President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s strategy is to devour his country — little by little. But he doesn’t want to be a dinner plate.
In an address to the nation on Sunday evening, the president emphasized that the strategically important city of Izeum had been restored. The city has been occupied by the Russians since the spring.
In the letter, Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian forces and said they had done so “Liberate hundreds of our cities and villages, the last of which are Balaklija, Izyum and Kopzhansk” About the reopening of the three cities.
Earlier on Sunday night, I sent CNN Interview with the Ukrainian President. He was asked about it in the interview Ukrainian counterattack in recent days.
Our goal is to remove the occupation from our entire country. We cannot allow Russia to continue the occupation that they started in 2014. Then they invaded more of our country, but now there is a pause and a freeze in the conflict and some agreements and negotiations. Over time, they grow stronger before continuing the conquest. This is their strategy, says Zelensky CNN.
– Russian cannibals
He compares the Russian occupation to the midday meal.
– They eat you slowly, little by little. I call it Russian cannibalism. I don’t want to be part of that game. I do not like it. I cannot tell the details of our operations and plans. But we won’t stand still, says Zelensky, we’ll move on.
Throughout Sunday, there were reports of new regions and cities recaptured by Ukrainian forces after the lightning attack in the past few days in the northeast of the country.
During the counterattack, Ukrainian forces were said to have recaptured 3,000 square kilometers from the Russians.
Think tank: won the Battle of Kharkiv
Famous Thought Center Institute of Study of War (ISW) Sunday evening writes that Ukraine He won the battle of the Kharkiv region.
In doing so, he also ended the Russian ground and artillery threat against Ukraine’s second largest city – which bears the same name.
At the same time, however, there are reports that Russian missile attacks on critical infrastructure In the Kharkiv region, which led, among other things, to blackouts and water shortages in several places.
There were also reports of attacks on infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine.
Military equipment remains
ISW supports its claim by noting the advance of Ukrainian forces in cities such as Izium and Vovchansk, both cities of strategic importance.
He also refers to maps presented by the Russian Defense Ministry during a press conference on Sunday.
The map showed that Russia only controlled a small area in the Kharkiv region, east of the Oskil River, where many believed that the Russians would try to establish a new front line.
ISW thinks the Russian leads were so Shocked by the Ukrainian counterattack They were forced to withdraw in a panic, leaving behind large quantities of military materials that Ukrainian forces could now control.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that they are In the process of regrouping their forcesand that they were transferred from the Kharkiv region to strengthen efforts south, in the Donetsk region.
What is happening in Moscow now?
– Where are the Russians regrouping in the Kharkiv region and where are they trying to lay the front line now to stop the Ukrainians who gained so much motivation after this counterattack? There were some reports of Ukrainian counterattacks in the Donetsk region as well. Tom Rossyth says that if there are more counterattacks out there now, it will weaken the Russian statement on reorganization.
Røseth is director of the intelligence department at the Norwegian Defense Academy and follows the war in Ukraine closely.
He is excited about what the Russians are now doing with troops in the west and south in Ukraine.
– What are the Russians doing with the forces stuck west of the city of Dnipro in the Kherson region, which have no reasonable function there now. The cost of holding this territory is becoming more and more, and there is an increasing possibility that the Russians will have to prioritize their forces and withdraw them from there. And this is in order to have a more natural front line there, and at the same time give priority to resources eastward towards the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, says Rossith.
He also believes that it will be interesting to follow the developments in Moscow:
Will we see an increase in discontent in Moscow? Are people increasingly realizing that what is happening in Ukraine is a problem? Is our hatred of Vladimir Putin increasing in the public? Will there be more talk of mobilization?
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