Free Republic

The U.S.-based think tank's report published on Thursday says that Russia's purported goal of capturing Bakhmut by next week "would require a significantly higher rate of Russian advance than anything seen for many months."...While the Kremlin may be unlikely to capture Bakhmut soon, ISW maintained that missile strikes on "civilian targets throughout Ukraine" could instead mark the war anniversary because "actual military success continues to evade the Russian military."

Russia's Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has installed a new commander, RIA news agency cited sources as saying on Wednesday, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were rocked by explosions in the past nine days. If confirmed, the removal of the previous commander Igor Osipov would mark the most prominent sacking of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia launched its war on Ukraine. State-owned RIA said the new chief, Viktor Sokolov, was introduced to members of the fleet's military council in the port of Sevastopol.