Ukrainian forces succeeded in a new lightning offensive, breaking through the southern front. Kiev, big gains and in the Kharkiv region

The advance reflects tactics that have also brought Kiev major gains in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. They attacked Russian supply lines, cut off possible reinforcements, and forced enemy troops to retreat.

“The fact that we broke through the southern front means that the Russian army has lost the ability to attack, and today, tomorrow, it will also lose the ability to defend itself“, said a military analyst from Kyiv. But there is a risk that these failures could push Vladimir Putin into reckless decisions such as the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

What NATO could do

If Vladimir Putin decides to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, NATO could retaliate by destroying occupation troops in Ukraine, including Crimea, and destroying the Russian Black Sea fleet. The statement belongs to David Petraeus, a retired American general and former head of the CIA.

For officials in Washington, the nuclear threat has grown not so much because of concrete information, but rather as a result of Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric. In the last few hours, however, there have been speculations about possible moves, interpreted as deliberate signals of intimidation on the part of the Russian leader.

According to the Italian media, NATO would have warned member countries that Russia would have set in motion the Belgorod submarine, equipped with a drone, capable of triggering an apocalyptic radioactive tsunami. The submarine is said to have left the base at the Arctic Circle and may be on its way to the Kara Sea, on a mission to conduct another test of the Poseidon drone.

It is believed to be able to travel considerable distances underwater before detonating a colossal tsunami capable of reaching enemy coastal areas.

Also, the British tabloid “The Sun” published images that would capture a railway convoy with equipment for Russia’s nuclear forces. However, we do not know where the train was filmed, nor the direction of travel.

Ukrainian troops are advancing rapidly

Meanwhile, the front lines keep moving. Mainly Russian sources speak of a rapid and significant advance of dozens of kilometers by Ukrainian troops in the southern Kherson region. The Russians would have retreated 40 km downstream from where they fought the Ukrainian troops on Saturday.

The new success comes after the Ukrainians took full control in the town of Lîman in Donetsk. Russians have been fleeing by the thousands since Friday.

Soldier: “They climbed into their transporters, their luggage also falling in the haste of retreat. That’s how they ran away from here“.

Lîman, a city of strategic importance for the eastward advance on the battlefield, is the most important gain for Ukrainian forces in recent weeks.

Soldier: “We hit the places where the troops were concentrated. I have known for a long time where they are, who they are and how they act. Their logistics routes were also disrupted“.

Yulia Kirienko, correspondent: “An entire mechanized formation was destroyed here. Armored personnel carriers, several tanks, infantry vehicles… Here I counted six enemy military vehicles, which the occupiers simply placed in people’s yards“.

The Ukrainians intercepted a dramatic discussion between a Russian soldier in Lîman and his girlfriend.

“-What are you doing?

-Good good. Thank heaven I found you.

-Why are you out of breath?

– We are surrounded, Lyb. Soon we will be dead.

– They told us that you are holding out there. Are you under orders to hold positions to the death?

-Lyuba, Lyuba, I called you just to say goodbye.

-Not! Not! Not”!

The lies of the regime

Lack of communication between units, mistakes by commanders and so-called “refusals”, contract soldiers who leave the battlefield, are said to be the causes of the retreat, according to the Russians taken prisoner. But above all that, Russian MP Andrei Guruliov, former deputy commander of the Russian Army’s southern military district, blames the regime’s lies.

Andrei Guruliov: “No matter how heroically they fought, there was an elementary calculation of military capabilities that showed whether Lîman could be maintained or not. Our problem is the constant supply of “positive reports” or we can call them constant lies. This system does not go from the bottom up, but from the top down“.

Predictably, Andrei Guruliov’s intervention was abruptly cut short, faces, by the loss of connection.

Maxim Yustin, foreign policy analyst: “I don’t recall a precedent in world history when territories we don’t even control have been absorbed into the country. Once we will also take the rest of the Zaporizhia region“.

On the other hand, the violence and constant power changes are too much for some locals, in an area where many Russian speakers also live.

Local: “Do you want the truth? You put your hat on, you take your hat off… What life is this? I am 72 years old. They live like rats in a cellar. People are suffering. Today one hits us, tomorrow another hits us… And we cry“.