Ini Langkah Mahfud MD Perihal Jusuf Hamka Tagih Utang Rp 800 M ke Pemerintah

Menteri Koordinator Politik Hukum dan Keamanan (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD mengatakan telah mendapatkan instruksi dari Presiden Joko Widodo atau Jokowi terkait utang pihak swasta kepada pemerintah. Mahfud mengungkapkan bakal mengambil sejumlah langkah.

“Benar, Presiden RI telah menugaskan saya untuk mengkoordinasi pembayaran utang pemerintah terhadap pihak swasta atau rakyat,” kata Mahfud, seperti dikutip Tempo, Ahad, 11 Juni 2023.

“Silahkan Pak Jusuf Hamka langsung ke Kementerian Keuangan, nanti kalau butuh bantuan teknis saya bisa bantu, misalnya dengan memo atau surat yang diperlukan,” kata Mahfud dalam siaran pers di YouTube Kementerian Polhukam, Ahad, 11 Juni 2023.

Untuk itu, Mahfud telah membentuk tim yang bertugas untuk memverifikasi utang-utang yang dimiliki pemerintah dan telah berkekuatan hukum tetap oleh pengadilan. Dia mengatakan tim itu terdiri dari Kementerian Keuangan, Polri dan Kejaksaan Agung.

Terkait utang pemerintah kepada Jusuf Hamka sebesar Rp 800 miliar, Mahfud menyarankan Jusuf untuk mengirimkan surat kepada Kemenkeu yang isinya menagih pembayaran utang. Karena, menurut Mahfud, bisa saja utang Jusuf Hamka sudah ada dalam daftar yang sedang diteliti oleh timnya. Mahfud bersedia membantu penagihan itu dengan membuatkan memo atau surat.

“Kemenkeu wajib membayar dan itu kewajiban pemerintah dan hukum negara terhadap rakyatnya dan terhadap pihak swasta yang melakukan usaha secara sah dan transaksi sah,” kata dia.

Mahfud mengatakan Presiden Jokowi sudah dua kali menyampaikan kewajiban pemerintah untuk membayar utang ke masyarakat dalam dua kali rapat internal yang berbeda. Dia mengatakan rapat internal pertama dilaksanakan pada 23 Mei 2022.

Rapat itu kemudian ditindaklanjuti dengan penerbitan Surat Keputusan Menkopolhukam Nomor 63 Tahun 2022 yang isinya adalah perintah meneliti kembali dan menentukan pembayaran terhadap pihak yang mempunyai piutang kepada pemerintah.

Menurut Mahfud, Presiden Jokowi kembali mengingatkan soal kewajiban pemerintah membayar utang dalam rapat internal tanggal 13 Januari 2023. “Presiden menyampaikan kalau rakyat dan swasta punya utang kita menagih dengan disiplin, tetapi kita juga harus konsekuen kalau kita yang punya utang harus membayar. Itu perintah presiden,” kata dia

Sebelumnya, Jusuf Hamka menagih utang kepada pemerintah sebesar Rp 800 miliar. Dia mengatakan bahwa utang itu berhubungan dengan deposito PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada Tbk (CMNP) yang belum dibayarkan pemerintah sejak 1998.

Jusuf mengatakan utang itu bermula dari deposito milik perusahaannya di Bank Yakin Makmur alias Bank Yama yang tak kunjung diganti selepas likuidasi pada krisis moneter 1998. Saat itu pemerintah berdalih CMNP terafiliasi dengan pemilik Bank Yama, yakni Siti Hardijanti Hastuti Soeharto alias Tutut Soeharto.

Sengketa ini kemudian masuk dalam gugatan di Mahkamah Agung (MA) pada 2015. Hasilnya, Jusuf memenangkan gugatan tersebut dan pemerintah diwajibkan membayar deposito CMNP tersebut beserta bunganya sebesar 2 persen per bulan.

Namun, Jusuf Hamka mengatakan pemerintah hingga kini belum membayar kan utang tersebut. Jusuf mengatakan sudah bersurat ke Direktorat Jenderal Kekayaan Negara (DJKN) Kemenkeu pada 2019-2020. Namun, DJKN selalu mengatakan sedang melakukan verifikasi Kemenko Polhukam.

Jusuf Hamka mengungkapkan, CMNP telah mengajukan gugatan perdata terhadap pemerintah terkait penempatan dana oleh PT CMNP pada PT Bank Yakin Makmur (Bank Yama) saat krisis likuidasi. Menteri yang menjabat pada saat itu ialah Bambang Brodjonegoro.

Dia juga membantah pernyataan Staf Khusus Menteri Keuangan Sri Mulyani, Prastowo Yustinus, bahwa utang pemerintah hanya senilai Rp 179,4 miliar

Dalam surat perjanjian antara CMNP dan Kementerian Keuangan (Kemenkeu) berjudul Amandemen Berita Acara Kesepakatan Jumlah Pembayaran Pelaksanaan Putusan Hukum, tergugat membayar denda sebesar 2 persen setiap bulan dari seluruh dana terhitung sejak Bank Yama dibekukan.

“25 tahun berapa bulan itu, satu tahun 12 bulan, 25x12 bulan=300 bulan. 300 bulan kalau dikali 2 persen, 600 persen. 600 persen kalau utangnya Rp 179 miliar, 6 kalinya, bahkan lebih dari Rp 1,2 atau Rp 1,4 (triliun) dengan pokoknya,” ujarnya.

Sementara itu, Prastowo memastikan angka Rp 179,46 miliar merupakan putusan Mahkamah Agung pada tahun 2015. Pembayaran yang dimohonkan Jusuf Hamka adalah pengembalian dana deposito PT CMNP yang ditempatkan di Bank Yama yang kolaps pada saat krisis.

“Jika mengikuti Putusan MA Rp 78,91 miliar (pokok deposito Rp. 78,84 miliar + giro Rp. 76,08 miliar) ditambah Rp 100,54 miliar (bunga/denda sebesar 32,5 persen dari total bunga/denda yang dihitung hingga cut off date Juli 2015 sebesar Rp 309,36 miliar) menjadi total: Rp. 179.463.322.259,82,” katanya.

Mahfud MD meminta Kementerian Keuangan (Kemenkeu) yang dipimpin Menteri Keuangan Sri Mulyani untuk membayar tagihan utang pemerintah ke Jusuf Hamka. Utang tersebut merupakan pengembalian dana deposito perusahaan miliknya, PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada Tbk (CMNP) di Bank Yama yang kolaps saat krisis tahun 1998.

“Silakan Pak Jusuf Hamka langsung ke Kementerian Keuangan. Kalau butuh bantuan teknis, saya bantu dengan misalnya memo-memo yang diperlukan atau surat-surat yang diperlukan kalau bapak memerlukan itu,” kata Mahfud MD dalam keterangan pers virtual, Minggu (11/6)

Mahfud memastikan pemerintah secara sah mempunyai utang berdasar peraturan pengadilan yang sudah inkrah. Presiden Jokowi telah menugaskan Mahfud untuk mengakomodir pembayaran utang pemerintah terhadap pihak swasta atau rakyat.

“Kalau menurut saya yang gampang itu, tak perlu memo-memo. Pastikan saja apa yang saya sampaikan tadi itu memang dari Presiden Republik Indonesia,” ujar Mahfud.

Botched Start of Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Probably ‘Extremely Frustrating’ for Biden

©Sputnik / Konstantin Mikhalchevsky / Go to the mediabank

With Russia continuing its special military operation in Ukraine, it is safe to say that Kiev’s much-hyped counteroffensive kicked off with “not really a good start," international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda said.

President Vladimir Putin announced earlier this week that Kiev's use of strategic reserves during recent attacks means it can be "stated with absolute certainty" that the much-anticipated counteroffensive had begun.

He stressed that thus far, Ukrainian forces have failed to achieve their objectives and that their advance-related plans had been thwarted by Russian troops.

All this “has got to be extremely frustrating” not only for the political figures of the Kiev regime, but for US President Joe Biden as well, given his murky past regarding Ukraine, Sleboda pointed out, claiming that the POTUS “has been intimately involved with Ukraine since the Obama presidency.”

The analyst was apparently referring to Biden facing allegations that he was purportedly engaged in a spate of corrupt activities related to the employment of his son Hunter Biden by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma while he was the US vice president under Barack Obama.

Biden has repeatedly rejected the allegations that he withheld loan guarantees to pressure Ukraine into firing a prosecutor to prevent a corruption investigation into Burisma and protect his son.

Sleboda recalled in this regard that a US news outlet recently claimed that “Biden's reputation is on the line in Ukraine," which, he said, is “an interesting political salvo at POTUS considering the situation."

Touching upon the counteroffensive, the analyst said that while the Ukrainian military “hasn’t committed the majority of their forces yet, everything they've thrown so far has failed to breach Russian lines for any significant period at any place for an entire week now.”

“That has got to have him (Biden) worried if his political legacy is on the line," Sleboda underscored.

“From everything that we have seen so far, I expect them to make some headway eventually, but they're not off to a really good start.

“I expect some dirty tricks, some cunning maneuver to be pulled out of the bag," Sleboda concluded.

For more in-depth analysis of current affairs, check out Sputnik Radio's Political Misfits.

Watch Russian Warship Fight Off Ukrainian Naval Drone Attack

Having suffered setbacks during its “counteroffensive” on land, the regime in Kiev likewise failed to achieve success in its latest endeavors at sea.

A new video released by Russia’s Ministry of Defense shows a futile attempt by Ukrainian forces to attack the Priazovye, an intelligence-gathering vessel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The attack occurred about 300 kilometers southeast of the Russian port of Sevastopol. The Russian vessel sustained no damage during the incident.

Most Countries Side With Russia in Ukraine Conflict While US's Credibility Slips - Hersh

Most of the world's population supports Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, while the United States lost its credibility, Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said on Sunday.

"The percentage of the (countries), particularly of the African and Central Asian and South Asian countries, that have changed from being pro-America to being pro-Russia is really quite dramatic. Much more than a half of the world's population supports Russia in the war and not the United States. This was never the way it was," Hersh said in an interview with talk show host George Galloway.

The journalist opined that "things are not as good as they used to be in Russia" amid Western sanctions, but "the idea that they are desperate is just wrong."

Hersh also argued that Washington "lost so much credibility around the world," citing Saudi Arabia's diplomatic rapprochement with Iran as an example.

"It's happened because, I think, because of Ukraine and dislike of the war. Saudi Arabia, by the way, they're selling 25% of (their) oil to China, as I have mentioned, but the Saudis immediately cut a deal. And the Iranians immediately responded … They have a lot of control in Yemen over the Houthi tribes," Hersh said.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, following calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The world has split into those who support Moscow and accuse NATO of provoking the conflict, and those who condemn Russia's actions and impose sanctions on the country, while also ramping up their financial and military aid to Kiev. Some countries have avoided taking sides in the conflict.

KFF Singapore Open 2023 - Anthony S Ginting Ke Juara

Selamat buat Anthony Sinisuka Ginting yang sukses dengan gemilanh menjuarai KFF Singapore Open 2023. Ini keberhasilan yang didapatnya berkat perjuangan keras yang patut disyukuri.

"Puji Tuhan, tahun ini bisa juara lagi," ucap Anthony Ginting, usai memenangkan partai final Singapore Open 2023, Minggu 11 Juni 2023.

"Saya mengucap syukur dan berterimakasih. Cuma rasa syukur yang bisa saya sampaikan," ucapnya.

"Dan pastinya senang juga biasa kembali menjuarai Singapore Open 2023," tambahnya.

"Dan semoga dengan gelar Singapore Open tahun ini bisa lebih membuat saya percaya diri lagi ke depannya. Untuk menghadapi even-even yang lebih besar lagi, lebih bergengsi lagi," imbuhnya.

Memaknai keberhasilan yang diraihnya dua kali di turnamen BWF super 750 di Singapore Open berturut-turut, Anthony Ginting membuat dirinya lebih percaya diri lagi.

Lantas, apakah ada perbedaan yang prestasi yang diraihnya tahun 2023 dan tahun 2022 lalu, dikatakan Anthony Ginting menjadi cikal bakal kebangkitan bagi performanya.

"Bedanya apa ya? Sama aja sih," ucap Ginting.

"Mungkin tahun lalu menjadi cikal bakal saya ke performa," katanya.

"Karena sempat mindset, setelah olimpiade sampai Singapore Open tahun lalu, dari performa kurang puas dan kurang bagus," jelasnya.

"Jadi, di Singapore Open bisa juara tahun lalu lebih bermakna aja sih. Karena memang untuk keluar dari waktu-waktu yang saya struggle itu tidak gampang. Puji Tuhan bisa keluar dari (situasi) itu," terangnya.

Penampilannya di final Singapore Open 2023 menghadapi Anders Antonsen, Anthony Ginting di set pertama sempat bermain tidak nyaman dan masuk ke pola permainan lawannya.

Hingga membuat dirinya tertinggal poin di awal-awal set.

Kata Anthony Ginting, sejak awal gim pertama, Antonsen bermain agresif dan terus menekan.

"Saya beberapa kali ke ikut irama dia. Menjadi tampil tidak tenang. Untung kondisi lapangan yang kalah. Jadi bisa lebih mengembangkan permainan, lebih leluasa di set pertama," terang Ginting.

"Pelatih juga mengingatkan, gak apa-apa, coba buat nge-push dari awal. Dari servisnya. Dan puji Tuhan, bisa lebih tenang, bisa mengembangkan permainan," ungkap Ginting.

Lalu di gim kedua, malah Antonsen yang tampil tertekan dan banyak melakukan kesalahan.

Tentu saja ini menguntungkan Anthony Ginting.

"Berbeda di set kedua. Bisa lebih tenang, lebih agresif lagi. Jadi pastinya Antonsen merubah permainannya lagi. Tapi mungkin tadi Antonsen cukup lost strategi. Jadi gim poinnya agak jauh. Puas sih dengan hasilnya," pungkasnya.

“Saya seperti main di rumah sendiri. Dari masuk lapangan sudah di-support penonton. Terima kasih dan bersyukur atas dukungannya. Saya selalu merasa senang setiap datang ke Singapura,” katanya dalam rilis resmi PP PBSI.

Presiden Jokowi mengucapkan selamat kepada bintang bulutangkis Indonesia, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting yang berhasil menjuarai turnamen Singapore Open 2023.

"Kabar gembira dari arena kejuaraan bulutangkis Singapure Open 2023: Anthony Sinisuka Ginting sukses mempertahankan gelar juara tunggal putra, setelah mengalahkan Anders Antonsen dari Denmark dua gim langsung, sore tadi. Selamat kepada Ginting!" kata Jokowi via Twitter, hari Minggu, 11/06/2023.

Rekap Hasil Final KFF Singapure Open 2023

Menko Airlangga: Sistem INSW 2.0 untuk tingkatkan efisiensi logistik

Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto dalam acara diskusi Lembaga National Single Window (LNSW) Sinergi dalam Rangka Transformasi Layanan Publik Untuk Indonesia Maju di Jakarta, hari Jumat, 09/06/2023. ANTARA/Bayu Saputra.

Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto menyebutkan pemerintah meluncurkan sistem Indonesia National Single Window (INSW) 2.0 untuk meningkatkan efisiensi sistem logistik guna memperkuat daya saing nasional.

Airlangga Hartarto menilai penguatan INSW tersebut mampu membantu menjaga kinerja perdagangan RI, baik dari segi impor maupun ekspor.

“Saya menyampaikan apresiasi dan penghargaan kepada seluruh jajaran yang telah berperan besar melakukan reformasi dan transformasi layanan publik, khususnya melalui Sistem dan Portal Nasional, yang terintegrasi secara elektronik,” kata Airlangga dalam keterangan diterima di Jakarta, Sabtu.

Penguatan kelembagaan INSW juga telah menunjukkan kinerja yang baik. Hal tersebut di antaranya dapat dilihat dari angka dwelling time di 2017 yang masih berada di 4,06 hari dan terus mengalami perbaikan hingga menjadi 2,84 hari pada 2022.

Lebih lanjut, Airlangga menyebutkan bahwa hal tersebut menunjukkan perbaikan signifikan pada sektor logistik. Sistem INSW diharapkan terus mampu mewujudkan harmonisasi dan sinkronisasi, simplifikasi dan standardisasi.

Adapun INSW merupakan sistem yang berfungsi memfasilitasi penyederhanaan tata niaga ekspor dan impor, integrasi proses bisnis, peningkatan pengawasan PNBP Minerba, hingga penyelenggaraan sistem aplikasi Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (KEK).

Pengembangan INSW bersifat dinamis, dan menyesuaikan dengan tuntutan kebutuhan nasional, serta perkembangan praktik perdagangan internasional dan logistik.

Simplifikasi proses bisnis dilakukan dengan berbasis pada manajemen risiko melalui otomasi proses bisnis. Sementara itu terkait standardisasi proses bisnis perlu memperhatikan SOP dan prosedur yang diterapkan saat ini supaya sejalan dengan standar internasional yang dipergunakan dalam proses perdagangan internasional.

“Pengembangan sistem INSW tidak hanya semata-mata membangun sistem Single Window, namun juga perlu memperhatikan trajectory yang diamanatkan oleh ASEAN Single Window (ASW) Agreement and Protocol," ujar Airlangga.

Pada proses harmonisasi dan sinkronisasi, INSW perlu fokus pada penyelarasan agar sistem dan prosedur berjalan baik, serta menghindari tumpang tindih dengan kebijakan K/L lainnya.

INSW (Indonesia National Single Window) adalah sistem yang akan melakukan integrasi informasi berkaitan dengan proses penanganan dokumen kepabeanan dan pengeluaran barang, yang menjamin keamanan data dan informasi serta memadukan alur dan proses informasi antar sistem internal secara otomatis.

“Saya menyampaikan apresiasi dan penghargaan kepada seluruh jajaran LNSW yang telah berperan besar melakukan reformasi dan transformasi layanan publik, khususnya melalui Sistem dan Portal Nasional, yang terintegrasi secara elektronik,” kata Menko Airlangga.

Pernyataan tersebut disampaikan Menko Airlangga saat menghadiri acara peringatan Hari Jadi Lembaga National Single Window dengan tema 'Sinergi dalam rangka Transformasi Layanan Publik untuk Indonesia Maju' di Jakarta, hari Jumat, 09/06/2023.

Menko Airlangga menyampaikan ekonomi Indonesia masih terus memperlihatkan ketangguhan dan tetap terjaga di atas 5 persen pada 6 kuartal terakhir berturut-turut.

Airlangga menyebutkan konsumsi domestik, investasi, dan performa ekspor menjadi determinan yang mendorong laju pertumbuhan.

Performa ekspor juga turut berkontribusi penting terhadap mengilapnya kinerja Neraca Perdagangan Indonesia (NPI) yang telah mengalami surplus selama 36 bulan berturut-turut sejak Mei 2020.

Pada April 2023, NPI kembali melanjutkan surplus dan tercatat sebesar USD 3,94 miliar.

Dalam menjaga kinerja perdagangan internasional Indonesia dari sisi ekspor dan impor, lanjut Menko Airlangga telah dibentuk Indonesia National Single Window (INSW) sejak 2010 yang dikelola oleh LNSW. Penyederhanaan tata niaga ekspor-impor, integrasi proses bisnis Perizinan Berusaha Ekspor-Impor, peningkatan pengawasan PNBP Minerba, hingga penyelenggaraan sistem aplikasi Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (KEK) dilakukan melalui INSW.

Menurut Menko Airlangga, penguatan kelembagaan INSW dari semula yang berbentuk Pengelola Portal INSW dan kemudian menjadi LNSW, juga telah menunjukkan kinerja baik.

Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto saat menghadiri acara peringatan Hari Jadi Lembaga National Single Window dengan tema 'Sinergi dalam rangka Transformasi Layanan Publik untuk Indonesia Maju' di Jakarta, hari Jumat, 09/06/2023. Foto: Dokumentasi Humas Kemenko Perekonomian

Hal tersebut diantaranya dapat dilihat dari angka dwelling time di 2017 yang masih berada di 4,06 hari dan terus mengalami perbaikan hingga menjadi 2,84 hari pada 2022.

“Hal itu menunjukan adanya perbaikan signifikan pada sektor logistik kita," tegas Menko Airlangga.

Karena itu, lanjutnya, pada peringatan hari jadi LNSW kali ini, dia berpesan agar sistem INSW tidak hanya sekedar men-digitalisasi layanan atau proses bisnis yang sudah ada.

"Lebih dari itu Sistem INSW harus terus mampu mewujudkan harmonisasi dan sinkronisasi, simplifikasi, dan standardisasi,” ujar Menko Airlangga.

Pada proses harmonisasi dan sinkronisasi, LNSW perlu fokus pada penyelarasan agar sistem dan prosedur berjalan baik, serta menghindari tumpang tindih dengan kebijakan kementeria atau lembaga lainnya.

Simplifikasi terhadap proses bisnis dilakukan dengan berbasis pada manajemen risiko melalui otomasi proses bisnis.

Sementara terkait standardisasi proses bisnis perlu memperhatikan SOP dan prosedur yang diterapkan saat ini supaya sejalan dengan standar internasional yang dipergunakan dalam proses perdagangan internasional.

Pengembangan sistem INSW bersifat dinamis dan menyesuaikan dengan tuntutan kebutuhan nasional, serta perkembangan praktik perdagangan internasional dan logistik.

"Pengembangan sistem INSW tidak hanya semata-mata membangun sistem Single Window, namun juga perlu memperhatikan trajectory yang diamanatkan oleh ASEAN Single Window (ASW) Agreement and Protocol,” paparnya.

Menko Airlangga juga berharap bahwa ke depannya LNSW mampu mewujudkan visi untuk menjadi penggerak utama efisiensi layanan publik melalui penyelenggaraan dan pengelolaan sistem elektronik yang terintegrasi di bidang ekspor, impor, dan logistik untuk meningkatkan daya saing nasional.

Turut hadir dalam acara ini, antara lain Menteri Keuangan yang juga merupakan Ketua Dewan Pengarah LNSW Sri Mulyani, Menteri Perhubungan Budi Karya Sumadi, Menteri Perindustrian Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Menteri Kesehatan Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

Kemudian hadir juga Plt Kepala Batan, Sekretaris Kemenko Perekonomian, Staf Ahli Bidang Keamanan Kementerian Pertahanan, Direktur Jenderal Energi Baru, Terbarukan, dan Konservasi Energi Kementerian ESDM, serta Deputi Bidang Pengawasan Pangan Olahan BPOM.

Scott Ritter: Ukrainian Counteroffensive Runs Into Defensive Wall

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SCOTT RITTER Columnis All Materials

Over the course of the past few days, Ukraine has thrown two of its best-trained, best-equipped mechanized brigades into offensive operations against entrenched Russian defenders in the Zaporozhye sector of the front lines.

These two brigades had been hand-picked for this job, having been equipped with modern Western tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, supported by Western-supplied artillery, and using NATO-specific tactics shaped by NATO-provided intelligence and NATO operational planning. In short, these two brigades represented a top-level NATO-level capability, the epitome of the nexus between Ukraine and the Collective West in their ongoing war to destroy Russia.

They failed.

As the world comes to grips with the imagery of destroyed US-manufactured M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and German-made Leopard 2A6 tanks abandoned and burning on the Ukrainian steppe, the harsh truth regarding the futility of its larger designs—the strategic defeat of Russia—is starting to sink in.

The reality, however, is that Ukraine was never going to achieve its stated objective of punching through the Russian defenses to sever the land bridge connecting Crimea with Russia proper. This was pie-in-the-sky thinking promulgated by Ukraine's Western supporters to motivate the Ukrainians into committing the equivalent of mass suicide to inflict similarly prohibitive casualties among the Russian defenders.

The Western hope was that Russia would become demoralized by these casualties and accept a negotiated end to the conflict on terms acceptable to both Ukraine and its Western allies.

So far, Ukraine and its Western allies have failed.

The genesis of this failure can be traced to two things. First, the low-opinion Ukraine and their NATO allies had regarding the combat capabilities of the Russian army, and in particular those forces deployed in the Zaporozhye region, and second, the unrealistic expectations assigned to NATO training and equipment that had been provided to the Ukrainian forces assigned the task of breaking through the Russian defenses.

The area selected by Ukraine and its NATO partners as the focus of effort for the counteroffensive was held by the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, part of the 58th Combined Arms Army. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank with close ties to US and NATO, claimed that the troops of the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division "are predominantly comprised of mobilized recruits and volunteers and are therefore likely to face some problems with poor training and discipline."

Moreover, it accused at least one of the subordinate regiments—the 70th motorized rifle regiment—of performing poorly during the initial phases of the Special Military Operation in 2022.

It is therefore reasonable to believe that NATO and Ukrainian military planners, using intelligence assessments that highlighted perceived command and control weaknesses and poor morale among the Russian forces which, when combined with poor past performance, believed that the Russian defenses in the Zaporozhye sector manned by the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division would collapse under the weight of a NATO-style assault, allowing Ukrainian forces to penetrate deep into the Russian defenses.

While the fighting in Zaporozhye is not yet finished, the initial results on the battlefield show that, contrary to the expectations of Ukraine and its NATO partners, the men of the 42ndGuards Rifle Division performed their tasks in a professional manner, decisively defeating the Ukrainian assault forces. The 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment has been singled out as performing very well under difficult circumstances. The same can be said of the 291st Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 71st Motorized Rifles Regiment, along with special forces soldiers from the 22nd Spetsnaz Brigade. Analysts from ISW, in assessing the initial successes of the Russian defenders, noted that "Russian forces appear to have executed their formal tactical defensive doctrine in response to the Ukrainian attacks."

This, of course, should have taken no one by surprise, since the individual in command of Russian forces in the Zaporozhye area is Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, the man who is responsible for conceiving modern Russian defensive doctrine. In April 2023 Romanchuk, who at that time was serving as the Rector of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (the equivalent of the United States Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth), co-authored an article titled "Prospects for Improving the Efficiency of Army Defensive Operations."

In the article, Romanchuk noted that the main mission of a defending force "is to neutralize the initiative of the advancing enemy, i.e., to bring him to the state of impossibility to continue advancing with deployed forces. Ultimately, this allows you to reduce his activity and seize the initiative by going over to a decisive counter-offensive to defeat the enemy with shock groups."

This represents a restatement of Soviet-era doctrine. Indeed, Romanchuk draws upon the defeat of German offensive operations in the vicinity of Lake Balaton in March 1945 as representing an ideal implementation of this doctrine, underscoring "a bold maneuver of the reserves…especially artillery, the skillful use of anti-tank reserves, vigilant detachments of obstacles and the arrangement of fire ambushes" by the Russian forces in defeating the German attack.

Romanchuk, however, did not simply reiterate old doctrine in his paper. Instead, he emphasizes the concept of "dispersed forces'' in building a defensive scheme capable of prevailing on the modern battlefield. "A dispersed defensive operation should become a logical response to a superior enemy," Romanchuk writes.

Such an operation "is based on the retention of important areas, objects and transport hubs in separate most important directions," and is "characterized by an even distribution of forces and resources in areas, and decentralized use of formations and military units of the armed forces and special forces."

Romanchuk then went on to describe the ideal deployment scheme for these "dispersed forces" — one which focuses on three separate "zones of defense responsibility" separated by distances of between 8 and 12 kilometers. These gaps are covered by Russian artillery. The first "zone" is the "cover" zone, whose task is to define the main axes of the enemy's advance. The next "zone" is the "main line of defense", which is designed to halt enemy attacks using obstacle belts and fire power (artillery and air strikes). The last "zone" is the "reserve", which is responsible for mounting counterattacks designed to push the attacking forces back to their original positions.

Romanchuk’s doctrine was the blueprint for the Russian defensive scheme employed in Zaporozhye. Indeed, Romanchuk was pulled from his teaching position at the Combined Arms Academy and put in command of the Zaporozhye sector. In other words, the place chosen by NATO and Ukrainian intelligence as the "weak spot" in the Russian defensive scheme was designed by Russia's top specialist in defensive combat and placed under his direct command.

NATO and Ukraine gambled that Russia lacked the military capacity to successfully implement its own military doctrine, believing that Russian command staffs lacked the communications necessary to coordinate the complex operations necessary to implement this doctrine, and that the Russian forces—especially those who were recently mobilized—lacked both the training and morale needed to perform well under stressful combat conditions.

They were wrong on both counts.

NATO and Ukraine's poor assessment of Russian military capability mirrored their own exaggerated assessments of Ukrainian units tasked with attacking the Russian defenses in Zaporozhye, namely the 33rd and 47th Mechanized Brigades. Both units were the recipients of modern NATO equipment, including Leopard tanks (the 33rd) and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (the 47th). The officers and men of both units had been provided with the best training NATO could provide regarding modern combined-arms operations, including weeks of specialized training in Germany which focused on platoon, company, and battalion tactics and operations integrating firepower and maneuver while undertaking offensive operations.

The Ukrainian troops, working side by side with their NATO instructors, started by using computer simulations to introduce them to the complexities of the modern battlefield, before moving to the field for realistic hands-on training using the very NATO-provided equipment they would use against the Russians.

US "experts" like Mark Hertling, a retired US Army general believed that the combination of advanced western military equipment and superior NATO-style tactics "will allow Ukraine's emerging combined-arms teams to conduct high-tempo maneuver" capable of overwhelming the Russian defenders in Ukraine. He was wrong.

Hertling and his active-duty NATO brethren would have done well to listen to the words of General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, when speaking before a Swedish defense conference this past January.

"The scale of this war [i.e., the Russian-Ukraine conflict] is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking," Cavoli noted.

The takeaway from this revelation is that NATO is neither trained nor equipped to fight the kind of fight they are demanding Ukraine execute against Russia. The sad truth of the matter is that there are no NATO forces capable of successfully executing the offensive tasks that have been assigned to Ukraine. No one doubts the courage and commitment of the Ukrainian forces which have been thrown against Colonel General Romanchuk’s defensive barrier. But courage and commitment cannot overcome the reality that NATO lacks the ability, both in terms of equipment and doctrine, to successfully defeat Russia in a force-on-force confrontation, especially one which has Russia playing to its doctrinal strength (defensive operations) while NATO seeks to do something (an assault against prepared defenses) that it has no experience in doing.

Moreover, NATO and the Ukrainian high command threw the Ukrainian brigades into the teeth of the Russian defensive buzzsaw without adequate fire support, meaning that the Russians were free to maximize their superiority in artillery and air power to neutralize and destroy the Ukrainian attacking forces before they could generate the momentum expected from "high-tempo maneuver."

The end result: Russian reality trumped NATO theory on the battlefield, and it is Ukraine's military that once again paid the heaviest price. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that this situation will change anytime soon, if ever, a fact that bodes poorly for the future of Ukraine and NATO going forward.