Meanwhile, some experts expect Russia to continue its offensive in Bakhmut while launching a northern offensive to attempt to regain control of Kharkiv as winter nears its end.
I think this is highly unlikely. They may try some move around Kharkiv, but I doubt they will be able to take the city. They have already failed once.
"I wouldn't say it's a complete failure because Russians are still occupying territory, but it's not the success they thought it would be," he told Newsweek. "Both sides have been adaptive."
I think that when the Russian comentator uses the word "failure" he is referring to the plan for the "special military operation" not the war itself. Of course, the war itself has not been a complete failure for Russia, they occupy much of Ukraine and have inflicted several defeats upon Ukrainian forces, but the plan that set out to quickly conquer the country did fail to meet its objectives completely
Roughly a month later, he appeared on Russian state TV again, and said that Moscow wasn't making any notable advances in the war. In the most recent video, the TV host tries to interrupt Olevich, who continues with his statements.
I'm surprised he's still a regular guest on these shows.
Cancian added that Moscow may not have had a plan B when first initiating the "special military operation," but soon developed one.
It's clear that there wasn't a well formulated plan for if the attack on Kyiv failed, however besides the hasty withdrawal from the capital, the Russians were able to recover as they changed they formulated a new strategy to consolidate their gains.
"If our intelligence is so effective, then why did the plan for the special military operation fail completely?" he asked during the show's segment. "And there was no plan B at all. Does this indicate that our intelligence is effective or very ineffective?"
This is quite a damning indictment of the Russian war effort from a Russian State TV channel no less. I wonder if this man will be unexpectedly falling from any fifth story windows in the near future. That seems to be a common fate for Russian journalists/political dissidents.
d there was no backup plan to fall on
This is an interesting admission, because the claim by the Russian government was that the attack on Ukraine's capital was a feint intended to draw forces away from the Donbass region.