RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE AGAINST KHARKIV BEGINS

 Here is a map of Ukraine. (I think the Russians say ookra-yeena). The main cities in Ukraine are Kiev (Kyiv), Kharkiv, Odessa (Adiyessa) and others.  You can see Kharkiv in the north of Ukraine. About 185 km to the west of Kharkiv is Sumy. If Kharkiv falls, Sumy will likely fall too. That will leave Kiev as the final target.

After much awaiting the Russian offensive against Kharkiv has begun. So far there have been no real aggressive Russian thrusts forwards. Their movements have been slow and grinding, Crushing and grinding down everything in their path - but rather slowly. President Putin has said he wants to create a buffer zone facing Kharkiv.  This maybe a 10 km zone around Kharkiv which will be cleared of the Ukrainian military. There are said to be at least 55,000 Russian troops involved in the Kharkiv offensive. This number will likely grow to exceed 100,000 troops or more.

Here is a quick video :

 

This is the beginning of the summer offensive. Winter and Spring brings the dreaded mud season in the Ukraine steppes. The ground gets terribly muddy and soggy and can stop entire tank columns. 

 

German Leopard 2 tank bogged down in Ukraine mud.

 

The ground is now drying up and provides a five to six month window for a Summer offensive, before the winter snows come down again.  So lets see what happens. 

This Ukraine war is dragging for far too long. The Russian economy is doing very well with strong economic growth. Oil revenues are strong in Russia, agricultural output is up and Russia is fully sufficient in armaments production. Plus they have China providing back up. The world's no 1 military superpower and the world's no 1 economic superpower are good friends. This may give Russia plenty of confidence even if this war drags longer. 

But the war has gone on for too long. It has to come to an end soon. Hopefully this year. If they take Kharkiv and Odessa it should be game over.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.