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The big news this week, my deliverance from the icy waters of the west of Scotland aside,

was an article written for the economist

by General Valerie Zoluzni, the head of the Ukrainian armed forces, that seemed to suggest

the counteroffensive had run out of steam and that the war had moved from one of movement

to one of deadlock. Yet at the same time, perhaps aware that Zoluzni's message was being

interpreted by Western analysts

as too negative, President Volodymya Zelensky has insisted that the war in Ukraine is not

in deadlock and that there is no pressure on his government from Western allies to enter into

peace negotiations with Russia. Various developments on the battlefield seem to confirm this.

In a potentially significant move, Ukrainian forces have transferred a limited number of armored

vehicles to the east, that is, the left bank of the Dniepro, in the Kerson Oblast, where they'd

already established a bridgehead. Ukrainian forces are continuing to make small gains near Bachmoot and in western Zaporizia,

and Ukraine has carried out another successful missile attack on a Russian warship,

this time using a French scalp missile to seriously damage a brand-new corvette in Ketch

on the Crimean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to bang their heads against a brick wall in Avdivka, near Donet City,

...