It appears the war in Ukraine has come to a turning point, where Ukrainian troops are making one of the strongest offensive moves against Russia’s military since Moscow invaded the country in February.
Ukraine’s military gained access to a warehouse filled with Russian guns and ammunition over the weekend after overtaking the city of Izyum, located in the southeastern region of Kharkiv that has for months been occupied by forces from Moscow. “The Russian occupiers are running so fast under pressure from Ukrainian soldiers that they’re leaving whole ammunition arsenals behind,” said Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service. “We know what to do with them and will be sure to use them according to purpose—against the enemy.”
Just on Sunday alone, armed forces from Kyiv took over 30 settlements that were occupied by Russia, as Russian soldiers abandon their equipment and rapidly retreat from the Kharkiv region. Ukraine has already regained approximately 9,000 square kilometres of area from Russia’s military, marking one of the biggest setbacks for Vladimir Putin since he invaded the country in February. In fact, some senior Russian officials are beginning to admit defeat, acknowledging that Putin’s operation in Ukraine is not going very smoothly after all.
“People who convinced President Putin that our special operation would be effective and brief, that we wouldn’t strike the civilian population, that we’d come and restore order, these people basically set us up,” said former Russian Duma deputy Boris Nadezhdin as cited by the Wall Street Journal. Even Russia’s own military is revealing signs of weakness, with the head of the Russian-appointed administration in Kharkiv conceding that Ukrainian troops are significantly outnumbering their Russian counterparts.
“If we talk about the force that was transferred to the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army, it outnumbered our troops by about eight times, no less. Therefore, in order to preserve our personnel, it was decided to withdraw, to regroup,” he said, referring to the Russian military’s sudden abandonment of Izyum.
Information for this briefing was found via the WSJ and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
