According to defence analysts, weakened Russian soldiers still suffering from Ukraine’s catastrophic onslaught could not have “sufficient reserves or appropriate morale” to sustain any coordinated attack in the country’s east.
A new defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove, which is close to the boundary between the Kharkiv and Luhansk areas, is believed to have been established by Moscow, according to British defence intelligence specialists.
The Luhansk area, which is a part of the Donbas, was one of Russia’s primary warm-war objectives, which contributes to the zone’s importance.
The analysts claim that any significant loss of land here, one of the few key resupply routes from the Belgorod area of Russia, would “unambiguously undercut” Vladimir Putin’s approach to the battle.
Following a dramatic Ukrainian onslaught that began on September 6 that caught the invaders off guard and forced the Kremlin to yield large swaths of land, Russian lines in the east collapsed.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), it is uncertain if Russia’s frontline soldiers have the reserves or morale to fend off any coordinated Ukrainian attack in the country’s eastern regions.
Despite the outstanding performance of the Ukrainian military, President Zelensky said that it was still too early to declare a turning point in the conflict and that the result depended on the prompt supply of foreign weaponry to his nation.
In his first responses to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Putin smiled off the advances but cautioned that if its forces came under greater strain, Russia would retaliate more harshly.
This raises concerns about how the tyrant in Russia can worsen the situation in Ukraine. Some experts foresee a widespread mobilisation of Russian civilians, while others worry that Putin might be considering using nuclear weapons.
President Joe Biden cautioned Putin to refrain from deploying nuclear weapons as his troops are routed in Ukraine or face “consequences” in light of the danger.
The president was questioned by Scott Pelley in a preview of this Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes about what advice he would provide to his Russian counterpart if that country were contemplating deploying chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the Ukraine.
Don’t, Biden advised. Don’t. Don’t. Unlike anything since World War II, you will alter how war is seen.
Pelley pressed the president on how the US would react if Putin crossed the line, but Biden would only answer that the US would take action if nuclear weapons were used.
It will have consequences, added Biden. “[Russia] will see an increase in its status as a global pariah.
And what would happen would depend on how far they go with their actions.
After the Russians left, Ukrainian troops freed a large number of cities and villages, including the important city of Izium, where remains had been discovered at a mass grave.
500 victims were uncovered in the mass grave, and at least eleven torture rooms were unearthed in the Kharkiv area.
Igor Klymenko, the head of the Ukrainian police, said that two torture facilities had been discovered in Balaklya, a town located in the Kharkiv region’s northeast.
Vitaly Ganchev, the leader of a pro-Russian government that the counteroffensive forced out, claimed that Ukrainians had staged crimes in the city of Izium.
The charge follows the Kremlin’s standard strategy of asserting that it has been set up in connection with purported crimes carried out by its own soldiers.
According to Klymenko, the majority of those interred in the mass graves are civilians, and some of the graves are simply labelled with numbers. Other graves have military markings, indicating that they include military burials.
Although the exact cause of death is still unknown, the Ukrainians claim that some of the victims most likely perished in battle while others may have been hit by shelling and succumbed to their injuries.
A representative for the UN indicated that human rights observers would visit Izium “to attempt to establish a little more about what may have transpired.”
Children and adults, citizens and members of the military, were among the fatalities, according to Zelensky.
‘Tortured, shot, and shelled to death. Mother, father, and daughter are all buried there, according to Mr. Zelensky.
Klymenko said at a press conference when asked whether the mass grave mostly comprised troops or civilians: “On a first assessment, civilians.” Despite having knowledge that there are soldiers there, we have failed to find a single one.
Klymenko said that authorities had initiated 204 criminal cases looking into the atrocities, and that police had started exhuming the site to obtain evidence of possible war crimes.
In addition to digging up graves of people whose remains exhibit indications of summary execution and have been mangled, prosecutors have so far discovered Russian torture facilities. People have also related tales of rapes, forced disappearances, arbitrary incarceration, and other atrocities, including being electrocuted during questioning sessions.
According to the director of the prosecutor’s office in Kharkiv, Ukraine, several of the victims discovered at the mass grave site bore evidence of torture, with some having ropes around their necks or their wrists tied behind their backs.
Numerous adults and children murdered in a Russian attack on an apartment complex were among the hundreds of people buried in the individual graves, according to Sergei Gorodko, an Izium local. He claimed to have “pulled several of them out with my own hands” from the debris.
When Zelensky linked Izium to Mariupol and Bucha, two places where Russia has deliberately killed citizens in what have been called crimes against humanity, he alluded to war crimes.
“We want the world to understand the reality and the consequences of the Russian occupation.” He mentioned Bucha, Mariupol, and now, regrettably, Izyum. “Death is left everywhere in Russia.” And it needs to be held responsible.
The remains will be unearthed and sent for forensic testing, according to Serhii Bolvinov, head police investigator for the Kharkiv area.
It is a component of a significant police operation in which the cops collaborate with prosecutors and other detectives to find evidence of atrocities.
Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, characterised the military recapture of Izium as a “major strategic victory.”
She told Sky News that Ukraine was also making strong strides in the north and south east of the nation.
We are making progress not just for our own benefit but also for the benefit of restoring the continent’s long-established peace.
When asked what she believed Mr. Putin may do next, she said, “Nobody can be in that power-crazed leader’s head.”
Whatever it is, she said, “We must be ready for it. As Ukrainians, we must be ready, and you must be ready in the UK.
And in fact, everyone in the globe has to be ready for the possibility that something very horrible, another insane action, may occur at any moment.
“To do so, Ukrainians need to be armed and equipped with the right quantity of ammunition to defend themselves.”
“And the West has to be ready to impose every penalty under the sun on Russia,” he said.
A senior NATO military advisor said that Western sanctions are beginning to hinder Russia’s capacity to produce cutting-edge weapons for the conflict in Ukraine, while he added that Russia could still produce “a lot of ammo.”
At a regional security forum on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping turned down an invitation to eat with Russian President Vladimir Putin and 11 other heads of state.
This slight highlights Putin’s isolation on the world stage, even among his own so-called supporters.
This week, Xi will be in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is jointly governed by China and Russia since the start of the epidemic.
He was missing, though, from group photos that were released late on Thursday when the leaders—including Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Vladimir Putin—went out to dinner.
Later, a source in the Uzbek government confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese team used the COVID-19 policy as the reason.
The rejection comes just a few hours after Putin and Xi met to praise their strategic alliance in defiance of the West in light of Russia’s internationally denounced war in Ukraine and China’s claim to Taiwan’s self-government.
Despite Russia’s unwavering support for China’s claim to Taiwan, Xi has raised reservations about Putin’s military activities across the border, as Putin recognised at yesterday’s meetings.
Putin said Xi, “We strongly respect the impartial stance of our Chinese allies when it comes to the Ukraine situation.”
“We recognise your concerns and inquiries regarding this. We will of course express our viewpoint at today’s meeting.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, also criticised Vladimir Putin, reminding him that now was not the time for war.
At the SCO conference, Mr. Putin told Mr. Modi that Moscow wants to see a swift conclusion to the conflict in an effort to allay India’s worries. Additionally, he said that Ukrainian authorities had turned down offers to talk.
The Russian leader reminded Mr. Modi, “I know your position on the issue in Ukraine and the worries you have often expressed.”
“We will do every effort to put a stop to it as soon as we can. Unfortunately, the other side—the Ukrainian government—has rejected the dialogue process and said that it prefers to pursue its objectives via force on the battlefield.