On Sunday, Ukrainian officials ordered evacuations from some areas of the eastern Donetsk Oblast as Russian forces are making gains.
Vadym Filashkin, the Ukrainian governor of Donetsk, said he ordered the mandatory evacuation of children and their parents from several villages. “The enemy is bombing the towns and villages of these communities every day, so it was decided to evacuate children with their parents or other legal representatives,” he said, according to AFP.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of the Donetsk village of Novoselovka Pervaya as part of a push toward the city of Pokrovsk, which is used as a major supply hub for Ukrainian forces in the region.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that Ukraine lost 365 soldiers in fighting around Novoselovka Pervaya in the previous 24-hour period.
As the fighting rages in Donetsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Ukraine had received its first shipment of US-made F-16 fighter jets. But the planes and other military aid from NATO are not expected to turn the tide on the battlefield.
Zelensky recently began floating the idea of holding peace talks with Russia, marking a shift in his position as he previously ruled out the idea altogether. But there’s been no sign that the US would support negotiations as any deal that cedes territory to Russia would hurt the election chances of Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s expected to be the Democratic nominee after President Biden dropped out of the race.
Russians are coming…!
Lol……………
Lol……………
Today, Ukraine.
Tomorrow, Alaska!
Everybody to get from street!
Zelensky and his sponsors should remember that Putin's ceasefire offer will not last too long. Maybe even less than three months. Next proposition can't be so generous.
Putin is withholding from all-out war in Ukraine, because he hopes to achieve a peace deal if Trump wins. But if Kamala wins and continues Biden’s belligerent policies, then Putin will escalate the campaign to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure. Because that’s the only way to reduce the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. So far Russia has not been able to reduce the supply of Western weapons, which has allowed Ukraine to use long range missiles to attack Russian aircraft and ground targets. Stopping that would require massive Russian bombardment of rail lines and roads, to cut off the supply of Western weapons. It’s not clear if Russia has the capacity for something like that.
Obviously Russian leadership believes in the war of attrition. For Ukrainian army the situation is deteriorating steadily. There are already signs of panic in Kiev. The feeling of desperation is growing among Ukrainian militaries. Sooner or later, Ukrainian army will start to collapse. It is unavoidable. How long it may last depends on efficiency of mobilization and munitions provided by NATO.
Isn't Donetsk straight up Russian territory?
The Russians have yet to secure Donetsk oblast.
The Russians have already secured more than 60 per cent of Donestk oblast.
Already? After only two-and-a-half years? Wow! What a convincing demonstration of military invincibility!
According to the vote of their population, yes. Boots-on-the-ground though means that Ukraine still holds a chunk of it.
Any deal that cedes territory would hurt Harris support…? I don't see how.
After all the talk that “if Putin wins in Ukraine, the rest of Europe is next,” any deal that lets Putin “win” would be politically damaging.
The key for both sides is to come out with some fig leaf of supposed “victory.” Which is why there will be no deal until Putin gets tired of trying and failing to secure Kherson and Zaporzhzhia.
It will a race between your hoped for Putin war fatigue and the Ukrainian peoples' growing desire to end the war even if it means ceding territory. Who will prevail?
I don't "hope for" "Putin fatigue."
I don't have a dog in the fight between the authoritarian thug regimes in question, and would rather the authoritarian thug regime that claims to rule ME would just stay out of the matter.
I just notice the irrefutable fact that after 30 months, the Russian forces haven't been even been able to fully secure Donetsk, let alone bring Kherson and Zaporzhzhia to heel. From that record of continuous failure, it's pretty clear that the Ukrainians can hold out pretty much forever and that it's just a question of when the Russians declare "victory" and go slouching most of the way home.
They can hold out as long as they still have cannon fodder, but even with emigration for men being prohibited they're still fleeing in droves. Border guards are getting rich letting conscription-aged men leave, and the government's own estimates puts the population at less than half the Soviet days and possibly a third (other estimates put it much lower).
If the Ukrainian armed forces disintegrated tomorrow, it would just turn into Afghanistan … with the same ending.
I really think that’s why they haven’t advanced further, they don’t **WANT** Galicia or most of the ethnically non-Russian portion of the country. If they had somehow overrun the entire country they would have been stuck with thousands of saboteurs and terrorists financed by some of the nastiest oligarchs on the planet and armed by the CIA through some of the best smuggling networks anywhere. Just guessing though, the same as everyone else.
It's not that they haven't managed to "overrun" the entire country. It's that they haven't even been able to "overrun" Donetsk, Kherson, or Zaporzhzhia, all of which, in addition to Luhansk (which they do seem to have successfully "overrun"), they claim to have annexed with "popular support," after 2 1/2 years.
No amount of lipstick on the pig of abject Russian military failure is going to make that pig any prettier.
Who says they want, or need, to "overrun" Zaporizhia or Kherson? They have the parts they need; the land bridge between crimea and donbas, the entire shoreline of the sea of azov (turning it into an inland russian lake, and therefore having sole possession of whatever energy deposits lie under it, the industrial plant of Mariupol (which they have already largely rebuilt). I expect they do want the rest of Donetsk, and seem to be pretty methodically going about taking it. Kherson west of the river is pointless; Kherson east of the river is theirs and it isn't going anywhere.
Yeah, according to our Moderator friend, Putin has won nothing. He has "abjectly failed." Etc, etc. On the other hand, for some strange reason, Putin is in a position to, and is going to, abandon all that territory that he didn't conquer, and give it back to the Kiev regime, as he "slouches most of the way home." Huh?
The reality? According to the pro Ukie, pro MIC ISW, Putin controled 75 percent of all four oblasts, considered as a whole, as of June 15 of this year.
"Russian forces currently occupy 75 percent of the total area of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts…"
And the Russians have advanced since then.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-14-
2024#:~:text=Russian%20forces%20currently%20occupy%2075,Oblast%20that%20Russian%20forces%20do
As stated above by others, Russia has taken the stretigicallly important parts of the Z and K oblasts (and, again, according to the ISW as of 15June2024, 75% of the territory of each of these two oblasts). IE those parts that are west and south of the river, and that constitute the land bridge to the Crimea (thus making the Kerch Bridge superfluous). Russia has taken almost all of Luhansk oblast. And it is methodically taking back the rest of Donetsk oblast, of which it already controls more than half.
("Putin is effectively demanding that Ukraine cede 40 percent of Donetsk Oblast, 25 percent of Kherson Oblast, 25 percent of Zaporizhia oblasts, and one percent of Luhansk Oblast that Russian forces do not control….")
(As an aside, Russia also controls small portions of Kharkov oblast, as well.)
Our Moderator simply asserts, in the face of those facts, that, somehow, it is Russia that is failing, and that it will soon negotiate a retreat.
Perhaps he realizes how absurd this is, because he has, as a fall back position, an equally absurd, and yet cock-sure, prognostication, namely that, of course, if Ukraine the State loses, Ukie guerillas will then proceed to easily defeat the Russians, "a la Afghanistan."
I believe the Moderator when he says that he is genuinely anti war. And his refusal to take Russia's side, any more than the Ukraine's side, in terms of the moral and legal arguments, is certainly in keeping with that. But why he feels the need to slant his report of the actual course of the war itself, of who is winning and losing, is not clear to me.
“Our Moderator simply asserts, in the face of those facts, that, somehow, it is Russia that is failing, and that it will soon negotiate a retreat.”
I have never said anything about negotiating a retreat.
If Putin’s ceasefire offers (“give me everything I’ve been trying and failing to take for 2 1/2 years, and I promise to stop trying and failing to take it — peace!”) continue to be rejected, he’ll eventually get his teat out of the wringer by declaring “victory” and a unilateral ceasefire after or while pulling out of the areas he can’t hold forever. But in order to declare that “victory, with even a fig leaf of credibility he’ll need to at least secure Donetsk first.
Why can’t Putin hold the 75% or more of the annexed oblasts that he already holds “forever?” Again, he has almost all of one of the Donbass oblasts. He is making progress in the other one, no matter how slowly. And the parts of the Z and K oblasts that he holds (also 75%), are on “his” side of the river, and connect Crimea with the rest of Russia. I agree that Putin is being cheeky in demanding the 25% of the annexed oblasts that he doesn’t already control, particularly the parts of K and Z oblasts on the wrong side of the river, epecially Kherson city, which the Russians did actually have trouble holding, and pulled out of. But in no oblast is Russia actually losing territory presently. And I see no reason why Putin would give up any of the territory he has conquered. And you, despite repeated opporutnities, have provided no reason. Just a conclusory assertion that that is what Putin is going to do.
“Why can’t Putin hold the 75% or more of the annexed oblasts that he already holds ‘forever?'”
Because eventually the oligarchs who ordered him to commence the war in the first place are going to decide that their own survival requires a cessation of pouring Russian blood by the tanker truck full into foreign soil with diminishing returns on the investment. And his own survival depends on his obedience to their orders.
Nonsense all the way around. Russia is no longer run by "oligarchs." Nor did oligarchs start the war. (NATO and the Kiev-based entity started it). And Russia is NOT losing blood by the "tanker truck full." By all accounts, including now Ukie accounts, Russia is using standoff weapons to pulverize the Ukie lines, and then mopping up with small infantry attacks. And to the extent that Russia IS losing men, it is losing them in offensive, not defensive operations. The Ukies have been entirely on the defensive for a whole year now, and their last, much ballyhooed, counteroffensive, ran into a brick wall. Even the Ukies are admitting that they have no way to regain all the lost territory. There is simply no reason why Russia can't hold onto at least the territory that is has already gained. And probably a majority of Russians consider at least the four annexed oblasts (if not more) to be Russian, not "foreign," soil. You are simply wrong from start to finish. And obviously so. Which, again, makes one wonder why? Why does it seem to be your agenda to "poormouth" Russia?
It’s so cute how, whenever you really, really, really, REALLY waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant something to be true, you just use the phrase “by all accounts” like a sort of magic spell that you hope will make it come true.
Ukraine is not a homogenous ethnic entity. It is a country of divisions. The current regime represents one side of these divisions, an intolerant and authoritarian one. If the Russians occupied all of Ukraine the UPA would be back in action as before. Would they have the support of the Ukrainian people? No. Some would support resistance. Most would not. The latter category would be hunted by the UPA faction just as eagerly as they would the Russians.
I don’t believe you are impartial in this matter. The pattern and nature of your comments on this conflict suggests otherwise. It’s not the position you hold but your disingenuousness that annoys.
I think you totally fail to see what is at issue in this war. This is existential for both Ukraine (in the most obvious of ways) and as perceived by the Russians. Ukraine can’t sustain itself without the support of the American Empire. Russia can sustain itself far longer if it believes its existence is at stake, which Russians do. Comparisons to Afghanistan I think are invalid because that was not a war where Russia’s existence was believed to be at issue. Ukraine is being used by the American Empire for the Empire’s purposes. Ukrainians are mere expendables for the Empire’s campaign for global supremacy. As a libertarian who would you want to succeed in this endeavor for global supremacy: the American Empire or the Russians who seem at this moment in time to wish to be let alone and not under threat of Western encroachment? Are you for the Empire. Mr. Knapp? And your ‘I don’t have a dog in this fight’ is BS. We all have a stake. The future is being decided in Ukraine.
“I don’t believe you are impartial in this matter”
Feel free to believe whatever you want to believe. It’s not like you need my permission to tell yourself fairy tales.
I am against all the empires — including the US/UK/EU/NATO empire, and the Russian empire.
I’m also against states in general, including Ukraine.
While I would prefer that people have their choice of which authoritarian slave masters they are ruled by, I don’t, in principle, care that much whether this or that empire or authoritarian regime rules this or that tax farm.
Part of that is because I’m an anarchist.
Another part of it is that I understand that facts go on being facts whether I acknowledge them or not. So I might as well acknowledge them instead of picking a side to cheer for and then pretending that the facts don’t matter.
Surely you're not asserting this war is between Russia and the Ukraine??
Pro war democrats will vote for Trump if leading Democrats accept reality in Ukraine..? I doubt it. Maybe Democrats are capable of being embarrassed by the whacky things they have said to get their way, unlike Trumpers. Perhaps as long as a Ukrainian is left willing to die for nothing much, democratic US elites will keep footing the bill. I certainly hope not.
It isn't that it would hurt Harris so much. Instead, it would hurt the MIC insofar as their profits are concerned. They're getting vastly richer selling weapons to all parties concerned, with the exception of the Russians. Of course, that also means money in the pockets of the legislators. So, until the conflict in Ukraine is won, or the world goes up in a nuclear fireball, the war will go on.
Interesting, when Russia evacuates civilians the claim is that they're "kidnapping" them, but when Ukraine does it it's "humanitarian". Funny how that works.
The F-16s aren't actually in Ukraine, they're based in Romania and fly over Moldova on their way to Ukrainian territory so that they're safe from Russian AA. The US Air Farce has sent a KC-135 tanker to the same base, apparently to refuel them, since flying at low altitude reduces their range to something like 250 miles round trip and they can't fly at high altitude because they'll be taken out. So far the only time they've been seen in Ukraine is a flyover for a speech Zelinsky made extravagantly praising himself (the man seems to have a larger ego than Elon Musk), and they may have used external tanks to get there.
The end for Ukraine is near. This is just the beginning.
Read Scott Ritter and Col Macgregor latest analysis.
Is Macgregor still saying the Russians will have it wrapped up in a week or 10 days as he did on pretty much a daily basis for the first year of the war?