TWhile all eyes are on the United States with the election of Donald Trump, the war continues to rage in Ukraine. For more than a year now, Russian forces have been slowly advancing in Donbass. The fall of Vouhledar, a mining town of 15,000 inhabitants before the war, located in the Donetsk oblast, on October 2, allowed Russia to slightly accelerate its territorial conquest.
“Russian forces have advanced just over 10 km from the Vuhledar-Prechystivka line over the past five weeks, and the current pace of the Russian advance into western Donetsk Oblast – if it continues continues – would give Ukrainian units sufficient time to withdraw from front-line positions without risk of encirclement,” judges the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its latest assessment of the Russian offensive.
Pokrovsk still under threat
Russian forces are also about ten kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk (60,000 inhabitants before the war). This strategic city is an important logistical node for the Ukrainian army with several roads and railway lines meeting there. Losing Pokrovsk means risking the collapse of part of the front for lack of ammunition and fuel, with the threat of being cut off from its rear. In order to hinder the Russian assault as much as possible by flooding part of the terrain, the Ukrainian army probably blew up the Kurakhove dam.
Lacking reserves, the Ukrainians are fighting outnumbered, facing an enemy who is suffering enormous losses without stopping: 1,950 killed and wounded on Monday, November 11. “This is the highest daily figure since the start of the large-scale invasion,” according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The previous morbid record was 1,770 the day before.
kyiv, for several months, has been urging its allies to authorize it to strike deep into Russian territory. Barracks, ammunition depots and other military targets remain for the most part, and for the moment, safe from Scalp / Storm Shadow cruise missiles and ATACMS missiles. Only Ukrainian-made drones and missiles allow daring incursions to strike oil depots and destroy bombers on the ground.
The Russians are not being outdone in targeting major Ukrainian cities, with 110 Shahed drones and other suicide drones launched on the night of November 12, of which 46 were shot down, says the Ukrainian Air Force. The Ukrainian army is also counting on the arrival of combined arms brigades trained by foreign countries. France is training on its soil 2,300 soldiers of the 155th Anne mechanized brigade of Kyiv, equipped with VAB, Caesar cannons and AMX-10RC armored reconnaissance vehicles.
The issue of the Kursk pocket
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Kangaroo of the day
Answer
Vladimir Putin had requested that the Ukrainian pocket in the Russian oblast of Kursk be reduced before the end of October. But here again, the Ukrainian army is holding on to its ground. The surprise offensive of August had made it possible to take 1,320 km² at its zenith on August 23. However, only 578 km² remain under Ukrainian control today. This occupied Russian territory would be kyiv's only bargaining chip during negotiations with Moscow. It is in this part of the front that nearly 10,000 North Korean soldiers would be deployed alongside the Russians, proof of the importance of this battle, but also of the difficulty for Moscow, too, to recruit.
Donald Trump has made the return of peace to Europe one of the key points of his program in order to avoid “world war three”. What will be the attitude of the 47th President of the United States towards Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky? The latter quickly welcomed the billionaire's election, saying he appreciated “President Trump's commitment to the 'peace through strength' approach in international affairs. This is exactly the principle that can concretely lead to a just peace in Ukraine. I am hopeful that we will put it into practice together.” The Ukrainian president presented his “plan for victory” in New York at the end of September to Donald Trump, who claimed he could end the war “in 24 hours”.
