Greetings Comrades! This is a crossover episode with the Eastern Border podcast where Anthony and Kristaps discuss their recent reporting trip to the city of Mykolaiv and the nearby frontlines. But first, a combat update regarding the rapid Ukrainian advances on both the Kharkiv and Kherson fronts.

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It is a short-form on-the-road episode by Anthony Bartaway, but these are all developing stories that deserve more focus. First up, the Ukrainian advance in the Kharkiv region and northern Donbas is continuing to roll forward and retake occupied territory, but they are discovering all of the horrors seen in all recovered territory. Putin swaps high-profile Ukrainian POWs for his flunky Medvedchuk. Russia holds a stage-play of a "referendum" in occupied regions of Ukraine, in a stunt that should fool nobody. The Russian military is bolstered through a "limited" and poorly-organized mobilization that seems to target minority groups. Conflicts in multiple points of the former Soviet Union show Russia's decline as a regional power.

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While the Russian army was focused on defending its holdings in Kherson, Ukraine pulled off a stunning offensive to the east of Kharkiv. In less than a week, the Russian garrison in the Izyum salient completely disintegrated, leading to them abandoning Kharkiv Oblast to the west of the Oskil River. This offensive has not stopped, so this episode may become immediately out of date - in the time between editing and posting Ukraine has taken more territory to the north of the Donets River. Anthony and Romeo go over how this happened and what it may lead to.

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This episode is dedicated both to Ukraine's Independence Day and the 6th-month anniversary of the war that threatens that independence. In our news round-up we cover:

00:00:45 - The combat update, including the long-awaited kinetic phase of the Kherson Offensive.

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In a brief news update, Russia focuses its efforts in Donbas on the Donetsk suburb of Pisky, which guards the way to the vital strategic Ukrainian fortress-city of Avdiivka. On the Kherson front, the Russian army pours into the region in order to forestall a Ukrainian offensive, but by doing so put themselves in an extremely logistically precarious position. This is helped by Ukraine, somehow, blowing up a Russian Air Force base in Crimea.

Vladyslav's Contacts and Projects

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In a brief news update, Russia shifts away from the Sloviansk front to Avdiivka in Donbas, while building up its defenses against the awaited Ukrainian offensive in Kherson. Meanwhile, they continue their intense missile strike campaign, especially against Mykolaiv and are suspected of an unusual mass execution in a prison camp in Olenivka.

Sarah's Contacts and Projects

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Ukraine struck a deal to secure its grain exports, but Russian perfidy meant Moscow broke the agreement almost immediately.

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A rapid Russian advance finishes off the long battle for Luysychansk, allowing them to occupy the entirety of Luhansk Oblast. The Battle for Donbas shifts westward to the Seversk/Bakhmut line. Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces continue to make grinding progress around Kherson and Zaporizhia and force Russia to abandon Snake Island.

Finally, we take a Patreon question on Turkey's attempt to stall out Swedish and Finnish NATO ascension, Ankara's geostrategic positioning, and how much Russia is capable of retaliating against the two (spoiler: very little).

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A rapid Russian offensive captures territory around Lysychansk, leading to the Ukrainian withdrawal from Severodonetsk, with a tough fight still to come.

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Severodonetsk becomes the centerpiece of the war, as fierce urban fighting claims hundreds of lives.

Russian cruise missiles destroy a Kyiv civilian railcar repair plant in the first strike on the city in a month, increasing the difficulty of Ukraine's ability to export grain.

Three foreign-born fighters are sentenced to death by the Russian puppet authorities in Donetsk. We go over who these men are and why calling them mercenaries is malicious propaganda.

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