The unprecedented assault entered its fourth day Friday with Moscow rushing reinforcements and bombing its own territory to try and contain the Ukrainian advance.

A convoy of burnt-out military trucks, some bearing the ‘Z’ symbol of the Kremlin’s war and appearing to contain bodies, sits along the side of a highway.

The video, circulating on social media Friday and geolocated by NBC News, doesn’t show a beleaguered section of the front lines in eastern Ukraine. It is a village in Kursk, across the border in southern Russia.

For days now Vladimir Putin’s forces have struggled to put down an incursion into Russian territory by Ukrainian troops, after a surprise attack that threatened to upend the war’s status quo and open a new front in a daring challenge to the Kremlin.

  • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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    4 months ago

    The most rational 2023 summer offensive would have been a plunge into russia near volokanovka and turning hard right to enfilade their invasion, while blocking any forces attacking from the direction of moscow. It was so obvious I didn’t want to say it in case it had been missed by the defense. I can only assume a very frustrated ukraine was told they wouldn’t get their aid if they did it.

    • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      They could have done that but they wouldn’t have been able to use NATO supplied weapons. Only recently have they been lifting some of those restrictions. They could have bypassed all the Russian defenses had they done that

        • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          Yes/no. Depends how extreme you are on the issue. Russia considers an attack on Russian land with nato weapons an act of war. Another reason is we didn’t want our weapons falling into Russian hands. We want to give Ukraine weapons to defend themselves but not escalate the war. I’ve always felt if you give them weapons; let Ukraine decide how to use them best. Russia just has too many people not to take the war to them. A war of attrition only leads to a Ukrainian loss. It’s just simple math.