It’s safe to say that Vladimir Putin’s game plan (if he ever had one) in Ukraine has fallen to pieces. He dramatically (in a case of true political theater) signed signed annexation papers for chunks of Ukraine that contain villages, which were the only locations where Russia’s shambles of an army could gain a foothold because the cities (especially Kyiv) are so fortified by Ukraine. While Putin signed these papers, Ukraine was taking much of this territory back. President Zelensky’s forces made significant advances, especially over the past week, in an Eastern stronghold and throughout Southern territory.
Meanwhile, Russia’s army is now full of essentially untrained draftees and private mercenaries who are apparently accidentally shooting Putin’s soldiers. It’s nuts, and Wall Street Journal has a grimly amusing update: a big reason for Ukraine’s sudden burst in firepower is that the Russians have been fleeing from the battlefield and just leaving their sh*t behind. So, Ukraine now suddenly has more tanks and cannons and other “warehouses of supplies,” and they didn’t even have to fund this newfound artillery. Here’s more:
Captured and abandoned Russian tanks, howitzers and fighting vehicles — quickly scrubbed of their Z tactical markers and repainted with Ukrainian crosses — are being turned against their former owners as Ukraine’s military advances in the eastern part of the country.
Ukraine’s rapid breakthrough in the Kharkiv region a month ago ended up putting hundreds of pieces of Russian armor into Kyiv’s hands, military officials say, as the Russian army left behind its heavy weapons and warehouses of supplies in a disorganized retreat.
Good for Ukraine. That’s especially the case since the WSJ adds that Zelensky’s troops were actually running short on bullets until recently, when they were able to push out Russians to such a degree that Putin’s boys (who have been disguising themselves and getting the hell out of there) essentially handed it all over. As of now, Ukraine has been able to take back 4000 square miles of territory near that aforementioned eastern stronghold, and given that Russia’s army is really off their game now (due to Putin’s enormous draft), one can expect Zelensky’s advances to continue.
(Via Wall Street Journal)