Mariupol 2.

This is coolbert:

Russian "Black Death" Marines Ukraine! Best ground force combat units in the Russian military committed to the Ukraine Conflict but in a piecemeal manner. That cannot a be good sign?

"piecemeal: adverb - - 1: one piece at a time : GRADUALLY 2: in pieces or fragments : APART"

As extracted from an "Institute for the Study of  War" article dated March 19.

"Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment"

By Frederick W. Kagan, George Barros, and Kateryna Stepanenko.

1. "The Russian military continues to commit small groups of reinforcements to localized fighting rather than concentrating them to launch new large-scale operations. Russia continues to commit units drawn from its naval infantry from all fleets, likely because those units are relatively more combat-ready than rank-and-file Russian regiments and brigades. The naval infantry belonging to the Black Sea Fleet is likely the largest single pool of ready reserve forces the Russian military has not yet committed. Much of that naval infantry has likely been embarked on amphibious landing ships off the Odesa coast since early in the war, presumably ready to land near Odesa [Odesa now spelled with one "s" rather than two as was customary in the past] as soon as Russian forces from Crimea secured a reliable ground line of communication (GLOC) from Crimea to Odesa. The likelihood that Russian forces from Crimea will establish such a GLOC in the near future is becoming remote, however, and the Russian military has apparently begun using elements of the Black Sea Fleet naval infantry to reinforce efforts to take Mariupol"

2. "The Ukrainian General Staff continues to report Russian efforts to find and deploy reinforcements to fight in Ukraine as well as continuing problems of morale and discipline in the Russian military. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on March 19 that Russia was redeploying elements of the 40th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade and the 155th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade, both from the Eastern Military District, to 'replenish the losses of the Eastern Military District group' in Belarus."

COMMITTING UNITS FROM THE NAVAL INFANTRY IN A PEACEMEAL FASHION NOT A GOOD SIGN OR A GOOD IDEA? BEST GROUND-COMBAT UNITS IN THE RUSSIAN COMMAND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE ACTION LESSENED?

coolbert.