Ukraine’s towns are now falling like a line of dominoes, and a U.S. peace proposal that was supposedly leaked probably originated in Ukraine, containing as it does a provision Putin is sure to reject. From Simplicius at simplicius76.substack.com:
One of the biggest recent battlefield developments is just how quickly some of Ukraine’s largest urban strongholds are falling after being surrounded and cut off by Russian forces.
At one point long ago, every little settlement was won by bitter pitched fighting, advancing one house at a time—places like Rubezhnoe, Popasna, Soledar, Bakhmut, etc. But now, nearly half of the major strongholds are falling virtually without a fight. There are some exceptions: Toretsk and Chasov Yar, for instance, were slowly contested, though in their case it had more to do with geographic features and terrain not favorable for encirclement, which forced Russian troops to assault them head on.
When Selidove/Selidovo fell in October, it surprised many by how quickly it was abandoned. Kurakhove itself was mythologized by the AFU to be a critical, expansive battle that should have taken many months to conclude. And it did take long to slowly flank it—but the actual progression through the city itself, once it had begun, was relatively fast.
The same went for Ugledar: it took many months to slowly flank it on the sides, but then the fabled stronghold itself fell in literally four or five days in early October. Now the triumph has been repeated in an even greater stronghold, Velyka Novosilka. After spending weeks carefully enveloping it, Russian soldiers left the city relatively untouched as Ukrainian units simply fled without much of a fight.
But but but muh gas station with an economy due to run out of artillery shells any day now while checking old washing machines for parts?
Babushka from Ukraine needs to shoot down a Sukhoi with a can of soup.
This just in from EELS:
Flyswatter