Putin's Ploy?

Over the past few days the mainstream news media has gleefully reported on what is said to be a highly successful counterattack by Ukraine against the Russians. The suggestion there is that this is simply the first phase of a Ukrainian attack to drive the Russians entirely out and recapture all of the territory previously lost.

It is, of course, possible that that is correct. That is not, however, the only possibility. Another and likelier possibility is that the Ukrainian government has fallen into a very carefully laid trap, based on one of the most ancient of military strategies, set for them by Putin and the Russian military.