By 2025-01-07T12:40:00+00:00 UK-based sales firm Reason8 Films has boarded world sales on Seyfettin Tokmak’s Empire Of The Rabbits The film premiered in the Official Selection Competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November, where it won the best script award for Tokmak and best cinematography prize for Claudia Becerril Bulos Empire Of The Rabbits depicts a young boy’s struggles against the adult world when he must ‘pass’ as disabled to earn a government disability grant it is produced by Tokmak for Mexico’s Mandarina Cine and Croatia’s Nukleus film “Through the feelings and gaze of a boy Musa I wanted to tell how a life without women even in a small area where men are powerful the film tells how a power struggle between a father and a son is connected to a higher level of power system at a universal dimension The film carries a harsh realistic cinematic language at its core but it will not neglect to express the magical gaze of childhood at certain points.” It is Tokmak’s second feature after 2011’s Broken Mussels EXCLUSIVE: Film will release in cinemas this summer EXCLUSIVE: Film shoots in Dublin and Dundalk this summer Bookmark this page and keep track of the latest film release dates in the UK & Ireland Bookmark this page to keep track of all the latest festival dates EXCLUSIVE: Eva Victor’s comedy drama world premiered at Sundance and will play at Cannes in Directors’ Fortnight Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations Site powered by Webvision Cloud who has been incarcerated at İstanbul's the Bakırköy Women's Closed Prison since 2010 has been placed in solitary confinement following the seizure of various materials during a search of her cell were confiscated after an inspection on Jan 26 Authorities claimed the materials contained propaganda of a “terrorist organization.” Tokmak and her cellmates denied the allegations asserting that no investigation was conducted to determine who owned the seized items and that they were collectively blamed for the content Tokmak was sentenced to 11 days in solitary confinement arguing that the materials did not belong to her but her appeal was rejected by the prison court Tokmak further claimed that the solitary confinement order violated legal procedures She pointed out that the confiscated materials had previously been examined and returned by prison authorities which she argued rendered the punishment unjust and her solitary confinement began on Oct 1 has been held in a cell with limited facilities co-chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Keskin expressed concerns about her health highlighting that she requires weekly blood transfusions Keskin condemned the conditions of Tokmak’s confinement “Fatma is being held in a cell where she cannot breathe properly Keskin also criticized the state's treatment of political prisoners “These confiscations are part of an effort to suppress the thoughts and expressions of people the state has already imprisoned It’s irrational that the state tries to control the emotions and ideas of those already behind bars.” Fatma Tokmak was arrested in 1996 in İstanbul along with her young son on charges related to a crime she did not commit Both Tokmak and her son were reportedly tortured during their detention Despite not being able to provide a statement in Kurdish she was sentenced to life in prison without a proper defense Tokmak was temporarily released due to her deteriorating health having developed a serious heart condition while in prison She supported herself by working as a caregiver for the elderly and sick but her life sentence was reinstated by the Supreme Court Despite public appeals from her son and efforts by human rights defenders the Forensic Medicine Institute ruled that she could stay in prison a report from the Turkish Human Rights Foundation’s İstanbul branch stated the opposite declaring that Tokmak was unfit for incarceration the campaign for her release has so far been unsuccessful bianet kadın ve LGBTİ+ haberleri editörü (Ekim 2018- Şubat 2025) Journo ve sektör dergileri için yazılar yazdı Hemşin kültür dergisi GOR’un kurucu yazarlarından Yeşilden Maviye Karadenizden Kadın Portreleri Medya ve Yalanlar isimli kitaplara katkı sundu Musa Anter Gazetecilik (2011) ve Türkiye Psikiyatri Derneği (2024) en iyi haber ödülü sahibi Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası Kadın ve LGBTİ+ Komisyonu kurucularından Sendikanın İstanbul Şubesi yöneticilerinden (2023-2027) İstanbul Üniversitesi Avrupa Birliği ve Bilgi Üniversitesi Uluslararası İlişkiler bölümlerinden mezun Toplumsal cinsiyet odaklı habercilik ve cinsiyet temelli şiddet haberciliği alanında atölyeler düzenliyor Şubat 2025'den bu yana kadın haberleri editörü olarak çalışıyor In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday Russian Army soldiers ride their armoured vehicle to take positions and fire toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location in Ukraine (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military chief on Saturday warned that the battlefield situation in the industrial east has “significantly worsened in recent days,” as warming weather allowed Russian forces to launch a fresh push along several stretches of the more 1,000 km-long (620-mile) front line Russian forces have been “actively attacking” Ukrainian positions in three areas of the eastern Donetsk region and beginning to launch tank assaults as drier warmer spring weather has made it easier for heavy vehicles to move across previously muddy terrain the enemy is intensifying its efforts by using new units (equipped with) armored vehicles thanks to which it periodically achieves tactical success,” Syrskyy said A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman on Saturday confirmed the capture of a village that had been the site of fierce fighting for close to eighteen months Analysts from Ukraine’s non-governmental Deep State group had reported on Russia’s takeover of Pervomaiske some 45 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk Germany announced that it will deliver an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine days after Russian missiles and drones on Thursday struck infrastructure and power facilities across several regions leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power in what private energy operator DTEK described as one of the most powerful attacks this year The German Defense Ministry said it would “begin the handover” of the Patriot system immediately German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had discussed the “massive” Russian air attacks on civilian energy infrastructure with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and declared that Berlin will “stand unbreakably by Ukraine’s side.” Moscow renewed its assault on Ukrainian energy facilities On Thursday it completely knocked out a plant that was the biggest energy supplier for the region around Kyiv as well as the nearby Cherkasy and Zhytomyr provinces Energy facilities were also hit in the Zaporizhzhia and Lviv regions The volume and accuracy of recent attacks have alarmed the country’s defenders who say Kremlin forces now have better intelligence and fresh tactics in their campaign to annihilate Ukraine’s electrical grid and bring its economy to a halt a local Kremlin-installed official blamed Kyiv for a shelling attack that killed 10 people in a town in the southern Zaporizhzhia region the previous day The Tokmak municipal administration reported on Telegram that the shelling struck three apartment blocks Friday evening Five people were pulled alive from the rubble and 13 people were hospitalized according to the Kremlin-installed regional head Yevhen Balitsky It was not immediately possible to verify his claims a Russian drone on Saturday dropped explosives on an ambulance that had been called out to a village near the frontline city of Kupiansk His claim could not be independently verified Feature Films Database Southern Mediterranean films database Scriptwriters European Film Schools Production Companies Distributors International Sales Submit a Film Industry Reports Co-Production Podcast Online Screenwriting Training Course Guided Course for Feature Film Writing Script Analysis Analysis of the potential of your series Cineuropa's Training Catalogue Film Festival Photographs Newsletter Photogalleries EUFCN Location Award Euro Film Fest 27 Times Cinema GoCritic! Advertise on Cineuropa Logos and Banners BLACK NIGHTS 2024 Competition by Marko Stojiljković 15/11/2024 - A boy growing up in extreme poverty defies his father and the whole corrupt system in Turkish filmmaker Seyfettin Tokmak's new feature He also runs a scheme with a school where he is principal: the students have to pretend that they have special needs Beko comes up with a solution to enrol Musa in Muzaffer’s school hoping that he could eventually get some state support for his “disabled” child while Musa also has to take some "private lessons" in faking disability from Muzaffer’s daughter Nergis (Perla Palamutçuoğullari neglected and often abused at home by his harsh spending all his time saving rabbits from his father’s traps and taking them to his special secret and safe place in a cave where he tries to build them an empire But can the corrupt system be mended by the power of pure goodness Writer-director Tokmak comes from a background of filmmaking and TV directing which might explain why The Empire of the Rabbits is a well thought-through film with layers of metaphors analogies and parallels painting the picture of a life in extremely harsh conditions he deliberately relegates the story to the backseat so the plot seems to be running in circles based on the emotions of particular scenes editor Vladimir Gojun eventually manages to establish some sense of continuity and rhythm which was necessary for a film that could be very unpleasant and demanding for the viewer Empire of the Rabbits offers a lot of poetry thanks to the evocative cinematography by Claudia Becerril Bulos who shoots the vast landscapes with little to no human presence and crumbling bare-bones interiors in naturally murky colours almost without any artificial lighting and in an intimate hand-held mode The film audio landscape complements the visuals and becomes a tool for dramaturgy The ever-present sound design of wind howling and the music by Erkan Oğur paint the picture of Musa’s inner life with more gentle notes while it also ramps up the tension when needed The harshness of the world it depicts is quite sobering while the inherent goodness of its young characters signals that there is still some hope left Empire of the Rabbits is a Turkish-Mexican-Croatian-Lebanese co-production by the companies Yaman Film, ZKF, TRT Sinema, Mandarina Cine, Nukleus Film Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox "I tried to show how brutal a man's world can be without women in a rural area of Turkey" The Turkish filmmaker discusses his new feature, a daring boy's journey against the cruel entanglements of deception and disabilities of the adult world   The Best First Feature Award went to Steve Bache’s No Dogs Allowed, whilst a Special Prize for Directing was handed to Edgardo Pistone for Ciao bambino   25/11/2024 | Black Nights 2024 | Awards A boy growing up in extreme poverty defies his father and the whole corrupt system in Turkish filmmaker Seyfettin Tokmak's new feature   15/11/2024 | Black Nights 2024 | Competition The main competition programme comprises 18 films, while the jury will be chaired by German filmmaker Christoph Hochhäusler and the gathering will open with David Dietl’s Long Story Short   25/10/2024 | Black Nights 2024 | Competition We take an in-depth look at the six children and youth film projects introduced in this section of the Industry@Tallinn forum   24/11/2022 | Black Nights 2022 | Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event A total of 20 films in production or post-production will be presented at the three sections of the Estonian gathering's Works in Progress sessions in November   08/11/2022 | Black Nights 2022 | Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event In collaboration with ROSKINO, the Italian market is organising a co-production pitching session during the upcoming Key Buyers Event: Digital   04/06/2021 | Trieste 2022 | WEMW 06/05/2025Crossing Europe 2025 Review: Callas, Darling 02/05/2025goEast 2025 Review: My Magical World 30/04/2025Films / Reviews – Italy Review: San Damiano 30/04/2025Hot Docs 2025 Review: King Matt the First 29/04/2025Films / Reviews – Italy Review: Storia di una notte 29/04/2025Films / Reviews – Peru/Spain Review: Kayara. La guerrera del Imperio Inca Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the most important daily or weekly news on European cinema Crossing Europe 2025 Cannes 2025 Marché du Film The Party’s Over! leads France TV Distribution’s Cannes slate CPH:DOX 2025 CPH:DOX Industry Europa Distribution explores the release of documentaries at CPH:DOX Cannes 2025 Marché du Film AFCI runs its second annual Global Film Commission Network Summit at Marché du Film Festivals / Awards Czech Republic Czech Republic’s Anifilm goes sci-fi Distribution / Releases / Exhibitors Europe European Arthouse Cinema Day set to return on 23 November Cannes 2025 Marché du Film Indie Sales presents a three-star line-up at Cannes HOFF 2025 The Shadow and U Are the Universe win at Estonia’s Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival Crossing Europe 2025 Awards The New Year That Never Came and The Flats crowned at Crossing Europe Cannes 2025 Marché du Film Be For Films to sell Love Me Tender in Cannes Cannes 2025/Sponsored Latvia set to shine bright at Cannes, led by Sergei Loznitsa’s competition entry Two Prosecutors Las Palmas 2025 MECAS/Awards Manuel Muñoz Rivas and Joana Carro win awards at the eighth MECAS Market TrendsFOCUSA busy spring festival season awaits the European film industry. Cineuropa will continue to keep its readers up to date with the latest news and market insights, covering the buzziest events, including Cannes, Kraków, Karlovy Vary, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Annecy, Brussels, Munich and many others Distribution, Exhibition and Streaming – 06/05/2025Europa Distribution explores the release of documentaries at CPH:DOXThe network has held a case study workshop as part of its brand-new partnership with the Copenhagen-based festival Distribution, Exhibition and Streaming – 02/05/2025Slovak crime-thriller Černák becomes the highest-grossing film in domestic cinemasThe second film in the saga about a local mafia boss, directed by Jakub Króner, outgrossed its first part, which dominated Slovak cinemas last year Jaśmina Wójcik • Director of King Matt the First The Polish director discusses her approach to taking on a 1920s children’s literary classic in an unexpected way Želimir Žilnik • Director of Eighty Plus The Serbian director discusses his deep suspicion of ideologies in relation to his irresistibly charming latest feature, which follows a man whose life spans three political systems Paulina Jaroszewicz • Distribution and marketing manager, New Horizons Association Cineuropa sat down with the Polish distributor to discuss her company’s strategy as well as the connection between its distribution line-up and BNP Paribas New Horizons Festival’s programme Lorcan Finnegan • Director of The Surfer The Irish filmmaker discusses his mystery-thriller, how he created the character with Nicolas Cage and his approach to the use of colours in the film Privacy Policy The images used on this website have been provided by journalists and are believed to be free of rights if you are the owner of an image used on this website and believe that its use infringes on your copyright We will remove the image in question as soon as possible We have made reasonable efforts to ensure that all images used on this website are used legally and in accordance with copyright laws About us | Contact us | Logos and Banners Mission | Partners | Team | Donations | Terms and conditions "I tried to show how brutal a man's world can be without women in a rural area of Turkey" by Ana Stanic The Turkish filmmaker discusses his new feature a daring boy's journey against the cruel entanglements of deception and disabilities of the adult world Copy and paste the code in your html to embed this video Turkish filmmaker Seyfettin Tokmak discusses his new feature, the 28th Black Nights Film Festival competition entry Empire of the Rabbits [+see also: film reviewinterview: Seyfettin Tokmakfilm profile] Siratby Oliver Laxe Trailer [it] Una figliaby Ivano De Matteo Trailer [fr st en] Bye Byeby Amélie Bonnin Trailer [vo st fr] Little Jaffnaby Lawrence Valin San Damianoby Gregorio Sassoli, Alejandro Cifuentes Teaser [es] Siratby Oliver Laxe Fuoriby Mario Martone Trailer [es st fr] Mexico 86by César Díaz Trailer [es st it] The Sleeperby Álvaro Longoria Robot T-Oby Giulio CallegariFrench release May 7 Dreams (Sex Love)by Dag Johan HaugerudBerlinale 2025 - Golden Bear for Best FilmGerman release May 8 The Mohicanby Frédéric FarrucciVenice 2024 – Orizzonti ExtraItalian release May 8 Surfacingby Cecilia Atán, Valeria PivatoSan Sebastián 2024 - New DirectorsSpanish release May 9 A Ukrainian solider grabs an intelligence drone during landing in the Luhansk region Moscow’s army is staging a ferocious push in northeast Ukraine designed to distract Ukrainian forces from their counteroffensive and minimize the number of troops Kyiv is able to send to more important battles in the south FILE - Smoke is rises from a burning humvee vehicle on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman FILE - Spent shells lay piled up on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman A soldiers walks through the forest on a front line in the outskirts of Lyman FILE - A Ukrainian soldier sits inside a trench on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman FILE - Ukrainian attack helicopters fly over a sunflower field in eastern Ukraine Ukrainian soldiers fire a mortar on the front line on the outskirts of Kreminna A Ukrainian soldier lights a cigarette in between drone operations on the front line in the Luhansk region Moscow’s army is staging a ferocious push in northeast Ukraine designed to distract Ukrainian forces from their counteroffensive and minimize the number of troops Kyiv is able to send to more important battles in the south.(AP Photo/Bram Janssen) A Ukrainian soldier carries a shell towards a howitzer on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman Ukrainian soldiers rest in a trench on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman Ukrainian soldiers load a howitzer with a shell on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman FILE - A Ukrainian soldier loads a shell onto an attack helicopter in eastern Ukraine Moscow’s army is staging a ferocious push in northeast Ukraine designed to distract Ukrainian forces from their counteroffensive and minimize the number of troops Kyiv is able to send to more important battles in the south.(AP Photo/Bram Janssen Ukrainian soldiers walk towards a howitzer position on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman A Ukrainian soldiers throws a lighter to a colleague on the front line in the outskirts of Lyman FILE - A Ukrainian soldier stands inside a dance hall that was previously bombed by Russian forces in Kupyansk FILE - A Ukrainian soldier hides in a trailer from a landing military helicopter in eastern Ukraine A Ukrainian soldier smokes a cigarette while operating an intelligence drone in the Luhansk region Ukraine (AP) — Concealed under pine branches in the forests of northeast Ukraine aiming for a group of approaching Russian infantrymen many kilometers away The thunderous crash of the unleashed projectile sends a pall of black smoke billowing above jabs of yellow flames A pile of spent shells in the nearby foliage grows by the day along a small section of the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) front line Moscow’s army is staging a ferocious push designed to pin down Ukrainian forces distract them from their grinding counteroffensive and minimize the number of troops Kyiv is able to send to more important battles in the south Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar urged observers to measure Ukrainian progress not in kilometers or meters but “by the very fact that we are successful in moving forward in such conditions.” the Ukrainians must deal with limitations in manpower And the looming fall rainy season adds even greater urgency to an already difficult battle The muddy ground will hinder Kyiv’s infantry and heavy machinery Ukrainian forces have recently had more success breaking through Russian lines Ukraine has advanced 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) in the southern Zaporizhzhia region overcoming dense Russian fortifications last week to retake the village of Robotyne — Ukraine’s first tactically significant victory in that part of the country It is a far cry from the sweeping territorial gains Western allies hoped for But winning control of the village brings Ukrainian forces one step closer to the town of Tokmak an important Russian-occupied rail hub that would be a major strategic gain And if Ukrainians advance even 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Robotyne it could bring them within shooting range of Russia’s east-west transport routes potentially undermining Moscow’s combat capabilities “We passed the first line of Russian defense and we are approaching the second,” said a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Legion” who is positioned in Zaporizhzhia He said the success was owed to NATO-supplied weapons in particular U.S.-made Bradley combat vehicles as well as Ukrainian-made drones capable of striking 60 kilometers (37 miles) behind Russian lines the second defensive line “is quite strong,” military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said Kyiv has never explicitly stated its goals for the counteroffensive apart from saying it seeks to restore Ukraine’s 1991 territorial borders Ukrainian forces must move across mostly open fields near the Synkivka settlement where Russian forces have focused their advance giving Ukrainian forces few options for cover “The enemy is constantly trying to advance,” said brigade artillery commander Viktor Yurchuk said Russian troops were regrouping in both the Kupiansk and Lyman areas and deploying newly formed brigades and divisions as well as weaponry Maliar said professional airborne units have also been deployed from around Avdiivka further south in the Donetsk region where the two armies are also locked in battles Apart from preventing Ukrainian forces from redeploying in the south a Russian advance in the northeast would also create a protective buffer for the Kremlin’s supply lines Moscow hopes to halt Ukrainian advances in Bakhmut where Kyiv’s forces recently took control of commanding heights within closer range of Russia’s supply routes that means the intensity of the battles will not let up anytime soon some of Ukraine’s allies have expressed concern that the counteroffensive may come up short Soldiers respond that every kilometer of advance is a herculean feat against a well-fortified enemy The allies’ concerns have reached Ukrainian soldiers on the front line “It’s very hard for our soldiers to hear that our assault is going too slowly,” said a drone operator known by the call sign “Salam” with the elite Adam Group in the Bakhmut area “We are here witnessing the situation on the front line It’s a view many Ukrainian service members share Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this week that criticizing the slow pace equals “spitting into the face of the Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day.” “I would recommend (to) all critics to shut up come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves,” he said while on a trip to Spain an analyst with the U.S-based Institute for the Study of War think tank challenged assessments that the counteroffensive is not going well “This campaign is going the best that it could have given the way that it was supported,” he said Because the Russians appear to have limited flexibility in their reserves even a small Ukrainian breakthrough that severs a strategic point in Russian lines might result in the Kremlin’s troops being “stretched very thin,” Barros said there is no indication that Russia’s efforts in the northeast are having a significant impact on the Ukrainian offensive in the south let’s say we have around one more month” before the rains set in “I think we still have time for offensive actions Tokmak is not a large city.  With a population of 29,573 in 2021 it is less than half the size of pre-war Bakhmut.   It’s less than ¼ the population of the Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan.  Bakhmut is the 58th largest city in Ukraine On the other hand, Tokmak is one of the most heavily fortified Russian-occupied cities in Ukraine Those of us who have been following the Russo-Ukrainian War have gotten to know some names of previously obscure Ukrainian cities: like Izium Izium is the largest of these cities with a pre-war population of 45,000 so none of these are particularly large cities.  But each of them sit upon a critical rail line and a network of roads that make them far more important than the size of the city would suggest Mapping Tokmak against the current front line you can see that Tokmak lies at the center of 5 major roads.  These roads connect the 2 major cities of the area (Berdyansk and Melitopol) while connecting to the 2 defensive hub cities at the front.  Vasylivka to the northwest This actually greatly undersells Tokmak’s importance Lets add in Ukraine’s rail lines and the Molochna river to the map Now you begin to see why Tokmak is so important to Russia—in fact it may be THE key to Russia’s defense of this entire sector of front Russia can supply its troops from 2 primary directions—from the North east (from Belgorod via Starobilsk and Donetsk) As has been noted many times by Kos and Mark the Russians are incapable of supplying troops long-distance by road and truck.  Russia is reliant on rail transport for supply As I noted in my previous diary an offensive by Ukraine would likely attempt to use the Molochna river to shield their left flank in advancing towards Melitopol advancing predominantly west of the Molochna river the natural way to counterattack would be from the East to cut off the Ukrainian vanguard’s line of supply If Ukraine doesn’t secure Tokmak and bypasses it Russia could launch an attack to the northwest from Tokmak and it’s only 35km (22 miles) from Tokmak to Vasylivka—a relatively short distance even for the Russian army if the Ukrainians secure or surround Tokmak first Russia’s options for a counteroffensive suddenly get a lot more limited there’s basically no way to get supplies from the East for a Russian counteroffensive without first recapturing Tokmak  Russia could no longer get supplies or reinforcements from the East to support Melitopol at least without making a 100km overland trek by truck  And we all probably remember how that went the last time the Russians tried that many Russian trucks suffered from poor maintenance and suffered numerous breakdowns.  Russia’s overland supply lines broke down and Russia was defeated in the Battle of Kiev.  Russia’s logistics are nearly entirely reliant on railroads except very short distances.) and Ukraine can basically count on no counterattacks from the East This whole analysis would work in the reverse as well If Ukraine chose to attack East of Melitopol and make Berdyansk and Mariupol the primary objectives of the initial Spring Offensive capturing Tokmak would effectively wall off any counterattacks from Russia from the West of the offensive Tokmak is essentially the lynchpin that holds the Western and Eastern wings of the Russian army together.  Capture Tokmak and the two wings fall apart into 2 independent armies no longer capable of supporting each other directly Tokmak may be one of the single most important strategic positions in all of Russian occupied Southern Ukraine Not signed up for Daily Kos yet? Create a free account Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content The Moscow-aligned information space is reporting Kremlin troop setbacks amid Russian sources suggesting Ukraine has begun its counter-offensive Kyiv has not commented on Russian claims that its long-awaited push to retake captured territory has commenced but milbloggers have reported on Telegram how Ukrainian troops have used tanks and other armored vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia oblast milblogger War Gonzo said that a battle had been ongoing during the night in Orekhov-Tokmak writing that the Ukrainian side had not made significant progress the post described how on the Donetsk front where Russian troops had conducted assault operations in Maryinka "the Ukrainian garrison held its positions" and managed to advance in the Vodiane area Russian troops attempted a counterattack near Kleshcheevka "managed to occupy several new positions on the southwestern approaches to the city." Russian state media war correspondent Alexander Sladkov wrote on Telegram Thursday that "the enemy is moving forward in waves trying to break through our first line of defense." He said that Russian forces had destroyed Ukrainian personnel and equipment although regarding Bakhmut Meanwhile the Twitter account Tendar which gives updates about the war from a pro-Kyiv perspective said that Russian troops on many parts of the frontline "are getting pounded" by Ukrainian forces using rocket artillery and western-supplied weapons such as the British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles "The long-range strikes such as in Tokmak and Melitopol in the last hours are even more interesting," said the post which also described how Russian claims Moscow was repelling attacks were untrue and that they were "surviving barrage after another." It is not yet known what the impact will be of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Dnieper River for the expected push by Ukraine's forces Kyiv has blamed Moscow for attacking the dam linking it to an attempt to thwart Ukraine's advances However, on Thursday, Ukraine's Armed Forces said that Russia was also paying the price for the devastation caused by the dam's destruction with its forces suffering losses of personnel and military equipment The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Wednesday that the destruction of the dam was "significantly changing the geography and topography of the Kherson frontline sector," and is "affecting Russian military positions" on the river's eastern bank the former commanding general of United States Army Europe told Newsweek he thought the Russians had blown up the dam having "panicked because they thought the offensive had started." "The Russians will probably not gain as much military benefit as they might hope," he said referring to assessments that floodwaters will subside within the seven days and the ground will start to dry rapidly in the summer heat "The effect hoped for by the Russians—a delay and disruption of that of Ukraine's maneuver options in southeastern Ukraine—is likely to be short-lived." senior consulting fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia program told Newsweek on Wednesday that while the dam's destruction "negatively impacts Ukraine as a country—whether it impacts the counter-offensive depends on what exactly Ukraine was planning to do In emailed comments to Newsweek, Peter Dickinson editor of the Atlantic Council think tank's Ukraine Alert said Kyiv's forces were unlikely to launch the offensive by going "over the top" of Russian lines He said they were more likely to test Russian defenses along the front to stretch Moscow's forces "identify weak points" and that at least in the initial stages Ukraine's push would be "a rolling series of local probes and thrusts." Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment ET: This article has been updated with comment from Ben Hodges Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all located about 70 kilometers northwest of Donetsk remains one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the front where Russia has concentrated its main offensive efforts since March  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 11:41 am)Ukraine's drones target Moscow second night in a row, Russian official claims, ahead of Victory Day parade. Debris from one of the drones reportedly fell on the Kashirskoye Highway The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." Vice President Mike Pence said Putin "only understands power." About 800 million euros ($905 million) will be allocated for the acquisition and installation of anti-tank mines to deter potential aggression  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 9:36 am)War analysisFrance is sending Ukraine more AASM Hammer bombs — here's what they can do Polish President Andrzej Duda said the United States has tools that can effectively influence the Kremlin arguing that only President Donald Trump has real leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin The number includes 1,430 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement" by Benjamin Nathans which covers dissent in the Soviet Union and Russia today Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on May 5 announced they had facilitated Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash's escape from Russia to France after she fled house arrest on April 21 A Russian drone attack on Odesa Oblast on May 5 killed one and caused damage to local infrastructure "We appreciate that Germany plays a pivotal role in supporting Ukraine throughout the years of war Ukraine is also grateful for your personal commitment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Russian forces have in recent days added more checkpoints which is currently held by Russia's 58th Combined Arms Army located 16 kilometers from the front line and around 60 kilometers northeast of occupied Melitopol is likely to become "a lynchpin of Russia's second main line of defenses."   "Improvements to the town’s defenses likely indicate Russia’s growing concern about Ukrainian tactical penetrations of the first main defensive line to the north," the intelligence report says More than three months into Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive Kyiv is taking initiative in some parts of the front line –  mainly in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and in the Bakhmut and Velyka Novosilka axes in Donetsk Oblast Ukraine has thus far been able to liberate more than a dozen villages since early June, with the most recent success seen in the Bakhmut area Though it is difficult to hold on to recaptured territories, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Sept. 11 said that Ukraine has been able to liberate 4.8 square kilometers of territories in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast and in Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the past week Since the beginning of the counteroffensive in early June Ukraine has liberated 256.5 square kilometers of territory on the southeastern front Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023 She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine This was reported by Ukrainian Armed Forces’ StratCom Force on Telegram "It happened yesterday somewhere around 22:50-23:40 Local sources report that many Chechens were burned in their sleep along with the Headquarters of the occupation force The information is being verified," the military said enemy combat losses from February 24 to December 23 increased to 100,950 While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 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Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;} #article-stream-0 .headline-embed.font-size #article-stream-0 .headline-embed .font-size{font-size: 54px;}A Russian train carrying T-62 tanks in the months and weeks leading up to the Ukrainian armed forces’ 2023 counteroffensive planners in Kyiv agreed on at least one main objective That objective: to advance forces far enough south from Mala Tokmachka toward Russian-occupied Melitopol—50 miles to the south—in order to bring the town of Tokmak under Ukrainian fire-control Ukrainian brigades finally met the objective Ukrainian artillery—perhaps American-made High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers—edged close enough to Tokmak to hit a Russian supply train rolling near the town A dramatic video that circulated online on Sunday depicts the train in flames Russian logistics in occupied southern Ukraine now are in serious trouble Tokmak is a major road and rail hub: arguably the most important hub in southwestern Ukraine Unravel the overland supply lines threading through Tokmak and you unravel the garrisons that depend on those supply lines for food ammunition and replacement troops and vehicles bringing Tokmak into artillery and rocket range is a major step toward the Ukrainians’ ultimate goal of defeating the Russian field armies in the south and liberating the thousands of square miles they occupy the strategic peninsula that Russia forcibly annexed in 2014 This isn’t the end of Russia’s 21-month wider war on Ukraine But it’s a development that signals some of Kyiv’s major war aims and also illuminates the preparations Moscow is making to prolong the war—and to maintain its hold on occupied territory At the same time the Ukrainians are targeting the supply lines passing through Tokmak the Russians are hard at work establishing new supply lines If the Russians succeed in diverting trucks and trains away from Tokmak they partially could defeat the Ukrainians’ counterattacks along the Melitopol axis—by rendering the counterattacks strategically meaningless The Ukrainian strike on that Russian train near Tokmak only recently was possible While Ukrainian forces possess an array of deep-strike weapons—Storm Shadow and SCALP land-attack missiles S-200 and Tochka ballistic missiles and several types of drones—these weapons generally work best against static targets But they also needed to bring to bear their most responsive and most accurate fires their GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shells and Guided Multiple Launch Rockets The Excaliburs fire from American-made M777 howitzers out to a range of around 19 miles GLMRS fires from HIMARS launchers out to a distance of 44 miles The Ukrainians keep their M777s a few miles from the front line in order to complicate Russian counterbattery fire; they keep their precious HIMARS even farther back The line of contact probably needed to stabilize somewhere around Robotyne before Ukraine’s precision artillery effectively could target trains rolling through Tokmak including the best-equipped 47th Mechanized and 82nd Air Assault Brigades fought their way to Robotyne this summer—at incredible cost—and finally liberated the settlement in August and the counterlogistics campaign targeting Tokmak began in earnest Expect many more precision strikes on Russian trains and convoys in and around Tokmak in the coming weeks and months as Ukraine aims to extend its summer counteroffensive into the fall and winter Also expect the Russians to adapt—or at least try to adapt The apparent construction of a new railway through occupied Mariupol on the Black Sea coast a hundred miles east of Melitopol could shift Russia’s overland supply lines through southern Ukraine away from Tokmak—and closer to the coast If the Russians succeed in adapting their logistical system they could compel the Ukrainians also to adapt—by establishing a new goal for their counteroffensive If the Russians move their supply lines farther south the Ukrainians might have to advance farther south in order reliably to strike these same supply lines That would be an ominous development for Kyiv It cost the Ukrainians hundreds of vehicles and potentially thousands of lives to bring Tokmak under fire-control It could cost them much more than that to bring the Black Sea coast under fire-control Autor foto: The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Ukrainian forces are continuing their major offensive operation along the southern frontline in the hopes of achieving a breakthrough Last week Ukrainian forces managed to capture Robotyne a bastion of Russian defensive positions protecting the approaches to the primary Russian lines of defence Battles are now raging along this primary line with Ukrainian forces trying to cut a path to Tokmak – which can be identified as a priority target of the Ukrainian offensive but more importantly a garrison and supply hub for a significant part of the southern front Should the Ukrainian forces reach Tokmak before the onset of Autumn and the heavy rainfalls they would be able to significantly hinder Russian logistics along the southern front which could lead to a deterioration of Russian forces in the area setting the stage for further Ukrainian offensive operations – most probably in Winter 2023/2024 been transformed to act as a part of the defence line Behind Novoprokopivka is the settlement of Solodka Balka This village has been entirely incorporated into the Russian primary line of defence It is protected be extensive defensive positions and with the recent reports of extensive reinforcements efforts conducted by the Russian forces it will most probably be garrisoned by a significant number of troops including the more elite and better equipped soldiers of the VDV (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska – Russian Airborne Forces) from the 7th Guards Airborne Division and the 76th VDV Division The 76th Division was previously stationed in the Kreminna area where they were used as the premiere (sometimes described as the only effective) fighting force These two settlements and their garrisons thus pose a significant obstacle to the Ukrainian advance Which is why Ukrainian forces are now attempting to bypass them and threaten their more exposed eastern flank Instead of advancing frontally on Novoprokopivka Ukrainian troops have begun making headway roughly 1,5-2 kilometres to the east of the settlement choosing to forge a way through the less reinforced fields Should the Ukrainians continue making progress in this direction it would threaten the flank of the Russian positions placing them in a similar position to Robotyne just before it was taken The Ukrainians might be aiming to repeat this process several times clearing all the settlements blocking their way to Tokmak in a similar fashion This would certainly negate some of the Russian advantages obviously Ukrainian forces would still suffer casualties especially when assaulting across the open plains cut by treelines – each most probably reinforced and transformed by Russians into defensive positions which the Ukrainians are trying currently to resolve that is the safety of the flanks of the advancing forces The further the Ukrainians go the more their flanks are endangered by Russian forces and reserves in adjacent positions The western flank of the Ukrainian advance (that is from the direction of Novoprokopivka) is covered by Ukrainian units exerting frontal pressure from Robotyne The eastern flank however is a bit more open to attack from the Russians stationed in the settlement of Verbove and south which makes pressuring it impossible In order to overcome this Ukrainian forces have launched a direct assault on the village from the direction of their main advance either hoping to tie up Russian forces long enough to grant the main advance enough time to breakthrough or simply to capture Verbove which would entirely eliminate the immediate threat Though this second option would risk entangling Ukrainian troops in further fighting to the east The wedge currently being driven into the Russian lines by the Ukrainians could result in significant gains and an advance on Tokmak however Ukrainians have to continuously contend not only with direct frontal engagements with the Russian defensive lines but also the threat of a potential (and actually possible) Russian flanking manoeuvre which would break through Ukrainian flanks encircling the main advance forces and cutting them off from Ukrainian lines it also suggests that Russia is not willing to back out of the war and is prepared to launch another wave of mobilisation which might threaten the success of the Ukrainian offensive and foreshadow major Russian operations in the next window of opportunity – most probably Winter 2023/2024 As the Ukrainians continue their advance towards Tokmak they have to face many challenges and obstacles created by the Russian armed forces The offensive is balancing on meticulous planning but not impossible and should the Ukrainians succeed they would have dealt the Russians a massive blow and create important opportunities for the liberation of their country i George Barros et al., “Interactive Map: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine”, Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project, accessed August 31, 2023, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375 ii Kateryna Stepanenko et al., “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 29, 2023”, Press ISW, August 29, 2023, https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-29-2023 iii “Окупанти готують нову хвилю мобілізації в Криму”, ArmyInform, August 29, 2023, https://armyinform.com.ua/2023/08/29/okupanty-gotuyut-novu-hvylyu-mobilizacziyi-v-krymu/ © Copyright 2004 - 2025 | Casimir Pulaski Foundation Niniejsza Polityka Prywatności obejmuje wszelkie informacje związane z gromadzeniem przeglądaniem i/lub przetwarzaniem danych osobowych przez Fundację im zabezpieczenia oraz opis praw Użytkowników związanych z takim przetwarzaniem danych osobowych Russia invades Ukraine from the north and east withdraws from the north and consolidates forces in the east Ukraine’s autumn 2022 counteroffensive recaptures territory in the east and south Russia’s winter-spring 2023 offensive kills many but yields few gains Ukraine’s much-anticipated summer 2023 counteroffensive begins in the centre of Russian lines Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive failed to achieve its main objectives; the front line remains mostly unchanged Six months after Ukraine launched its summer counteroffensive to take back Russian-occupied territory in the east of the country Kyiv’s forces have made little progress in the face of entrenched Russian resistance Russia’s defensive line — the largest and most fortified in Europe since World War Two — ultimately held and early prospects of a Ukrainian breakthrough that would sever the land bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea have faded With another winter stalemate approaching — if not a renewed Russian attack to take more of eastern Ukraine — these are some of the main factors that left Ukraine’s forces stuck at the front line recommended Ukraine launch a concentrated offensive along the axis in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine launched offensives across multiple axes At the heart of the Ukrainian counteroffensive was the Zaporizhzhia front a battleground considered by military analysts the most direct path to split the Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine this route aimed to cut off crucial Russian supply lines to Crimea Though Kyiv kept its ultimate goals for the counteroffensive close to its chest, in August, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy laid down a marker that Ukraine’s campaign would not stop until Crimea was freed from Russian occupation For many Western analysts, the key to that goal was breaking through to the supply lines that connected Crimea to Russia in Zaporizhzhia. But Ukraine’s forces were ultimately split between three axes of attack, including one as far north as Bakhmut in Donetsk, where Ukraine had to reinforce its own defences after Russia went on the attack in October The timing of Ukraine’s counteroffensive played a crucial role by allowing Russia time to fortify the front line Ukraine waited months to begin its attack while training troops shipping in Western arms and debating strategy Russia had time to dig trenches and lay mines along strategic areas of the front Intelligence gathered from satellite imagery analysed by Brady Africk of the American Enterprise Institute Africk described Russia's fortifications between the front line and Tokmak as dense and layered and strategically placed land mines within treelines and along key roads leading south into occupied Ukraine flat terrain in the region made it more difficult for Ukraine to move with any element of surprise The delay to Ukraine’s counteroffensive allowed Russia time to construct extensive fortifications and lay dense minefields creating additional challenges for the counteroffensive especially intense along the Zaporizhzhia axis the Ukrainian army’s modest progress reflects the substantial density of fortifications in the region and the resources at their disposal Ukraine managed just a 7.5-kilometer advance Russia’s defensive line consisted of layer upon layer of static barriers designed to impede tanks intricate networks of trenches and tunnels This multifaceted defence strategy created a formidable challenge for Ukrainian forces attempting to breach the front line All of this was backed by a constant barrage of Russian artillery This graphic illustrates Russia's defensive line consisting of layer upon layer of static barriers designed to impede tanks The satellite images below vividly depict the aftermath of relentless shelling in the region The landscape near Robotyne is pock-marked by craters While neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian armies have officially released casualty data, both sides have incurred significant losses in terms of manpower and resources. Russia pressed poorly trained convicts into “Storm-Z” punishment battalions to reinforce frontline troops while Ukraine’s high-risk attacks against well-prepared defences with limited battle-fatigued troops took a major toll on their forces and assets A satellite image over Robotyne reveals the territory gained during the Ukrainian counteroffensive amounting to just 7.5 km over the course of six months Ahead of its troop positions along the front, Russian forces laid a formidable first line of defence: a dense layer of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines Clearing paths through Russian mine fields became one of the costliest challenges of the counteroffensive both in terms of time and men and machinery Ukraine employed Western mine-clearance vehicles and armoured columns of tanks and vehicles to traverse the hazardous terrain But the army’s movements to clear paths through the mines unfolded under the watchful eye of surveillance drones operated by Russia’s new specialised drone units These drones meticulously observed the mine-clearance vehicles feeding targeting information to artillery and attack helicopters Evolving optical capabilities on the drones also meant they could see through traditional camouflage techniques such as smoke screens that would foil human observers As forward mine-clearing tanks and vehicles were targeted and destroyed Ukrainian attack columns behind them got stuck in a kill zone for Russian artillery unable to manoeuvre around destroyed vehicles without triggering yet more mines slow-moving units rather than larger attack groups to minimise their exposure to artillery This graphic explains how dense minefields have in effect halted the counteroffensive Mine-clearing vehicles were detected by drones and subsequently destroyed leaving the armored columns and ground units vulnerable Ukraine’s counteroffensive can claim some modest success The counteroffensive in Crimea, employing sea drones and targeted long-range missile strikes, forced Russia’s navy on the backfoot in the Black Sea, and a declassified U.S. intelligence report pointed to a cost for Russia’s armed forces of nearly 315,000 dead and wounded troops or nearly 90% of the personnel it had when the conflict began the ultimate aim of retaking land in occupied Ukraine failed to materialise and Kyiv is now scrambling to secure more arms supplies from Western nations as the war drags on A senior military commander told Reuters that frontline troops were facing shortages of artillery shells and had scaled back some military operations because of a shortfall of foreign assistance This map illustrates the advancements and setbacks of the Ukrainian counteroffensive across the entire front line Brady Africk; Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (Russian-occupied territory data as of 3 p.m This map shows the path taken by the Russian mercenary group Wagner to Moscow during its rebellion Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner forces returned to base after a 36-hour mutiny that saw mercenaries heading toward Moscow and the prospect of bloody confrontations with regular military defending the Russian capital A last-minute deal averted the immediate crisis, but the mutiny raised questions about the state of the Russian leadership and the prospect that the long war in Ukraine may be taking its toll on their grip on power at home The apparent ease with which Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary forces barrelled hundreds of kilometres towards Moscow from Russia’s south indicated that Russian reserve forces were so thin they struggled to respond to the threat These were the major figures in the biggest challenge to Russia’s military and political leadership in a generation: Since entering the spotlight when his Wagner mercenary troops occupied the frontlines in the months-long fight to take the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut Yevgeny Prigozhin — a one-time caterer — has frequently criticised Russia’s military leadership On Friday, after claiming that Russian troops had bombed and killed large numbers of Wagner soldiers, Prigozhin released audio messages in which he challenged the rationale for the war and said his fighters would “punish” those responsible Wagner fighters were streaming back across the border with Russia had captured the military command hub in Rostov-on-Don commanding his troops to return to their bases While Prigozhin singled out Russian top military brass he carefully avoided criticising President Vladimir Putin But the president made a national address to the Russian people on Saturday condemning the mutiny as a “stab in the back” and vowing to crush it Putin has not commented publicly since then Prigozhin had for months openly accused defence minister Sergei Shoigu of rank incompetence and of denying Wagner ammunition and support Speculation quickly spread on Russian social media channels after the deal was struck to end the Wagner mutiny that Prigozhin might have secured concessions including changes in the military leadership Shoigu was shown speaking to officers in an undated video released by his ministry It was his first appearance since the crisis a former Kremlin adviser who remains close to the authorities said the video was “a signal to everyone that Shoigu is in office and will probably remain defence minister now” Valery Gerasimov — whom Prigozhin had also accused of incompetence — is in direct command of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine He rarely appears in public and has not been seen since the mutiny Lukashenko became a surprise mediator to bring the crisis to an end after he brokered a deal between Prigozhin and Putin he announced the deal would stop Wagner fighters streaming toward Moscow all charges would be dropped against Prigozhin and he would move to Belarus Sources: Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (Russian-occupied territory data as of 3 p.m The fighting around Bakhmut continues. A month after Russian forces claimed to have taken the city after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war in Ukraine so far, Ukrainian forces have reported modest gains along the nearby frontline a technology & strategy consulting firm using satellite images and algorithm-based analysis has measured the severity of the destruction in Bakhmut ranked from low to high levels of destruction and shows how broadly devastated the city has been after months of constant shelling and building-to-building combat The video shows a 3D model of the building footprint in western Bakhmut overlaid with videos and photos showing the destruction of many of those buildings since the assault on Bakhmut began Bakhmut is now mostly depopulated and a landscape of ruins The most intense destruction can be seen in the western parts of the city Nearly every building in this sector is marked by intense Russian bombardment This video combines Ukrainian drone footage with a 3D reconstruction of the western part of the city to depict the desolation in this last area seized by the Russians now a scene of charred walls and broken glass Video journey through the devastated city of Bakhmut Moscow paid for its occupation of Bakhmut with close to 100,000 casualties Some military analysts regard this battle as the bloodiest of the 21st century often referring to it as a "meat grinder" and also say the city has no clear strategic value Ukraine is fighting to regain control over this ruined city one of the key fronts in its counteroffensive Add a description of the graphic for screen readers Sources: Analysis of the destruction of Bakhmut (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel-1 data (2023) processed by Masae Analytics.); Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (Russian-occupied territory data as of 3 p.m Last week, Ukraine began its long awaited counteroffensive against the Russian occupation in the east. While Ukraine’s army reported some initial victories and liberated a handful of occupied towns the hardened Russian lines are still ahead of them About 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the frontline of the counteroffensive stands one of the largest defensive systems constructed in Europe since World War Two according to analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) the Russians’ fortified line stretches roughly 2,000 km running from Russia’s border with Belarus to the Dnipro Delta About 1,000 km of dense and layered lines are located in Ukrainian territory "Map of Ukraine showcasing the latest territorial situation under Russian occupation Russia has built a 2,000-kilometre-long line of fortifications of which 1,000 km lies within Ukraine." Ukraine’s initial focus of the counteroffensive has been to cut through the centre of the Russian lines The Ukrainians have broken through initial fighting positions along a broad part of the front but remain some distance from Russia’s main defensive line The counterattack has been focused in at least three areas so far: Ukrainian soldiers have regained some territory along a broad part of the front but they are still 15-20 km away from the main Russian defense line Ukrainian troops have made progress on the southern and northern flanks of Bakhmut The biggest territorial gains for Ukraine have been near Velyka Novosilka. Ukrainian forces liberated a cluster of four villages, including two visited by Reuters: Velika Novosilka there have been limited territorial gains since the counteroffensive began in various cities located 20 km south of Orikhiv Russian defences are strategically designed to stymie any Ukrainian breakthrough into the Russian occupied territories and channel Ukrainian forces into areas where defenders have the advantage The defensive lines consist of layered networks of trenches earthen berms and dragon's teeth — concrete pyramids designed to obstruct the movement of main battle tanks and mechanised infantry One example of the layers of fortifications the Russians have constructed is on the outskirts of the occupied town of Mykhailivka situated 25 km south of the frontline at Zaporizhzhia Three distinct defensive lines and a three-sided position encircling the town await Ukraine’s forces here but they are still 15-20 km away from the main Russian defence line Brady Africk; Center for Strategic and International Studies; Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (Russian-occupied territory data as of 3 p.m June 15); Sentinel-2 L2A (Modified Copernicus Sentinel data Sentinel Hub); Natural Earth; Shuttle Radar Topography Mission In the more than 475 days since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainians have endured near constant assault from devastating shelling along the front and missile and drone attacks striking cities far away from the battlefield. Despite an onslaught bigger than any in Europe since World War Two, Ukraine has survived This is a brief history of what’s led to this moment where Ukraine hopes to decisively strike back: After months of Russian military buildup along Ukraine’s border and failed international efforts to defuse the growing threat Moscow orders troops to invade Ukraine on Feb with a massive mechanised column in the north that threatens to overwhelm Kyiv Moscow’s forces stall on the outskirts of Kyiv and it abandons its northern assault, leaving behind evidence of atrocities against civilians in the capital’s surrounding towns. Ukrainians score a stinging victory after the Russian warship Moskva is sunk in the Black Sea Russia consolidates its forces in the east the conflict settles into slow-grinding trench warfare The city of Bakhmut becomes the site of the fiercest and bloodiest battles between Ukrainian defenders and waves of Russian mercenary fighters but at a cost in lives that seems to far outweigh what little has been gained Map sources: Center for Strategic and International Studies; Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (Russian-occupied territory data as of 3 p.m the news and media division of Thomson Reuters is the world’s largest multimedia news provider reaching billions of people worldwide every day national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO David joined Newsweek in 2018 and has since reported from key locations and summits across Europe and the South Caucasus This includes extensive reporting from the Baltic David graduated from the University of Cambridge having specialized in the history of empires and revolutions You can contact David at d.brennan@newsweek.com and follow him on Twitter @DavidBrennan100 Ukraine's counterattacking forces are still edging forwards on the southern Zaporizhzhia front hoping to exploit gaps wrought in Russian defensive lines to achieve a significant breakthrough towards the strategic target of Tokmak—prompting Moscow to deploy reinforcements Recent Ukrainian gains around the Zaporizhzhia settlement of Verbove have raised hopes that the long-awaited breakthrough may soon materialize, after more than three months of a slow and costly push towards Russia's so-called "Surovikin Line" of fortifications stretching across occupied southern Ukraine The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on Tuesday that the "tactical situation in Verbove remains unclear as Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations" in the area Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment The think tank cited reports among Russian Telegram milbloggers suggesting that Kyiv's troops had reached the northern outskirts of Novoprokopivka the town from which Ukraine's southern drive began in June Meanwhile, Ukrainian infantry and armored units are still thought to be pushing into the bulge developing in Russian defensive lines in Verbove where recent battlefield reports indicate significant Russian losses and the possibility of a sustained Ukrainian breakthrough The regional strategic prize is the town of Tokmak around 12 miles from the current front line and serving as a key railway and logistics hub for defending Russian forces The town is ringed with newly built defensive networks in preparation for a possible Ukrainian breakthrough to the north The ISW suggested that Russian reinforcements are being rushed to the Tokmak area as Ukrainian forces gain ground Among the units thought to be in the area are elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division The ISW said the deployment of such groups as far back as Tokmak itself suggests that "the Russian command has not manned the multi-echeloned defense in southern Ukraine in depth." Most Russian forces in the area appear to be deployed "to immediate frontline areas." "The deployment of the 70th and 71st Motorized Rifle Regiments as far back as Tokmak suggests that elements of the same Russian formations and units defending at forward positions are holding positions in subsequent defensive layers," ISW wrote "It is possible that unobserved elements of other Russian units and formations hold positions at rear defensive positions although the current Russian manpower commitment to holding positions on the frontline indicates that this is unlikely." The ISW has repeatedly noted the apparent lack of Russian reserves in southern Ukraine and the lack of rotation of frontline units despite the intense nature of the fighting and the heavy losses among those groups involved the commander of Ukraine's Tavriia operational-strategic group fighting in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts on Wednesday promised imminent "good news," adding: "Our soldiers are steadily advancing and defeating the Russians." On Saturday, CNN published an interview with Tarnavskyi in which the commander predicted a significant breakthrough "after [the liberation of] Tokmak." ShareSaveCommentBusinessAerospace & DefenseThe Ukrainians Are Risking Their Best Leopard 2 And M-2 Vehicles Because The Prize—A Tokmak Breakthrough—Is Worth ItByDavid Axe #article-stream-0 .headline-embed .font-size{font-size: 54px;}Ukrainian troops evacuate after their column struck mines near Mala Tokmachka A week into their long-anticipated 2023 counteroffensive the Ukrainian armed forces are advancing along four axes in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts “In some areas, Ukrainian forces have likely made good progress and penetrated the first line of Russian defenses,” the U.K. defense ministry noted The most difficult axis for the Ukrainians—from Orihiv and Mala Tokmachka along the front line through Tokmak 20 miles to the south—also could be the most rewarding If the Ukrainians can break through the trenches and earthworks around Tokmak and cross the Tokmak River they might be able to race all the way to Melitopol Liberating Melitopol would cut the overland supply lines to Crimea softening the peninsula in advance of a possible Ukrainian effort to eject its Russian occupiers Tokmak’s extreme value helps to explain why the Ukrainians have committed some of their heaviest brigades and best new equipment to the axis—and why the Russians are fighting hard to hold the line well-equipped Russian force garrisons those fortifications some reserve formations and a quintet of mercenary battalions Perhaps 10,000 or more front-line troops and hundreds of armored vehicles The 33rd Brigade and 47th Brigade—respectively armed with German-made Leopard 2 tanks and American-made M-2 fighting vehicles—got stuck in a minefield outside Mala Tokmachka While the 33rd and 47th Brigades lost at least one tank and as many as a dozen fighting vehicles that morning The Ukrainians regrouped and attacked again. On Friday, Russian drones harassed Ukrainian columns south of Mala Tokmacha, indicating the 33rd and 47th Brigades had found a way through or around the Russians’ first defensive line. The Ukrainian army formed at least nine new 2,000-person brigades for the 2023 counteroffensive and armed them mostly with European and American weaponry. The 33rd and 47th are just two of those nine brigades. The Leopard 2s and M-2s they lost represent around 10 percent of their original strength, and a tiny percentage of the overall strength of the nine-brigade counteroffensive corps. All that is to say, the Ukrainians still are holding back a lot of firepower. Perhaps waiting to exploit any gaps the 33rd and 47th Brigades force open at the northern end of the T0408 road to Tokmak. “This axis is the obvious main effort, but we haven’t yet seen the main force—so let’s see,” Martin commented. Today’s Paper#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Russia-Ukraine War By Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Lauren Leatherby Sept The bloody drive toward Tokmak is one small part of a front line that extends several hundred miles part of a broader push in which Ukrainian forces are trying to break through elsewhere in the south and east Source: Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project military analysts thought Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive would attempt to split Russian supply lines in the south driving a wedge between western Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea The Russian military expected the same and prepared accordingly dug fresh fortifications and scattered land mines across the relatively flat fields of Ukraine’s south even with fresh supplies of advanced western tanks and equipment it faced a prepared defense of the sort not seen in Europe since World War II troops and other armored vehicles to dense minefields and prepared Russian troops Kyiv’s forces initially used American tactics better suited for the last century than the current-day battlefield in Ukraine the fighting has concentrated around the small hamlet of Robotyne The Ukrainians are fighting to widen the breach with hopes they can capitalize on their hard-earned gains and inch forward to the next line of Russian defenses This is what Robotyne looked like a year ago: occupied by Russia untouched by battle and home to around a hundred people As Ukrainian forces pushed closer to Robotyne over the summer and trees and vegetation that concealed Russian trenches and positions were slowly sheared away And the farmland surrounding it looked more like the surface of the moon Brady Africk’s analysis of imagery from Copernicus (Russian fortifications) The fight for Robotyne played out in official statements and grainy videos posted on social media leaving the scope of destruction and the scale of violence in the fight for such a small tract of land mostly at arm’s length It is unclear how many soldiers died — on both sides — during the battle but overhead imagery suggested the cost was disproportionate to the amount of land retaken the Ukrainian armed forces released footage showing its forces entering what remains of the small enclave images that revealed bombed-out fields and roads and destroyed homes Dozens of craters filled the small area shown in one photo a hint at the sheer amount of ammunition required to win control of a town just over a mile wide Ukraine’s gains around Robotyne could dictate the next moves in its southern campaign It has moved substantial resources into the area to stop Ukraine from pushing further south to their next objective and Russia’s main line of defense around the village of Verbove There have been reports of Ukrainian gains and Russian counterattacks but the progress of the offensive is unclear The currency of the counteroffensive is ammunition This is what is certain: More people will die more buildings will burn and the surrounding farmlands will be seeded with land mines and unexploded shells that probably will take decades to clear Satellite imagery comes from CNES/Airbus and Maxar Technologies via Google Maps Russian fortifications are based on data from Brady Africk and have been simplified ShareSaveCommentBusinessAerospace & DefenseThe Ukrainians Are Losing A Lot Of Old Soviet Vehicles Trying To Break Through Russian Lines Around TokmakByDavid Axe #article-stream-0 .headline-embed .font-size{font-size: 54px;}The 65th Mechanized Brigade's T-72 tanks during training this spring under Russian occupation just south of the front line in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast Tokmak for its part controls the roads to Melitopol Melitopol meanwhile controls both access to the Black Sea—and the main overland supply lines to Russian-occupied Crimea All that helps to explain why, according to The New York Times officials the Tokmak axis is the locus of Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive which began on June 4 and so far has seen Ukrainian troops advance a few miles along several axes—most notably around the ruins of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region A costly assault near Robotyne apparently in late July underscores the sheer brutality of the fighting in this sector it seems—lost no fewer than four BMP infantry fighting vehicles two tanks and at least one other vehicle trying to force a tree-lined intersection a couple of miles northeast of Robotyne It’s unclear exactly what happened to the Ukrainian assault force But if previous battles along the same axis are indicative—in particular multiple costly assaults by the 47th Brigade north of Robotyne back in early June—a combination of mines and artillery immobilized the assault forcing the surviving crews to bail out and retreat with their dead and wounded The vehicles the Ukrainians rolled into battle that day underscore one of the major dilemmas facing Ukrainian commanders as their counteroffensive grinds toward its third month Some of the Ukrainian military newest and best-equipped brigades led the initial assaults in early June including the 47th with its American-made M-2 infantry fighting vehicles As those brigades suffered losses—the 47th alone has written off dozens of M-2s—the Ukrainians deployed some of their less-well-equipped formations including the 65th and 118th brigades with their ex-Soviet T-72 tanks and BMP fighting vehicles The crew and passengers of an M-2 stand a good chance of surviving a direct hit on their well-built vehicle The soldiers in a BMP-1 from the 1960s are in big trouble if their own vehicle runs over a mine or eats an artillery shell The 65th and 118th take the lead in the attacks around Robotyne at great risk to their vehicle crews and infantry The Ukrainian armed forces still are keeping some of their best brigades in reserve including the heavily-equipped 82nd Air Assault Brigade with its Stryker and Marder IFVs and Challenger 2 tanks Swapping a brigade like the 82nd for a lighter unit like the 118th might save Ukrainian lives as Kyiv’s forces inch forward around Robotyne But it seems the Ukrainian general staff still isn’t willing to commit all its best forces It apparently is saving them for a possible breakthrough—say 65th and 118th have liberated or bypassed Robotyne and pointed the way toward Tokmak If that’s the case—and it’s a big if—then the Ukrainian generals are gamblers They’re betting the brigades currently fighting along the Tokmak axis are capable of breaking through Read more: Ukraine counteroffensive maps It is "highly likely" that Russian friendly fire downed one of Moscow's most advanced frontline fighter jets over the southern Ukrainian city of Tokmak in late September Footage circulating last month after the incident indicated the loss of an Su-35S "Flanker M" multirole fighter jet around 12 miles south of the current frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region over the strategic town of Tokmak which is a key goal of Kyiv's ongoing counteroffensive operation In its latest Defense Intelligence update published on Wednesday morning the British Defense Ministry said it had 80 to 90 percent confidence that an Su-35S was destroyed in the incident "On 28 September 2023, Russian air defense forces highly likely shot down one of their own Su-35S FLANKER M multi-role combat jets over Tokmak, approximately 20km behind the current front line," the ministry posted on X, formerly Twitter "Although Russia has lost around 90 fixed-wing aircraft since the start of the invasion this is probably only the fifth loss of a Su-35S Russia's most advanced combat jet in widespread service," it added "The location is relevant because Tokmak is a heavily fortified town which often hosts Russian headquarters commanding one of the most intensely contested sectors of the front line." "These headquarters would typically be protected with dedicated short- and medium-range air defense systems These are almost certainly held at very high readiness as Ukraine continues to conduct effective deep strikes against such locations." Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 04 October 2023.Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/8Cdparo7Vf🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/dXYSSibPcE The Su-35 is a modernized version of the Su-27 fighter, designed to "significantly increase engagement effectiveness against air, land and sea targets," according to the state-run United Aircraft Corporation. It has been described as a fourth-generation fighter aircraft with fifth-generation technology the Su-53S has been in service with the Russian Air Force since 2014 Its first combat deployment was in Syria from 2015 where it was often used to provide cover for other Russian aircraft on bombing missions The Su-35S was also reportedly used in guided and unguided strikes on targets in Syria The aircraft—which former British military officer Frank Ledwidge has told Newsweek was "specifically designed" to combat Western-made aircraft such as American F-16s—has been used extensively in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine The open-source intelligence Oryx website lists five Su-35S fighter jets as destroyed since February 2022 including the one downed near Tokmak in September The five are among 84 Russian aircraft confirmed destroyed by Oryx during the full-scale invasion and alongside another eight confirmed damaged by the Dutch website Newsweek has previously reported that more than a fifth of Russia's known manned aircraft and helicopter losses since the start of the war in Ukraine could not be attributed to enemy action Russian air defenses close to the frontlines in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region have shot down one of Moscow's own advanced fighter jets footage circulating online appears to show Russian air defense systems took out a Russian Su-35 multirole fighter jet around the occupied Ukrainian city of Tokmak, Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers as well as open-source intelligence accounts reported on Friday Russian authorities have not confirmed the reported incident Newsweek is unable to independently verify the footage and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email In late August, data compiled and analyzed by Newsweek revealed that more than a fifth of Russia's known manned aircraft and helicopter losses since the start of the war in Ukraine were not down to enemy action Western analysts say Russia's air force has an unusually high rate of self-inflicted losses, coming down to factors like restricted training time few experienced pilots and the pressures of constant combat According to Dutch open-source intelligence outlet Oryx Russia has lost four Su-35 jets since its troops crossed over into Ukrainian territory on February 24 Russia has frequently used its Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet which it hails as a fourth-generation aircraft with fifth-generation technology The Su-35 is a modernized version of the Su-27 fighter designed to "significantly increase engagement effectiveness against air land and sea targets," according to the United Aircraft Corporation an aerospace and defense corporation largely owned by the Russian government The Su-35 had its maiden flight in February 2008 It was "specifically designed" to combat Western-made aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin-made F-16s former British military officer Frank Ledwidge previously told Newsweek The area around Tokmak, which was captured by Russian forces in the first weeks of full-scale warfare, lies on Ukraine's road to the occupied city of Melitopol. Kyiv's counteroffensive will hope to advance through well-prepared Russian defenses on the road to Tokmak on to Melitopol before reaching the Sea of Azov Russia has likely deployed elements from its 70th and 71st Motorized Rifle Regiments between the current frontline in Zaporizhzhia and Tokmak But Ukraine would secure a major breakthrough if its fighters can take Tokmak, Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavsky, who heads up Ukraine's Tavria operational grouping of forces, told CNN last week ET: This article was updated with additional information Michael Sheldon is a researcher for Bellingcat He has a background in open source research and verification on the conflict in the Donbas Water has been used as a tool on several occasions since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion dams were broken to flood downstream areas likely in order to complicate offensive efforts of the enemy This would lead to higher water levels and muddy ground downstream along with the longer-term outcome of dried up reservoirs.  It now appears that Russia may be considering flooding tactics in Tokmak The makeshift dam lies within the defensive line wrapping around the city of Tokmak which itself is behind several more defensive lines as can be seen in the map above.  Satellite imagery from Planet Labs showed tracks leading down to the site of the dam on May 3 and shows the river Tokmachka severed on May 6 with the water level on the east side of the dam steadily rising into June (as seen in the timelapse below) Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows water levels rising due to the recently built dam in Tokmak. pic.twitter.com/HYpmmezYZt Russia has spent several months preparing for the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south of the country The multi-layered defence is made up of several lines of minefields and trenches spanning the entire frontline at great depth Increasing the water levels of the Tokmachka river could be part of a greater effort at slowing down advancing Ukrainian forces this may be part of an effort to slow down an eastern envelopment of Tokmak in the event of a Ukrainian breakthrough near the city In early June, the huge Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson oblast broke, leading to widespread flooding and damage. The exact events leading up to the collapse of the structure remain unclear. But the New York Times reported that evidence suggested it was instigated by an inside explosion set off by Russia Russia has denied this and Bellingcat has not been able to independently verify the New York Times’ reporting.  The damage caused by the Nova Kakhovka collapse has been immense, with CNN reporting that over 40 people are either dead or remain missing. Ukraine, meanwhile, has estimated that over one billion Euros in damage has been caused Given the size of the dam observed in Tokmak flooding from the dam is negligible and not anywhere near the scale seen in Nova Kakhovka The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The enemy is trying to hold the temporarily occupied areas, focusing efforts on attempts to disrupt the Ukrainian Army’s active actions in certain directions, continues offensive actions in the Bakhmut direction and the Avdiivka direction. In certain areas, Russian troops are regrouping. Russian invaders are opening fire on Ukrainian positions all over the contact line, carrying out remote mining operations and conducting air reconnaissance. The enemy is launching strikes on civil infrastructure and residential areas, violating international humanitarian law, and the laws and customs of war. The threat of air and missile strikes is persisting all over Ukraine. On October 4, 2022, Russian occupiers launched nine missile strikes and six air strikes on Ukraine’s territory, and used multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) over 56 times. Over 27 Ukrainian settlements came under enemy fire, including Kharkiv, Shypuvate, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut, Maiorsk, Huliaipole, Zaliznychne, Andriivka, Bilohirka, Voznesensk and Prydniprovske. In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the situation remained rather unchanged. In other directions, Russian troops opened fire as follows: in the Siverskyi direction – with cannon artillery, near such settlements as the Sumy region’s Pysarivka and Holyshivske; in the Slobozhanskyi direction – with tanks, mortars, cannon and rocket artillery, near Hraniv, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Vovchansk and Bilyi Kolodiaz; in the Kramatorsk direction – with mortars, cannon and rocket artillery, near Bilohorivka, Serebrianka and Spirne; in the Bakhmut direction – near Soledar, Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, Odradivka, Zaitseve, Opytne, Yakovlivka and Yurivka. In the Avdiivka, Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions, Russian troops used tanks, mortars, cannon and rocket artillery to open fire on over 24 settlements, including Avdiivka, Vodiane, Marinka, Novopil, Olhivske and Pervomaiske. In the Southern Bug direction, Russian invaders used tanks, mortars, cannon and rocket artillery to strike such settlements as Vyshchetarasivka, Dobra Nadiia, Illinka, Marhanets, Chervonohryhorivka, Nikopol, Pokrovske, Velyke Artakove, Andriivka, Stepova Dolyna, Bezimenne, Myrne, Luch, Shyroke, Bilohirka and Lozove. Over the past day, Ukrainian defenders have repelled enemy attacks near such settlements as Strilecha, Zelene, Maiorsk, Spirne, Zaitseve, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Kurdiumivka, Novomykhailivka and Vuhledar. When retreating from the Kherson region’s settlements, the enemy is planting mines within infrastructure objects and privately-owned premises, and preventing local residents from any movement. According to the available information, in the temporarily occupied Crimea, medical facilities in the city of Yevpatoria are facing a shortage of drugs to treat the injured occupiers. The enemy is facing provisioning issues with the so-called ‘partial mobilization’. In particular, the newly mobilized soldiers were sent back from Krasnodar Krai’s Molkino Training Center to Primorsko-Akhtarsk, as they could not be provided with accommodation, clothing and food. The Russian occupation authorities are trying to compensate for personnel losses with calling up local residents in the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. In particular, according to the available information, men from Luhansk, without conducting a medical commission and training, are mobilized and immediately sent to replenish the military units that suffered the highest losses. In the evening of October 3, 2022, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck Russia’s pontoon and ferry crossings over the Dnieper in the Kherson region. The enemy’s final losses are yet to be checked. In addition, the Ukrainian military destroyed an enemy S-300 air defense missile system near the city of Tokmak. Enemy positions were also struck near the Zaporizhzhia region’s Huliaipole and Orikhiv. Over the past day, Ukrainian air forces have launched 17 strikes, hitting four enemy strong points, 11 military equipment and ammunition clusters, and two air defense missile systems. In different directions, the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense units destroyed one Russian helicopter and two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Ukraine’s missile and artillery units struck two Russian command posts, four personnel, ammunition and military equipment clusters, one air defense missile system, and the enemy’s bridge and pontoon crossing. Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421. © 2015-2025 Ukrinform. All rights reserved. The spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalev said this on the air of the United News telethon, Ukrinform reports. "In violation of international humanitarian law, Russian invaders continue to seize pre-school educational institutions in the temporarily occupied settlements of Ukraine. They are converting Ukrainian kindergartens and schools into hospitals to provide medical care to their wounded terrorists," Kovalev said. Kovalev noted, in particular, that in the city of Tokmak in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region, the invaders have recently equipped a kindergarten as a military hospital. "Currently, about 100 wounded Russians are being treated there," informed the General Staff spokesman. As reported, from February 24, 2022 to July 11, 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated about 235,000-20 Russian invaders, 540 of them on the last day. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. 163 wounded and one captured),’ says Ukrainian general I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Close to 250 of Vladimir Putin’s soldiers have been killed or injured in southern Ukraine in the past 24 hours Ukraine’s authorities said the casualties occurred on Saturday in Tavria a village in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia where Ukrainian forces are looking to advance for a strategic territorial advantage 163 wounded and one captured),” Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi who is in-charge of the strategic and operational group of forces in Tavriia He said the Russian losses also include 20 units of military equipment three anti-aircraft guns and three ammunition depots the enemy attacked our positions 23 times and carried out 717 shelling and 23 airstrikes Artillery units of the Defense Forces of the Tavriia direction performed 1,236 fire missions during the day,” he said detailing the military offensive in the area The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces continued offensive operations in the Melitopol direction and near Bakhmut Russian forces continued limited ground attacks in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area on 30 September but did not make any confirmed advances said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its latest assessment of the battlefield situation “Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 30 September but did not make any confirmed advances The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in the Melitopol (western Zaporizhia Oblast) direction,” the ISW said While the town is 12 miles from the existing front line, wrestling its control before the rains wet the battlefield will result in Ukraine taking over Russia’s key railway, command and logistics hub. Russia’s forces have reportedly guarded the prized town with fresh defensive networks to halt Ukraine’s push to the north. Ukrainian forces have around 3-5 weeks to dismantle the second layer of Russian defences laid on the road and fields to Tokmak. Earlier this week, military analyst Roman Svitan said there have been “three or four days of painstaking hard work by our assault group and commanders in the area which have led to very serious problems for the Russians”. “I would not speak of a breakthrough until we reach Tokmak.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics/armed forces/army","score":0.712861},{"label":"/law The information that the occupiers for a long time dismantled and removed the largest solar power plant in Ukraine near Tokmak, owned by Tokmak Solar Energy, is untrue. This was reported to Terminal by an employee related to the company Local residents reported this to Vlasti.net. SES 50 MW "Tokmak Solar Energy" near Tokmak is the largest solar power plant in Ukraine Its area is 96 hectares - about 100 football fields Tokmak Solar Energy Service center was created in 2013 and for 2 years they have passed a way of providing service from 10 megawatt solar station to complex service support and warranty cover of the consumers You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed The enemy has already realized that losing Tokmak followed by the movement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces towards Mariupol and Berdyansk This was stated by General of the Ukrainian Army and former head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service from 2005 to 2010 during an interview with Espreso TV."It involves flanking the entire enemy grouping in the region and sealing off this grouping there," Malomuzh stated the Russians are currently redeploying their forces away from Klishchiivka The General reported that the occupiers have already transferred one brigade they are bringing in new conscripts and a multitude of rocket systems and artillery to conduct counter-battery warfare "We are advancing daily and gradually moving towards the Tokmak direction which is a prerequisite for blocking the railway and Tokmak itself serving as a key to closing off the southern corridor," emphasized the former head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service they are constructing "dragon's teeth," which represent three lines of fortifications these should not be compared to those in Kherson "We are gradually destroying them and blocking the logistical route and the railway with firepower This direction will be the main one for tactical offensive operations and for strategic offensive operations across the entire south While the Ukrainian offensive on the southern front continues the tempo of the Ukrainian advance has slowed down The road to Tokmak is very challenging with Ukrainian troops forced to fight in several directions simultaneously The primary Ukrainian attack in the form of a wedge between Novoprokopivka and Verbove has not been expanded however it has also not been eliminated by the Russians The Ukrainians have reached the primary Russian defensive line in this direction and are currently unable to breach it The terrain in this area is particularly difficult with Ukrainian troops forced to advance uphill towards Russian positions through open fields with only minimal cover provided by scattered forest strips any assault can be subject to flanking attacks carried out by the Russian troops from the west from Novoprokopivka or east from Verbove for the time being the Ukrainian advance in this direction seems to be stuck suggesting that they might be trying to flank it from this direction and thus exerting pressure on Russian positions from two sides A similar manoeuvre was used by Ukrainian forces during the successful assault on Robotyne The difference here is that Russian forces have defensive positions (prepared as part of their primary defence lines) covering approaches to Verboe both from the west and north making any potential assault much more difficult however they are still indicative of significant Ukrainian losses suffered during the ongoing offensive that the extent of Ukrainian casualties is not as significant The 82nd Air Assault Brigade for example only suffered minimal losses during their engagements in several weeks of intense fighting It is possible that the temporary lower pace of operations and a slower advance is due to Ukrainian preparations for more major operations Such temporary lulls in major operations can be noticed when looking back on the Ukrainian operations during the offensive Naturally any potential reinforcements would be very useful especially in the case of a breakthrough where fresh units could be used to exploit the opening and continue the advance on Tokmak While the temporary decreased pace of the Ukrainian advance might suggest certain conclusions it is important to remember that it does not entail the failure of the Ukrainian offensive they still possess significant manpower and resources in the direction of Tokmak which can achieve very impressive results when taking into consideration the potential reinforcements available to Ukraine it can be seen that Ukrainian forces still have plenty of opportunities to break through the Russian lines on the southern front and reach Tokmak analyst at Casimir Pulaski Foundation i OSINTdefender, Twitter, September 6, 2023, https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1699233917088239898?s=46&t=I-r9GETvDy8gm6bbbhswvA ii George Barros et al., “Interactive Map: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine”, Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project, accessed September 8, 2023, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375 iii Anthony Loyd, “Ukraine counteroffensive: ‘I’m ready to die . . . 90% of the guys here will die too’”, The Times, September 5, 2023, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-counteroffensive-i-m-ready-to-die-90-of-the-guys-here-will-die-too-76jvs3kwj iv Anthony Loyd, “Ukraine counteroffensive: ‘I’m ready to die . . . 90% of the guys here will die too’”, The Times, September 5, 2023, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-counteroffensive-i-m-ready-to-die-90-of-the-guys-here-will-die-too-76jvs3kwj © Copyright 2004 - 2025 | Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego This is the sto­ry of Fat­ma Tok­mak and of Des­ti­na once again under the catch-all accu­sa­tion of “all of them ter­ror­ists!” of the flout­ing of rights to med­ical treat­ment is on the verge of her gen­der reas­sign­ment surgery I am writ­ing this arti­cle because a sol­i­dar­i­ty cam­paign was launched through the assis­tance of the LGBTIQ+ Asso­ci­a­tion, Quazar, in order to finance Destina’s surgery, a cam­paign I sup­port per­son­al­ly. By fol­low­ing this link lead­ing to the fund you can read the let­ter Des­ti­na is address­ing to you (in Eng­lish) an emblem­at­ic file but one that is poor­ly known in Europe and delve deep­er in the extreme­ly dif­fi­cult con­text in which Des­ti­na has been strug­gling in order to sur­vive for the longest time It is a mat­ter close to my heart  also to under­line the urgency of the help need­ed for Destina… Accord­ing to the Report on pris­ons pub­lished by the Asso­ci­a­tion for Human Rights (İHD) on April 29 2022 there are 1 517 cas­es of sick pris­on­ers in Turk­ish incar­cer­a­tion estab­lish­ments (The report notes that these are the fig­ures to which the asso­ci­a­tion had access through its own means Fat­ma Tok­mak is one of those peo­ple whose life is threat­ened by the very harsh incar­cer­a­tion con­di­tions in Turk­ish prisons Fat­ma has already spent 23 years behind bars She is cur­rent­ly impris­oned in the women’s prison of Bakırköy and suf­fers from very seri­ous  heart and res­pi­ra­to­ry prob­lems she has been sub­ject­ed to sev­er­al surg­eries so far and her con­di­tion requires reg­u­lar blood transfusions It was dur­ing the month of Decem­ber 1996 that Fat­ma was held in cus­tody with her son Azad, then 1,4 years old. She and and her child spent 20 days under tor­ture. In order to make Fat­ma “talk” — she did not know a word of Turk­ish — the child’s body was burned with cig­a­rettes while Fat­ma her­self was sub­ject­ed to the wide gamut of tor­tures prac­ticed at the time or yet again psy­cho­log­i­cal and sex­u­al tor­ture Fat­ma and her child’s tor­ment was brought to the atten­tion of the Unit­ed States Congress… Fat­ma Tok­mak was incar­cer­at­ed while her cal­vary con­tin­ued who was allowed to remain with his moth­er or who could have been tak­en in by a fam­i­ly mem­ber Eren Keskin who was already a lawyer at IHD at the time defend­ed the moth­er and the child While Eren went to the orphan­age to attempt recu­per­at­ing Azad she tes­ti­fied of the deep trau­ma in the child the psy­chopathol­o­gy being due to the shock of what he had endured…Following long pro­ce­dures and efforts Eren final­ly man­aged to reunite the child with his moth­er Fatma’s file hav­ing been estab­lished dur­ing her incar­cer­a­tion She was forced to “sign” with her fin­ger­print a state­ment redact­ed in Turk­ish she didn’t even know of what she was accused I was con­vinced of her inno­cence from the begin­ning but she was tried under the alle­ga­tion of being “a mem­ber of an ille­gal orga­ni­za­tion” (PKK) and for “sep­a­ratism” by virtue of arti­cle 125 of the Turk­ish penal code  of that peri­od.” This refers to arti­cle n° 125 of the 1926 penal code which was replaced by a new penal code n° 5237 on Sep­tem­ber 26 2004 and applied as of June 1st 2005 (JO Octo­ber 12 2004 25611).  This arti­cle under which thou­sands of Kurds were sent to Turk­ish gaols pro­vid­ed as fol­lows: “Who­ev­er com­mits acts aimed […] at plac­ing a part or all of the Turk­ish State’s ter­ri­to­ry under  the sov­er­eign­ty of anoth­er State or removes a part of the nation­al ter­ri­to­ry from under the author­i­ty of the Turk­ish State is sub­ject to the sen­tence of death.” Since the abo­li­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in 2004 in Turkey the sen­tence of “incom­press­ible per­pe­tu­ity” has been sub­sti­tut­ed absolute per­pe­tu­ity not sub­ject to any reduc­tion of sentence Fat­ma feel ill after 10 years of incar­cer­a­tion Her mother’s heart gave out… The Insti­tute of Foren­sic Med­i­cine (ATK) and the Human Rights Foun­da­tion (TİHV) pro­vid­ed reports clas­si­fy­ing Fat­ma Tok­mak as an “ill pris­on­er” She was thus lib­er­at­ed for heart ill­ness in 2005 while her tri­al was still proceeding Know­ing she was inno­cent and trust­ing in jus­tice Fat­ma thought that the ver­dict would be repealed by the Court of appeal But the lat­ter only con­firmed the deci­sion and Fat­ma was impris­oned once again said of this lib­er­a­tion “when my moth­er was lib­er­at­ed I was in my last year of grade school I learned of her lib­er­a­tion as I left school I was so hap­py that I tore my apron out of sheer emo­tion I had not believed that whe would be lib­er­at­ed until I reached the prison and the door opened and my moth­er stepped out We had just start­ed build­ing our lit­tle world when they tore my moth­er away from me, again…” Despite the med­ical reports from the TIHV attest­ing that Fat­ma must not remain in prison the reg­u­lar and repeat­ed sol­lic­i­ta­tions her lawyers sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly received the same unfa­vor­able response from the foren­sic insti­tute: “Fat­ma Tok­mak can be kept incar­cer­at­ed per­fect­ly well she is capa­ble of attend­ing to her dai­ly needs by her­self”…The lat­est very recent attempt received the same refusal “The most dif­fi­cult part of prison is the med­ical help Out­side secu­ri­ty from gen­darmerie escort you there They load you aboard this hor­ri­ble vehi­cle The ‘ring’ is some­thing that even the twen­ty pris­on­ers who are used to every­thing can­not stand I’ve nev­er seen any­thing as inhu­man as this vehi­cle The win­dow is hard­ly big­ger than the palm of a hand You are jos­tled so much that peo­ple vom­it you’ve wait­ed months for this trans­fer and yet you tell your­self : How will I be able to stand the ‘ring’?” This prac­tice is extreme­ly dis­cour­ag­ing for the pris­on­ers most of them resign them­selves and their health dete­ri­o­rates even more… When a month­ly vis­it is required the sick pris­on­er has to spend half the month It isn’t hard to under­stand Fat­ma when she says “they impose inhu­man con­di­tions on us All the women here say the same thing and we receive let­ters from oth­er friends incar­cer­at­ed in oth­er pris­ons who expe­ri­ence the same dif­fi­cul­ties the doc­tors now treat in ways that are almost worse than the gen­darmes the gen­darmes do not stay out­side the cab­ins dur­ing con­sul­ta­tions This is why we do not want to go to the hospital.” Aslı Erdoğan who was her­self detained in the women’s prison of Bakırköy She said: “One day Fat­ma had a med­ical vis­it but this time to Pendik hos­pi­tal far from Bakırköy on the oth­er shore of Istan­bul She was up at 5 in the morn­ing and set off and had spent 4 hours in this vehi­cle that resem­bles a cof­fin handcuffed…Following the con­sul­ta­tion accom­pa­nied by a horde of sol­diers The sol­diers placed her in the ’ring’ and said they would now go off to eat She wait­ed this way for a few more hours while they spent their time at the table before tak­ing the road back which took anoth­er 4 hours And this woman the sol­diers had kept wait­ing in the ’ring’ had a grave­ly ill heart… Do you realize?” She added in a somber voice “she is so ill that it’s sur­pris­ing Fat­ma is still alive today I think her child is the only thing bind­ing her to life…”  Des­ti­na has jour­neyed and she is now set­tled in Istan­bul in order to be close to Bakırköy prison where Fat­ma is still incar­cer­at­ed But “these vis­its became a real cal­vary for me I wait out­side the prison that the oth­ers fin­ish their vis­it” per­sons wish­ing to see their close ones are searched pri­or to enter­ing the vis­it­ing room “Apart from the insults and ver­bal humil­i­a­tions I must be searched by men to whom their com­man­der orders to wear gloves as if I was infect­ed I do not want the men to search me because the ges­tures sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly turn into insis­tant The last time I was being searched in this way I even saw their com­man­der fondling him­self in a cor­ner But I can no longer put up with these agres­sions The truth is that as long as I’m not oper­at­ed and reas­signed I be sub­ject­ed to this kind of dis­hon­or­able atti­tudes of the sol­diers and the guards.” Des­ti­na said: “I want to be with my moth­er again while she is alive and she has not stopped repeat­ing it… Asso­ci­a­tions organ­i­sa­tions and defend­ers of the rights of sick pris­on­ers attempt to obtain Fatma’s lib­er­a­tion but see­ing the num­ber of refusals let’s at least give Des­ti­na the chance of vis­it­ing her moth­er in bet­ter con­di­tions Thank­ing you in advance for any type of sup­port you can offer Des­ti­na and thus You can already relay the cam­paign to your own net­work of friends and acquain­tances, on social media, on your blogs… And of course, you can also make a con­tri­bu­tion on Hel­lo Asso (66% of the amount is deductible for income tax pur­pos­es) Do not hes­i­tate in express­ing your sup­port even if your means are very modest Sup­port Kedis­tan, MAKE A DONATION Conçu par Elegant Themes | Propulsé par WordPress Nous utilisons des cookies pour vous offrir la meilleure expérience sur notre site You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings Ce site utilise des cookies afin que nous puissions vous fournir la meilleure expérience utilisateur possible Les informations sur les cookies sont stockées dans votre navigateur et remplissent des fonctions telles que vous reconnaître lorsque vous revenez sur notre site Web et aider notre équipe à comprendre les sections du site que vous trouvez les plus intéressantes et utiles Cette option doit être activée à tout moment afin que nous puissions enregistrer vos préférences pour les réglages de cookie nous ne pourrons pas enregistrer vos préférences Cela signifie que chaque fois que vous visitez ce site vous devrez activer ou désactiver à nouveau les cookies Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker by Nate OstillerRussian soldiers patrol a street in occupied Melitopol (Getty Images)Explosions were reported in the Russian-occupied cities of Tokmak and Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast Tokmak and Melitopol have been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022 shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion Fedorov said that an explosion had been reported near a Russian military base in Tokmak and another at a warehouse in Melitopol used by Russian forces to store ammunition The governor did not attribute any responsibility for the explosions Partisan activity has been repeatedly reported previously in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said in January 2024 that partisans blew up a vehicle with four Russian soldiers inside in Melitopol, and Fedorov said that explosions were heard in Tokmak in September 2023 Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast and focused primarily on digital misinformation Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine As reported on liveuamap.com five hours ago Ukrainian forces have hit Tokmak with artillery. The site links to a Telegram video post with the evidence. Let’s hope there is more of this to come as more of the area comes into range As Ukraine’s counteroffensive main thrust begins it appears Ukraine is making two real primary thrusts: one directly towards Tokmak around Robotyne and one further east south of Velyka Novosilka The goal of the offensive from Robotyne is apparent and well defined: to advance around 25km to Tokmak and liberate this railway hub I discussed Tokmak’s importance in a past Explainer in detail. Ukraine can isolate southern Ukraine from Russian forces on the Eastern Front and advance on Melitopol then Crimea while protecting its flank economically What is considerably less well-defined is what would happen if Ukraine were able to penetrate Russia’s main and only line of defense in the Velyka Novosilka area.  Capturing Staromaiorske puts Ukraine just 8km (5 miles) from the only fortified defense line and three villages (Urozhaine, Zavitne Bazhannya Staromlynivka) from securing the main highway leading up to the defenses There are essentially two strategic prizes beyond the defensive lines in the shorter term—Zachativka to the southeast which would be an offensive move aimed at maximal disruption for Russian defenses and logistics which would help shore up Ukrainian logistics for an advance much further south A quick look at a railway map shows the logistical importance of both these cities Zachativka controls the only east-west link between Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine much like one element of Tokmak’s importance Capturing Polohy from the flank or behind would allow Ukraine to bypass the multilayered defenses placed on this major rail hub allowing Ukraine easier routes of rail transportation towards the south—a likely must for Ukraine to advance on Berdyansk or Mariupol Ukraine’s simultaneous advances to the west and the east of Polohy are probably aimed at bracketing this area and isolating aimed at making capturing this crucial area easier I’d like to go deeper into the importance of Zachativka and Tokmak in particular why severing the East/West Russian rail connection is a big deal in itself This is a rough representation of the rail system in Southern Ukraine that connects Crimea (in the southwest) to the Eastern Front This suggests that Russia was clustering a large proportion of its operational reserves in this immediate vicinity A quick look at the map shows why Berdyanks and Mariupol are great locations for a central Russian reserve force A quick few hours' train ride can put them on their way to Robotyne or to the Eastern Front You can get from Mariupol to close to Kherson by train in about half a day it’s a centralized location that can easily allow Russia to move reserve forces to any area on the battlefield Russia could certainly hold a strategic reserve in Krasnodar or Rostov-on-Don that could get a force within a day or two to either the Southern or Eastern theater But instead of maintaining an operation reserve that can get to the fighting in either theater in 5-6 hours This is too slow to serve as any kind of operation reserve that needs to be ready to be deployed within a matter of hours Russia would no longer be able to use Berdyansk and Melitopol as a centralized holding areas for their operational reserve forces They will likely be forced to split this force apart keeping one portion in Eastern Ukraine as a reserve force and another in Southern Ukraine—significantly weakening available reserve forces in both theaters due to a lack of centralization Ukraine could launch a concentrated assault in the other direction Severing the east/west rail connection effectively isolates both wings of the Russian Army preventing them from supporting each other.  This would have a major strategic effect on Russian force flexibility and responsiveness further accentuating Ukraine’s advantages of interior lines (ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)As fall weather arrives observers are looking at the status of Ukraine's three-pronged counteroffensive Ukrainian forces have yet to fully break through Russia's defensive lines and fight to their target cities — Tokmak Their tempo is heavily limited by minefields Many analysts are asking if the operation has already run its course The ones who spoke to the Kyiv Independent believe the following will remain very slow and localized for a time Both sides' attention will shift east as Ukrainian assault brigades rest and await the tools they need A source in the military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine is especially waiting for the planes that Western allies have promised "Because then it's a totally different war," said the source This absolutely does not mean that the southeastern grouping or the wider Ukrainian military are a spent force They are still making progress near Robotyne in spite of all the things holding them back but has to be very careful how it deploys them It's hard to say definitively," said Serhiy Kivliuk a retired Ukrainian colonel with the think tank Center for Defense Strategies "I personally think that the offensive in the Azov direction has halted; the next phase will be Kupiansk and Avdiivka." the Armed Forces are advancing decently and if they can ramp up pressure there they can break through and move on Tokmak." says that Ukraine still has an upper hand in the current phase "The balance could switch quite easily." The lack of aircraft is holding Ukraine's assault brigades back in a big way troops are prey to daily sorties by Russian planes with gliding bombs that strike from outside the range of ground-based air defense "These planes can strike them with complete impunity," Kivliuk said F-16s are expected at some point within the next three or four months a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and Germany's former defense chief wrote that Ukraine struggles to engage Russian planes and helicopters Critical Western arms enabled Ukraine to go on the offensive but because many packages arrived with delays Ukraine didn't get the opportunity to strike with overwhelming force early on This is keeping Russians in the fight longer the new ATACMS missiles have already targeted an airfield near Berdiansk its planes and helicopters will have to refuel and rearm farther away Russian fortifications and minefields are still a major issue There aren't enough advanced clearing tools nor enough earth-moving equipment and portable bridges to quickly give Ukrainian vehicles room to maneuver Functional battalions require years of preparation — the new Ukrainian units were given weeks NATO training also fails to prepare Ukrainians for the type of war they'd face at home Kivliuk said the training often clashes against the military's post-Soviet inertia but the command staff is forcing them to do another," he said many of the older officers are completely unprepared for modern war They don't understand 'surprising new inventions' like UAVs interlinked battlespaces and modern munitions." Lange wrote that Ukraine's southern counteroffensive is now limited to minimal attempts to move forward in the center of gravity near Robotyne After almost five months — and most recently only very laborious advances on foot — the troops are exhausted Ukraine is taking an operational pause on this section of the front and is currently redeploying troops and resources in part out of caution given the current U.S Ukraine likely has operational reserves but is most likely holding them back The military intelligence source agreed that available forces exist but it would be unwise to throw them in without first getting air support and identifying weak points in the Russian strategy Besides putting pressure on the southern front a sudden surge of Ukrainian troops can be used to surround Russia's garrison of up to 10,000 men in Bakhmut "They're clinging to towns north and south (of Bakhmut)… with the understanding that if we begin street battles they won't last long there," Kivliuk said Lyman and Avdiivka may be "an attempt to force the General Staff to deploy reserves into operation." The General Staff has soberly resisted many of which are the absorbed Russian-controlled militias have thrown away huge numbers of men to no appreciable benefit they would strike in midday in open ground The intelligence source said Ukrainians expected and prepared for them All interviewed experts believe that Russia is committed to its assault on Avdiivka Besides trying to get Ukraine to commit reserves and reduce pressure elsewhere the operation is a political goal for the Kremlin Capturing the town could raise Russian morale and possibly raise enlistment and recruitment of contract fighters But there won't be a wider strategic benefit With Russians committing the former Donetsk proxy militia and volunteer battalions and likely redeploying the 2nd Army from the Lyman direction (and possibly the 15th and 30th as well) it's a sign that Moscow is not sparing any resources on Avdiivka Another Russian offensive is trying to reach Kupiansk with the 1st Tank Army and the 6th and 20th Combined Arms Armies crammed into a small operational theater They took some territory but struggled to make significant progress to capture the district Ukrainians may be preparing a strike across the river in Kherson Oblast Troops crossed the Dnipro River to attack Russian artillery positions and may be trying to secure a bridgehead for bigger attacks "If they have the capacity to shift an armored brigade across the river and strike in the back of defensive lines it would absolutely cripple them," Grant said Lange said it's unclear if they can create a secure bridgehead with Russia's air superiority the situation may be more fluid than it looks one thing hasn't changed — they're still in the position of having to do way too much with way too little "They've done a phenomenal job under the circumstances," Grant said Igor is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent He has previously covered conflict in the Middle East investigated corruption in Ukraine and man-made environmental damage in Southeast Asia He has a Master’s in Journalism from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and was published in the Kyiv Post with large force pushing assault against Russian positions A substantial Ukrainian force was pushing an assault against Russian positions in the south on Thursday in an intensification of fighting that some Ukrainian officials and western analysts said marked the start in earnest of Kyiv’s much-vaunted counteroffensive The combat against Russian positions south of Zaporizhzhia included western-supplied tanks and armoured vehicles and infantry backed by artillery There were reports of intense fighting outside the town of Tokmak Asked about US media reports that the counteroffensive had begun a spokesperson for Ukraine’s general staff said: “We have no such information And we do not comment on anonymous sources.” have insisted that they would not make an official announcement when the counteroffensive begins and have cautioned against focusing on a single area suggesting it could involve a number of components a US-based thinktank that has been producing daily updates on the war said it had concluded on Thursday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun “Activity throughout Ukraine is consistent with a variety of indicators that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations are under way across the theater,” the group tweeted On Thursday evening president Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed what he described as “results” in heavy fighting in the Donetsk region “There is very heavy fighting in Donetsk region,” Zelenskiy said “But there are results and I am grateful to those who achieved these results Russian servicemen at a grain storage facility in Melitopol in July 2022 Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPAZelenskiy referred to other areas where fighting is going on Following days of heavy shelling of Russian defences Ukrainian units were reported to have stepped up efforts to break thorough in the Orihiv-Tokmak sector which blocks the route to the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol – a key objective for Kyiv Unconfirmed reports suggested that German-made Leopard tanks and US Bradleys had been thrown into the battle along with scores of other armoured vehicles said Ukrainian forces from Ukraine’s 47th mechanised brigade with up to 1,500 troops and 150 armoured vehicles made “an attempt to break through” but Russian forces dealt the attack “a preventive blow” although Russian military bloggers painted a far more nuanced picture Images posted by the Russian military blogger Rybar purported to show Ukrainian armour immobilised during the assault although neither those claims nor those of Shoigu could be verified also told the RIA Novosti news agency that Ukraine’s forces were exerting “maximum force” against Russian positions in the Zaporizhzhia region Russia has long anticipated a Ukrainian offensive in this direction building multi-tiered defences around this area of the frontline including zig-zag trenches Claims that Kyiv is escalating efforts in the Zaporizhzhia area followed days of heavy shelling with fires visible on Nasa’s Firms satellite monitoring system Appearing to confirm that a major assault was under way said Russia was “actively on the defensive” in the Orihiv area of Zaporizhzhia region including a source close to president Zelenskiy seemed also to confirm an active phase of the Ukrainian counteroffensive While firm details of the fighting remained shaky Ukrainian efforts appeared to be concentrated on the village of Robotnye the Orihiv-Tokmak highway and outside Orihiv itself the Russian military blogger channel War Gonzo discounted early claims by some that the Ukrainian effort was becoming “bogged down” saying it remained “too early to say” and describing a “hard night” for Russian forces around Orihiv “It is reported from the scene that in the direction of Orihiv-Tokmak the enemy infantry continues to approach and try to gain a foothold Enemy artillery and tanks are still intensively working on our positions “Our troops hold the line and do not allow a breakthrough of the front our fighters managed to knock out a tank similar to the Leopard but it is still impossible to identify the destroyed equipment for certain.” Other Russian sources spoke of an assault with armour and infantry on Robotyne with both Ukrainian and Russian aviation active and strikes reported on Tokmak itself on Thursday described troops struggling to clear pathways through minefields around Malaya Tokmak The fighting near Zaporizhzhia will be intensely scrutinised as this area of the front has long been seen as a potential axis for a Ukrainian assault towards Melitopol not least because Tokmak itself is a major railway junction and Russian logistical hub that has key lines of communication with Mauripol Another objective of a Ukrainian assault south and east from this direction has long been supposed to sever the Russian “land bridge” linking areas of the occupied south and east with Crimea On 3 June, Zelensiky announced that the armed forces of Ukraine were ready for the long-awaited counteroffensive “I don’t know how long it will take,” he told the Wall Street Journal Commenting on whether the destruction of the Kakhovka dam earlier this week might hinder Kyiv’s efforts US analyst Michael Kofman said: “If the Ukrainian plan is to break through [Russian] lines in Zaporizhzhia and advance to the ground lines of communication from Crimea or sever the ‘land bridge’ the resultant flooding is unlikely to impede such an operation.” senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies was among those suggesting the counteroffensive had now begun “Since 4 June Ukrainian forces have been attacking along the front line This seeks to pin Russian forces in place and probe for weaknesses it is mainly conducted by brigades already in place It’s not clear if any of the dozen Ukrainian brigades trained and equipped for the counteroffensive have yet been committed “A signature indicator would be large numbers of western armoured fighting vehicles including: Leopard and Challenger 2 tanks Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles and M113 APCs “Russian bloggers are now reporting Leopards and Bradleys attacking in Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia Oblast it suggests at least one Ukrainian assault brigade has been committed “Russia plans to fight linear defence battles from trench lines falling back on deeper defensive positions when pressed “I’d comment that if Ukraine can rapidly break through a defensive belt or belts it could get behind the Russian defences and unpick them.” The following quote contains what reportedly happened to Fatma Tokmak a Kurdish woman from Sirnak in Turkey’s Kurdistan when she was arrested in 1996: “They blindfolded me when they put me in the police car The police officers sitting on my left and right beat me on the way to the Anti-Terror Branch of the Istanbul police department I was exposed to torture and sexual abuse for 11 days there and her son Azad was two and a half years old when they were taken to the anti-terror branch of the Istanbul police department The police covered Tokmak’s eyes while they interrogated her Fatma Tokmak said her tormentors hung her from a hook and gave her electric shocks She was tortured ferociously while under arrest but that was not enough for her torturers; they also tortured her little son Azad in order to pressure her to speak A huge problem that the state authorities ignored was that Tokmak could not speak Turkish when she was arrested nor did she know how to read and write in any language The police forced her to put her thumbprint on testimony that she could neither read nor understand Young Azad was also stripped naked and forced to touch his mother in unseemly ways The torturers extinguished cigarettes on his hands and back All these torture marks were documented by the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and the Istanbul Chamber of Medicine Tokmak said that her greatest torment was watching the police torture her child and then take him away from her Fatma Tokmak was born in 1974 in the Kurdish province of Sirnak in Turkey’s Kurdistan Her husband was continually pressured by the state She was seven months pregnant when her husband finally joined the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) But when the house where she was staying as a guest in Istanbul was raided by special police units “I understood Turkish but could not speak it They thought that was the attitude of a PKK member you would speak.’ They lay me down on the ground naked and stripped my son naked and threw him on my body as they swore at us viciously “I had been tortured so badly that I was not able to take care of my son He was in such a bad situation that the torturers said that if he died at the anti-terror branch They tried to force me to change his name and give him to a child protection institution The police beat me and forced me to put my fingerprint on my testimony When I was taken to the Besiktas courthouse I was arrested and put in the Gebze Women’s Prison for being a member of the PKK and recruiting members for it.” Much of this shattering narrative we know because Zeynep Kuray a journalist who was staying in the same prison in 2013 interviewed Tokmak there and brought her story to the world Kuray also reported that Tokmak had difficulty breathing and stayed alive only because of the medicine she took daily said that she found Azad at a child protection institution and struggled for a month and a half to get him back to his mother she understood that the bruises on his soul were deeper than those on his body The lawyer did everything she could to return Azad to his mother Tokmak developed a heart condition as a result of the physical and mental trauma she endured in prison She was eventually released pending a trial in 2006 because of the medical reports on her health after 10 years of incarceration Tokmak started working at a public institution and settled down to make a life for herself and her child it seemed that the future might not be so terrible for mother and son But Tokmak’s trial dragged on for four years and she was sentenced to life imprisonment for “impairing the territorial integrity of Turkey”—whatever that means The prosecution had no concrete evidence against her of any kind She suffers from very serious heart illnesses Tokmak must be released to a hospital to undergo an operation but the authorities refuse to release her from Istanbul’s Bakirkoy Women’s Prison He had to drop out of school when his mother was rearrested Azad is doing his best to save his mother’s life He launched a campaign to demand the release of his mother by sending an open letter to former Turkish President Abdullah Gul demanding her release Eren Keskin submitted a petition to the Forensic Medicine Institute whose opinion is required to obtain the release of a sick inmate from prison Although the institute gave a report documenting Tokmak’s illnesses it also stated that she could survive life in prison The insistence of the Turkish state on not solving the Kurdish problem by using democratic and peaceful means as well as the inhumane decisions handed down by the biased Turkish judiciary have stolen the life of yet another Kurdish mother and child Fatma Tokmak’s life embodies the horrible mistreatment Kurds have had to endure by the Turkish state: denial of rights The government might also have killed her instantly just as it has murdered thousands of other Kurds Tokmak has been forced to experience a slow death in prison—for the crime of having been born a Kurd every Kurdish woman who was detained was sexually abused and tortured during interrogation That was the kind of treatment that the Turkish state thought the Kurds were worthy of.’ Tokmak is not the only Kurdish woman exposed to appalling torture in jails in Turkey That was the kind of treatment that the Turkish state thought the Kurds were worthy of,” Keskin said Turkish jails are still filled with Kurdish political prisoners Contrary to the overall misperception of western politicians the issue of Turkey’s Kurdistan is not an issue of “Kurdish terrorism.” If anything is to be condemned as the root cause of this problem It has been 18 years since Tokmak was first arrested her torturers have been enjoying their freedom with impunity while she is decaying day by day in a prison cell To watch Al Jazeera’s interview with Eren Keskin and Fatma Tokmak, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPzS-dI8WM It is a human tragedy like many others caused by the “Democratic A “Secular country that can be used as an example for other Moslem countries” according to the official US Government I don’t think that this article/story belongs in an Armenian newspaper We Armenians know more than enough about Turkish “civilization and culture” This and similar articles belong in US and European papers so that their public knows more about Turkey a country that many want to see join the European Union Something that if it happens will mean the end of Europe and its civilization as we know it Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Ukrainian forces have passed through Robotyne one of the key strongholds of the Russians in the Zaporizhzhia region What this means for advancing further in the south and what could halt the offensive toward Tokmak - read the material by RBC-Ukraine The village of Robotyne (Tokmak urban community Polohivskyi district) with a pre-war population of about 500 people is an important settlement that witnessed heavy fighting lasting several months The General Staff had been reporting successes on this front since July Ukrainian forces entered the village and organized the first evacuation It was also reported that a multi-tiered line of occupant defenses had been breached in this area Local residents welcomed the liberators last week (photo t.me/annamaliar) soldiers from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Mahura" raised the blue and yellow flag over the ruined school Reports of the liberation of Robotyne had been circulating among experts and specialized Telegram channels for the past week RBC-Ukraine had previously explained the reasons for such delays The General Staff reports on the de-occupation of a particular locality only after it has been fully taken under control and the soldiers have secured new positions and boundaries According to the Deputy Minister of Defense the southern direction remains the main focus "We are currently conducting offensive operations. As you know, Robotyne has been liberated. Our forces are now moving southeast of Robotyne and further south of Mala Tokmachka," she noted. Below there is the dynamics in the Robotyne area from June 2023 Please note that the situation may differ from what is depicted How Ukrainian Forces liberated Robotyne (graphics based on deepstatemap.live data) Robotyne has particular tactical significance; in fact Ukrainian forces shifted to a counteroffensive here in June The local fortifications remained the main obstacle on the path to the enemy's second (main) line of defense Military expert Vladyslav Seleznov referred to Robotyne as a key fortified area between Orikhove and the occupied Tokmak Approaches to it were protected by dense minefields this is why the advance was not as rapid as expected It's worth noting that the village is crossed by the T0408 road and the shortest route from it to the administrative center of the community is approximately 20 kilometers "There's a so-called triangle whose mission is to block approaches and the land corridor to Crimea This triangle is between the cities of Vasylivka And when the Ukrainian army breaks through to Tokmak the entire Russian defensive network could seriously be disrupted," he said in a comment to RBC-Ukraine last week Oleksii Hetman clarifies that from a military standpoint What's much more important are the square kilometers and what's located on them "Why isn't the village of paramount importance But we're not fighting for separate villages; we're trying to break through a strong defense the focus should not be on Robotyne itself but on the fact that we've crossed the first line we'll soon start breaking through it," he emphasized it's more crucial for the military to make it harder for the enemy to move This is why roads and dominant heights are taken under control first and before that near Severodonetsk and Lysychansk Fierce battles were fought not for the cities themselves but for the roads they were supplied through," he added it was reported about breaking through the first line in Robotyne with trenches there was talk of reaching the second line For more details on how the Russian defense is arranged, read the article "Mines, trenches, 'dragon's teeth': How Russia fortified itself in three defense lines, but couldn't stop Ukraine." continue to advance along two main lines: Novodanylivka – Novoprokopivka and Mala Tokmachka – Ocheretuvate "These are the directions where our Armed Forces are currently advancing," noted Hanna Maliar are advancing along two fronts (photo: google.com/maps) According to assessments by analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already attacking the main complex of Russian fortifications reported that the most difficult positions have been overcome and the offensive may proceed more smoothly So-called Russian "military correspondents" reported on Ukrainian attacks on supposed rear lines near the village of Verbove ISW believes that Defense Forces may be close to the enemy's tactical rear areas Analysts speculate that the next defensive line may be weaker although it still poses a significant challenge advanced units must traverse continuous anti-tank ditches "dragon's teeth," and additional minefields our forces have managed to wedge themselves between Robotyne and the village of Verbove expanding the foothold by at least 7 kilometers Units don't stop after the breakthrough; they start moving through the enemy's hypothetical rear areas If you advance 15-20 kilometers right away the main units won't have time to catch up and the vanguard could end up either in a firetrap or encircled," explained the military expert Seleznov emphasizes that expanding the foothold is necessary not only to avoid the risk of getting trapped but also because increasing the line of contact forces the enemy to spread their resources reducing the density of their positions and personnel The advance toward Novoprokopivka and Ocheretuvate makes sense considering that these villages are located on the T0408 and T0401 roads leading to the occupied Tokmak After the Ukrainian Armed Forces reach them only a few kilometers will remain to the city The defense forces are advancing with a wedge at least 7 kilometers wide (photo: deepstatemap.live) Hetman refers to Tokmak as an intermediate goal The Russians have turned the city into a major logistical hub surrounded by fortifications with anti-tank ditches there are almost no fortifications beyond Tokmak only checkpoints leading to Melitopol and the coast It's not a secret that our task is to reach the Azov Sea And if we don't manage to do that before the rainy season then at least 15-20 kilometers from the coast to take everything under fire control what the Russians can move from the mainland to Crimea and vice versa," he explained Ukrainian forces will cut off the land corridor to Crimea and effectively split the occupied territories in the south Vladyslav Seleznov refrains from drawing conclusions about Tokmak It's not possible to definitively state that the main forces are engaged in the direction of Tokmak "Only the General Staff knows the ultimate plan it's not advisable to unequivocally say that the direction to Tokmak is strategic," he noted The expert says the Russians are guessing on four southern fronts from Vasylivka (Zaporizhzhia region) to Vuhledar (Donetsk region) This keeps the enemy nervous and forces them to constantly move their operational reserves the enemy concentrated around 1,000 units of artillery at least 2/3 have been destroyed in nearly three months Experts interviewed by RBC-Ukraine draw attention to the fact that in the area of ​​Robotyne the Russians hastily redeployed units of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division (Pskov) from the Lyman-Kupiansk direction and the 7th Airborne Division from the south of the Kherson region "So they've reinforced from both sides to prevent us from advancing I don't think so because the fortifications behind the first line aren't as strong According to our intelligence and our Western partners there are no longer 6 anti-personnel and 1 anti-tank mine per square meter as it was before the first line," says Oleksii Hetman The defense of Russians in the Zaporizhzhia region (photo: infographic by ISW) Ukrainian forces are doing everything right he emphasizes that making predictions is impossible And if the opponent deploys several more divisions it is not excluded that the advance toward Tokmak will be halted and a rifle in such heat - it also affects physical condition We have many mobilized soldiers; they haven't undergone the same training as professional military personnel It can be tough for them from a purely human perspective," explains the expert As for whether the offensive will accelerate after Robotyne Vladyslav Seleznov is cautious in his assessments it's difficult to compare the density of minefields and the reliability of fortifications in the area leading to Tokmak continuing to strengthen their combat formations and dig trenches The situation is very dynamic and depends on the capabilities of the Russian occupation army and "Will we continue to actively conduct offensive operations But I am absolutely certain that the only serious obstacle could be the rainy season advancing with armored vehicles will be extremely difficult," he concludes.