![]() ![]() “It turned out that the enemy is capable of simultaneously mounting large-scale offensives at several fronts, including the one where we only had a thin chain of outposts lined up in one echelon with even tactical reserves missing,” Strelkov said. But he said the number of troops in the Kharkiv region was woefully insufficient to handle a counteroffensive. Strelkov pointed out that a sizable Russian force blunted Ukrainian attacks in late August and early September in the country's south. Igor Strelkov, a Russian officer who led Moscow-backed forces in the early months of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine after it erupted in 2014, denounced top Russian military officials as “morons” for underestimating Kyiv. The Ukrainian blitz and the Kremlin's failure to mount a quick response has infuriated Russian nationalist commentators and military bloggers, who chastised Defense Ministry brass for failing to foresee and fend off the counteroffensive. Nadezhdin’s statement, made during a carefully orchestrated talk show, appeared to reflect widening doubts in some quarters of Russian officialdom about the future of the Ukraine operation and could be part of efforts to float possible policy shifts. On another flank, liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin warned on broadcaster NTV that Russia won’t be able to defeat Ukraine, and he called for negotiations. The criticism from Kadyrov, who has sent Chechen units to fight in Ukraine and repeatedly pushed for tougher action in bellicose language, has revealed new rifts over the course of action in Ukraine. In a stark reflection of internal tensions provoked by Kyiv's successes, the Kremlin-backed regional leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, openly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for “mistakes” that made Ukrainian gains possible. He described the situation a “sign that the state’s control over the narrative is cracking.” PACIFIC CATCH MENU HOW TO“The Kremlin seems stunned, and has not yet come up with a plan as to how to try and spin this, so to a large extent the media are ignoring the bad news until they get a directive,” said Mark Galeotti, a professor at University College, London, who specializes in Russian security affairs. ![]() On Sunday night, Russian missiles struck key Ukrainian infrastructure targets, knocking out power in several regions. The new Ukrainian blitz, which has boosted the country's morale as the war passed 200 days on Sunday, could set the stage for further gains in the east and elsewhere.īut it also could potentially trigger an even more violent Moscow response, leading to a new and dangerous escalation of hostilities. “It’s not Ukraine but all of NATO who is fighting us,” wrote Alexander Kots, a war correspondent for the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. Many in Russia blamed Western weapons and fighters for the setbacks. Russian state television and other government-controlled media followed suit, avoiding a direct mention of the retreat while extolling the performance by Russian forces in individual combat episodes.Ī Defense Ministry video showed a Russian helicopter gunship attacking Ukrainian troops trying to cross the Oskil River in a previously quiet part the Kharkiv region, an acknowledgement of the broad scale of the ongoing Ukrainian attack. ![]() PACIFIC CATCH MENU PATCHThe ministry hasn't offered any specifics about the pullback, but it released a map Sunday showing the Russian troops that were pressed back along a narrow patch of land on the border with Russia - a tacit admission of big Ukrainian gains. The Defense Ministry declared the troop pullback was intended to strengthen Russia's forces in the Donbas, a somewhat weak excuse, given that Russia-held areas in the Kharkiv region provided a key vantage point for Moscow's operations in the Donetsk region to the south. ![]()
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