Ukraine Has Launched Counteroffensives, Reportedly Surrounding 10,000 Russian Troops

The claims of Ukrainian counteroffensives in the area surrounding Kyiv began a week ago. The Ukrainian army is moving and we have our first objective observations to back it up. The capital city of Ukraine could be in trouble.

After widening its war on Ukraine, the Russian army advanced to the outskirts of Kyiv. A thrust from Russia into northeastern Ukraine reached the city of Chernihiv.

The Russian air assault on Hostomel airport began on the first day of the war and ended in disaster for the Russians.

The main ground assault, led by the Russian 29th, 35th and 36th Combined Arms Armies, was more successful in the short term. The Russian created a very loose, incomplete cordon around Kyiv at a distance of a dozen or more miles.

It was fleeting. The collapse of the Ukrainian government was planned by the Kremlin within two or three days. The flaws in the Russian army's planning became apparent when that didn't happen.

Units were poorly led and under-equipped. The Russian army never had enough trucks for its logistical battalions. The war stretched into its second, third and fourth weeks and Ukrainian drones and missileers began taking out trucks.

A senior U.S. defense official said that Russia was not trying to advance right now.

More than 100,000 troops were added to the ranks of the Ukrainians. From the relative safety of the country's west, Ukrainian battalions began rolling east. The battalions made contact with the Russians west of Kyiv.

The war may have begun to change. There were rumors that Ukrainian battalions had launched a counteroffensive west of Kyiv. On Thursday, we saw the first evidence of that operation, in the form of NASA's fire-detecting satellites.

There was a pattern of fires around Hostomel and Irpin, just west of Kyiv, that was registered by the Fire Information for Resource Management System.

The roads leading through Hostomel and Irpin toward the capital were 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 There was a pattern of fires along the main supply routes connecting the Russian army to its railheads.

The fires tell a story of sustained battles between Ukrainian and Russian battalions. The advantage appears to be with the Ukrainians, who on Wednesday claimed they had liberated Makariv, a town 30 miles west of Kyiv.

As the Ukrainians close in on the Russians from the west while maintaining a strong defensive line to the east, they're creating a pocket, surrounding the very Russian vanguard that, just a couple weeks earlier, had threatened to surround Kyiv.

A pocket containing around 10,000 Russian troops from the 35th and 36th CAAs is extremely vulnerable. As the Russians run out of food and weapons, they may surrender in mass.

The counteroffensive is not limited to the region west of Kyiv. There is a separate effort on the other side of the city. On Tuesday, the Russians were close to eastern Kyiv. They retreated 20 miles farther to the east and north two days later.

The counteroffensive around Kyiv doesn't immediately relieve the pressure on the besieged cities of Mariupol and Chernihiv in the east. It doesn't help to liberate Ukrainian forces from the Russians.

That could change. If the Ukrainian army can eliminate the Russian troops west of Kyiv, commanders could shift their forces to the east and south in order to launch counteroffensives there.

The conclusion of the war reached after just two weeks is underscored by the Ukrainian operation around Kyiv. Russia is no longer winning. It might be losing.