Israel-Gaza war: Russia’s Putin plays for time in Ukraine with US, EU distracted by Mideast crisis

That’s after Russian military bloggers reported Ukrainian troops in the southern Kherson region had crossed the Dnipro river and taken back some occupied settlements in an apparent attempt to establish a bridgehead. The defence ministry in Moscow said on Friday its forces had repelled the Ukrainians.

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Ukraine intends to continue its counteroffensive through the fall and into winter even as weather on the battlefield deteriorate. After amassing billions of dollars of armaments including tanks, artillery and missiles from its US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) allies, it made only slow progress throughout the summer in pushing Russian troops out of heavily defended positions.

That has added to difficulties in holding together the coalition of support for Ukraine’s defence. The US stripped out funding for Ukraine in a political wrangle over short-term spending to avoid a government shutdown, while the election victory in Slovakia of Robert Fico, a candidate sympathetic to Russia, underscored growing challenges for the European Union.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stoked security concerns among Nato allies when he held talks with Putin at a forum in Beijing this week, becoming the first EU leader to meet with him since an international arrest warrant was issued for the president in March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Fierce fighting is taking place along parts of the front line in eastern and northeastern Ukraine after Russian forces went on the attack near the cities of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region and Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.

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Kim pledges support to Putin over ‘sacred’ war with the West

Kim pledges support to Putin over ‘sacred’ war with the West

Ukrainian army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who visited the front on Thursday, said Russian forces continued to press on Avdiivka with new assault units, large numbers of tanks and support from aviation and artillery, though defending troops were repulsing the attacks.

Russia’s likely carrying out its “most significant offensive operation” since at least January with attacks “across multiple axes” in eastern Ukraine, the UK’s defence ministry said in an October 17 intelligence update.

Putin boasted to reporters in China that Ukraine’s latest assault in Kherson produced “no result.” Days earlier, he told state television that Ukraine’s months-long counteroffensive had “completely failed” and that Russia’s military had switched to “active defence” to improve its positions on the battlefield.

Ukraine rejects Putin’s claim and says its troops are continuing to make advances, including around the strategic city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited the Kherson region on Friday, said in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia had incurred “catastrophic losses” in a failed assault on Avdiivka.

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Russia may achieve some “tactical-level adaptations and successes” near the city, though they’re unlikely to lead to wider strategic gains, the Institute for the Study of War said in an October 11 report.

To be sure, few in the Russian elite share Putin’s optimism and remain deeply gloomy about prospects for the war, seeing no way to halt the fighting.

Amid the spiralling crisis over the Israel-Gaza war, the US and other Nato allies say they remain committed to supplying weapons and aid to help Ukraine defeat Russia’s invasion that’s now lasted more than 600 days.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin’s goals “will be achieved faster” if a US focus on the Middle East leads to a slowdown in arms deliveries to Kyiv.

“Right now, maintaining the status quo suits Russia as they try to wait out the West,” said Dara Massicot, a senior fellow on defence and security issues in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Holding their positions is the minimum Russian forces want to do, but the Kremlin’s goals remain taking more territory.”