People in Ukraine are very encouraged by the lifting of the US pause on military and intelligence aid, but there are grave concerns, especially here, about five kilometres (three miles) outside the town of Sumy, reports Al Jazeera.
There are escalations in fighting across the border in the Kursk region. It was an operation that was started in August by the Ukrainians and at its highest point, the Ukrainians claimed to control about 1,300 square kilometres (800 square miles) of territory.
In the latest update reports got from the Ukrainian military, which was about a week and a half ago, they had lost territory and were in control of about 500sq km (310sq miles).
According to Al Jazeera, this is important because Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saw this grab of Russian land as potentially being a bargaining chip in any eventual peace plan. But it now seems that the Ukrainians are very much on the back foot and are struggling to hold that territory.
Some military analysts will tell the reason of loss of town and settlements in recent days in the area could well be related to the suspension of US military intelligence.
So, it is a great relief that such aid is now being made available to the Ukrainians. But it doesn’t belie the fact that the Ukrainians are very much on the back foot as Russian forces continue to make incremental gains in multiple areas.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
