Russia advances fastest since the start of the war in Ukraine

Russian forces are advancing into Ukraine at their fastest pace since the start of the war, capturing an area equivalent to half of London in a month.

Agentstvo, a Russian news agency, estimated that Kremlin forces captured 91 square miles over the past week and 232 square miles total in November.

“Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of occupied territory in Ukraine“, he said.

These estimates for November reinforce a trend of accelerating Russian advances on the front line since September.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, ordered his forces to intensify their attacks ahead of possible peace talks Donald Trump said he wants to establish himself as soon as he is sworn in as US president in January.

Although Russian forces have gained more ground in recent weeks, it has come at a great cost.

According to the latest estimates from Ukrainian intelligence services, Russia is losing 1,500 soldiers every day, dead or seriously injured.

Russian tactics have changed little since World War II, relying on swarming infantry charges to overwhelm the Ukrainian defenders.

Ukrainian soldiers described waves of Russian infantry attacks heading toward their guns, supported by steady volleys of artillery bombardment.

Most of the Russian attacks took place in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, towards the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in the southern part of the front line.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces have discovered “vulnerabilities” in this section that they are now exploiting.

Volodymyr Zelenskythe Ukrainian president, called the military situation in the southern Donetsk region “the most difficult” and said that “efforts were underway to strengthen our positions.”

But Russian forces have also advanced towards Kupiansk, in the northern part of the front line, and last week reportedly broke through the city’s defenses.

But on Tuesday, Sergei Markov, a Russian pro-war commentator, reported a Ukrainian counterattack had pushed the Russian soldiers out of Kupiansk.

“The Russian army was forced to abandon the bridgehead that it had unexpectedly captured a few days ago,” he said. “This indicates the intensity of the fighting.”

Kupyansk straddles the Oskil River, considered a natural defensive line that runs north-south through the Kharkiv region to the Don River.

The Oskil River is so important that DeepState, a Ukrainian military blogger, said Russian forces had launched an ambitious surprise landing on the west bank.

“It’s not just about overcoming a water obstacle for the sake of a photo, because the enemy has taken the positions held by one of our brigades,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had captured another village in the Kharkiv region. Kopanky is located southeast of Koupyansk. His capture highlights Russian progress.

According to an analysis by the Russian-language news site Meduza, which opposes the war in Ukraine, one of the Russian army’s most effective tactics was to attack in several different locations simultaneously, straining the Ukrainian defenders.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces still do not have enough forces to stop the Russian offensive in several directions at once. If it is possible to slow down the advance of the Russian armed forces in one area, a breakthrough into the neighboring area immediately follows,” the statement reported.

He highlighted the rapid advances of the Russian army by reporting a breakthrough near Kurakhove which allowed the Russian army to advance seven miles in a week, whereas “previously it took a year” to cover the same distance.

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