US defence secretary Lloyd Austin cheers capture of key city in east after Moscow confirms retreat of its troops
Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 221 of the invasion
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based thinktank, has said the Russian military in its current state was almost certainly unable to operate on a nuclear battlefield, even though it has historically trained its units to do so.
“The chaotic agglomeration of exhausted contract soldiers, hastily mobilised reservists, conscripts and mercenaries that currently comprise the Russian ground forces could not function in a nuclear environment,” Reuters reported ISW analysts as saying.
Any areas affected by Russian tactical nuclear weapons would thus be impassable for the Russians, likely precluding Russian advances.
We’re very encouraged by what we’re seeing right now.
Without those routes, it will be more difficult. So it presents a sort of a dilemma for the Russians going forward