Ukraine Seeks to Exploit Shift in Russia’s Military Strategy; Ukraine’s Asymmetric War; Zelensky Steps Up Call For More Western Weaponry, But Admits US Troops There Means WW3; Zelensky: Ukraine Ready to Discuss Adopting Neutral Status in Russia Peace Deal, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

Ukraine Seeks to Exploit Shift in Russia’s Military Strategy:

A Russian-held town in the northeast is back in Ukrainian hands, says Kyiv, as it seeks to capitalize on Moscow’s pivot to controlling the south and east

Ukrainian forces are seeking to roll back Russian gains as Moscow shifts its focus to controlling a swath of the country’s south and east.

Ukrainian forces said Sunday they drove Russian troops out of Trostyanets, in the northeast near the Russian border, potentially opening a road to the provincial capital of Sumy, which is encircled by the Russians.

Western officials see signs that Russia is consolidating its position to regain the offensive, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West to provide his army with the heavier weapons it needs to fight the better-armed Russian military.

The retaking of Trostyanets comes after Moscow, having faced stiff resistance from the Ukrainians in its initial, multifront offensive, said Friday that it would refocus its campaign on the eastern Donbas region, where Russian forces hold a position of strength.

Russian forces have dug into defensive positions in the north and around the capital, Kyiv, which it has failed to seize. Russia’s firepower is currently concentrated on Mariupol, a strategically important city linking Russian-controlled parts of the Donbas with territory Moscow has captured in the south.

Retaking Trostyanets “demonstrates that the Ukrainians are able to counterattack, which means Russia can’t assume that once they hold ground they have secured it,” said Jack Watling, an expert on land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. “That limits the amount of resource they can apply to the place they are trying to take at any one time.” —>READ MORE HERE

Ukraine’s Asymmetric War:

Moscow has more firepower, but Kyiv is using digital technology better.

Reports from Ukraine are filled with stories of Javelin antitank missiles and Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles taking out Russian tanks and armored vehicles. The Biden administration has announced $800 million in defensive weapons for Ukraine, including Javelins, Stinger antiaircraft weapons and Switchblade drones. More amazing is what Ukraine has also been doing on the cheap. And I don’t mean Molotov cocktails.

Wars are increasingly asymmetric—the lesser-armed side can put up a strong fight. The U.S. learned this in Iraq with insurgent use of improvised explosive devices, basically roadside bombs triggered with cellphones. Similarly, Ukraine has been deploying inexpensive, almost homemade weapons and using technology to its advantage.

The Times of London reports that Ukraine is using $2,000 commercial octocopter drones, modified with thermal imagers an d antitank grenades, to find and attack Russian tanks hiding between homes in villages at night. Ukraine’s Aerorozvidka, its aerial reconnaissance team, has 50 squads of drone pilots who need solid internet connections to operate.

When the internet was cut in Syria in 2013, enterprising techies set up point-to-point Wi-Fi connections to bring internet access from across the border in Turkey. You can do this with Pringles potato-chip cans and $50 off-the-shelf Wi-Fi routers. Ukraine may be spared this ad hoc setup as Elon Musk and his firm Starlink have donated thousands of satellite internet-access terminals to Ukraine, including to the Aerorozvidka squads, which come with warnings to camouflage the antennas. They typically cost $499 each and $99 a month for service. —>READ MORE HERE

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