You are listening to the War on the Rocks podcast on Strategy, Defense and Foreign Affairs.

My name is Ryan Evans. I'm sitting here with Mike Kaufman to talk more about the war in Ukraine.

My voice is a little rough today. I'm recovering from the flu, so apologies in advance

for any coughing that slips through.

Mike, what's happening on the two fronts?

Let's start with the Eastern Front.

Sure, so over the last two weeks I think is when we last did this,

Ukrainian forces were successfully developing the Russian military in around the town of Lehman.

Russian forces were forced to withdraw, again abandoning equipment and losing

personnel essentially getting out on the one road out of that town. Ukrainian forces also had expanded their be shed across the Skill River at Kupyansk.

So this now sets the stage for a potential Ukrainian advance into Luansk, which you're basically

looking at is what's left of the Western military district, which isn't much.

It's a couple of bars, reservist units,

some Eleanor units, and some fragments of,

I would say, probably third motor rifle division

and things that belong to a

20th combined arms army attempting to reset on a line that line's

running across a series of towns from sfatova down to krimina it's not clear which way Ukrainians are going to attack.

I'm not going to speculate it, but the Russian military is trying to reset on this line.

This line essentially kind of runs at the border of Lu Lulonsk region.

That's where the Russian position is most in danger

where they have little manpower,

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