He is taking us to see recent battlefield gains around Bakhmut, Ukraine’s biggest military gains since it forced Russian troops out of Kherson last November. Ukraine’s Western allies say shaping operations — essentially, out maneuvering the enemy — for a coming counteroffensive are already underway. As high-tech as this war is, Honza and the others with us can’t tell if its Ukrainian or Russian. In his command bunker a couple of hours earlier he had shown us multiple drone video feeds of the battlefield searching for any possible Russian troops massing for a counterattack. Below the trench’s camouflage netting we pause, regroup and chat about the new gains the frontline troops around us are defending.

Source: CNN May 13, 2023 16:52 UTC