We are on day 201 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Russian border is now in focus. In two weeks, the Ukrainian counter-offensive that routed the defenses of Moscow in the eastern region of Kharkiv has taken back three thousand square kilometers of territory, about forty settlements and is now traveling swiftly towards the enemy border. According to army commander Valery Zaluzhny, only about fifty kilometers separate his troops from Russia. The vanguard of the 130th battalion has gone further, claiming to have arrived at the Hoptivka crossing. In the oblast the invaders are en route. Granted the retreat, defined as a strategic “reorganization” to concentrate forces on the Donbass, the Defense of Moscow itself has shown with a map of what remains in its hands: only a small portion of territory east of the Oskil River, after having lost many of the main centers, from Kupiansk to Izyum, on which bombs continue to rain.
Meanwhile, in a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron asked him to withdraw “heavy and light weapons”, while the Kremlin leader returned to blame Kiev for the raids, warning of the risk of “catastrophic consequences” also for ” storage of radioactive waste ». The Kremlin said the two had a “detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine, with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant”.
THE CASE – Putin’s loyalists in revolt: “Punishing those responsible for the retreat”
THE ANALYSIS – If the collapse of the Russian front brings us to the most dangerous point of the war
Here’s what happened on Sunday 11 September