After Six Months of War in Ukraine, Momentum Tilts Against Russia; Russian paratrooper’s bombshell diary exposes chaos in Ukraine; Russians try to advance on three fronts but fail; Unique footage of Right Sector hitting Russians with MANPADS, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

By admin On Aug 24, 2022

WSJ: After Six Months of War in Ukraine, Momentum Tilts Against Russia:

Moscow retains firepower advantage, but Kyiv is starting to take the initiative, while Western support for Ukraine is holding firm despite economic pain

Six months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, signs are accumulating that the balance on the military and economic battlefields is slowly tilting the way of Kyiv and its Western backers.

In the biggest war between European countries since World War II, the death and destruction have no end in sight. Ukraine is still struggling against Russia’s advantage in raw firepower, but the country’s defenders are increasingly hitting Russian logistics and bases, including in Crimea, as they receive more Western weapons.

A drone strike on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea on Saturday was one of many recent signs that Russia’s rear areas are increasingly vulnerable to Ukrainian attack

Political and popular backing for Ukraine in the U.S. and most of Europe remains robust, despite fears that a drawn-out war and rising energy and food prices could undermine Western unity.

The U.S., in particular, is sending Ukraine steadily growing quantities of advanced weapons such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or Himars, as well as crucial financial support. The U.S. announced another nearly $800 million in military assistance for Ukraine on Friday, including drones, artillery and ammunition. For the first time, the package includes mine-clearing equipment and tactical vehicles that suggest the U.S. is arming Ukraine in new ways to retake lost territory.

“The Russian military has lost much of what momentum it had and has redeployed a lot of its forces in anticipation of a Ukrainian offensive in the southern part of the country,” said Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies program at CNA, a defense research organization in Arlington, Va. —>READ MORE HERE

NY POST: Russian paratrooper’s bombshell diary exposes chaos in Ukraine:

A Russian paratrooper has revealed gut-wrenching details in a new memoir about the war in Ukraine, describing friendly-fire incidents, hordes of starving, marauding troops, and panicked commanders unable to stop general chaos.

Pavel Filatyev, 34, had spent more than a month fighting in Kherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine while serving with the Russian military’s 56th Airborne Regiment.

After being discharged due to a severe eye infection, the paratrooper released a brutally candid, 141-page account of his wartime experiences on the Russian social media site VKontake at a considerable personal risk.

“I’m aware of the consequences for disseminating information about my military service, but to conceal it for me means contributing to more losses,” Filatyev wrote in his journal, which was verified by The Post.

Filatyev opened his diary — written in plain prose sprinkled with eye-watering Russian profanities and military jargon — by sarcastically remarking that it was a shame that journalists were not allowed to visit soldiers on the front lines.

“Because of that the entire nation has been denied the pleasure of admiring unshaven, unwashed, filthy, emaciated paratroopers who are angry either at the stubborn Ukrainians who are refusing to denazify themselves,” he wrote, “or at their own talentless commanders who are incapable of equipping them even in wartime.”

Filatyev claimed that half of his comrades would change into and wear Ukrainian uniforms because they were made of higher-quality fabric and were more comfortable than their Russian-made fatigues. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:

+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++

+++++Russians try to advance on three fronts but fail – General Staff report+++++

+++++Unique footage of Right Sector hitting Russians with MANPADS released on Web+++++

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