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It is an outcome that few dared to hope for. But 10 days after Ukraine's generals announced the start of their first major counter-attack against Russian troops, the road to victory is starting to become clearer. Clever tactics saw Ukraine's commanders draw Russian troops into the south of the country before pinning them down with a counter-attack around the city of Kherson. Some of Putin's best men are now all-but trapped in the city, bullied by Ukrainian artillery and with no easy way to retreat back across the Dnipro River after HIMARS strikes destroyed the main bridges. That gave Ukraine...

Ukrainian forces surprised occupying Russians with a one-two punch Thursday, pushing deep into enemy territory to open a second front in Kyiv’s counterattack. Ukrainian authorities announced the liberation of 20 villages in the northeast, outside Kharkiv, as the military pushed for the occupied city of Izyum — all while continuing a fierce fight for Kherson in the south. Oleksiy Hromov, a deputy chief with the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine, said Thursday that his nation’s forces — pushing toward the Donbas from Kharkiv — had penetrated more than 30 miles beyond Russia’s defensive line. “Since the beginning...

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...

Russia is preparing to hold "sham" referendums in occupied Ukrainian territories within a matter of days or weeks, the US warned on Wednesday. Moscow has instructed officials to begin preparations in areas that have fallen under its control during its war on Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. The first referenda could be announced as soon as this week's end, he added, noting the US and international community will not view any such elections as legitimate. "We expect Russia to try to manipulate the results of these referenda...

American High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems being used in Ukraine are making an impact on the conflict there between Ukrainians fighting to preserve their national sovereignty and Russian forces who have illegally invaded that country. The M142 HIMARS system allows for the launching of multiple, precision-guided rockets. Already, the U.S. had provided eight of the systems to Ukraine and last week promised to send an additional four, for a total of 12 of the systems. During a background briefing today at the Pentagon, a senior military official said the Defense Department believes the HIMARS are having an indirect, but significant...

"The actions of Viktor Yushchenko supporters raise deep concerns," reads a text upheld by the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odessa regional councils, and the High Council of the Crimean Autonomous Republic. "All attempts to illegally and forcefully overturn the results of the election cannot be justified even by the presence of violations during the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine." "The violations were recorded in all regions of the country and thousands of them were carried out by Yushchenko supporters. We are appalled by the gross insults from the mouths of opposition leaders toward millions of Ukrainian people...

Their report notes that the Russian occupiers have made limited progress only on the outskirts of Severodonetsk and in the Metiolkino area. Read also: Apart from Severodonetsk, Russian army trying to advance in Kharkiv Oblast, says UK intelligence On other axes, the Russian army has suffered heavy losses in both men and material, which makes further advances on other critical fronts impossible for the moment. The ISW noted that the invaders will be able to completely capture Severodonetsk only if they concentrate most of their forces there, meaning they would need to draw back their units to other areas...

Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border to the north of Kharkiv, the regional governor said today Video showed soldiers carrying a border marker to the frontier after pushing Putin's forces out of the country Russia has now all-but abandoned efforts to seize Ukraine's second-city, having already failed to take Kyiv Jens Stoltenburg, head of NATO alliance, said on Sunday that Kharkiv failure shows Ukraine can 'win' the war Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border after successfully pushing Putin's forces away from the country's second-city of Kharkiv, as Putin's invasion continues to falter. Soldiers carrying a border marker painted...

Ed Arnold, former British Army Officer and Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute has more on the situation in Ukraine. He said the battle is "effectively over" in Kharkiv and that Ukraine has won the fight in the city.The UK Ministry of Defence has said that Russia has "lost a third of their forces deployed in Ukraine" and is "unlikely to accelerate their rate of advance in the next 30 days."Their latest statement came as Russia's offensive in Donbas "lost momentum" and has "fallen significantly behind schedule."

KYIV — The front lines in the Ukraine war had shifted on Sunday as Russia made some advances in the fiercely contested eastern Donbas region and the Ukrainian military waged a counteroffensive near the strategic Russian-held city of Izium. ….snip Keeping up pressure on Izium and Russian supply lines will make it harder for Moscow to encircle battle-hardened Ukrainian troops on the eastern front in the Donbas. Izium straddles the Donets river, about 120 km (75 miles) from Kharkiv on the main highway heading southeast. “The hottest spot remains the Izium direction,” regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in comments aired...

Kharkiv's mayor tells the BBC that Ukrainian forces have pushed Russian troops "far out" from Ukraine's second city. "Now it is calm and people are gradually coming back to the city," Mayor Ihor Terekhov says The comments came after a respected military think tank said Ukraine has "likely won the battle" for Kharkiv

“Today is the 79th day,” Yevhen Kryvoruchko says as he welcomed visitors into the school basement that has been his home since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. Then he ducked down an uneven flight of stairs into the labyrinthine cellar. It was dark, chilly, damp – and home to 12 people, five cats, a dog and a hamster who have been living under School No. 172 since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. From the basement, Mr. Kryvoruchko and the other residents could hear the artillery and air strikes that battered the apartment...

Official Ukrainian statements, independent news reports, local social media, and RF state-controlled news platforms on Friday said UAF advance elements had closed on Ukraine’s border with Russia at multiple locations, Fighting according to those reports was in progress for the Ukraine-side border villages of Lipsy, Vesele, Kozacha Lopan’, Pitomik and Russki Tishy, all to Kharkiv’s north. ….snip Video images made public by the RF state-controlled news platform Readovka on May 13 showed scattered mortar or artillery strikes purportedly hitting fields and homes near the Solokhi, some 10 km inside Russia. There was no outside confirmation of the bombardment, but...

Tuesday, it became evident that the Russian Army was abandoning territory in Ukraine that it seized shortly after Putin’s War began on February 24 (Russian Troops Retreat From Ukraine to Russia: Planned Redeployment or the Beginning of Collapse?). That withdrawal opened the way for Ukrainian forces to recover previously occupied territory from north of Kharkiv to the border with Russia.What a difference a week makes. Russian positions a week ago on the left; from yesterday on the right. h/t @Militarylandnet pic.twitter.com/5gVye2hQra— streiff (@streiffredstate) May 10, 2022Unconfirmed but solid reports that Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border to the North-East...

Ukraine’s counteroffensive may have broken Russia’s siege of the strategic city of Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine. If true – and if Ukrainian troops can maintain their momentum – then this could outflank and threaten the main Russian offensive in the south. While premature to claim that this is a turning point in the war, it would force the Russian high command to divert forces northwards, and to juggle fighting on multiple fronts. “The Ukrainian counteroffensive north of Kharkiv City has forced Russian troops onto the defensive and has successfully alleviated artillery pressure on Kharkiv City,” according to the Institute for...

Ukraine has driven Russian troops back to their own border near Kharkiv and now threatens supply lines into Donbas as Putin's army suffers another humiliating loss. Commanders said late Tuesday they had recaptured four small towns to the north of Ukraine's second-largest city, with reports overnight suggesting they had pushed to within three miles of the Russian border. If confirmed, it would put the city of Vovchans'k - a key supply hub linking Russia's Belgorod to its frontlines in Donbas - within artillery range, threatening to cut supply lines and hamper Putin's efforts to take the region. Meanwhile, Ukraine's gas...

Ukrainian forces around Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, appear to have pushed Russian troops east past Ternova, a settlement on the Russian border. If confirmed, the Ukrainians’ liberation of Ternova could mark an inflection point in Russia’s 10-week-old wider war in Ukraine. In late March, Ukrainian forces drove Russian invaders from northern Ukraine. Now it appears they’re driving the invaders from northeastern Ukraine, too. Heavy fighting continues around Izium, south of Kharkiv—and also around Kherson on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. The Russians late last month briefly advanced around Kherson before stalling out. And Russian battalions more recently have captured a few...

Over the last week, the Russian position north of Kharkiv has collapsed. There are two explanations, and both involve an endgame for Putin’s War.Most commentary on military operations over the last week has focused on what is assumed to be the center of gravity of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, Donbas, and the siege of Mariupol. However, in my opinion, the real activity to watch has been occurring on the Ukraine-Russia border. Kharkiv had been under daily artillery and rocket fire, destroying most of it.When I saw the city center of Kharkiv, destroyed by air bombs, I was shocked. Last...

The war in Ukraine has had its fair share of embarrassments for the Kremlin. From the sinking of the Slava class cruiser Moskva in April to the infamous 40-mile-long Russian military convoy holdup near Kyiv seen earlier in the conflict, Moscow has had little to cheer about in terms of projecting competent military strength. The latest hit comes via visual evidence that a Russian T-90M Proryv-3 (Breakthrough-3) — a modern and rare main battle tank — has been destroyed on the battlefield by Ukrainian forces. Shared on Twitter by The Kyiv Independent’s defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko, the image, dated May...

A Ukrainian counter-offensive pushed Russian forces 25 miles east of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, US officials said on Monday night. They also said Russian gains in Donbas had been "minimal at best" and "quite frankly anaemic", and Vladimir Putin's troops appeared to be displaying a risk aversion to casualties.