Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive to Disrupt Russian Supply Lines – WSJ

A strategic break in Ukraine s favor is under way. This process will take time. But, in the long term, these trends make Russia s defeat inevitable, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an address to Ukrainian citizens.

After Russia s initial plans to seize the capital, Kyiv, failed amid Ukrainian resistance, Mr. Putin in late March ordered his forces to pull back from northern Ukraine and concentrate on seizing the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up Donbas. Mr. Putin in February recognized the independence of the Moscow-created proxy states in Donbas, the Donetsk and Luhansk people s republics, which controlled roughly one-third of these two regions at the time.

Russia has established the forward headquarters of its operations to conquer Donbas in the town of Izyum, which straddles the Siverskyi Donets river in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian troops have begun to push successfully toward the town, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleh Synehubov, said Saturday.

The Izyum direction remains our hottest point. That s where our armed forces have begun a counteroffensive, he said in a video address. The enemy is retreating in some directions, which is the result of the character of our armed forces.

via www.wsj.com