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Sunday, September 11, 2022
Victory will belong to Ukraine
Kung Chan

With the advancement of Ukrainian forces, Russian propaganda is effectively being dismantled.

After the Ukrainian army started the offensive on Kherson and the southern front, a very widespread Russian misinformation was that the 128th brigade of the Ukrainian army has been completely wiped out. Yet, on September 6, the 128th brigade issued a battle report saying that it has severely damaged Russia’s 83rd Guard Air Assault Brigade at Myrolyubivka. This Russian unit from Ussuriysk lost 30% of its personnel in the battle, while 40% of its weapons and equipment were destroyed. This elite Russian army has now withdrawn from its original position and fled to the east bank of the Dnieper River. A few days prior to this, some media not known to be reliable, alleged that Ukraine’s 128th brigade was destroyed and lost more than 2,000 personnel. Now it seems like they have been resurrected!

On the other hand, the HIMARS rocket blockade on the Dnieper River began to show results, and the Russian army in Kherson is starting to run out of food, water, and ammunition. As a result, some Russian troops began to lose their will to fight, and a small number of them collapsed without fighting. In addition, a Russian military ammunition depot near Kherson was recently seized by the Ukrainian army. Videos show that a large number of anti-tank missiles and ammunition were seized by the Ukrainian army. All these are the signs of the defeat of the Russian army.

It appears that the Ukrainian army continues to fight with a high spirit, making Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic goals increasingly hard to achieve. This is especially true when after the Ukrainian army takes down Kherson, or even when the Russian army on the southern front loses its ability to attack, then this "special military operation" as Putin calls it, is nothing short of a failure that costs the life of more than fifty thousand people. It should be remembered that before the war started, eastern Ukraine and Crimea were territories controlled by the Russian army.

Just recently too, the Russian defense in the Kharkiv region has now completely collapsed with the sudden attack of the Ukrainian army.

It is reported that Putin called an emergency meeting of the national security council to discuss this matter. A source mentions that plans such as "national mobilization" and propaganda explanations were discussed at the meeting, including explaining the collapse as "planned regrouping" and "dragging the Ukrainian army into a trap" and the like. As of now, there is no accurate information on the results of this meeting. However, Russian social media are abuzz with messages on Russia’s defeat, and various military bloggers have not only acknowledged Kremlin’s failure but have also come out with various suggestions on how the Russian army might be getting out of the predicament.

Judging from a large number of photos and videos, with the fast-paced advancement of the Ukrainian army, the Russian defense system in Kharkiv has completely fallen apart. One video shows that a Russian T80 tank was retreating at high speed, and on it was four Russian soldiers. A Ukrainian soldier, standing on the side of the road, fired at them. Two of the Russian soldiers jumped out of the vehicle and fled with injury, one of them was killed, and when the last of them attempted to escape, his leg was crushed by the tank. The tank continued to move in fast and finally knocked down a tree, stuck in a mud puddle by the roadside.

It is also confirmed now that the top Russian commander Lieutenant General Andrei Sychevoi was captured by the Ukrainian army when he tried to escape. Russia’s 20th combined armed army might be broken down into smaller units, or just surrender. With the disintegration of Russian forces at Kharkiv, Ukrainian troops have virtually occupied the entire western bank of the Oskil-Severodonetsk river, including Kupiansk. Meanwhile, the Russian army group in Izyum has in fact been surrounded and is now scattered. It is reported that the Ukrainian army has captured or approached Izyum.

The astonishing and decisive counterattacks by the Ukrainian army have stunned the world. The Ukrainian army seems to have replaced Russia as the "world's second" military power overnight. Judging from the current combat effectiveness and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian army, it might even be powerful enough to counter the combined German and French forces. Germany and France, as it stands, often see Russia as a menacing beast, yet this beast has now been beaten off by Ukraine.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak remains cautious about the huge victory of the Ukrainian army. He noted that this does not mean Ukraine will be winning the war very soon. Yet, thanks to the greatly improved strategic coordination ability of the Ukrainian army, the Russian force is now having difficulty balancing the southern and the eastern fronts and will continue to face a hard time ahead.

The war has reached the point that there is news of the Kremlin buying shells and rockets from North Korea. On the other hand, the drones from Iran are considered by it to be crudely made and some of them are deemed to be unusable. It has come to the stage where Russia is now paying huge costs for the war, and Putin is losing. Nonetheless, Podolyak’s words still serve as a reminder to the world that there is still a long way to go before Ukraine can ultimately win.

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