“…The Russian economy is not about to fold anytime soon...
That may or may not be true, reports differ. Certainly, many sectors of the Russian economy is suffering from severe shortages and supply problems. But it sure looks like
the Russian military is being routed in the Kharkiv region, where the Ukraine counteroffensive has recaptured more than 1000 square miles of territory, most of it in the last 72 hours. And Russian forces have reportedly pulled out of Izyum, an important staging and supply post for the Donbas campaign, because they were about to be encircled.
Civil unrest may be brewing, but it may be a whole lot worse in Russia than we think.
Thousands of Russian troops retreated in the face of a lightning Ukrainian offensive in the Kharkiv region that threatens to derail the Kremlin’s bid to cement control of Ukraine’s east.
A local Moscow-backed official and pro-Russian military bloggers said Saturday Kremlin forces had pulled out of Izyum, a staging post for the campaign in Donbas, to avoid being encircled.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the pullout from Izyum and other areas in a statement from Moscow, describing the move as necessary to bolster forces in the eastern Donetsk region.
The news came hours after Ukrainian officials announced the seizure of Kupyansk, a logistical and transit hub for Russian troops fighting in the east, and the recapture of other occupied territory in the northern Kharkiv region earlier this week.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry also tweeted a photo it said was of the liberation of Balakliya, to the southwest of Kupyansk, with troops shown raising a Ukrainian flag in the town center....
The Russian defense ministry said on its Telegram channel that the decision had been taken to reallocate forces from Balakliya and Izyum to Donetsk over a three-day period to “achieve the stated goals of liberating Donbas.”
Russian military correspondents have voiced increasing concern about the reverses, with Ukrainian forces advancing dozens of kilometers into Russia-controlled territory in Kharkiv over the past several days.
“The situation for the Russian armed forces in the battles near Kharkiv is the hardest,” Yevgeny Poddubny, a war correspondent of State Russian TV channel VGTRK, said on his Telegram channel on Saturday....
The bottom line is, Russia needs the income from the natural gas as much (or more) than Europe needs the gas. This is going to get interesting.
Onward and upward,
airforce
