Ukraine’s counteroffensive ramps up

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said fighting in Ukraine “intensified significantly” as Ukraine pushed harder to break through Russia’s southern front. Ukraine sent thousands of new troops to aid the push, according to a U.S. official on CNN. Ukraine has had months of slow progress in its offensive measures to regain territory from Russia, mostly blocking Russian attacks rather than launching its own. A Washington, D.C.-based think tank, The Institute for the Study of War reported that Ukrainian forces on Wednesday launched a “mechanized” operation in western Zaporizhzhia and appeared to have broken through some Russian defenses.

Why the sudden push? Pentagon officials told Politico that Ukraine held back its best troops in the reserve, only deploying them when finding a weak spot. Ukraine troops were advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Wednesday. If successful, Ukraine’s new push could break Russia’s southern front, reach the Sea of Azov, and isolate troops in the south from Russian forces in the east.

Dig deeper: Read William Fleeson’s report in WORLD Magazine on evangelism on the Ukraine war front.