The terrifying moments of Russian missile strikes captured in video circulating online. The target President Zelenski's hometown. But this wasn't a military science. It was innocent families at home when a missile tore a hole through their apartment block. At least six people were killed in the attack, including a ten year old girl, and at least seventy five injured.
The Russian Defense minister making it clear it's increasing attacks in response to a dramatic drone strike in Moscow Sunday hitting a building housing government offices.
So the Ukrainians hit some government offices in Moscow, putin hits back at Zelensky's hometown with just residential apartment buildings, killing people, and says stated out loud, Yeah, this is retaliation for doing that. Let's get an update on Ukraine, that situation and everything else going on with the military analyst Mike Leins, who served the United States military in a variety of capacities through the years and it now
respected military analyst for CNN, among other places. Hello, Mike, how are.
You Kiwani guy? It's great to be back with you that back.
And forth aside saw you on CNN the of the day talking about the counter offensive and how it's showing some signs of life and maybe they've found a weak spot in the Russian line. What's that story all about?
Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think there's a little kink in the armor here of the Russians of this long Maginer line they've created on this front here eight hundred kilometers and for Ukraine to break through, they have to concentrate their forces, and it appears so far that they've they've gotten through like the first level of what are two more defensive lines that they have to get through, these mine fere minefields as well as trenches. And by taking these two towns, Robiinsk is one of them, I
know that office appreciate. Within that oblast, they now can create a shock effect and try to break through and you know, get to the sea os off and you know, separate this the southern theater for example, separate Russian troops that it would be to their west, get them to surrender, and now they threaten Crimea. So they appear to be breaking through here. We still don't know whether or not that they've made any more progress from what I've read.
Now they've seem to be somewhat stalled, but if they can hold off another thirty days when abrams tanks arrive and other combat equipment arise, they might have a chance.
Mike is non experts, we've been somewhat surprised at how effective the mining of landscape has been in holding the Ukrainian counteroffensive back. What's the state of the art in mind clearing equipment technology.
It's difficult. There's a couple of things. There's something called a myclick that allows you to fire like a pressurized charge over an area. So let's think about it as a missile that blows up that The mines then are blown up because they've become pressurized and they stimulate a vehicle running over them. But with the Russians have done, they stacked mines two and three deep in some areas here, so that Michlik that that mind clearing technology is not
going to work. So the second part to that is things that fit in front mind clearing tanks that go in front of the infantry and their way out front that looked to kind of scoop them up and push them forward so they don't clear the tracks, they don't make any kind of damage that way, that way is a much slower they get the same kind of progress there. The Ukraine military needs more of that kind of equipment.
They'll use the mich looks, they'll use those mind clearing charges in some level, but what's going to really help them is both the mind clearing equipment in front of tanks as well as bridging equipment, because the second thing you could do is put a bridge over it and use that as a way to get through a minefield. As well.
On that other thing you were talking about cutting the Russian forces in two I was watching me on TV and you had the arrows and the map and everything like that, and I was trying to picture, like how many Russian forces would they be able to put in a position of having the surrender. How many thousands are we talking about or is it a thousand?
Yeah, probably thirty to twenty to thirty thousands along that. Yeah, No, it would be huge, And it's something I'm sure that you know the the Ukraine's not talking about because that's how many troops are in that area defending because Crimea is so important to them, and so they when the dam was blown a few weeks ago, that that kind of moved that line up further let's say east, right up up the Nepro River in a certain way, because the quickest way would have been to just afford the
river there and go right for Crimea there. But now they've kind of moved it up and so they're now they've trapped potentially more Russians on the other side of that of that the salient there. So again, then if they can break through and create this boundary, the race
is on too, the Sea of as Office. That is what I was saying yesterday, because if they can do that and create that kind of spot, they turned their weapons now to the west, and they've got thirty thousand Russian troops that they can easily take out or make them surrender.
Mike, what do you hear about when various weapons and weapons systems might be brought to bear, from tanks to F sixteens.
So that's the issue. Because the tanks won't get there until September, they're still going to have to be some training on them. They'll make an impact when they get to the battlefield. But they also the Ukraine still have got to fight combined arms. They're still fighting very serily. You saw the video the other day of a BMP or an infantry fighting vehicle going into a trench and then exposing its entire bottom half and then coming back out.
They've got to fight combined arms, they got to bring an engineer with them at the same time, they've got to be shooting artillery. That's what's confusing me right now is I don't see the Russian artillery firing up that first defensive mindfields and minefield is only good if it's covered up. So again, it's going to be a couple of months before the tanks get there. I don't see the F sixteen is getting there for nine or ten months.
I mean that's going to be almost a year. And the F sixteens that are going are you twenty years old, don't have the same technology. The war could be over by then if if you know the Ukrainian's kind of play this right, I.
Know you've been studying this kind of stuff your whole life, so you'd be a good guy to ask. Just reading military history myself, whether it's battles in the Civil War, World War two, or whatever, and then watching and modern times, how often do plans ever work out? It seems like it's just constant like throwing the plan out the window, impro improvis improvising after you know, it's the you know, the other side gets to say sort of deal or you have a plan, but they get to react to
certain way. Is it Is it as much improvation improvise improvising as it looks.
Like it is. And it's about tactical improvation improvisation of you know, whether something happens something tactically like you get you know, get a chemical attack or something. We call it getting slimed, let's say. But you mean think about it in the Grant scheme. You know, the D Day invasion was a plan that went off very well. That if that has failed, you know, the world's a different place today. But in the same token, operation market Garden
doesn't work. Uh, you know, we didn't get the three bridges there. That counter offensive did not work and that set us back a few months. And then on the other side of the coin determined the Battle of the Balls, their counter offensive into Belgium and World War two doesn't work. But the US and Allied counter offensive back ends up working. So I think you got to look at strategy versus tactics. Right, Strategically, what Ukraine has to do is cut Russian forces in half?
And so where do they cut them in half? The tactical decision and if they can pick the right spot and get through it, they might be able to be more successful.
Jack, Before I make a transition, do you have another Ukraine matter? Okay, we're talking to military analyst Mike Lions and Mike a quick personal note and then onto my question. I was privileged and moved not long ago to attend my brother's retirement ceremony from the United States Navy after twenty nine and a half years in the submarine service.
And it was an amazing ceremony, incredibly moving, dignified, and in talking to both my brother and a number of his recently retired and soon to retire comrades, the the brilliance, expertise, discipline, and patriotism among these men was stunning to behold. And I'm not sure America understands the incredible asset that we have. Having said that our recruiting numbers are terrible, what do we as a country need to do to prevent that literally existential threat from getting any worse?
Yeah, I think we have to get more into high schools. We have to get you know, the Navy, I know in particular, is trying to, you know, reach out more of the army. Recruiting numbers are down. You're seeing unfortunately, less family members going. My son's in the Navy right now, so it's not become the family business it once was. That there was a tremendous amount of veterans and their
their offspring when into the service. A great question. We've got to keep the bar high, though, I don't want to lower the bar just just to make a number. There's lots of things we could do there, but there's tremendous opportunity that the military still does provide. And if and again it's just a matter of communication, and and and and and kind of caring to all the stuff about the military being woke. It's not you go to you go to that ship, you go to that stub,
you go to a battleship. You'll see it's a it's a team. What you learn, the life skills you learn on that at a very early age, we'll carry you for the rest of your life.
I think it would certainly help too if most of our media wasn't cynical at best about military service, but conversation for Another Day. Military anist Mike Lyons. Look for him on CNN, listen to him here and elsewhere. Mike is always great to talk to you.
Thank you, Becky, Thanks for me