Status Report on the War…..
American military and intelligence officials have concluded that the war in Ukraine is no longer a stalemate as Russia makes steady gains, and the sense of pessimism in Kyiv and Washington is deepening.
The dip in morale and questions about whether American support will continue pose their own threat to Ukraine’s war effort. Ukraine is losing territory in the east, and its forces inside Russia have been partially pushed back.
The Ukrainian military is struggling to recruit soldiers and equip new units. The number of its soldiers killed in action, about 57,000, is half of Russia’s losses but still significant for the much smaller country.
Russia’s shortages of soldiers and supplies have also grown worse, Western officials and other experts said. And its gains in the war have come at great cost….
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“The situation is tense,” said a Ukrainian major stationed on the Ukrainian side of the border near Kursk who goes by the call sign Grizzly. “We are constantly losing previously occupied positions, the enemy has an advantage in men and artillery, and we are trying to hold the line.”
Gone is the Russian force that repeatedly stumbled as it invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Russian military, according to a senior U.S. military official, has evolved and is “on the march.”
As a result, some American intelligence agencies and military officials are pessimistic about Ukraine’s ability to stop Russian advances as Kyiv tries to find ways to build up forces exhausted by nearly three years of war.
Still, Russia has fallen short of its own goals. Most notably, it has not been able to take the city of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub for Ukrainian forces. And independent experts say Russia’s shortages of radar, armored vehicles and, most critically, troops will come to a head next year….
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Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a 30-year-old battalion commander, said it seemed as though Ukraine’s partners had lost interest in the war and were more concerned about relations with Moscow “than justice.”
But despite that, many Ukrainians are not giving up. “Fighting is our only way out,” he said….
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Ukraine’s eastern cities continue to face an onslaught of Russian missile strikes, including one on Kharkiv by a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) glide bomb. The attack Thursday hit an apartment complex, killing three and injuring scores.
In addition, Ukraine is facing new uncertainty as waves of North Korean soldiersdeployed to Russia have arrived near Ukraine’s border and are preparing to join the fight against Ukrainian troops in coming days.
Russia has increasingly used powerful glide bombs to pummel Ukrainian positions along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) line of contact and strike cities dozens of kilometers (miles) from the front line. Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million, is about 30 kilometers (less than 20 miles) from the border.
The aid package announced Friday by the Pentagon brings the total amount of military assistance the U.S. has provided Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022 to $60.4 billion….
Nov 1, 2024 – ISW Press
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, highlighted ongoing social and ideological divides within Russian society while reiterating boilerplate justifications for the war in Ukraine.
Daily Kos with todays grunt report…..
Included is reports and video of a Russian cluster bomb attack on Odesa…..
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