That Ukraine counter offense that everyone was waiting for?
It’s here…
Ukraine forces have been making more territory gains over the last 48 hours that during the entire 6 months of engagement with the Russians who are dispirited and seemingly overwhelmed …
One should add that Russian President does have a problem back home….
Causalities from the conflict and a Western propaganda effort seemingly stronger than the Russians has stirred unrest that Putin has tried to clampdown on without complete success….
Western and principally American intelliegence and weapons have sseemingly turned the tide in the conflict…..
Ukraine’s rapid gains in the Kharkiv region have significantly weakened Russia’s hold on eastern Ukraine, which it has used as a stronghold to wage its war since February. Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that their troops had retaken the city of Izium, a strategically important railway hub southeast of Kharkiv that Russian forces seized in the spring after a bloody, weekslong battle.
On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Chkalovske, a village in the Kharkiv region that lies roughly halfway between Izium and Kharkiv city. And the Ukrainian military command described continuing combat in cities in the Donetsk region, part of the stretch of mining towns and rolling fields known as Donbas, one of Russia’s main targets of the war.
The dizzying speed of Ukraine’s push in the past several days has smashed what had been a monthslong stalemate, buoyed a nation’s spirits and galvanized calls for even more Western military support. Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the top commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said that Ukraine had reclaimed more than 1,150 square miles of terrain since the start of September….
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Russia’s retreat is the biggest embarrassment for President Vladimir V. Putin’s larger and better equipped forces since their attempt to seize Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, was repelled at the start of the invasion. Amid heavy casualties, logistical problems and declining morale, Russia’s military performance has prompted discontent among pro-Kremlin bloggers and staunch Putin loyalists, creating new challenges for the Russian leader….
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Russian forces risk being caught in a series of “self-demoralizing cycles,” and commanders need to show to their own forces that they are “not inevitably losing,” Mr. Watling said. But finding more motivated and capable forces will not be easy in the short term, he added….
Update on the Ukraine Nuclear power plant….
While most attention was focused on the counteroffensive, Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, was reconnected to Ukraine’s electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor to safeguard the plant amid the fighting.
The plant, one of the 10 biggest atomic power stations in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the war. Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for shelling around it….
A pissed Russian military strikes back at the civilian’s in Kharkiv
An official in the Ukrainian president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that two cruise missiles hit elements of critical infrastructure, namely a major heat and power plant, knocking out power to Kharkiv and several other regions. “Russians want to leave us without light, water and heat,” he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said the attack was a clear act of retribution for Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive…
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