Another day, another yawner (except, alas, for civilians who are being killed or wounded by decreasingly precise Russian assaults). The summary paragraph of the Institute for the Study of War’s March 17th update reports on the stasis:
Russian forces did not make any major advances and Ukrainian forces carried out several local counterattacks on March 17. Russian forces made little territorial progress and continued to deploy reserve elements – including from the 1st Guards Tank Army and 810th Naval Infantry Brigade – in small force packets that are unlikely to prove decisive. Russian forces continue to suffer heavy casualties around Kharkiv, and Russian attempts to bypass the city of Izyum are unlikely to succeed. Russian forces continued assaults on Mariupol on March 17 but did not conduct any other successful advances from Crimea.
On nonbelligerent countries’ home fronts, meanwhile, anti-Russian sentiment is becoming disproportionate. Essays on the topic by Gary Saul Morson (“The Cancellation of Russian Culture”) and Heather Mac Donald (“Denounce Putin, or Be Blacklisted”) are very much worth your attention. If we want a 21st Century Weimar and its aftermath, our bien-pensants, mostly the same people who denounced any and all criticism of Islam after 9/11, are propelling the world toward them.
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