Zelensky ordered 'no retreats' when he went to the US because he didn't want to be humiliated while begging for money. When the trip was over he ordered the retreat from Ugledar to 'save lives'.
The commander of the famous 72nd brigade had actually already ordered the retreat 2 days before (Zelensky sacked him for it) but it was already too late.
Early reports said 870 Ukr troops were captured but Rus now say there were only 40. But that there are 'hundreds or thousands' of dead Ukrainians on the exit road is true.
One commander of a battalion of the 72nd said that of the 340 of his men who tried to escape only 30 made it out.
A pattern is now emerging as the war turns from attrition to manoeuvre (as one side has gained a manifest advantage). Rus move up to a town and push head on but also send 2 pincers either side and then leave a narrow escape route for the opposition at the rear. They remotely mine the exit route and keep pushing at the front.
Eventually the Ukrainians collapse at the front and are forced out over the mine field. For those that make it there are no defences until the next town where the whole process is repeated over again.
The Ukr losses horrendous, 50 - 70% of new Ukr recruits are not lasting more than a few days (FT). In hundreds of years of European wars they only end 2 ways, either the losing side gives up land to negotiate peace or they fight to the death and lose everything.
The bunch of crooks that make up the EU want Ukr to fight on, the neocons in the US do too. Trump is Ukrainian's only hope, even if it's just to cut off Zelensky's money supply.
Russian Offensive Climax, NATO Denies Zelensky, Kursk NPP Incident, More Assassinations
The west is so heavily invested in the Ukraine war they really, really don't want it to end with a loss, especially the UK.
"... the UK guaranteed billions in IMF loans to Ukraine to fight the war."
"Russia will collapse and we’ll have all the collateral and rebuilding contracts and cash flow you could ever desire to pay back those measly couple hundred billion in loans. There are tens of trillions on the table in a winning scenario."
"Both Davos and The Remnant (the UK) have to capture the Donbass at a minimum to balance the gameboard. Russia, at this point, is a stretch goal. They haven’t fully admitted this to themselves or to us, but I think it’s pretty clear."
Very interesting article, especially the section on the Ukraine war.
Ukraine has said it's now given up on manoeuvre warfare to concentrate on attrition … err, yeah. So no more Kursk's or 2023 style counteroffensives but instead 'slowly giving up land to bleed Russian forces dry'.
The problem here is that if you believe that will work you need to believe that the Ukr stats on Russian losses are real, they are not.
Russia are moving forward but it's not men who are leading, it's their 14 to 1 artillery advantage, their drone advantage, their air force advantage and their glide bomb advantage.
Now that near all the Ukr main bunker towns have been overcome the progress forward for the Russians is much easier. Ukraine (and NATO) spent 8 years reinforcing strategic towns with multileveled underground steel and concrete bunkers, but the Rus FAB glide bombs solved that problem.
Now there are just ordinary buildings to level, depriving the Ukr army of cover, and forcing them to retreat out of the town, on foot, across open fields covered in remotely laid Rus mines and the ever present Rus drone and artillery fire.
All of these plans and schemes that Zelensky comes up with are really just to keep this sh*tshow on the road, keep the money flowing, and keep Zelensky in a job and not dead.