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‘Learning about the number of dead [estimated to be up to 43,000], Russian troops are refusing to fight on the territory of Ukraine, payments to the wounded occupiers have been halted,’ said Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk.
‘The military command of the Russian Federation suspended the dispatch of new, already formed units to the territory of Ukraine,’ he added .
His claims were backed up by The Institute of War. The US think-tank said Kyiv’s gains in the north-east Kharkiv region ‘may be impacting the will or ability of the Russian military command to use newly formed volunteer units in Ukraine in a timely fashion’.
US intelligence officials told the Washington Post they expect to see further humiliating retreats made by Moscow’s armed forces.
‘The Russians are in trouble,’ one source said. ‘Their weaknesses have been exposed and they don’t have great manpower reserves or equipment reserves.’ Another senior Western official said it was ‘too early to say’ whether the gains made by Ukraine amounted to ‘a turning point’ in the six-month war.
‘But it’s a moment that has power in terms of both operations and psychology,’ the official said. ‘It’s exactly what the Ukrainians need right now. They need that success, and they need that winning narrative. I would describe it as scoring a goal before half-time.’
Last night president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was in full control of more than 1,500 square miles of recaptured territory and is stabilising a further area of the same size. On Monday, he had said Ukraine had retaken more than 2,000 square miles in its recent counter-offensive.
Ukrainian officials, though, said it was important to make a distinction between taking territory and ensuring it was totally safe.
Kyiv said the army yesterday took control of Vovchansk – a town just two miles from the border and which had been under occupation since February.
Across Kharkiv, Ukrainian soldiers marked their victories by burning Russian flags. They inspected the remains of abandoned and charred enemy tanks while brothers-in-arms helped the wounded join the celebrations.
In London, the Ministry of Defence, in its daily briefing, said that the rout by the Ukrainian armed forces had ‘severely degraded’ one of Russia’s most prestigious tank units. The First Guards Tank Army could take years to rebuild, officials said. The unit ‘had been one of the most prestigious of Russia’s armies, allocated for the defence of Moscow, and intended to lead counter-attacks in the case of a war with Nato’, the MoD added.
Where are the UN Peacekeepers?
No sane young Russian man will allow himself to be sent to die for Putin’s idiotic war. Old degenerates in the Kremlin sending young men off to die for no good reason.
Putin dies by March or is deposed. Even if a hard liner comes in to replace Putin, he will dump Putin’s useless war.
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General Jack Keane (US Army, Retired), Chairman, Institute for the Study of War; President, GSI, LLC
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Dr. William Kristol, Director, Defending Democracy Together
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