Russia Ramps Up Fight on 2 Fronts      07/02 06:11

   

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- An emboldened Russia has ramped up military offensives 
on two fronts in Ukraine, scattering Kyiv's precious reserve troops and 
threatening to expand the fighting to a new Ukrainian region as each side seeks 
an advantage before the fighting season wanes in the autumn.

   Moscow aims to maximize its territorial gains before seriously considering a 
full ceasefire, analysts and military commanders said. Ukraine wants to slow 
the Russian advance for as long as possible and extract heavy losses.

   Kremlin forces are steadily gaining ground in the strategic eastern 
logistics hub of Pokrovsk, the capture of which would hand them a major 
battlefield victory and bring them closer to acquiring the entire Donetsk 
region. The fighting there has also brought combat to the border of the 
neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time.

   In an effort to prevent Moscow from bolstering those positions in the east, 
Ukrainian forces are trying to pin down some of Russia's best and most 
battle-hardened troops hundreds of kilometers away, in the northeast Sumy 
region.

   "The best-case scenario for Ukraine," said Russian-British military 
historian Sergey Radchenko, "is that they're able to stall or stop the Russian 
advance" in the Ukrainian industrial heartland known as Donbas, which includes 
the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Then Ukraine could "use that as the basis for 
a ceasefire agreement."

   "There's a better chance for Russia to come to some kind of terms with 
Ukraine" in the fall when the Russians "see the extent of their offensive," 
Radchenko added.

   While the battles rage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is waiting 
to learn whether the Trump administration will support tougher sanctions 
against Russia and back a European idea to establish a "reassurance force" to 
deter Moscow.

   A setback came with the U.S. decision Tuesday to halt some weapons shipments 
to Ukraine out of concern over America's own depleted stockpiles.

   Ukraine faces relentless assaults in Sumy

   In the Sumy region, Ukrainian forces face a constant barrage of aerial glide 
bombs, drones and relentless assaults by small groups of Russian infantrymen. 
They endure the attacks to prevent Russian forces from being moved to other 
battlegrounds in the eastern Donetsk region.

   Ukrainian forces intensified their own attacks in Sumy in April and even 
conducted a small offensive into Russia's neighboring Kursk region to prevent 
up to 60,000 battle-hardened Russian forces from being moved to reinforce 
positions in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, Ukraine's top army 
commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said last week.

   If those troops had been moved, they could have increased the tempo of 
Russian attacks across the front line and stretched Ukrainian forces thin.

   The strategy did not come without criticism. Commanders who were ordered to 
execute it complained that it resulted in unnecessary loss of life.

   Russian forces have penetrated up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) into the 
northern Sumy region from different directions along the border.

   Ukrainian forces are determined to keep them there to avoid freeing up 
Russian forces to fight in the east. So far they have succeeded, locking up to 
10,000 Russian troops in the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region alone, 
where Ukraine maintains a small presence after being mostly forced out by 
Russian and North Korean troops earlier in the year.

   Russia seeks maximum gains in Donetsk

   The war's largest battle is being waged in Donetsk as Russia inches toward 
its stated goal of capturing all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

   Unable to tackle the strategically significant logistical hub of Pokrovsk 
directly, Russian forces are attempting to encircle the city, a maneuver that 
requires encroaching on the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Bringing the 
war to a sixth Ukrainian region would be detrimental for Ukrainian morale and 
give Russia more leverage in negotiations if its forces manage to carve out a 
foothold there.

   Sabotage groups have crossed the border, only to be eliminated by Ukrainian 
forces.

   But in time, commanders fear that Russia will advance as Ukraine continues 
to grapple with severe shortages.

   Lack of soldiers and supplies across the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) front 
line mean that Ukrainian forces must concentrate on holding their positions and 
conserving resources rather than advancing, said Oleksii Makhrinskyi, deputy 
commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion.

   Commanders describe battles so intense under drone-saturated skies that 
rotating forces in and out of position has become a deadly operation. Ukrainian 
forces remain in combat positions for several weeks at a time or more, relying 
on supplies carried in by drones.

   The Russians' goal "is just to enter Dnipropetrovsk region, to have a good 
position politically if the presidents negotiate peace," said Andrii Nazerenko, 
a commander of the 72nd Brigade, a drone unit in eastern Ukraine, referring to 
potential talks between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

   "They're really close to getting what they want," he said.

   All eyes on Trump's next move

   Zelenskyy hopes U.S. President Donald Trump will move away from his 
administration's past ambivalence toward Ukraine and signal his intention to 
continue American support, a move that could also alter Moscow's calculations.

   The two presidents met last week on the sidelines of a NATO summit and 
discussed a possible weapons package, including Patriot missile systems that 
Ukraine intends to purchase with European support.

   The U.S. Defense Department announcement now calls that into question 
although it did not specify which weapons were being held back when it 
disclosed the Pentagon review of American weapons stockpiles Tuesday. The halt 
of any weapons from the U.S. would be a blow to Ukraine as it struggles to 
confront Russia's daily aerial barrages.

   Zelenskyy also hopes Trump will punish Russia by imposing harsher sanctions 
on its energy and banking sectors, which bankroll the Kremlin's war effort.

   Europe and the U.S. have imposed successive sanctions on Russia since the 
full-scale invasion in 2022, but Zelenskyy says those measures have not been 
enough to pierce Moscow's war machine. He has proposed a $30 per barrel price 
cap on Russian oil.

   EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan said Europe needs to maintain the 
sanctions pressure while also "holding out the prospect that if Russia behaves 
correctly, we could have some kind of ceasefire and some kind of sense of 
negotiation, but for the moment Russia doesn't seem to want that."

   Kyiv's closest European allies are also awaiting a sign from Trump that he 
will support a plan to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine to guard against future 
Russian aggression after a ceasefire agreement. That is likely the best 
security guarantee Ukraine can hope for in lieu of NATO membership.

   Meanwhile on the battlefield, Russian forces appear increasingly confident.

   Nazerenko noticed a shift in the morale of advancing Russian infantrymen in 
recent months. Instead of running away while being assailed by Ukrainian 
drones, they keep pushing forward.

   Nazerenko could not help but ask a Russian prisoner: "You know you will die. 
Why go?"

   Because, the Russian soldier replied: "We will win."