#Shotgun farmers key series#

Ukrainian authorities initially refrained from claiming responsibility, but the country’s military chief, Gen.

#Shotgun farmers key series#

Last month, a series of explosions also hit airbases and a munitions depot in Crimea, underlining the vulnerability of the peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been crucial for its southern operations. Ukrainian forces have used U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to pound the two bridges on the Dnieper, forcing Russian troops in the Kherson region to rely on pontoon crossings that also have faced daily strikes. The counterattack followed methodical strikes on Russian infrastructure and supply lines. But the counteroffensive has derailed those plans, with a top Moscow-backed official in Kherson saying the vote there needs to be put off. Moscow has installed puppet administrations in occupied areas, introduced its currency, handed out Russian passports and prepared for local plebiscites to pave the way for annexation. Even Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called “mistakes” that made the Ukrainian blitz possible.

The Russian military debacle has provoked outrage among Russian military bloggers and patriotic commentators, who chastised the Kremlin for failing to mobilize more forces and take stronger action against Ukraine. He also taunted Moscow over its withdrawal, saying the Russian army was “demonstrating the best it can do - showing its back” and “they made a good choice to run.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the military in a video address Saturday night, saying it has reclaimed about 2,000 square kilometers (over 770 square miles) of territory so far this month. Ukraine’s quick gains, he added, are “important both for seizing initiative and raising troops’ spirit.” “The Ukrainian army has taken advantage of the relocation of the bulk of the Russian forces to the south and is trying to direct the course of the war, excelling in maneuver and showing great ingenuity,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, a military expert with the Razumkov Centre, a Kyiv-based think tank. But just as Moscow redirected attention and troops there, Ukraine launched another, highly effective offensive in the northeast, near Kharkiv.įacing the prospect of a large group of its forces becoming surrounded, Moscow pulled back its troops from Kharkiv in a dramatic shift in the state of play that posed the biggest challenge to the Kremlin since it launched the invasion Feb.

The counterattack began in the final days of August and at first focused on the southern region of Kherson, which was swept by Russian forces in the opening days of the invasion. As the war in Ukraine marked 200 days on Sunday, the country has reclaimed broad swaths of the south and east in a long-anticipated counteroffensive that has dealt a heavy blow to Russia.