What Ukraine Needs to Do in Its 2023 Counteroffensive; Ukraine Battles to Hold Off Russia in Bakhmut; Ukraine Reportedly Makes 'marginal gains' in Luhansk Oblast; Ukraine Stages Raids Across Dnipro River as Counteroffensive Looms, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

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What Ukraine Needs to Do in Its 2023 Counteroffensive:

At Ramstein Air Base last week, the U.S. and its allies met and pledged more equipment and training for Ukraine. With the 2023 counteroffensive months off, analysts are discussing tactics, logistics, troop numbers and the effect of the “Teixeira leak” on the critical element of surprise. They talked about timing of tank deployments and possible kickoff dates but not the most important question: What would a successful counteroffensive achieve?

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ultimate goals—removing Russian forces from Ukraine and restoring sovereignty over the whole of Ukraine, including Crimea—are unlikely to be achieved in 2023. Instead, military operations in coming months should be seen as the first in a series of campaigns to reach Mr. Zelensky’s objectives.

The Allied invasion of Europe in World War II required a series of campaigns to bring Germany to its knees. The Normandy landing was essential, but follow-on campaigns that broke through the German encirclement in France, the key 1945 battles known as the “race to the Rhine,” and the fall of Berlin were needed to end the war. The counteroffensive in Ukraine should be seen in a similar manner—not as the final battle but an intermediate campaign in that direction.

In the 2023 counteroffensive, success can be measured by meeting three conditions. Russian forces must be decisively defeated, key terrain must be seized, and Ukrainians must have the momentum and support for follow-on campaigns. --->READ MORE HERE

Iryna Rybakova/Iryna Rybakova/Associated Press

Ukraine Battles to Hold Off Russia in Bakhmut:

Heavy fighting continued on Wednesday in the western districts of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city where the country’s defenders have been putting up stiff, costly resistance against Russia’s invasion forces for months.

The head of Ukraine’s special operations forces, Brig. Gen. Viktor Khorenko, said during a visit to Bakhmut that the situation there was difficult but that Ukrainian troops were continuing to exact a heavy price for Russian advances.

Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, their first conversation since Russia invaded more than one year ago. Mr. Zelensky described the phone call as “long and meaningful,” while his spokesman said the two leaders had spoken for almost one hour.

The call comes after Mr. Xi visited Moscow last month and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Beijing seeks to portray itself as a potential peacemaker in the conflict.

Moscow has thrown tens of thousands of troops, many of them convicts recruited by Russian paramilitary group Wagner, into the battle for Bakhmut, a city of some 70,000 before the invasion that has become the site of one of the war’s fiercest battles. Despite heavy losses, Russian forces have gradually chipped away at Ukraine’s control of the city.

Holding Bakhmut has become increasingly difficult for Ukraine as Russian forces have gained ground to the north, south and east in recent months, leaving Ukraine with a single functioning supply road. --->READ MORE HERE

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