Out there in the mainstream media and within some political circles in the west, you still hear supposedly serious analysts talk about how the war in Ukraine ‘is in a stalemate’.
There’s a Cognitive bias known as ‘anchoring’, in which someone relies too heavily on the first piece of information they receive (the ‘anchor’) and struggles to adjust their beliefs even when presented with new, contradictory evidence.
That’s exactly what at play here – people using ‘2022-information’ three years later, when it’s obsolete.
To begin with, it’s true that the Russia-Ukraine war has become a war of attrition, in which territorial gains, while very important, are second to the work of grinding down the enemies’ troops and equipment, till you break down its defenses to the point you can conquer it, or it will capitulate.
But that doesn’t mean that Russians haven’t made any progress: just in May, they conquered Lysovka, Lipovoye, Kotlyarovka, Mirolyubovka, Mikhaylovka, Torskoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Volnoye Pole, Alexandropol, Bogatyr, Novoolenovka, Maryino, Novaya Poltavka, Radkovka, Otradnoye, Stupochki, Loknya, and Romanovka.
That’s NOT a stalemate.
Alleged footage of Russian Iskander strike on Ukraine’s Chernigov overnight
Russia’s MoD reports a surgical hit on Ukraine’s defense industry — targeting drone, missile, and explosives production pic.twitter.com/vdbsWmV0GE
— RT (@RT_com) May 25, 2025
The only reason why the ‘attrition’ hasn’t yet broken Kiev’s defenses down, bringing a swift end to the war, is because NATO countries are pouring in unprecedented amounts of military aid – and Ukrainians are catching people in the streets ‘like dogs’ to forcibly send them to the war.
Watch: Geran drone arrival in Kiev.
Arrival of “Geran” in Kiev. pic.twitter.com/ocWPcJFtQ7
— Intel Slava (@Intel_Slava) May 25, 2025
While a lot of attention is being paid to the major combined attack on Kiev, Odessa and elsewhere, in which Geranium (Shahed) drones and Iskander missiles are pounding military targets, MSM can’t help but report on the Russian advances – in their own crooked way.
So, when Reuters says that Russian troops are ‘advancing slowly on the eastern front’, it’s the ‘anchoring effect’ in play (‘It’s a stalemate!’).
Watch: Massive air raid – with UMPK glide bombs – of Ukrainian positions in Volchansk in the Kharkov direction.
A Ukrainian quadcopter filmed a massive bombing of Ukrainian positions in Volchansk in the Kharkov direction.
Russian Air Force unleashed a massive air raid with UMPK glide bombs on Ukrainian positions. pic.twitter.com/F6L5ZEW2UT
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) May 24, 2025
It’s a drone war, and advances are bound to be slow, lest you see scenes like the 2023 Ukrainian summer offensive, in which long lines of tanks and armored vehicles were sitting ducks for Russian artillery and drones.
Now, the news agency reports, Russians have ‘captured two settlements in Donetsk region as well as one in Ukraine’s northern region of Sumy’, as they focus on completing the conquest (they would call the ‘liberation’) of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Reuters reported:
“In recent months, Moscow has also tried to advance in Sumy region, particularly after Russia’s military said it had ousted Ukrainian troops from the Russian border region of Kursk.
A Russian Defense Ministry statement said its forces had captured the village of [Stupochki] in Donetsk region, east of [Konstantinovsky], a town under recent Russian pressure.
It also said it had taken control of [Otradnoye], a village further west along the 1,000-km front and announced the capture of Loknya, a village […] in Sumy region.”
Intense combat footage captures liberation of Bogatyr
Flag flies over latest DPR village under Russian control https://t.co/i667ilOVai pic.twitter.com/uRpiaVEAml
— RT (@RT_com) May 18, 2025
As for the much-rumored upcoming Russian summer offensive, as far as we can tell by Open-Source Intelligence, it will aim to create a ‘buffer zone’ in Ukraine to prevent strikes on civilian populations.
Intel Slava reported:
“Putin specified for which Russian regions a security buffer zone will be created.
We are talking about the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, the Russian leader stated.
These regions border on the Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine.”
“The enemy chooses targets that have no military significance. It targets ambulances, farm machinery, women and children. We have taken a decision to create a buffer zone along the border of the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.”
You didn’t expect anything else, did you now. pic.twitter.com/t4natuRrqH
— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) May 22, 2025
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