Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

[PERLOU]

Boris Karpov - Chroniques de Russie

Tout cela est vrai BTW. La propagande qu'ils continuent de montrer et qui dit que l'Ukraine est en train de gagner et de prendre du territoire est fausse dans le tableau d'ensemble. La Russie possède des centaines de milliers de kilomètres carrés de territoire ukrainien. Parfois, les forces...

t.me

Tout cela est vrai BTW. La propagande qu'ils continuent de montrer et qui dit que l'Ukraine est en train de gagner et de prendre du territoire est fausse dans le tableau d'ensemble. La Russie possède des centaines de milliers de kilomètres carrés de territoire ukrainien. Parfois, les forces ukrainiennes peuvent percer un bref trou et reprendre quelques kilomètres, mais rien d'important sur le plan stratégique.
Plusieurs sources ont dit ce que McGregor dit ici. Sur les milliards de dollars d'aide que nous avons donnés à l'Ukraine, moins de la moitié atteint aux Ukrainiens. Le reste va dans les poches du système corrompu que l'Amérique a facilité en Ukraine. Il n'y a aucun moyen pour l'Ukraine de gagner, il n'y en a jamais eu. Ressentez ce que vous voulez de la guerre, mais c'est la réalité.

All this is true BTW. The propaganda they keep showing that Ukraine is winning and taking territory is false in the big picture. Russia owns hundreds of thousands of square miles of Ukrainian territory. Sometimes Ukrainian forces may punch a brief hole and take back a few kilometers, but nothing strategically significant.
Several sources have said what McGregor says here. Of the billions of dollars in aid we have given to Ukraine, less than half reaches the Ukrainians. The rest goes into the pockets of the corrupt system that America has facilitated in Ukraine. There is no way for Ukraine to win, there never was. Feel what you want about the war, but this is the reality.

 

[Michael B-C]

There is no question the Russian's will sort this counter offensive bulge and there's no question Ukraine can only gain momentary PR 'victory' before suffering further enormous loses to manpower and machinery (as is happening elsewhere which is not of course being reported in the western media). But that doesn't change the bigger question which is that the strategy employed - and is well known, and layed out again by Big Serge - but is it the right one i.e. a politically motivated battleground strategy vs a free to act with all necessary force military strategy?

Russia continues to attempt to win the war with a light hand - bare minimum force deployment and precision strikes, sparing critical infrastructure. While the defeat of the current counteroffensives demonstrate that it is still well on the path to victory, the mere existence of these counteroffensives suggests that Russia must raise its force deployment - taking advantage of its significant powers of force generation - and deny Ukraine access to its population pools, or else victory may well be slower and more costly than necessary.

The last line is the hub of the matter. By using circa 20% of its available battleground capability and then only under certain politically motivated battleground tactics, gives your enemy time, the most priceless of wartime assets. And this lot and their pay masters will have no qualms in making Russia pay for the gift of time he is giving. The Julius Caesar of the battlefield was very different beast to the politician; he was renowned for the exercise of extreme force delivered at speed to deliver complete victory in the most military effective manner. The talking happened after. Putin is not a natural war leader - he sees it as a political failure and acts accordingly. I respect that restraint but I do question it. The same happened in Syria and it does cost unnecessarily along the way (and the US having control over 80% of Syria's oil which was achieved under the cover of Putin's by the legal book policy being an example of what can happen when you allow space and time). But I still have absolutely no doubt he will prevail.

 

[thorbiorn]

Convoys on way to Izyum: ASB Military News

This was last night at around it would appear, 18:17 CEST (Central European Summer Time. As will become clear, they did not make it in time to save Izyum.

Here is an interesting analysis from Big Serge. Paints a slightly different picture. Good to get different perspectives.

Ukraine Counterattacks!

Please Remain Calm

bigserge.substack.com

Thank you for sharing:

The Oskil river - which, incidentally is more than a kilometer wide in places - presents a major barrier that will prevent Ukraine from exploiting their early advances. They have more or less advanced into a wall, and already the map presents an unfolding catastrophe for them. Courtesy of Rybar:

He has an image and that was from the morning of September 9. The situation moves very rapidly and literally changed from I began writing, and until I finished, so below I have added the time of posting for each source.

In spite of the above prognosis in the article, the way I understand the following is that the Russian Alliance has withdrawn from the right bank of the Oskol river:

СОЛОВЬЁВ this morning at 8:54 (CEST) and also reported at 8:53 from ZАПИСКИ VЕТЕРАНА there was:

Kupyansk is partially abandoned, the right bank is under the Nazis. Our army goes beyond the Oskol River to take up defense there. I support this decision.

Yesterday Vladlen Tatarsky said in his evening edition that this decision would be the most correct from the point of view of military art. I consider it pointless to maintain a bridgehead on the right bank, in conditions of overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy at any cost, introducing reserves in a dosed manner. We don't have so many soldiers' lives, unlike the Nazis. It's a difficult decision, but in general I think it's the right one. Now the task is to competently withdraw troops across the river, gain a foothold and prevent the Izyum group from being surrounded. Once again, take off your rose-colored glasses. It is not only Nazi Ukraine that is fighting against us. We are again at war with the collective West - the NATO military and a large number of foreign mercenaries are participating in the offensive on the Kharkov front.

From a Ukrainian, or so I think, though he may be against the present regime: Платон Беседин 9:40 CEST

Kupyansk came under the control of our army without a fight. The mayor agreed to put it under the control of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Then the SBU stole his daughter from him. People were trying to start a Russian life. It was relatively quiet there.

Do you understand what will happen to people in Kupyansk now? With those who will not have time or will not be able to leave? Can you imagine what they will do to them?

What Ukrainians are doing now in Balakleya is stripping, turning into sadism. A person, for example, is accused of "aiding the occupiers" because he gave the Russians water to collect. It will be worse in Kupyansk.

And when they write now about the tactical retreat, that everything is under control, and so on, I have one question: "What will happen to the people?" After all, there are real people there.

In this meat grinder, in fact, one thing has always tormented me the most: how many lives will be saved, military and peaceful?

And I haven't had an answer to

Elsewhere, I found calls for people in areas under Russian control to help those who are fleeing the UAF offensive.

At 11:14 CEST Inessa S

Looks like Russian forces have left Izyum to avoid encirclement (after the Balakliya - Kupiansk- Izyum counter-offensive).

Remember that it's Russia vs. the world's forces in Ukraine. It's a marathon not a sprint...

At 11:26 CEST Стрелков Игорь Иванович

According to a number of reports, our troops hastily left the Izyum. If this is the case (confirmed by a number of sources), then:
1). "It's good that this is so" - in conditions when yesterday the last road was under the direct fire of the enemy and the threat of its direct interception - risking a complete encirclement and subsequent inevitable defeat would be the height of adventurism bordering on crime.
2) A hasty retreat will inevitably lead to large losses of the retreating troops in equipment and equipment and - sensitive - in people.
3) All the stocks accumulated on the spot will be abandoned - that is, after leaving the boiler, our troops will find themselves with an acute shortage of ammunition, fuel and everything necessary, which means they will not be able to immediately engage in battle.
4) Despite this, the withdrawal of the surrounded group is a strategically correct decision, despite all the accompanying losses. The saved units and formations - after reorganization and replenishment - will be able to join the battle again. But the question of the culprits of the encirclement and the defeat - it never removes.

Igor Strelkov, who posted the above, is the at times somewhat dubious character from the early days of the battle in 2014, who retired from Slavyansk, often critical of the current Russian government, sometimes of its military strategy, and with an ego that can not hide, but this does not mean that he at times can say something that is true. As usual, the challenge is to find out what is true.

At 11:34 CEST ZАПИСКИ VЕТЕРАНА criticizing another channel ("*" inserted):

The last units left Raisin only this morning. They don't usually leave the encircled cities. For example, from Mariupol.

At 12:17 CEST Платон Беседин commenting on the reactions from others on earlier posts, he says: "There is no panic. We'll take our own. But for this you need to work, work hard on yourself." Here is the context:

Not a single bastard apologized.

I was one of the first to report that Balaclay was being left. And hinted at Kupyansk and Raisins. I'm not an insider or a military commander, but the information was one hundred percent.

Reaction? They called me an alarmist, a traitor, promised to break my back and even threatened my family. For what? For telling the dry truth.

So far, not a single bastard who wrote insults and threats to me at that time has apologized. So where are you now, huh? Do you keep telling me that "everything is going according to plan", hiding your asses in the heat and your heads in the sand? Your false calm is a dream of the mind that generates monsters.

But this post is not about me. No way. This post is about the courage and calmness with which to accept bad news. And they are in any war. On any. And now everyone experiences victories there in about the same way. It is much more important how we experience failures. And what conclusions do we draw from them in order to move on.

There is no panic. We'll take our own. But for this you need to work, work hard on yourself.

Somewhere I read, the UAF have 3 brigades involved in this part of the offensive. I tried to find out what that means in numbers. If we say 3000 people for one brigade, then it is just short of 10000. But the space behind then gets filled with others, so who knows?

It takes time to find and copy-paste into the machines, and how much will really matter in a week or two?
I better post this now, before it becomes obsolete.

Edit: For civilians suffering, we who are far away not do much else but pray , can we?

 

[Ben]

The next few days will be interesting. It's noteworthy that, imperfect as they are, most of the Telegram channels and analysts (that many of us here seem to be following) are so much more sober and honest in the face of setbacks compared to Ukrainian sources. There is some element of the dreaded 'copium' in the form of speculation about the possibility of some kind of genius level military strategy which we can't see yet. Even that seems to be fairly restrained. It's a battle, not the war. Huge Russian reinforcements seem to be in position already and I think the response will be satisfactory. We do not have the necessary information to keep up with or understand the full picture in terms of strategy. The question is, will war be declared now? Will some kind of mobilisation happen before any referenda are able to take place?

 

[lilies]

Widespread panic on Telegram from inept opportunists with zero military education, who wish to profit from the catastrophe unfolding in Ukraine.

The combat situation is a meat grinder for Ukrainian troops and Russians are killed as well. Current towns lost recently to the Ukrainian counterattack (not an offensive!) had older reserve guards, whose main task was to warn the professional and young Russian troops, where the Ukrainians are pushing through.

Territory "lost" is inconsequential, as we all seen, how fast Russians can move, when they want.

If you follow more-or-less sober amateurs, who have updated maps from both military PR sides reporting, you see the Ukrainians are pushing into the red Russian controlled territory and self-creating their own demise: cauldrons! Russian troops just retreat from positions they can easily sacrifice, because they are not excellent artillery remote fire control positions. Good artillery positions are guarded and reinforced seriously right know.

Listening to military updates I often place myself into a situation of a force-drafted 50+ year old man, trying to imagine the hell they are going through. Then there are the Donetsk / Donbass older men on the Russian-allied side, who saw their young and strong die and now they enlist, because they feel responsible.

USA would already have carpet bombed the entirety of Ukraine into a smoldering ruin, like they flattened Fallujah twice! The dramatic question asked by amateur reporters of:
- What will become of the people under rapidly switching Russian-Ukrainian occupation in some towns?

It cannot be avoided: at least their cities are not bombed into moonscapes with depleted uranium explosive ammunition, so their wives won't give birth to babies with horrific birth-defects, like many young Iraqi women did..

 

[Search]

Of the billions of dollars in aid we have given to Ukraine, less than half reaches the Ukrainians

My father's pensions pay was increased by 33uha or so (0.78 euro/dollar ) per month.
An the winter is coming, "Game of thrones " quote.

 

[Search]

My father's pensions pay was increased by 33uha or so (0.78 euro/dollar ) per month.
An the winter is coming, "Game of thrones " quote.

An additional post.

The "biggest" help you can receive from people, here.

E.g. i know that people shared some house to the ones who came from East of Ukraine (their house was destroyed) and they are helping them. There are a lot of such cases.

What i want to say that people are afraid, scared, but there are plenty of those who would try to help you, even if they see that russians are bad guys.

I guess Vladimir understand that, and that is one of the reasons why this operation is like a surgery one

 

[Deliverance]

Roger Waters’ open letter to “Ze”‘s wife | The Vineyard of the Saker

A bird's eye view of the vineyard

thesaker.is

“Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?”

An Open letter to Mrs. Olena Zelenska from Roger Waters Sunday 4th September 2022 Dear Mrs. Zelenska, My heart bleeds for you and all the Ukrainian and Russian families, devastated by the terrible war in Ukraine.

 

[Deliverance]

Inspired by the Background of Tantrums About Kharkov and So on - Read & Think

www.stalkerzone.org

Inspired by the Background of Tantrums About Kharkov and So on – Read & Think​

2 hours ago

NEW – September 10, 2022
This war (NATO-Russia) did NOT start IN UKRAINE and it will NOT end IN UKRAINE, and when it ends outside Ukraine, what is going in Ukraine will be solved (the Anglo-Saxons will tell their puppet Zeliboba to hand over the ruin [Ukraine – SZ] and sign the contract, and what will be in the contract – we will negotiate with the US and not with Zeliboba).

We, or rather Putin, are playing GEOPOLITICS – in G E O P O L I T I C S (and not in a military campaign in Ukraine).

Ukraine is not something that is a chessboard, it is one square on the chessboard. now the future world is changing and looming for the next 60-80 years.

Balakleya, Kherson all this informational NONSENSE… We are playing big, and very big at that. If there is a task to bankrupt Europe and destroy its industry in order to subdue it later, then THIS operation is much more important than Kherson or Kharkov, because this is a game of civilisations (where the strong players are Russia, Europe, USA, China, London, India).

And the fact that the counteroffensive near Kharkov… well, yes, we retreated a little, well, we will grind these 50,000 [Ukrainian troops – SZ] in a month or two and that’s it. The ruin [Ukraine – SZ] is dead, a big nothing.

The most important thing now is changing consciousness. You understand that CONSCIOUSNESS is CHANGING now, a switch is clicking in your head, a toggle switch. Among the population. No, not among the population of Russia. The population of the WHOLE WORLD. Do you understand what this means? And why the Anglo-Saxons are screaming and going crazy?

READ: Ukrainian Spying Games
Because Russia is now publicly lowering the Anglo-Saxons to it’s knees. It does this through disobedience and OPEN DEFIANCE. AND IT WINS. Not against Ukraine. It wins against America both politically and economically and ideologically. How can this be seen? This can be seen from the reaction of other countries and, above all, the BRICS countries and non-NATO countries. And other countries, including medium-sized and small ones, see and feel it. They are already reaching out to us. they are already beginning to ask the USA and Europe such questions that they could not have thought of a year or two ago (for example, about enough to feed America and Europe, enough to let themselves be robbed, etc.), and right now these dozens of countries offended by the West are already preparing their claws and teeth to seize hold of the hegemon who is fed up with EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH.

Even the same Europeans will eventually devour the Americans and London, because in the end they will blame them and not us that Europe has become poor, cold and begging for Russia (we will snatch our piece from Europe, this is unequivocal). That’s all, meanwhile you are obsessed with Balakleya, blitzkrieg, introducing a million-strong army, etc.

What Putin is doing now will be in the history textbooks AND NOT ONLY OF OUR COUNTRY, BUT OF MANY COUNTRIES. And believe me about Balakleya, no matter how it turned out in the battle, there won’t be a word in the textbooks. It will be about how the world has changed and a new ERA has come
The era of a multipolar just world. The era of equality (to some extent). The era of the triumph of international law (because we will have to negotiate and not achieve everything by force like the West) and the era of the liberation of the world from Anglo-Saxon oppression, slavery and terrorism.

READ: Zelensky’s Desperate Step: Why Kiev's Sabotage Groups Tried to Seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant
When in 50 years your children and grandchildren will learn history, the countdown of their era will go from February 24, 2022, when Russia declared the end of the hegemony of the USA…

 

[Deliverance]

DPR head says situation at frontline is tense but under control

In many areas, Denis Pushilin said, the DPR forces are advancing, although with difficulty

tass.com

MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE
11 SEP, 00:47

DPR head says situation at frontline is tense but under control​

In many areas, Denis Pushilin said, the DPR forces are advancing, although with difficulty

DONETSK, September 11. /TASS/. Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic, on Sunday said the situation along the combat line in the Donetsk People’s Republic is tense but the forces of the people’s militia hold it under control.

"The situation of the frontline is tense but under control," he told TASS.

In many areas, he said, the DPR forces are advancing, although with difficulty.

The situation in the area of Donetsk is unchanged, with DPR forces still in control of the airport, Pushilin said. He described some Ukrainian reports that Kiev’s forces took the airport as false.


According to Pushilin, DPR forces destroyed a Ukrainian command post in Dobrovolye and some military equipment near Uglegorsk.

"Near Uglegorsk, the enemy’s NATO-supplied equipment was destroyed, including a Polish-made AHS Krab 155-millimeter self-propelled artillery," he said.

Pushilin said Ukrainian commanders send untrained personnel to battle and therefore Ukrainian forces are suffering heavy losses.

 

[thorbiorn]

The last days we tried to find out what was going on around Balakleya etc. The Russian MoD was silent in some respects, but at 16:47 CEST, there was

Russian troops that operate near Balakleya and Izyum to be redeployed for reinforcement at Donetsk direction in order to reach preestablished objectives of special military operation

️ With this purpose, Izyum-Balakleya group of troops had been redeployed to the Donetsk People's Republic within 72 hours. Various deceptive and demonstrative manoeuvres had been carried out marking real action of the troops within the abovementioned operation.

️ The enemy had been under powerful fire attacks with the involvement of aviation, missile troops and artillery for preventing any damage to Russian troops.

️ Over 2,000 Ukrainian and foreign militants, as well as more than 100 units of armoured equipment and artillery have been eliminated within 72 hours.

And summarized in the evening at 21:59 CEST as

Top News Today

️ Russian troops that operate near Balakleya and Izyum to be redeployed for reinforcement (MoD Russia) at Donetsk direction in order to reach preestablished objectives of special military operation.

Servicemen of Izyum-Balakleya group of troops show their courage and bravery while conducting intense combats against AFU units. Footage of Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower systems (MoD Russia) and 2S-19 Msta-S artillery systems (MoD Russia) in combat action.

Taking the second and the first together, and in that order, it confirms other reports about withdrawal from Balakleya and Izyum. As regard to what will happen "at Donetsk direction", we only have to wait and see, or is it see and wait, in case we see something that needs an explanation which comes a few days later.

 

[PERLOU]

Boris Karpov - Chroniques de Russie

🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺👍👍👍 Des informations alarmantes sont diffusées concernant une soit disant débandade des forces russes dans la région de Kharkov. Ceci est de la propagande ukrainienne tout simplement. Le fait est que la contre-offensive ukrainienne selon des estimations leur aurait permis d'avancer d'une...

t.me

Des informations alarmantes sont diffusées concernant une soit disant débandade des forces russes dans la région de Kharkov. Ceci est de la propagande ukrainienne tout simplement.
Le fait est que la contre-offensive ukrainienne selon des estimations leur aurait permis d'avancer d'une trentaine de kilomètres en effet, et de "provoquer" le retrait des forces Russes de la ville d'Izium.
Réalité : en effet, avance d'une trentaine de kilomètres.
En effet nos forces ont quitté Izium pour éviter de s'y faire enfermer.
Ceci selon les premières estimations a coûté à l'Ukraine un tiers de ses forces armées qui ont été décimées là-bas ! Un tiers!
Notre aviation et artillerie continuent actuellement de les pilonner.
N'oublions pas que la Russie se bat maintenant contre l'OTAN ! Nous avons environ 150000 militaires engagés, une petite part de nos moyens alors que l'Ukraine a mobilisé l'ensemble de ses citoyens et a 450000 militaires sur le terrain. Il y a des retraites stratégiques à faire parfois pour éviter pire et pour mieux frapper ensuite.
Pour autant l'issue finale ne fait aucun doute. Il y a toujours les 2 mêmes options : Poursuivre comme actuellement et prendre le temps pour éviter les victimes civiles (alors que l'Ukraine elle bombarde massivement les villes...) Ou se décider à frapper le matériel de l'OTAN avant qu'il n'arrive en Ukraine... Une décision politique que Vladimir Poutine prendra en temps utile.
En attendant ne croyez pas aveuglément ce que vous lisez concernant le retrait des forces Russes. Je viens de lire par exemple qu'Alexandrovka vers Kherson aurait été repris par l'Ukraine. Strelkov m'a confirmé à l'instant, après contact direct avec nos forces sur place, que l'information est totalement fausse! Etc etc.
Vladimir Poutine a lui toutes les informations, et fera ce qu'il faudra faire quand il le faudra

Alarming information is being spread about a so-called rout of Russian forces in the Kharkov region. This is simply Ukrainian propaganda.
The fact is that the Ukrainian counter-offensive according to estimates would have allowed them to advance about 30 kilometers indeed, and "cause" the withdrawal of Russian forces from the city of Izium.
Reality: indeed, advance of about thirty kilometers.
In fact our forces left Izium to avoid being locked in.
This according to the first estimates cost Ukraine one third of its armed forces which were decimated there! One third!
Our air force and artillery are still shelling them.
Let's not forget that Russia is now fighting against NATO! We have about 150,000 troops engaged, a small part of our means, while Ukraine has mobilized all its citizens and has 450,000 troops on the ground. There are strategic retreats to be made sometimes to avoid worse and to strike better later.
However, the final outcome is not in doubt. There are always the same 2 options: Continue as at present and take the time to avoid civilian casualties (while Ukraine is massively bombing the cities...) Or decide to strike the NATO equipment before it arrives in Ukraine... A political decision that Vladimir Putin will take in due course.
In the meantime do not blindly believe what you read about the withdrawal of Russian forces. I just read for example that Alexandrovka to Kherson would have been taken over by Ukraine. Strelkov confirmed me just now, after direct contact with our forces on the spot, that the information is totally false! Etc etc.
Vladimir Putin has all the information, and will do what needs to be done when it is necessary

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[Keit]

It's true that on the Russian Telegram the tensions are high and many "armchair experts" and "war correspondents" are talking about "betrayal" and that "all is lost". More level headed people and experts urge everyone to calm down, learn for the mistakes and continue doing the necessary work.

The main concern is about the civilian population in those areas. They are indeed in grave danger. But Russians already organized evacuations and everyone wo wants to leave can do so. Obviously the situation isn't ideal and mistakes were made. There is also no doubt that it was a reputational damage both for Putin and Russia in general, so will see how this is going to be handled from now on.

It appears that the operation is far from being "lost", though now it will go on for longer time.

Here is an interesting analysis from Big Serge. Paints a slightly different picture. Good to get different perspectives.

I listened to Alex Christoforou's "Pre-Izyum withdrawal" video, where he mentioned the same article. It appears to be a good analysis of the situation, including all the concerns raized by the Russian analysts.

Same goes for the following analysis by Alexander Mercouris. A very good summary, imo.

​

 

[iamthatis]

Understanding Planning, Orders and Troop Movements in Ukraine - A Son of the New American Revolution

PATTON, the movie, was a masterpiece of entertainment. It is not historically accurate on many points and that is a problem with respect to Ukraine. What? I suspect some of...

sonar21.com

Larry Johnson on the decision-making processes of large-scale military forces. He uses his professional experience to surmise that the forces in Kharkov were not caught by surprise.

PATTON, the movie, was a masterpiece of entertainment. It is not historically accurate on many points and that is a problem with respect to Ukraine. What? I suspect some of you believe I have really crossed over to crazy land, but hear me out. Remember that scene when the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and Patton saved the day by “immediately” diverting his Army 90 degrees to head north and rescue the beleaguered paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd airborne regiments (note, the paratroopers insisted they did not need to be rescued, but that’s another story for another day)?

That cinema account of how Patton planned and shifted the axis of attack of his troops is presented as something hastily put together. The German offensive started on 16 December and Patton met with Eisenhower on the 19th of December and received orders to relieve Bastogne. Patton’s troops moved out on the 22nd of December and reached Bastogne on the 26th. What the movie account fails to convey is that the planning for moving his Army north began on December 9, ten days before the emergency conference with Eisenhower.

Patton’s J-2 (i.e., his intel chief) briefed the following on 9 December:

1. By the end of October four panzer divisions had been identified refitting near Paderborn, far north of the Third Army’s left boundary.
2. By November 10 the Germans had pulled five more panzer divisions out of the line.
3. Of the fifteen panzer divisions in the west, only five remained in contact in mid-November.
4. Starting November 17, aerial reconnaissance detected huge German rail movements to the north of the Third Army’s projected zone of advance—226 trains on November 18 alone.
5. By November 23 Koch had identified the newly established Sixth Panzer Army, including five of its reconstituted panzer divisions.
6. On December 2 the U.S. Seventh Army, to the south of Third Army, reported that the formidable Panzer Lehr Division was out of the line.
7. By December 7 the Germans were holding at least thirteen divisions in reserve.

(I encourage you to read the whole article about the real story of Patton’s rescue effort at the link above.)

So why is this important? The process any first world army (e.g., United States, Russia, Ukraine) follows in moving troops and equipment from one point to a distant location follows a well-defined planning process.

The planning process Patton followed is similar to what the U.S. military uses today. The current system is known as the Joint Operation Planning and Execution System aka JOPES. I have been involved in scripting and executing over 240 crisis response exercises. I worked for 23 years for the man who wrote JOPES, so I have some insight to the process. He beat it into me. It starts with an Alert Order (e.g. Be Prepared to Act) usually followed Warning Order (e.g., Houston we have a specific problem, tell us how you plan to solve it). The military command that receives the warning order immediately tasks it staff to prepare Courses of Action aka COAs.

Those COAs are then sent back via a written message laying out what forces would be used, what resources (i.e., air support, artillery, vehicles, medical, etc.) are required to carry out the COA. The COA for organizing and deploying a Special Operations unit is much easier and less time consuming than that required to organize and deploy battalions and regiments of soldiers.

Once the COA is approved the relevant military units receive a Deployment Order. It means what it says. The military units identified for action start moving via train, truck or plane. Depends on the operation. But they are moving into place and do not initiate action until they commanders receive an Execution Order.

Since the United States and NATO are involved directly with Ukraine’s military planning, I am certain they followed the JOPES process. That means the planning for the Kharkov offensive probably started the first of September, perhaps even earlier, i.e. July or August. Assembling and moving the men and equipment to deployment points took some time. It was not done overnight.

I am not familiar with the Russian planning system, but I am pretty sure the Russians follow a similar procedure to JOPES. It is important to understand this with reference to the offensive taking place around Kharkov. The Russian forces started moving into the area on Thursday, 8 September. And we are talking about hundreds of trucks, tanks, towed artillery and troops.

So, was Russia caught by surprise? No. They had at least one week’s warning of the impending Ukrainian attack. If you want to believe that Russia’s intelligence service is incompetent or was deceived in this operation, enjoy the fantasy. The Russian planners had a couple of choices. They could have moved their forces into position earlier but that would have tipped off the Ukrainians and west that the planned offensive was compromised.

Alternatively, the Russian planners may have decided to mask their movements and made choices about which villages and cities to defend and which to abandon. If Russia had moved preemptively to reinforce Izyum that would have raised warning flags for the Ukrainian and NATO planners.

I agree with Andrei Martyanov’s take–the Russians knew it was coming and chose to let the Ukrainians flood the zone in order to eventually hit the Ukrainian forces with a massive counter attack. The Ukrainians are no longer in fortified defensive positions and their lines of communication to support the forward troops are now defined precisely. The Ukrainian attack has not destroyed nor disrupted Russia’s air, artillery, rocket and missile assets. Attacking the Ukrainian units is an easier task, not more difficult.

I am not privy to the Russian plan. But what I do know is that the planning process required to deploy the troops and equipment moving into Kharkov was not a panicked response. Hollywood can create the illusion of rapid movement of military troops, but the real world requires alerting units, making sure they are properly supplied and then undertaking the logistic task of moving those units into combat. This means the planning was deliberate, not a crisis response.

Then there is this TASS report, in which Igor Konashenkov states that Russian forces in the Izyum area had been/are being redeployed to the Donbas to step up efforts there.

Forces regrouped at Balakleya, Izyum, redeployed to DPR, says Russian Defense Ministry

According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, for that purpose, an operation of reorganizing and redeploying the Izyum-Balakleya grouping to the Donetsk People’s Republic

tass.com

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. The Russian troops stationed at Balakleya and Izyum have been regrouped and redeployed to the Donetsk direction in order to step up efforts there, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Saturday.

"In order to achieve the declared goals of the special military operation for the liberation of Donbass, it was decided to regroup the Russian forces stationed near Balakleya and Izyum to boost efforts in the Donetsk direction," Konashenkov said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, for that purpose, an operation of reorganizing and redeploying the Izyum-Balakleya grouping to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has been carried out in the past three days. Simultaneously, distractive and demonstration activates indicating troops’ real actions were taken.

"A powerful fire attack, with the air force, missile and artillery troops engaged, was conducted against the enemy to prevent harm to Russian troops," he added.

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing Russian troops’ redeployment to the Kharkov direction. Footage features a military convoy consisting of BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and D-20 towed gun-howitzers. Besides the Z and V symbols, a new symbol - a circle inscribed in a triangle - painted on military vehicles can be seen in the video.

As mentioned above by @Keit civilians are also being evacuated to Russian territory:

Civilians evacuated from Izyum in Kharkov region to Russia — administration

According to Sokolov, Izyum "is in a very poor condition, as there is too much destruction. The situation is grave"

tass.com

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Evacuation of residents from Izyum, Kharkov Region, to Russia is underway, Vladislav Sokolov, head of the civil-military administration of the Izyum district, said in the video provided to TASS by the Kharkov Region’s civil-military administration.

"We have started evacuation, however at a slow pace, but we are evacuating them here, into Russian territory, to the extent possible. Here they are being welcomed at a migration center and given psychological and humanitarian assistance. I think we will keep rescuing people and taking them here," Sokolov said.

According to Sokolov, Izyum "is in a very poor condition, as there is too much destruction. The situation is grave."

On Friday, Vitaly Ganchev, head of the civil-military administration of the Kharkov region, said that people were being evacuated from Izyum, Shevchenkovo, Balakleya and Kupyansk.

 

[Lumiere_du_Code]

Ho friend.

For me it is an example of what happens with country When psychopaths in power.
I understand and feel your pain.
And there are still plenty of good people around.

I can help you, if you need some stuff, I'm in better position according to the location , I have food stock (закрутки) and electronic stuff, e.g. powerbanks, cables, chargers, etc.
Just ask and I will send it to you.
Please, dont delay on that because
I dont know what tomorrow may bring for your location and I dont know what it may bring to me also, because " they are sharing this booklets to join The Force" everywhere.
I asked on the post office of Nova Pochta, you have a working office at your location.

Be Strong and take care.

Hello.
I really appreciate your offer of help At this moment, I have the basic necessities. Thank you so much. Slowly stocking up on firewood, just in case there is no gas and/or electricity in the winter. So I can at least cook food over a campfire.

As far as I understand, you are also from Ukraine?

My laptop has now stopped turning on again, and I remembered my password and logged in now through the browser on my smartphone. This is very inconvenient, and I would like to write a lot about recent events, but so far I am very much mentally crushed by them. I really hurt for the people who were thrown to the mercy of the Ukrainian Gestapo.

The reports from the Russian Defense Ministry are very, very pathetic and hypocritical, that "oh, we actually started the operation to protect Donbass, and we went into Kharkov by mistake, so we're leaving because we remembered that we came to Donbass and not to Kharkov."

But they were already issuing Russian passports there, they even changed the license plates to Russian ones in Izyum and Balakleya, and other towns they left behind. They repainted logos from the Ukrainian flag to the Russian one. Told locals that "Russia is here forever" and always repeating that "Russians don't abandon their own" - but they abandoned again.
Those who were able to evacuate themselves because they had cars and money were a drop in the bucket. Thirteen thousand in three days were able to evacuate, but how many people are left behind because they don't have a car and money? After all, people have to leave their homes, all their belongings, absolutely everything, and run to the tents at the border, and it is not known how many months to live there.

And now the Defense Ministry and Kadyrov say that all the war correspondents and people who were shocked and outraged by this disgrace, they say that all these people are "not patriotic enough if they allowed themselves to be outraged by this grave mistake of the high command."

Just think for a moment (this is for everyone): the fact that Ukraine was preparing an offensive near Kharkov was known at least two weeks before it began. The whole Internet was reporting on it, even Ukrainian channels. It was no secret at all. Didn't the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation see the accumulation of a strike group of enemy troops, the pulling of heavy equipment to the front line, and the transfer of reserves from all other directions? We saw it! But they did nothing! They did nothing. Why? How could it have been allowed? I can't understand it at all. Moreover, in Balakleya the police special forces fought - they are NOT military formations. After the surrender of the city, photos of documents of killed Russian guys appeared - on them are yesterday's children, 19-20 years old. It was they who bore the brunt of the Ukrainian offensive. Many were captured, and now the Nazis mock and torture them as well. They are being castrated again. I know from friends when their acquaintances told of soldiers who had been in Ukrainian captivity and who had been castrated: they returned home, met their loved ones and hanged themselves the next day.

And now there are pictures of Nazis dancing on the corpses of Russian soldiers at the site of the breakthrough, which the Russian Defense Ministry called "a planned retreat to regroup and strengthen the offensive in Donbass" and "everything is going according to plan, that's how it was planned". And it is entirely coincidental that it was there and then that the Ukrainians went on the attack and to date have reached the very borders with Russia, and have already struck another blow at Belgorod at night.
And the official Russian agencies pretend that nothing bad happened, and assign the blame to the war correspondents and all the "critics of the operation. It's just a spit in the face. And before that they just kept silent for three days, and this is not the first time they have been silent at critical moments and when facts of secret agreements with the Ukrainian authorities, the shameful exchange of Nazi criminals for the son of a high-ranking Chechen official from Crimea (who is in fact a bandit) and other episodes were uncovered. They simply keep silent and say nothing to their population, which is in shock and demands answers. And at this time, the Ukrainian propaganda occupies the information vacuum. The Russians are not good at information warfare, unfortunately. After 6.5 months of military operation.

So, I'm just crushed right now. It really hurts me for all those people.
And most importantly, this is a significant damage to Russia's reputation and even more importantly, the loss of trust from those remnants of the population who have so far maintained their loyalty despite the totalitarian repression of the Ukrainian regime. Russia cannot protect the people who cooperate with them. Every day Ukrainian saboteurs blow someone up in the rear, liquidate them, carry out terrorist attacks, kidnap people, and threaten them.
Even in Energodar there are a lot of Ukrainian spies and partisans who transmit to Ukrainian authorities ALL data about every move of the Russians there, about every movement of equipment, about when, where and where the artillery moved out and where it is deployed to fire and Ukrainian military have time to change their positions and hide in hiding places. There are Ukrainian partisans there, who even record their voice, take pictures in the city, walk the streets with explosives (!), here recently rny blew up a civilian headquarters for voting preparation, people who cooperate with Russia were hurt. And these bastards haven't been caught yet. There are no Russian special services there at all? I don't understand how that can be. They can't just trivialize the security and protection of politicians and civic activists who are building a new life there. In Melitopol, in Kherson, and many other cities. Almost every day Ukrainian saboteurs kill someone. Against this backdrop, how many locals would want to cooperate with Russia?

It's a bitter truth, but it's a fact. Almost all military correspondents and bloggers write only through rose-colored glasses and only what they are allowed to write. There is also censorship and "political correctness" in Russia. The authorities protect themselves. And they may not say anything to the population, much less give explanations at all critical moments. After all, they are "not patriotic enough".