Ukraine war mega thread

[sabang]

It is more Russian propaganda.

As is everything else that doesn't agree with your spoonfed narrative- but the figures come from the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak republic, and two other sources. SCF is merely publishing it. And indeed, I find it quite strange.

[helge]

Putin has lost his gamble and doesn't have the funds to buy his way out. He needs to leave the table but hasn't calmed down enough to work it out yet.

I don't think he will

Escalation is still a possibility and everything could explode very quickly.

I'm afraid that it is a given.

I just don't see how he could "soften" up his opponents.

[pickel]

the figures come from the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak republic, and two other sources

Got a link for that?

Or just a meme?

[russellsimpson]

Recognised by whom?

Russia but you would have already know that.

I would't be surprised if it will soon be joined by others. Most countries will be taking a neutral position. I'd like to see the Russians roundly condemned. Biden has a huge gamble on his hands if he pushed this 'fer us or agin us' line. 'Big miistake if he brings this to the General Assembly. He reserve the right to bring sanctions against countries that break already imposed sanctions.

When the bricks fell the Americas decided that the only reasonable thing to do was to bring relentless pressure on the new country with the intention of ultimately destroying it. Anyway that's how I am beginning to see the situation and the history. In terms of nation on nation long term military conflict in the European context. We really have not come far from the Congress of Vienna two hundres plus years ago.

[pickel]

I would't be surprised if it will soon be joined by others. Most countries will be taking a neutral position.

Then why has Russia vetoed a vote on it? Not as easy to bring guns into the general assembly I guess.

Even Serbia and Kazakhstan have said they won't recognize the annexation. And abstentions aren't the same as voting for, if a vote were to be held.

[Norton]

Then why has Russia vetoed a vote on it?

Veto power of China, United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia is something that needs to be rid of in the UN. Outdated and gives too much power to a few.

[Hugh Cow]

You really have a hard-on about this . . . every single time.


It is in Russia, China, North Korea . . . basically anywhere you find a dictatorship that needs to show they are there for an by the people.

Not a hard on Hattie. I admit I have been critical of Europe on many occasions but I think the criticism on this occasion was fair if you look at aid to Ukraines military. Australia has contributed more military aid than France Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Belguim and Finland. Austria and Ireland have contributed zero and I have only included the western countries. In many cases the poorer eastern european countries have contributed more, understandable due to their closer proximity and history with Russia but then Australia isn't even in the same hemisphere.
Heres a list of the top seven countries by military aid from late Jan to early august this year in Euros:
USA 25 billion
UK 4 billion
Poland 1.8 billion
Germany 1.2 billion
Canada 930 million
Denmark 270 million
Australia 250 million

[bsnub]

As is everything else that doesn't agree with your spoonfed narrative

This from the useful idiot who is regurgitating Russian propaganda.

[bsnub]

Ukrainian forces appeared to make sweeping new gains Monday, piling pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin faced growing domestic unease over the state of its struggling military and the chaotic efforts to reinforce it.

Kyiv’s troops were pushing forward in the country’s east and south, threatening a major new breakthrough and forcing Putin's soldiers to retreat from territory he claimed to have annexed in a grand ceremony last week.

Moscow has matched its annexation claims with a call-up of reservists and new nuclear threats, a broad intervention that has not only threatened to escalate its clash with Ukraine’s Western allies, but also expose domestic vulnerabilities.

Russian lawmakers Monday ratified the illegal annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions: Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. But while the Kremlin said it had not yet determined where the borders for its newly claimed land would be established, the areas under its control were being rapidly pushed back.

Advances in the south and east

Moscow said its troops abandoned Lyman over the weekend to avoid encirclement, with Western officials and observers hailing Ukraine's recapture of the city in the eastern Donetsk region as a significant development that could pave the way for further advances.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said his military had retaken two settlements in the southern Kherson region. “The successes of our soldiers are not limited to Lyman,” he said in a statement on Telegram on Sunday.

That was the first official sign of significant Ukrainian gains in the south, where Russia concentrated the majority of its forces to repel a long-touted counteroffensive — opening itself up to the surprise push in the northeast that has turned the tide of the war.

After weeks of slow progress and relentless artillery fire in the south, Ukraine seemed to be surging forward there as well.

“Superior enemy tank units succeeded in wedging into the depth of our defense," Russia's Defense Ministry said in an update on Telegram.

“The information is tense, let’s put it that way, because, yes there were indeed breakthroughs,” Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Kherson, told Russian state television, according to Reuters.

“There’s a settlement called Dudchany, right along the Dnieper River, and right there, in that region, there was a (Ukrainian) breakthrough,” he said. That would represent a major forward thrust of about 20 miles, threatening thousands of Russian troops on the west bank of the river.

Meanwhile, retaking Lyman allowed Ukrainian forces to advance into the neighboring Luhansk region.

Kyiv's troops "managed to cross the administrative border of the LPR and gain a foothold in the direction of the settlement of Lysychansk," said Andrii Marochko, a Russian-installed official in the self-proclaimed breakaway "Luhansk People's Republic."

Lysychansk is a key city that Russia seized after weeks of grinding battles earlier in the year.

Russian unease

Ukraine’s successes despite Russia’s proclaimed annexation have added to mounting pressure on Putin, with voices usually supportive of the Kremlin criticizing Russia's performance in the war.

“The Russian defeat in Kharkiv Oblast and Lyman, combined with the Kremlin’s failure to conduct partial mobilization effectively and fairly are fundamentally changing the Russian information space,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.

The discussion of the conflict “has significantly deviated from the narratives preferred by the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) that things are generally under control,” the U.S.-based military think thank added.

The country's state media has reflected the increasingly pessimistic tone.

“For a certain period of time, things won’t be easy for us. We shouldn’t be expecting good news right now,” Vladimir Solovyov, the most prominent presenter on state TV, said Sunday.
Dmitry Sablin, a senior lawmaker, said on Solovyov's show that Russian forces needed to “stop and regroup” and were facing all sorts of shortages.

Nationalist Russian military bloggers have turned in recent days to criticizing the direction of the war, with many reporting on the latest battlefield setbacks.

“When this many Russian channels are sounding the alarm, it usually means they’re in trouble,” Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank, said on Twitter.

Putin has sought to boost his ailing forces by calling up hundreds of thousands of men, a partial mobilization that has been marked by chaotic conscription efforts and an exodus of many fleeing the draft.

Around half of the soldiers conscripted in one region of Russia's far east were sent home after being deemed unfit to serve in the army, the local governor announced Monday.

The military commissar of the region was also removed from his position, Khabarovsk Gov. Mikahil Degtyarev said in a statement on his Telegram channel.

"The Kremlin’s declaration of partial mobilization exposed the general Russian public to the consequences of the defeat around Kharkiv and then at Lyman, shattering the Kremlin’s efforts to portray the war as limited and generally successful," the Institute for the Study of War said.

In a further sign of uncertainty, it remained unclear exactly what land Russia claimed to be annexing in Ukraine's east and south.

"We will continue to consult with the population of these regions on the borders,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in response to a question on the subject.

Putin has vowed to use “all available means” to defend the territory he was co-opting, an implied threat of nuclear war to defend his fragile grip on the annexed territory. That grip appeared to be loosening further with each new update.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/p...tary-rcna50408

[bsnub]

KHERSON /1330 UTC 3 OCT/ The UKR breakthrough on the T-04-03 is confirmed to have reached Dudchny. RU units are now repositioning to meet this thrust. UKR will be quick to take advantage of the withdrawal of RU defenders at any point along the contact line.

[sabang]

Yes, very good point made here.


The Narrative That This War Was “Unprovoked” Prevents Peace




Vladimir Putin has approved the annexation of four territories in eastern Ukraine, whose addition to the Russian Federation now await authorization from Russia’s other branches of government.

The Zelensky government responded to the move by applying to join NATO, only to be immediately shut down by US and NATO officials. Can’t have sacrificial pawns trying to rise above their station on the grand chessboard, after all.

But the empire’s proxy war against Russia continues, and the Ukrainian government has announced its intentions to drive out Russia from all of the Ukrainian territories it has claimed as its own.

“For our plans, [Russia’s annexation] doesn’t matter,” Zelensky advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told Politico, adding that Ukraine will “protect our land using all our forces” and “should liberate all its territories.”

The plan to reclaim territories annexed by Russia will according to Zelensky also include Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

All this talk about preparing a massive western-backed counter-offensive to recapture annexed territories from Russia — whose ranks are being reinforced with an additional 300,000 reservists — comes as Putin suggests that nuclear weapons may be used to protect what Moscow considers parts of Russia. Russia, like the United States, is one of the nuclear-armed nations without a No First Use policy.

So we appear to be on a collision course toward a massive escalation between two nuclear-armed powers. The more things escalate the more likely it is that a nuclear weapon may be used, either deliberately or as a result of miscommunication or malfunction as nearly happened many times during the last cold war. Once one nuke is used the odds go up astronomically that a great many more will immediately follow, with variables on this outcome including the location where it detonates and how cool all the relevant heads happen to be at that particular historic moment.

It is therefore no exaggeration to say that the human species has a vested interest in de-escalation and detente right away. Avoiding nuclear war is the single most important agenda in the entire world, without exception. It is the single most important agenda that has ever existed in all of history.

But whenever you advocate for this supremely important agenda in any kind of public forum, you get a bunch of brainwashed empire automatons bleating about “appeasement” and accusing you of supporting a monstrous madman. And they do this because that’s what they were trained to do.

As Noam Chomsky has been


pointing out repeatedly, the political/media class have been continually indoctrinating the public with the completely false narrative that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked”. Every time the war comes up the imperial spinmeisters utter that slogan, in much the same way Michael Jackson had a quota for how often MTV hosts were obligated to refer to him as “The King of Pop Michael Jackson” when his name was mentioned.

But what does it mean if the war is “unprovoked”? It means Putin didn’t invade Ukraine because of anything the western empire was doing, so it couldn’t have been prevented by the western empire behaving less aggressively on Russia’s borders. It means Putin necessarily invaded because he is some kind of evil lunatic who loves to commit war crimes, or a megalomaniacal tyrant who wants to conquer the world because he hates freedom and democracy. Which means he will keep attacking and invading other countries unless he can be stopped. Which means the only answer to the Putin problem is more war.

This is why empire apologists get angry at those who advocate the only sane and rational position toward nuclear brinkmanship by calling for de-escalation and detente. It’s because they’ve been aggressively indoctrinated into the belief that war is the only answer.

The moronic narrative that the invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked” poses a massive obstacle to peace, because if Putin is just attacking and invading countries solely because he’s crazy and evil it means detente is impossible and he won’t stop until he’s decisively crushed. If it’s accepted that the US empire has played no role in provoking Putin’s actions, that means there’s nothing the empire could do to make continued Russian aggression less likely apart from regime change, or at least severely crippling and punishing Russia militarily.

As long as the fact that this war was provoked remains unacknowledged by the side that provoked it, the sane path of de-escalation and detente will look like reckless appeasement of an irrational madman, and aggressive escalations of nuclear brinkmanship will look like sanity. The absurd position that Putin is an irrational actor with some kind of weird sexual fetish for war crimes is a one-way ticket to endlessly escalating war and eventual nuclear annihilation, because it leaves you with no options but continually intensifying military confrontation.

The claim that peace is impossible and Putin must be crushed imperils the whole world. Even to deliver total victory in Ukraine (pushing Russia back to pre-2014 borders) could easily end up costing millions of lives and trillions of dollars and exponentially increase the risk of nuclear war, with no guarantee of success at all. But even if you did push Putin all the way out of Ukraine, what then? He’ll still be a crazy madman who wants to invade countries because he’s evil and hates freedom. The internal logic of your narrative says the attacks on Russia must continue until you get regime change. There’s no stopping point on your line of thinking until there’s a direct hot confrontation between nuclear superpowers.

Be an adult and engage your critical thinking. Does a madman who goes around invading countries solely because he’s evil and hates freedom sound like a real-life human being to you? Or does it sound made up? Like something you’d see in a Hollywood movie? Like something that was concocted by people responsible for controlling the dominant narratives of our society and funneled into your mind using media?

Marvel supervillains have more depth and complexity than the one-dimensional characters the imperial spin machine concocts to represent its official enemies. Thanos was a more believable character with more understandable and nuanced motivations than the propaganda machine’s fictional representation of Putin. That representation has been overlaid on top of the actual government official who you might not necessarily agree with, but can definitely understand and engage in diplomacy and negotiation.

People who believe the empire’s narratives about its official enemies have fewer critical thinking skills than your average Marvel movie viewer. Think. Be a grown up and think. Someone’s benefitting from the aggressively promulgated narrative that peace is impossible and war is the only solution. And that someone isn’t you.

https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/th...e-dc64dcf1f29b

[bsnub]

More of your repetitive twattle that belongs in the dog house.

[sabang]

Yet another of your boring, repetitive responses that just clogs up this thread with dross, and offers no response let alone rational debate to the point(s) being made. Downright infantile. Yet again, yawwwwn, the average, intelligent reader can decide for themself, and you are Not a Mod neither in any position to continue criticising and insulting them. Grow up.

[misskit]

Putin’s Right-Hand Men Publicly Mock ‘Garbage’ War Failures

Cracks are emerging among Vladimir Putin’s cronies over the Russian president’s military leadership and whether to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.


As Ukrainian forces pummeled the city of Lyman over the weekend, Ramzan Kadyrov, a longtime Putin ally and leader of Chechnya, lashed out at Putin’s approach there, criticizing Russian troops’ withdrawal and the Russian commander of the Central Military District, Alexander Lapin.

“It’s not a shame that Lapin is mediocre, but the fact that he is covered at the top by the leaders in the General Staff,” he said on Saturday, taking a dig at the entire operation. “There is no place for nepotism in the army, especially in difficult times.”


Another key Putin ally, Evgeniy Prigozhin, Putin’s so-called “chef” who helped orchestrate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections in the United States and who heads up the mercenary group Wagner, seems to have also turned on Putin’s strategy in Ukraine.


“Send all these pieces of garbage barefoot with machine guns straight to the front,” Prigozhin said, referring to Putin’s army bosses.

The public criticism from key Putin supporters comes just as Russia is working to project unity and power on the world stage. After a series of defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine, Putin initiated a partial mobilization to bolster the war effort and held sham referenda in an attempt to illegally annex territories in Ukraine.


The internal divisions are mounting. Kadyrov also said that Russia should use a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine. But the Kremlin is now jabbing back at him, suggesting that Kadyrov got too emotional and that cooler heads should prevail.


“The heads of Russia’s regions have the authority to express their point of view and to make assessments,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday. But “even in the most difficult moments emotions should probably be excluded from any comments.”


The Kremlin's effort to distance itself from Kadyrov’s hawkish stance comes just days after Russia’s efforts to illegally annex several regions in Ukraine. The move has set off alarm bells over whether the Kremlin will consider Ukrainian counter-offensives to take back the regions as attacks on Russian territory.


Russia’s nuclear doctrine lays out that Russia’s use of nuclear weapons should be used in self-defense. But Russian officials have reiterated in recent weeks that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if there is an existential threat to the country or if there is an attack against Russia, even if the attack uses conventional weapons alone.


And Russia has made it clear that it would defend the newly annexed regions in Ukraine—the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions—with “all means at its disposal.”


Putin himself has hinted at Russia’s potential interest in using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.


The cleavage between Kadyrov, Prigozhin, and the Kremlin appears to be emblematic of larger problems in Moscow’s approach to Ukraine in the eighth month of the war. Although Russia hosted its sham referenda last week in Ukraine, the Kremlin acknowledged Monday that Russia is not necessarily confident in what territories it has specifically claimed as Russian, according to Peskov. Russia doesn’t control the territories it annexed, and Peskov suggested the Kremlin had to ask around about which borders it will claim as its own, an indication that the illegal annexation process may not be going as smoothly as Moscow expected.


“We are going to continue to consult the populations of these regions,” Peskov said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-...lures?ref=home

[bsnub]

Yet another of your boring, repetitive responses that just clogs up this thread with dross, and offers no response let alone rational debate to the point(s) being made.

There is nothing to debate, it is the same repetitive nonsense you have been posting from the start. Multiple people have thanked me for my posts and said that they have appreciated my updates. Your posts, on the other hand, not so much.

The fact is, you snivelling Putin apologists are losing the war.

[sabang]

Yet again, people of the stature of Noam Chomsky, John Mearsheimer, Jeffrey Sachs, Pat Buchanan, Jack Matlock etc are not "Putin apologists" at all- will you grow up and cease being such a baby? They have valid points to make (which you are free to disagree with), proceed from a far more senior and experienced perspective than you will ever have, and in several instances were even intimately involved with the international diplomacy that culminated in the dissolution of the USSR back in the Reagan era- without a shot being fired. Grow up.

[panama hat]

Not a hard on Hattie.

I believe you do, every time it's about how great the US and UK are and how miserable the rest are. This is odd because I most often wholeheartedly agree with your opinions.
Try looking at it like this:

France has been a major source of military support for Ukraine. Like most European nations, France has opted not to disclose details of its arms deliveries to Ukraine with the exception of the Caesar SPGs, the disclosure of which also served the purpose of publicly reaffirming France's support to Ukraine and sending a message of deterrence to Moscow. Though France has delivered far less in materiel support than Germany at this point in the conflict, it has come under less scrutiny than Berlin.

No one is obliged to declare the number of weapons nor the dollars/Euro nor the humanitarian aid they send to Ukraine.
Arms For Ukraine: French Weapons Deliveries To Kyiv - Oryx

However, let us just look at one instance:

• On 5 May, President Macron announced $1.7 billion were donated to Ukraine so far in 2022.^[151][152]
• Additional financial aid of US$300 million announced on 5 May, bringing the total to US$2 billion.^[151][152]

I think the criticism on this occasion was fair if you look at aid to Ukraines military.

How do you look at aid? Do you include the billions on weaponry? Cash alone?

Australia has contributed more military aid than France Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Belguim and Finland

Except that isn't true. Try this, with a link:

Ms Ollongren spoke with Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Oleksii Reznikov, and Minister for Veterans Affairs Yuliia Laputina. Since the start of the war the Netherlands has given Ukraine materiel, arms, ammunition and equipment with a book value of over €210 million. During her various meetings, Ms Ollongren promised to continue providing this kind of support to Ukraine.

Now, The Netherlands has a population of 17 million. Far less than Australia.
Portugal has 10 million
Belgium has 11
Finland has 5
Far far less than Australia.

France has delivered far more than Australia . . . and Italy . . . meh. No idea, they don't give figures.


Now, if you would care to look at percentage of military spending provided to Ukraine . . . yea . . . that changes things dramatically.

Where Military Aid to Ukraine Comes From

UKRAINE INVASION

by Katharina Buchholz,
Sep 8, 2022
Looking at pledges of military aid to Ukraine between Jan 24 and August 3, the U.S. government has committed to providing the most arms, weapons and other equipment by far. $25 billion in military aid was pledged up until the given date, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.



The second-ranked country, the United Kingdom, has pledged far less - just over $4 billion – in the given time frame. In relative terms, however, both military aid commitments amount to approximately 0.1 percent of either country's GDP. Looking at this metric, Ukraine's smaller neighbors contributed more to its war effort, for example Poland (military aid of 0.3 percent of GDP) or Estonia (0.8 percent). Even when combining military, financial and humanitarian aid delivered or pledged by the U.S. is added up, this only amounts to 0.2 percent the country's GDP.

https://www.statista.com/chart/27278...ne-by-country/


Like in your previous posts you fail to take into account the size of the economy, military spending, population size etc ad infinitum . . .

Could they all do more? Yes, of course . . . think about it this way as well, most NATO countries don't have large stockpiles of weapons etc... at their disposal. Several are running dry. Russian changes its course and goes west.

Crap

[panama hat]

Yet another of your boring, repetitive responses that just clogs up this thread with dross, and offers no response let alone rational debate to the point(s) being made. Downright infantile. Yet again, yawwwwn

Good reflection, sabang. You have the power to change yourself.

[harrybarracuda]

Yet again, people of the stature of Noam Chomsky, John Mearsheimer, Jeffrey Sachs, Pat Buchanan, Jack Matlock etc are not "Putin apologists" at all- will you grow up and cease being such a baby? They have valid points to make (which you are free to disagree with), proceed from a far more senior and experienced perspective than you will ever have, and in several instances were even intimately involved with the international diplomacy that culminated in the dissolution of the USSR back in the Reagan era- without a shot being fired. Grow up.

You keep clinging on to any old has-been that might hint at an anti-American opinion, and now it's the fact that they were around in the Reagan years that suddenly makes them worth wanking over.

No-one fucking cares about carping old pensioners with a pathological and irrational hatred of America.

Anyone that would support a murderous dictator who has invaded a sovereign country and committed war crimes by the thousand is a worthless piece of scum.

That includes you.

[bsnub]

No-one fucking cares about carping old pensioners with a pathological and irrational hatred of America.

Anyone that would support a murderous dictator who has invaded a sovereign country and committed war crimes by the thousand is a worthless piece of scum.

Hear Hear!

[harrybarracuda]

SVIATOHIRSK/KYIV, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have broken through Russia's defences in the south of the country while expanding their rapid offensive in the east, seizing back more territory in areas annexed by Moscow and threatening supply lines for Russian troops.

Making their biggest breakthrough in the south since the war began, Ukrainian forces recaptured several villages in an advance along the strategic Dnipro River on Monday, Ukrainian officials and a Russian-installed leader in the area said.

The southern breakthrough mirrors recent Ukrainian advances in the east even as Moscow has tried to raise the stakes by annexing land, ordering mobilisation, and threatening nuclear retaliation.

Ukraine has now made significant advances in two of the four Russian-occupied regions Moscow last week annexed after what it called referendums - votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.

In a sign Ukraine is building momentum on the eastern front, Reuters saw columns of Ukrainian military vehicles heading on Monday to reinforce rail hub Lyman, retaken at the weekend, and a staging post to press into the Donbas region.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine's army had seized back towns in a number of areas, without providing details.

"New population centres have been liberated in several regions. Heavy fighting is going on on several sectors of the front," Zelenskiy said in a video address.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk - one of two regions that make up the Donbas - said Russian forces had taken over a psychiatric hospital in the town of Svatovo, a target en route to recapturing the major cities of Lysychansk and Sivierodonetsk.

"There is quite a network of underground rooms in the building and they have taken up defensive positions," he told Ukrainian television. "This might be an understandable tactic, but it won't save them."

In the south, Ukrainian troops recaptured the town of Dudchany along the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the country, Vladimir Saldi, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Ukraine's Kherson province, told Russian state television.

"There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces," Saldi said.

Dudchany is around 30 km (20 miles) south of where the front stood before Monday's breakthrough, indicating the fastest advance of the war so far in the south. Russian forces there had been dug into heavily reinforced positions along a mainly static front line since the early weeks of the invasion.

While Kyiv has yet to give a full account of the developments, Ukrainian military and regional officials did release some details.

Soldiers from Ukraine's 128th Mountain Assault Brigade raised the country's blue and yellow flag in Myrolyubivka, a village between the former front and the Dnipro, according to a video released by the Defence Ministry.

Serhiy Khlan, a Kherson regional council member, also listed four other villages recaptured or where Ukrainian troops had been photographed.

"It means that our armed forces are moving powerfully along the banks of the Dnipro nearer to Beryslav," he said.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the developments.

The southern advance is targeting supply lines for as many as 25,000 Russian troops on the Dnipro's west bank.

Ukraine has already destroyed the river's main bridges, forcing Russian forces to use makeshift crossings.

A substantial advance down river could cut them off entirely.

"The fact we have broken through the front means that ... the Russian army has already lost the ability to attack, and today or tomorrow it could lose the ability to defend," said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv.

Ukraine appears to be on course to achieve several of its battlefield objectives, giving Kyiv "a much better defensive position to ride out what probably will be a tamping down of the hot fighting over the winter," Celeste Wallander, a senior Pentagon official, said on Monday.

Since the start of September, Ukrainian forces have swiftly seized territory in the east to gain control of Russian supply lines, cutting off larger Russian forces and forcing them to retreat.

Just hours after a concert on Moscow's Red Square on Friday where Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be Russian territory forever, Ukraine recaptured Lyman, the main Russian bastion in the north of Donetsk province.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday asked Twitter users to weigh in on a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine which included proposing U.N.-supervised elections in the four occupied regions and recognising Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, as Russian.

The plan drew immediate condemnation from Ukrainians, including President Zelenskiy.

Russia's flagging fortunes have led to a shift in mood on once triumphal state media, where talkshow hosts have been acknowledging setbacks and searching for scapegoats.

"For a certain period of time, things won't be easy for us. We shouldn't be expecting good news right now," said Vladimir Solovyov, the most prominent presenter on state TV.

The commander of Russia's western military district, which borders Ukraine, has lost his job, Russian media reported on Monday, the latest in a series of top officials to be fired after the defeats.

Ukraine forces break through Russian defences in south, advance in east | Reuters

[OhOh]

LYMAN/1120 UTC 2 OCT/ RU forces within the Lyman salient have collapsed. RU units that escaped UKR encirclement retreated in disorder. RU sources reveal that at least 500 newly mobilized troops refused orders to fight, and surrendered positions piecemeal during the withdrawal.

A SMO undertaken by Russia and it's allies, have captured a large part of territory, after being requested to help by the areas elected government.

The 16% have lost that same amount of territory.

Sugessting the 16% are the losers.

it could never be the 95+% they claimed. These are Soviet/Dictatorship numbers we know all to well.

Pot calling the kettle black.

Prior to complaining about other countries, manipulating election results, look closer to home?

Monitored is fine but only the Ukraine can hold the referendum.

You may wish to contact the UN.

United Nations Charter (full text)

Chapter I: Purposes and Principles Article 1 clause 2:

The Purposes of the United Nations are:

"To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace"

United Nations Charter (full text) | United Nations

It was those that have predicted this russian agression from the start

Russia, replied to a request for assistance from two countries, to help it resist the attack on them from Ukraine.

that has been proven correct

How much land has "Ukraine won", since it attacked two countries? How much land have the two countries, along with Russia and it's allies, "won"?

standing up to Putin, chiefly by the USA and UK that has contributed to the failures of the russians so far

The 16% have failed, in military terms, losing land. In addition, their illegal sanctions have brought serious consequences on their citizens. Which will be ongoing for years.

not withstanding the magnificent fight back of the Ukrainians. Frankly without the USA and to a lesser degree the UK, Ukraine could have been under Russian control by now.

not withstanding the magnificent fight back of the Ukrainians.

Russia and its allies have taken more land than the 16% have "won". Suggesting Russia and its allies are currently winning, ot the 16%.

We still don't know how this mess will turn out and maybe Ukraine will be defeated by brute or nuclear force.

The criteria for action have been modified, from protecting the two independent countries from attack from "Ukraine forces".

As the existing Russian stance, reconfirmed by Russia, "no nuclear use by them unless they are used by others" the use of nuclear weapons by the 16% countries will be dependent on their first nuclear use.

In fact the 16%'s combined military support, with arms, training, logistics, planning, managing, providing data and military supplies .... have so far lost land. Hardly, "currently winning" or, anyway, to victory.

Recognised by whom?

Russia for one.

There is no doubt that Putin is dangerous and unpredictable

As are the 16% leaders.

[bsnub]

Another bullshit post from one of the Three Stooges.

[sabang]

I hardly need emphasise the pathetic humour in folk such as our 'arry taking cheap little childish pot-shots at the sort of people with the established stature he can not even aspire to. Oh well, a polite little smirk into our napkin will suffice.

[harrybarracuda]

I hardly need emphasise the pathetic humour in folk such as our 'arry taking cheap little childish pot-shots at the sort of people with the established stature he can not even aspire to. Oh well, a polite little smirk into our napkin will suffice.

I make no apologies for not being a snivelling putin sycophant who will cling onto any witless argument to try and support this illegal and invasion and accompanying war crimes.

"Smirking" about it shows what a sociopathic lowlife you are.