On Wednesday, Ukraine liberated still more area, attacking Russian lines in new places even as it continued moving forward in the areas where it has recently engaged Russian forces. Behind the lines, at locations kilometers away from the active fighting, strikes took out Russian artillery with jaw-dropping precision. Further back, Ukraine was able to hit Russian forces in coastal cities with the use of new, even longer-range weapons.
Compared to the heavy fighting over the weekend, Monday and Tuesday were relatively “light” days in terms of Russian losses—the average loss since the counteroffensive began has now dropped to below 800 Russian soldiers per day, and Russia made it through Tuesday giving up only 8 additional tanks as Ukrainian forces south of Velyka Novosilka repositioned for their next advance. Still, there’s no doubt that Ukraine’s continuing action is the big story of the week, month, and year.
However, Russia seems to have another opponent. And it’s Russia. As in the various factions within what passes for the Russian military are so busy going after each other, it’s a wonder they have any time left to think about Ukraine. Best of all, the biggest battle seems to be brewing between factions where everyone can just sit back and enjoy the fight: Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin vs. Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.