How is Ukraine doing in the war? ‘Giving up land in exchange for time’

Before winter sets in, Russia is trying to gain more ground in Ukraine. Within a few days, thousands of North Korean troops will also be deployed. What does the current situation mean for the progress of the war, which has now lasted two and a half years? The situation now.

Russian troops are mostly active in the Donbas and eastern Ukraine. Today, Russian news agencies based on the Ministry of Defense reported that three settlements were captured. These are Leonidivka, Novöekrajinka and Sjachtarske. Whether this is the case cannot be independently verified.

Yesterday, Russia already reported the capture of the town of Selydove in the Donetsk region, which had 20,000 inhabitants before the war. The city has been under constant bombardment by Russian troops over the past week.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Beloeesov also congratulated Russian troops for capturing the town of Hirnyk, located about 12 kilometers from Selydove.

The Ukrainian military has not directly responded to Russia’s claims, but yesterday it reported 31 front battles, including at Selydove. Reuters news agency reported on the Ukrainian base Deep state open source information map that part of Selydove was controlled by Russia, with about a third as a “grey zone”.

According to analysts, Russia has not gained so much land so quickly since the beginning of this year. But that doesn’t mean things will suddenly happen very quickly, says former army chief Mart de Kruif News NOS Radio 1. “It’s actually hundreds of meters to kilometers a day, but over the whole width. We see that the Russians are trying to increase the speed to get as much as they can before the winter starts .”

It is also too early to say that Russia has the upper hand, De Kruif believes. The fact that land is being given away also has a strategic purpose. “Ukraine has too few soldiers and they cannot fight to the death in every situation, trench or bunker. So yes they do to trade land under control for a time. They want to use that time to keep the war going as long as possible.”

Kyiv hopes that this will also lead to disruptions in logistics, supplies or labor shortages on the Russian side. And that seems to be working to some extent, says De Kruif, as Russia will soon be reinforced by North Korean troops. NATO chief Rutte confirmed Monday that North Korean troops are being deployed by Russia in the Russian border region of Kursk.

South Korea and other countries estimate that around 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed in Russia. About 3,000 of them are said to be near the front. Since they are deployed in Kursk, which is a Russian region, Putin can say yes to protect the country itself, says De Kruif. “So that’s more of a defensive commitment than an offensive commitment. That’s how he sells it to the outside world and to his own people.”

Not much should be expected from using more than 10,000 soldiers, the former commander believes. “There are about 600,000 soldiers fighting in Ukraine and an additional 10,000 Koreans, who also have little experience. And knowing that the Russians are losing 1,200 people per day in this phase, that is not as much as 10,000. That won’t make a difference. .”

NATO cannot do much about cooperation between the two countries, but there are serious concerns in South Korea. The country is afraid of the technology that the Russians are likely to transfer to North Korea, says De Kruif. This means that there is a chance that South Korea will also be actively involved in the war.

“That could be with the supply of arms, because the arms industry is very big there. If South Korea becomes actively involved, things will be very different. And North Korea is not without reason that rocket firedas a warning: ‘be careful what you do: because we have great military power and we can use it’.”

At this time, it is important for Ukraine to keep up the fight as long as possible and have more troops to moveuntil the resistance becomes largely non-stop due to the approaching winter.

In addition, we hope to receive support from the West. The European Parliament recently agreed a loan of 35 billion euros to Ukrainebut (financial) support from the US is seen as essential. That is why we will also look at the American presidential elections. The new president’s policies will… certain for the course of the conflict.