Russia’s limited advance into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region this week capitalised on delays and shortcomings in several crucial fields that Kyiv and its western allies must remedy quickly to prevent Kremlin forces making bigger gains in the coming months. The main fighting is taking place in and around Vovchansk, a town about 5km from the frontier where Ukraine says it has stopped the invasion force in the northern outskirts. Russia seized Vovchansk early in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the town and other occupied parts of Kharkiv were liberated six months later. Moscow will also hope that news of fresh fighting will discourage Ukrainians from joining the army. “The outlook in Ukraine is bleak,” Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute think tank wrote this week.

Source: The Irish Times May 18, 2024 15:40 UTC