Ukraine says Russian troops 'trapped' in eastern city of Bakhmut

[Kennah]

Source: Reuters

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had caught occupying Russian troops "in a trap" in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, where its forces have been gaining ground as part of their counter offensive.
...
More than 500 days into the invasion, Ukraine's counter offensive which began early last month has focused on capturing clusters of villages in the southeast and moving in on Russian forces holding Bakhmut.
...
"Bakhmut. The enemy is caught in a trap," General Oleksander Syrskyi, in charge of Ukraine's ground forces, said bluntly on the Telegram messaging app. "The city is under the fire control of (our) defence forces...the enemy is being pushed out of their positions."

In the south, General Oleksander Tarnavskyi said on Telegram Ukrainian forces were "on the move" and Russian forces had lost the equivalent of hundreds of men over 24 hours.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-forces-advance-south-hold-initiative-says-zelenskiy-2023-07-09/

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Counterattack in steps.

[RandySF]

1. How honest are the Ukrainians?

I’m rooting for them, but disinformation is a part of war.

[PortTack]

2. I've heard more than one source say this is the case. Guess we'll see..sure hope so

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Ukrainian sources incl military seem much more aligned with reality than ruZZian sources

Ukrainian people have extreme incentive to get the ruzzians out, so their leadership have much less incentive to lie to them. The reality of successes and setbacks do not need to hidden for motivational purposes, only briefly for operational purposes.

Russians have been lied to perpetually by President-for-life and there are heavy laws for even so much as mentioning a soldier's death on social media. I wonder how that makes mothers feel, unable to get sympathy on social media.

[3Hotdogs]

5. Dunno. U.S. military intelligence seems to back the idea that Ukraine can hold.

That is why, a couple of months into the invasion, we began to send serious amounts of military assistance.

But the end of the war? I believe Russia will lose but I don't know what territory they will lose as part of settlement.

[GregariousGroundhog]

7. Ukraine's approach to informational warfare more closely mirrors the U.S. than it does Russia

Russia says a lot of horse crap that isn't true and anything said by them needs to be taken with a giant pinch of salt. Information given out by Ukraine is generally true, but it's also important to also ask onself what Ukraine is not saying. Like a lot of western countries, they will cherry-pick what they want their audience to know and say nothing about what they want to keep out of the information space.

[AverageOldGuy]

4. Meanwhile, let us count Putin's victories

Putin has won a string of victories since Feb 2022 when he invaded Ukraine -- such as:
-- Tanked the Russian economy like it's never been tanked before
-- Shown the Russian Army to be incompetent
-- Shown Russian military equipment to be junk
-- Expanded NATO to all but encircle Russia
-- Ensured that Ukraine will join NATO within next 1-2 years.

Congratulations, Vladimir, you did a great job!!!

Meanwhile, looks as though President Biden is heeding the old warning: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is f'ing things up."

[Kennah]

9. You're right. Putin should run in the US GOP Presidential Primary.

[2naSalit]

6. This is the third report...

From trusted sources. Slava Ukraini!

[hueymahl]

8. As a huge Ukraine support

I always try to remind myself that the Russian troops are peoples sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. Probably been lied to repeatedly, and likely are good people.

War is a tragedy.

[maxsolomon]

10. surround them and force surrender.

take their shit and move on.

[onetexan]

11. I do hope the russian soldiers do surrender without resisting. Zelenskyy has already communicated

early on that UKR will be lenient with them and know this is a senseless, immoral war started by their government and to not take part in it. Russia still controls 16% of UKR so this has been a slow spring offensive.

[Vogon_Glory]

12. Possibly. While I want to believe that Russia's war machine has taken a big hit

I won’t believe until the Russians in Bakhmut surrender and are tallied as they March into captivity.