Crimean Bridge attack further evidence that Russia’s military campaign is in crisis. But what price victory?

Aside from marking a major escalation, the attack against Russia’s iconic and symbolically important Crimea (Kerch Strait) Bridge, connecting mainland Russia to Crimea, comes as yet further evidence of the extent to which the momentum in the conflict in Ukraine has shifted decisively over to the Ukrainian side. Indeed it is clear at this juncture that Russia’s military campaign is going from bad to worse.

The lack of a junior office corps enabled and equipped to take decisions on the ground in response to shifting dynamics has fed into a sclerotic military machine that has proved slow to adapt, respond, and make necessary strategic alterations due to a command structure that is incompatible with large scale and complex 21st century military operations. The unconscionable number of senior Russian military officers up to the rank of general that have been killed in Ukraine thus far makes for compelling evidence in this regard.

Growing crisis

The glaring absence of effective operational integration between air and land forces is also astonishing, with the fact that Russia has not been able to achieve complete mastery and dominance of Ukraine’s airspace despite possessing some 1200 combat aircraft a…