Sensational turnaround at the front? Counterattacks on Russia on the ground and from the air Joe Biden warns of Putin: “We must act before it is too late”

The loss of Avdiivka, the ammunition crisis, the crumbling support in the US and the threatened comeback of Donald Trump: Ukraine has been confronted with a lot of bad news in recent weeks. A few days before the elections in Russia, the tide seems to be turning again. In an interview on Monday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the Russian offensive had stopped.

“The situation is much better than in the past three months,” Zelensky emphasized to French broadcaster BFMTV. In his evening video address to the population, he further said that his own troops successfully stabilized the front and expanded their fortifications.

American tanks stop the advance

Given the terrible Russian losses in the attack on Avdiivka and the now shortened Ukrainian defense lines, a temporary standstill on the Russian side would in any case not be unexpected. According to several sources, in order to prevent a major Russian breakthrough, the Ukrainians even used their military “silver”, the few available American M1 Abrams tanks and additional elite units.

Further reports of Ukrainian successes on Tuesday reinforce the impression that Kiev is now doing everything it can to steal Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin’s propaganda show before his re-election.

Attacks on Russian territory

According to their own statements, three volunteer associations composed of Putin opponents crossed the Russian border and attacked targets in the Belgorod and Kursk areas.

The Russian governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, confirmed in a video message on Telegram that enemy fighters had attempted to enter the border town of Tetkino:

The attacking exiled Russian units are the “Russian Freedom Legion Battle Group”, the “Russian Volunteer Corps” and the “Siberian Battalion”, which have taken up the cause of overthrowing the Putin regime.

Most recently, they made headlines in May 2023 with a limited advance on Belgorod – but also with the fact that they recruited young people from right-wing extremist circles.

On social networks, a spokesperson for the Russian Legion of Freedom announced that they would also “participate in the elections in Russia” in their own way. On Tuesday morning, several videos circulated of firefights and even an advance with exiled Russian tanks.

Attacks on Russia’s main artery

Almost at the same time, images of a burning oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, began circulating in Russia. Ukraine has been using remote-controlled drones for weeks to attack Russian oil production targets up to 500 miles away, hitting the Putin regime’s main source of income.

Because the Russian arsenal of missiles and cruise missiles currently needs to be replenished, attacks on Ukrainian cities are currently mainly carried out with Iranian Shahed drones. Ukraine is trying to counter this in the air, using its more advanced long-range drones to challenge Moscow’s strategic initiative. In addition to Nizhny Novgorod, an oil industry factory in Oryol also burned on Tuesday.

How drastic the Ukrainian counterattacks at the beginning of the week actually are will become clear in the coming days. After the Russian army deployed all its forces to achieve a decisive victory before Putin’s re-election and the beginning of the second muddy period, Ukraine is currently making painful pricks, at least in the information war. (bzbasel.ch)