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Kyiv claims territory wins

REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Ukraine hailed early progress in its counteroffensive. Kyiv claimed to have recaptured three villages from Russian forces, advances that were largely confirmed by Russian sources. An even bigger assault is likely coming, analysts said. “
There is a big difference between starting an offensive, and the main attack or main effort of the operation,” the former U.S. military commander in Europe wrote, noting that much of the material sent by the West had yet to be deployed. Success is crucial for Ukraine, not simply to win back territory, but to ensure the U.S. and Europe continue to offer military aid and financial backing.
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Dire prognosis for Russia post-Putin
Two recent essays warn that Russia will suffer the consequences of President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine long after his eventual exit. In Foreign Affairs, the Russia expert Eugene Rumer argued that, in acquiescing to the war, the country’s elite and people were implicated in the conflict. “When Putin does leave power, it is unlikely that Russia’s elites and the general public will
wake up and face the legacy of his rule,” he said. In The Guardian, the Russia-focused journalist Peter Pomerantsev wrote that Moscow’s elite lacked any ideas for progress. “
Russia claims to be a powerful ‘pole’ in the world to balance the West,” he argued, “but has failed to create a successful political model others would want to join.”