Russia 
has just fired Lt. General Berdnikov, its commander of the western military district. He’s been in post for 15 days.
I’m expecting to see a circular firing squad being organized for the combined general staff.
I guess it is still better news than he received on June 5th.
Russians are reportedly abandoning Svatove, and maybe Starobilsk too:
I wonder if or when the front line will stabilize again?
News of Russian cruise missile attacks on electrical infrastructure.
Maybe to harm rail transport of military material? But I did a search and Ukraine seems to have a good number of very new and old diesel freight locomotives.
Off topic. Never mind.
I have been corrected.
Russian temper tantrum over being humiliated over the last few days. Won’t matter. Russia’s incompetent and kleptocratic army and leadership can’t win against people fighting for their families and their very existence.
What happens to fired Generals like him? Jail, retirement with pension…?
My generous take on it: a decision was made, or maybe even just a serious discussion was had, about a fallback to a better line to ensure that the separatist territories and southern corridor to Crimea would be would be secured for a long grind war(*). However news of that, maybe distorted in the retelling, rapidly filtered down the line before an actual plan was assembled and movements organized, resulting in units in the front unsure of what orders to expect about what to do next and falling back in a disorganized manner.
(* For which a plan should have been in the can already at the start of the war. Initial plans don’t survive contact, but then you need to plan what if…)
Interesting that exchange towards the end, the “hardliner” saying “we have to go on until we eliminate the Nazi regime however long it takes” and the “moderate” saying “thank you for being honest that I should look forward to my children going to war ten years from now”.
Of course, part of the propagandistic value is to try and sell the notion that they’ve been pulling their punches and need to hit harder so they can end it sooner.
Hearing reports that Russia removed a lot of forces ahead of the Ukraine Kharkiv offensive. If I even noted a big buildup of force in Kharkiv, then it is obvious Russian military knew. Maybe the offensive was so successful, as it was left open to it. Russia just pulled out and redeployed elsewhere.
Will take time to know.
Might depend on what he chooses to say going forward. Best option, take pension, keep quiet.
Escalation worked so well for us 50 years ago…
Just parroting Russian propaganda word for word now, are we?
The Russian statement that this was an intentional redeployment to the Donetsk front is ridiculous. The Russians left behind an immense amount of ammunition, material, and vehicles. That’s not what you do if you’re pulling out and redeploying.
You also don’t abandon Izium if you want to take Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, which are the key remaining cities in Donetsk Oblast which the Russians have yet to take. The stated objective of this Special Military Operation (or at least the revised stated objective, after the failure to take Kyiv and withdrawal from the north) is to capture all of Donetsk Oblast for the DNR. It is sheer lunacy to think that pulling out of Izium advances that goal.
What was he fired out of?
Agree with some of what you say.
But it seems that it would be best to redeploy forces to better defend Luhansk area and take remaining Donetsk areas than defend so much of Kharkiv area. It does still give Russia a very bad black eye. People in Russian occupied areas are going to wonder how hard Russia will fight for them.
But as I noted. Even I heard of big buildup in Kharkiv. Far enough ahead of time for a plan to be resolved.
Personally, I think it was wrong of Russia to ditch the people in those areas. I would at least hope they made effort to evacuate them. And that Ukraine forces are not going to be nasty to ones they deem sympathizers. It is war. Civilians do what they must to survive. Both sides should treat them well.
Except they’re not really ‘defending’. Remember: Russia is the aggressor in an unprovoked war of choice.
Yes, if by “removing forces” you mean “every man for himself, run away run away and leave all your equipment and munitions behind.”
Most Ukranians living in Russian occupied Ukraine would like the Russians to leave, and not fight at all. Russia is occupying another country by force of arms. People who live there generally don’t like occupiers.
No! This is just completely false. Russia has been staging most of its logistics out of Belgorod, using the rail line that runs down through Vovchansk, Kupiansk and Svatove to Sievierodonetsk as their primary supply line. That rail line is now in the hands of Ukraine. The Russian logistical situation in Luhansk and Donetsk is now much worse that it was a week ago, and it wasn’t great a week ago.
Moreover, Izium was absolutely pivotal for Russian strategic goals. Not only was it used as a command hub, but holding it allowed the Russians to threaten Sloviansk and the rest of the Ukrainian-controlled portion of Donetsk from the north as well as the east. This semi-envelopment was critical to Russian gains in the area, as it forced the Ukrainians to defend on multiple sides and constantly threatend Ukrainian logistics. Losing Izium is utterly devastating to the Russian campaign in Donetsk.
Now instead of the Russians threatening the northern flank of the Ukrainians in Donetsk, the Ukrainians are threatening the northern flank of the Russians in Luhansk. They’ve already crossed the Oskil at Kupiansk and Borova, and may well continue to exploit the Russian collapse by advancing on Svatove and getting into a position to threaten the next available rail line running through Starobilsk. Keep in mind that aside from the front around Sievierodonetsk/Lysychansk, Luhansk is almost entirely defenseless. The LNR units are either in Kherson or among those just scattered to the winds in the northeast. The forces retreating from Izium are in no condition to shore up that defense, having left almost all of their heavy equipment behind. It will take time and resources to reconstitute those units into militarily effective forces, time the Ukrainians are unlikely to give them.
Entertaining for even a second that the events of the past week might be part of a rational Russian strategy is ridiculous. It’s a blatant lie put forward by the Russian ministry of defense to cover up the fact that they’ve just suffered the worst military defeat since the Six-Day War.
I would expect execution and unpersoning.
Ukraine has advanced in the places you note. But have not yet got sufficient forces in place to hold or advance on those lines. Of course they may do that very soon. There are three rail lines from Russia to Donetsk and Luhansk. They branch to 6 or 7 lines in those territories. So having retreated back to those areas there is supply for those areas.
True, there is less threat to the northwest of Donetsk border. Less of a pocket. If Ukraine has the forces and material it would be good to pin back Russia at that point. Maybe air defense systems too. Try and force Russia to choose fewer places to possibly move forward.
Russia really needs to take the rest of Donetsk to save face and accomplish at least the basic goals they stated to start this. The Ukraine reinforced defenses there have done really well to stop that.
It is a hard choice for Ukraine where to attack. But Donetsk or Luhansk would seem to be the most embarrassing places to make gains against Russia. But maybe the hardest.