Russia’s capture of the last major holdout in Luhansk means it can shift its focus.

NY Times ^ | July 3, 2022 | Thomas Gibbons-Neff

[McGruff]

Russia’s capture of the strategic city of Lysychansk means the front line in Ukraine’s east will shift as Russian forces regroup before pushing further south and west, military analysts and Ukrainian officers said Sunday, ensuring that the next phase of the battle will be just as bloody as the last.

To take Lysychansk and its neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk, Russian forces moved in from the north, east and west and created a pocket of territory that became indefensible toward the end of June. Now those Russian forces are in a position to attempt a similar maneuver on other Ukrainian-held cities in the coming months.

Military experts believe they will reconstitute their casualty-degraded units before attacking the Ukrainian military’s strategic hub in the smaller city of Bahkmut to the south. In short, Russia’s likely strategy will be to create another pocket around the bigger industrial cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian military officials believe the next offensive will come from the direction of Popasna in the east toward Bahkmut while northern and western Russian lines simply hold Ukranian’s forces there in place.

[BenLurkin]

Now might be a good moment for everyone involved to seriously seek peace.

[Mount Athos]

https://www.teletrader.com/us-now-not-time-for-russia-ukraine-talks/news/details/58164838

Now is not the right time for the resumption of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, United States National Security Council’s Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby (pictured) told Fox News on Sunday.

[montag813]

All these neocon armchair generals seem to forget how Russia always plays the long game, and does not sweat piles of bodies on their own side. They screwed up their initial invasion plan, and then some. But then retreated, regrouped, and changed the entire game plan (to what they should have done in the first place). Now it appears they can systematically take every inch of Ukraine to the river -- which would make Ukraine fully defensible from NATO forces, while providing Russia at least 75% of all wheat, coal and natural gas riches.

As the comment above suggests, it's time to push the comedian aside, and sue for peace.

[Karl Spooner]

Get ready, Kiev!

.

[datura]

Any bets on Biden’s handlers initiating a no-fly zone in Ukraine’s west before the midterms?

[crz]

Should have done that before this whole thing exploded.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

But Russia is losing.

The Soros stooges told us so.

[Kazan]

If this wasn’t about defending “the liberal new world order”, a sane President and western leaders would be telling Ukraine to surrender, declare neutrality and beg the Russians to let it keep Odessa and some access to the Black Sea.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Now might be a good moment for everyone involved to seriously seek peace.

Amen!

[entropy12]

Why? That chance was wasted by erotic dancer Zelensky when Russia’s initial military strategy was not succeeding. Zelensky was dumb fool to believe NATO & Biden would come to save his kingdom. Now Russia has the upper hand, and can grab all the goodies from Ukraine, methodically, one by one.

[McGruff]

[entropy12]

It is a good bet, that a desperate Biden, watching polls ahead of mid-terms, would initiate WWIII.

[entropy12]

Have you kept a record of Soros stooges who were posting here about how Ukraine & very brave Zelensky were wining the war?

[T.B. Yoits]

Any bets on Biden’s handlers initiating a no-fly zone in Ukraine’s west before the midterms?

No-fly zones only work against defeated militaries of 2nd and 3rd tier countries. They also only work against countries with large amounts of airspace. Close proximity borders allow for workarounds as well as surprise interdiction by the intended target of the no-fly order.

[Fido969]

I thought Lysychansk was “the high ground” the the Ukrainians could defend forever.

[McGruff]

Russia is staring to obtain their goals, why would they want to seek peace. Ukraine should have surrendered after Mariupol and save what military they had left.

[lodi90]

Zelensky watched Biden ignore Ukraine for all of 2021 while he partnered with Putin to nuke up Death to America Iran. He knows what he can expect from the west.

Russia, the biggest country in the world, is doing all it can right now: destroy one Ukrainian village at a time. How pathetic is that?

[Fido969]

This is mostly symbolic, it just happens to be the last territory on one province. Russia has a lot more in order to take the entire Donbas.

[entropy12]

If Russia is winning with that strategy, why change it?

As they say “everything is fair in love and war”.