Why Fiercest Fighting of War Against Russia Has Been In Previous Month

The Russians have launched some of the fiercest - and least successful - attacks of the entire war in the past month.

The reason is that Putin is attempting to demonstrate that his army has momentum and that the Ukrainians have no chance. But the effort has, if anything, been counterproductive. The repeated failure of his forces everywhere on the front - with losses not seen in Europe since WWII - has merely underscored his military's ineptitude. And his troops' behavior - exempified by his own - has reinforced European understanding of the threat Russian brutality and domination pose, strengthening most European resolve to stop him, as the recent elections in Poland of a more Euro-centric and anti-Russian government suggest. JL 

Mark Sumner reports in Daily Kos:

The past two weeks have brought some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Not only has Ukraine been conducting a counterattack to Russian attempts to close off the Avdiivka salient, but also there has been renewed fighting on the southern front, with Ukraine winning a cluster of fields southwest of Robotyne. A combination of mines and FPVs spelled doom for multiple attempts by Russia to retake the area near Krynky, with one of those assaults involving the loss of armored vehicles. Additional Russian losses came to a column of vehicles destroyed near Marinka, and another column lost in an attempt to enter Novomykhailivka,

Despite the relatively small changes being seen on the map day by day, the past two weeks have actually brought some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Not only has Ukraine been conducting a counterattack to Russian attempts to close off the Avdiivka salient, but also there has been renewed fighting on the southern front, with Ukraine winning, losing, then partially winning again a cluster of fields southwest of Robotyne.

Just about every day of the past week has brought reports of heavy losses, sometimes on both sides, but almost certainly on the Russian side. Today was no different.

Over the past two days, a lot of those Russian casualties came in a place that had been relatively quiet over the last two weeks: the area around Krynky, east of the Dnipro River.

Russia attacking Ukrainian-controlled portion of Krynky

A combination of mines and FPVs reportedly spelled doom for multiple attempts by Russia to retake the area near Krynky, with one of those assaults involving the loss of at least five armored vehicles.

Additional Russian losses reportedly came in a column of vehicles destroyed near Marinka, and another column lost in an attempt to enter Novomykhailivka, 9 kilometers south of Marina.

In the Avdiivka area, efforts to drive Russia completely from the area around Stepove continue.

Over the weekend, Ukraine managed to push Russia completely back across the rail line in some areas. However, in the woods fronting that rail line and in the easternmost blocks of Stepove, Russian forces have proven harder to dislodge. There had been hopes that Ukrainian forces could move over the tracks and advance toward Krasnohorivka, but there’s no sign of this happening so far.

Stepove / North Avdiivka area

Meanwhile, Russia has managed to advance to the southeast of the mine-waste pile known as the Terrikon. Russia has taken a block of buildings along the edge of an industrial area and so far seems to be holding on to this position.

On Monday, Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk was selected to be the new prime minister of Poland after rival efforts were defeated in Parliament. Tusk’s victory follows elections in October that left the right-leaning Law and Justice Party still holding the largest number of seats but lacking the numbers (or allies) to form a new government.

Tusk is a former president of the European Council and strongly supports increasing Poland’s role in the European Union. Over the past eight years of rule by the nationalist Law and Justice Party, Poland has broken away from the EU on issues of freedom of the press and international law. As Reuters reports, that’s resulted in tens of billions of EU funds for Poland being placed on hold. Tusk is expected to move quickly to repair these issues and bring more EU funds into Poland.

The Law and Justice Party attempted several last-minute maneuvers to block Tusk, who was previously prime minister between 2007 and 2014, from returning to power. That included naming a commission reportedly investigating Russian influence-peddling which insisted that Tusk, along with other opposition leaders, should be excluded from government. But this effort and all others failed. Tusk won the prime minister role in a 248-to-201 vote, and will immediately form a new government.

As The Guardian reports, Tusk accepted his new role while saying that he wants to “chase away the darkness … chase away the evil” of outgoing nationalist rule. Not only does Tusk’s election promise a more united EU, it also puts an end to claims that Europe—especially Eastern Europe—was trending inexorably to the right.

Though Poland has been one of the largest contributors to Ukraine’s defense effort when it comes to weapons, the nationalist government was increasingly driving wedges between the two countries. Anti-immigrant rhetoric directed at Ukrainian refugees was a fixture in the fall election, and increasingly, radical nationalists were pushing Poland to reduce cooperation in ways that worried NATO supporters.

Tusk can be expected to not only keep up the military assistance to Ukraine but also be more supportive in assistance to NATO and refugees, and working out trade deals.

Before the fall elections, there were concerns that Poland would continue to drift to the right, with anti-immigrant sentiment moving the country to positions that could generate a greater schism with the EU and NATO. But since those elections, where Tusk’s party along with two others on the center-left took the majority of seats, Poland’s move back into the community of European nations seemed assured.