's war in Ukraine drains human and material resources that cannot be easily replaced, both in the two countries that are fighting and elsewhere in the world – for no good reason, should be easy to see by anyone who pays any attention. One can only wonder how long this utter madness will go on, and what the final outcome will be this time.

As Putin (according to himself) won't quit attacking Ukraine until Ukraine quits defending itself, this war by another name may last for quite a while…

hunger as weapon…

The world's food markets are already being hit hard by the latest Russian return to blockading shipping of (mainly) grain from Ukraine's southern ports through the Black Sea, destruction of grain in storage, and damage to facilities in these ports*

As many countries, especially on the African continent, are depending on import of grain and basic food items from Ukraine to feed their populations, the results of the blockade can be expected to be as follows…
– Not enough basic food to go around, causing prices to rise.
– Many of the poorest people in the world cannot afford to buy food at these higher prices.
– Many people will go hungry, and many will die*.

Russia's promises of supplies of grain for free to some African countries, may save some lives and buy some political points for Russia in those countries. And exchange of grain for weapons deals with other countries, may also to some degree work in Russia's favor.

No matter how one looks at it; Putin's tactical use of widespread hunger among the innocent as part of his “special military operation”, is a pretty dirty and inhumane way to wage war by any standard, that will further lower Putin's – and thereby Russia's – already pretty low standing in the world. Is that part of Putin's planning too?
Good thing alternative channels and routes for export of grain from Ukraine to the parts of the world that need it the most, are being prepared and made available, to counteract Russia's Black Sea blockade*. Question is if these alternatives are enough…

war is big business

Wars have always driven innovations aimed at finding “more efficient ways to kill ones enemies”, in addition to increased production of the most preferred and used existing types of weapons, ammunitions and accessories. Producers all over the world are ramping up their various production lines, as orders flow in from the warring parties and their supporters.

As digital technologies / AI is introduced in more and more military systems, the market for advanced technology is growing by the day.
Both old and new producers of military technology are watching the ongoing war in Ukraine quite closely, in order to see what works and what doesn't on large and small scales, to figure out what types of improvements and/or alternatives each of them can offer, in competition with all the other suppliers of such technologies* *.

Regardless of how bad it may sound; to third party military tacticians and technology experts, a conflict/war like the one between Russia and Ukraine, is like a gift from the Gods of war.
They can gather loads of invaluable knowledge, without putting their own countries' soldiers or populations in harms way, and share this knowledge and various conclusions with their military partners for use in future conflicts*.

No army has ever had too many weapons at their disposal. However, it is of course important to have the right types of weapons available for the situation at hand, rather than large amounts of old and/or more or less obsolete and useless ones, if one wants to win a battle or war. Wars are still to a very large degree won in factories…

the future?

Wars, armed conflicts and terror everywhere, and no end to the madness in sight. The future does not look too bright for mankind in my view, when this is how disagreements between nations, population groups, and followers of this or that religion, political party or priviliged individuals, still are being “solved”.

How long is it since we – the human race – left those primitive shelters, caves, and weapons made of stone behind, and this rather small planet became populated by what some still dare to call “modern and civilized human beings”‥?
Will we ever learn?

Despite, or maybe because of, my personal views on how deadly force repeatedly is being used to “solve” problems and disagreements between and inside nations, I recognize that once the madness has started, in most cases only more deadly force can end it. Thus, I have chosen side in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, even if I can not, and do not want to, participate in this war by another name. May Ukraine keep its independence, and all its land…

sincerely georg; signature

Hageland 03.aug.2023
last rev: 20.aug.2023

side notes.

the observers

While most of the world's population who are not directly involved, may have better things to do with their time than to watch the death and destruction unfold on the battlefields and all over the place in Ukraine, at least some of us are still observing the ongoing war. Not easy to avoid seeing, and feeling, the effects it has on the rest of the world, even if we wanted to.

Most serious civilian observers just want it all to be over, so they can go back to talk about, and maybe even solve, issues closer to home. However, how it ends do matter to most of us, and few in my corner of the world want the aggressor – in this case Putin's Russia – to succeed in taking land from a sovereign state by force.

reliable sources?

That all sides and parties in an ongoing conflict hold back information and spread misinformation about everything, everywhere, all the time, and accuse all others of doing the same, is as expected. We have to look elsewhere for truth and confirmation if we want to know what's really going on, and even then we will only be able to extract bits and pieces of somewhat correct information.

Some sources may be more reliable than others, but “verified by independent sources” does not carry all that much weight during wars. Too many commercial interests at stake for any of the big, and smaller, players (in media and elsewhere) around the world to be completely independent and neutral.

cyber-criminals taking sides?

Whether or not any of the warring parties like having cyber-criminals in on their side in the ongoing conflict, does not matter. Groups like Anonymous seem to have decided to take side against Russia from the start of this war, and are making their presence felt wherever they can.

Both Ukraine and Russia have plenty enough hackers on their respective sides, and are actively using them to great effect in their cyber warfare, for instance to cause disruptions and chaos across the other side's digitally controlled infrastructure. Having another layer of hackers outside their control, may not help either side all that much in the long run*.

Independent and organized hackers may switch sides back and forth at any given time and for whatever reason. They may end up being more than just a nuisance once they have used this conflict as “a practice-run”, and cause damage and uncontrollable chaos not only for the duration of the war and for the parties in this conflict.

war profiteering…

In addition to those businesses that (more or less) “legally” supply the warring parties with material – at a price of course, we also have those businesses, groups and individuals that illegally cash in on armed conflicts without contributing anything of value*.
Corruption and organized theft along the supply chains, can be found in all armed conflicts.

Weapons and ammunition, medical equipment and medication, food and other necessities, donations of all kinds … may end up costing a lot more than it should because of “middlemen”.
Or, it may simply “disappear” and end up on a market somewhere – anywhere but with those the stuff was meant for.

Corruption and other forms for illegal war profiteering, all to often ends up costing civilian and military lives, and is for obvious reasons not taken lightly by those who suffer under it.
Wars and other armed conflicts can of course also be used as excuses, or “reasons”, for increasing profits in areas far removed from the actual conflict zones*. Example: the cost of electric energy stays exceptionally high in Southern Norway, because there's a war in Ukraine. [author's ann]
Such war profiteering activities also rarely ever end with the wars – regardless of what those wars are called, but tend to continue, and quite often increase, during the rebuilding phases that follow armed conflicts. Greed knows no boundaries…