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Ukrainian forces were charging through an expanding area of previously Russian-held territory in the east on Friday after bursting through the frontline in a surprise breakthrough that could mark a major turning point in the war. After keeping silent for a day, Moscow effectively acknowledged that a section of its frontline had crumbled southeast of Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv. "The very fact of a breach of our defences is already a substantial victory for the Ukrainian armed forces," the head of the Moscow-installed administration for occupied areas in Kharkiv province, Vitaly Ganchev, said on Russian state TV.

Ukraine has launched a new front in the counteroffensive, this time moving east into the Kharkiv region. Yesterday the Guardian reported the town of Balakliia had been encircled by Ukrainian troops. Today, Balakliia is more than encircled. President Zelensky just published this video of Ukrainian soldiers standing on a Russian flag in the city with the Ukrainian flag flying behind them. (snip) And the push east has already moved on to another small town called Volokhiv Yar where the Ukrainian flag has also been raised.

Moscow abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, a sudden apparent collapse of one of the war's principal front lines after Ukrainian forces moved to encircle the area in a shock advance. The state-run TASS news agency quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying it had ordered troops to leave the area around the city of Izium in Kharkiv province, saying they would be sent to reinforce operations elsewhere in neighbouring Donetsk. The announcement came hours after Ukrainian troops captured the city of Kupiansk further north, the sole railway hub supplying Russia's entire frontline across northeastern Ukraine. That left...

Ukraine is reportedly on the precipice of a major victory, with its counter-offensive around the eastern city of Kharkiv (Kharkov) unexpectedly putting the Russian army on the back foot. According to British intelligence, Russian forces appear to have been “taken by surprise” by the Ukrainians, who have reportedly advanced “up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) into previously Russian-held territory on a narrow front.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address U.S. defense contractors later this month when he headlines the annual Future Force Capabilities Conference and Exhibition hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). Zelensky is scheduled to speak at the event Sept. 21, according to the program for the event available on the NDIA’s website. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s minister of defense, is also scheduled to speak that day. News of the appearances was first reported by Reuters, which noted that the officials will speak via video link. Zelensky is expected to appeal for more weapons for his country during his speech, the...

Ukrainian forces have entered Izium after forcing Russian troops to retreat, an officer involved in the operation to liberate the strategic eastern city told CNN Saturday. Izium, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, had been under Russian occupation for more than five months and had become an important hub for the invading military. "We have just started clearing the town. First military units are in," the officer told CNN. A spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement earlier on Saturday that "Russians escaped and left weapons and...

Astonishing footage has captured the moment that Russian soldiers are thrown off a fleeing tank which is sent crashing into a tree as Ukraine's forces continue their 30-mile advance into Russian occupied areas. The fleeing tank is seen desperately retreating at a considerable speed near Izyum in the Kharkiv region with several soldiers on top of its hull. But moments after Russian troops are thrown from the tank, it is seen swerving off the road before smashing straight into a tree which falls on the remaining soldiers.

Ukrainian forces said Saturday they had entered Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine dislodging Russian troops from a key logistics hub in a lightning counter-offensive that has seen swathes of territory recaptured. The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, meanwhile arrived in the Ukrainian capital for a surprise visit, which she said was to demonstrate Berlin's support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia. Ukrainian special forces published images on social media showing camouflage-clad officers with automatic weapons "in Kupiansk." It "was and will always be Ukrainian," their statement said. The town of some 27,000 people, that sits on a crucial supply route...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

y Zero Hedge Saturday, September 10, 2022 Ukraine’s top military chief has warned that Russia could unleash nukes if its army is against the ropes in Ukraine. The comments were issued Wednesday amid an ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east which both Kiev and Washington say has so far had “success”.Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny stated “There is a direct threat of the use, under certain circumstances, of tactical nuclear weapons by the Russian armed forces.” He wrote this in an op-ed published by state run outlet Ukrinform, with the alarming words being picked up...

Kyiv officials announced late last month that Ukraine has kicked off a long-awaited offensive in the Kherson region. Ukrainian units attempted to break through Russia’s first line of defense across several points along the contested Mykolaiv-Kherson border. It was reported last week that Ukrainian forces penetrated Russian defenses in the Andriivka district, establishing a bridgehead in the Sukhyi Stavok-Kostromka area. Russian military observers assessed in the following days that Ukrainian troops were pushed out of Kostromka and Sukhyi Stavok was under heavy Russian shelling, adding that the brunt of the fighting has shifted to neighboring Belogorka. Ukrainian troops published video...

While $1 billion of the military aide would go to Ukraine, the rest will be divided among Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It comes after Ukraine's top military chief warned Wednesday that there could be a 'limited' nuclear war between Russia and the West.

Ukrainian Intelligence reports that due to successful counteroffensive of Ukrainian forces on several fronts, Russian occupiers are looking for a way to escape, calling their wives and asking the Russian Ministry of Defense to get them out of Ukraine. Source: Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate Quote: "The 237th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment of the Russian Federation no longer exists due to either death or injury of all soldiers. A large part of those who survived are in extremely serious condition." Details: It is noted that the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian troops forces the occupiers to ask the Red Cross for help...

During the UN Security Council meeting, Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said that in order to save the lives of both Ukrainian and Russian citizens, the Russian Federation has only one course of action: surrender and withdraw. Quote: "By launching its aggression against Ukraine in 2014, by invading Ukraine in February 2022 Russia has violated the norms and principles of practically all fundamental international documents, including bilateral and multilateral agreements, the Helsinki Final Act and, first and foremost, the UN Charter." "Not a single state present in this Chamber, besides Russia, is responsible for the Council’s inability...

WASHINGTON—The war in Ukraine has depleted American stocks of some types of ammunition and the Pentagon has been slow to replenish its arsenal, sparking concerns among U.S. officials that American military readiness could be jeopardized by the shortage. The U.S. has during the past six months supplied Ukraine with 16 U.S. rocket launchers, known as Himars, thousands of guns, drones, missiles and other equipment. Much of that, including ammunition, has come directly from U.S. inventory, depleting stockpiles intended for unexpected threats, defense officials say. One of the most lethal weapons the Pentagon has sent are howitzers that fire high-explosive 155mm...

“The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia,” protested Igor Girkin, a far-right nationalist, in a video address to his 430,000 Telegram followers on Monday. “We have already lost, the rest is just a matter of time,” he writes characteristically.

The Institute for the Study of War released a Thursday report claiming that Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kherson and the Donbas is taking its toll on the Russian high command. Specifically, ISW pointed to Ukrainian victories outside the cities of Kharkiv and Russian-controlled Izyum as creating significant fissures within the Kremlin's "information space" and eroding confidence in their leadership. Ukrainian forces reportedly moved 31 miles to Russian defensive positions in Balakliya on Thursday, but Moscow forces failed to acknowledge any such advancement. According to ISW, the silence caused an eruption of Russian internet backlash against the military.

…Next topic: World oil prices are surging above $90, quite possibly to $100 or more, but the radical climate people populating the Biden administration with the president’s enthusiastic support continue to wage war against all forms of fossil fuels and pipelines. Europe and the rest of the world need more oil and natural gas and they need it right now. We’ve got enough of an inflation problem as it is. So naturally, Team Biden is doing everything it can to prevent this. Of course, they have stopped the drilling in Alaska, stopped the Keystone XL pipeline and jacked up drilling...

SOUTHERN UKRAINE — In dimly lit hospital rooms in southern Ukraine, soldiers with severed limbs, shrapnel wounds, mangled hands and shattered joints recounted the lopsided disadvantages their units faced in the early days of a new offensive to expel Russian forces from the strategic city of Kherson. The soldiers said they lacked the artillery needed to dislodge Russia’s entrenched forces and described a yawning technology gap with their better-equipped adversaries. The interviews provided some of the first direct accounts of a push to retake captured territory that is so sensitive, Ukrainian military commanders have barred reporters from visiting the front...

Moscow has largely stopped exporting gas to Europe, saying supplies will not resume until sanctions are lifted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday criticised the West's "provocations" against Russia, saying the attitude taken by western states was a mistake that triggered the energy crisis in Europe. Erdogan, who is on a state visit to Belgrade, said in a televised address that the West cannot get results through provocative policies. "Russia should not be underestimated," Erdogan said. "Russia is not a country to be taken lightly. The West is making a mistake." Erdogan also said that Europe should have thought...