What is happening now on the Ukrainian front is an uncanny repeat of the early spring of 1918 during World War I, when German General Erich Ludendorff persuaded the Kaiser to throw all of his forces against the Entente, mainly against the British, with the aim of encircling and destroying British troops.

The British defences, Ludendorff claimed, were to collapse, allowing German troops to invade French territory, avoiding a clash with the bulk of French forces. The Germans wanted to cut off France from the English Channel and force it to sign a peace treaty on Germany’s terms – but the battle consumed most of their equipment and personnel. And after that, the German war machine failed. The precise same military tactics of General Erich Ludendorff are now being rehashed by Lieutenant Colonel Putin.

Those who observe the events on the Russian-Ukrainian front cannot help but notice that in recent months Russia has concentrated all of its forces and resources in Donetsk, and more specifically in the area around the small town of Bakhmut. The failure of Ludendorff’s operation forced Germany to surrender. The same price will be paid by Russia when the last Russian troops capable of advancing at Bakhmut will be ground down over the next month. 

In Ljubljana, July 2001, US President George Bush, Jr. famously claimed to have looked into Putin’s eyes and seen a soul there. If he had looked deeper, however, behind the cowardly soul of the Russian dictator, he would have seen the hiding spectre of the failed general and fascist Erich Ludendorff.