Inside a high-stakes meeting between Ukraine and Trump’s team

Vice President-elect JD VANCE, a prominent GOP skeptic of U.S. aid for Ukraine, met with a delegation of senior Ukrainian officials and other members of President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s inner circle in Washington on Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter confirmed.

The Ukrainian delegation traveled to Washington to meet with Vance as well as Rep. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.), Trump’s pick to be his national security adviser, and retired Gen. KEITH KELLOGG, Trump’s pick to be special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The meeting, according to these people, was meant to be a meet and greet for both sides to get to know each other and start developing personal relationships ahead of Trump taking office in January. The meeting with Waltz and Vance was long and substantive, one of the people said, and the Ukrainian side left satisfied with how things went.

The Ukrainian delegation was led by ANDRIY YERMAK, who heads the office of Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY. Other Ukrainian officials in attendance were Deputy Defense Minister SERGIY BOYEV, presidential adviser DARIA ZARIVNA, and YULIA SVYRYDENKO, Ukraine’s minister of economy.

Yermak also made a quick stop down to Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday where he huddled with incoming White House Chief of Staff SUSIE WILES, according to one of the people familiar with his movements.

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Today, there are a lot of developments from the Borova direction.

“Here, in a determined push toward Borova, Russian forces relied on overextended and vulnerable supply lines over the Zherebets River. Recognizing this vulnerability in Russians’ limited river crossings, Ukrainians unleashed a swarm of drones, weakening Russian forces enough for Ukrainian assault brigades to retake the initiative and take control of the battlefield.

Russian forces were trying to capitalize on the foothold they secured by controlling Pershotravneve and Kopanky and push even further. If we take a look at the topographic map, we can see that the main Russian goal here is to take control of the whole hill ridge before advancing on Borova in full force.

However, the main Russian disadvantage is that their supply lines are already overstretched. The Zherebets River flowing through the lowlands also turns the surrounding areas into extremely muddy terrain, forcing Russians to stick to specific crossings, making their movements predictable for Ukrainian drone operators. Russians also do not control the main crossing that connects Svatove to Borova along a hardened road, which is why Russians are trying desperately to fully cut off supplies to Ukrainian positions here and fix their own supply issues in the process.

Ukrainian drone operators shared footage showing they were heavily monitoring the area to target Russian soldiers trying to cross the river, showing that many of them did not make it across alive. To give their infantry a higher chance of making it to the settlements in one piece, Russians tried crossing the river with a mechanized assault, successfully reaching the top of the hills, where the mud is generally much less deep. Unfortunately for Russians, the third assault brigade had already been deployed to the area and quickly responded to the Russian attack.

Geolocated footage shows that the Ukrainian third brigade had swarmed the Russian column with FPV drones, taking out the Russian armored personnel carriers one by one. The leading Russian tank also attempted to cross through a ditch but quickly got stuck in the mud, whereafter the crew abandoned the vehicle. The remaining Russian soldiers and armored vehicles quickly lost hope and tried to flee back across the river, but were hunted down by Ukrainian drones and artillery, finishing off the Russian assault group.

The constant Ukrainian drone surveillance severely hampered the Russian ability to sustain their assaults toward Borova. Moreover, Ukrainians did not suffer from the same supply issues that Russians did, as they could transfer food, ammunition, and reinforcements directly from their base of operations in Borova. With this advantage, and the presence of the well-equipped third assault brigade, Ukrainians were able to turn the table on Russian forces and retake the initiative.

Recently, the third assault brigade reported that they were in constant battles with the Russians, but were able to fully clear Kopanky of all Russian presence, taking several prisoners of war in the process. Further reports indicate that Ukrainians have already started their counterattacks on Pershotravneve, but that Russians continue flooding replacement soldiers over the river in a desperate attempt to hold their bridgehead.

Overall, Ukrainians took advantage of their significant logistical advantage and the Russian shortage of supplies to turn the table on Russian forces and retake the initiative. While Russian channels show the Russian flag hanging on one of the buildings in Pershotravneve, Russian sources also report they had to place the Russian flag in Pershotravneve with a drone, indicating they do not have free movement through the settlements and that Ukrainians heavily monitor the town with snipers and drones. As Russian control over these settlements weakens, Ukrainians will likely use their advantageous position to continue their localized counteroffensive and push Russians back over the Zherebets River.

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