When 18 months are about to expire from the start of the guerra, Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with the high command of the military group in charge of the operation in Ukraine. The Kremlin revealed that the Russian president met in Rostov-on-Don with Valery Gerasimovchief of the Army General Staff in charge of the operations, and with other officers, without specifying when the meeting took place.
With the Ukrainian counteroffensive struggling to break through entrenched Russian lines, Moscow’s military resources stretched and dissent in the ranks, both sides have measured recent successes in taking control of small villages. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said it had liberated the small town of Urozhainein the Donetsk region, advancing into the Sea of Azov to cut the Russian land bridge with Crimea, vital to Moscow’s supply routes.