900 days in, big change in Ukraine war narrative

SOME 900 days into the Ukraine war, the most likely outcome in the coming months remains a continued war of attrition. However, August has seen a spectacular attempt to reframe the narrative of the campaign with Ukraine’s eye-catching incursion into Russia.

The surprise development has seen the greatest loss of western Russian territory since April 1944 during the Second World War. Ukraine asserts it has captured over 1,000 square kilometres (sq km) of territory, forcing tens of thousands of Russians from their homes, and capturing around 100 small-sized settlements.

This includes Sudzha which had a pre-war population of 5,000 people and contains infrastructure pumping Russian gas towards Europe. Ukraine has targeted this area, around 200 km north-west of the closest front line in Kharkiv, and 350 km from the main front line, because it is a weakly defended stretch of the border.