00:00In the northeastern theater of Ukraine, along the battered roads of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions,
00:05a different kind of war is being fought, one of inch-by-inch advances and desperate defenses.
00:11According to Anton Teriyabachenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard,
00:16speaking in an interview with the Ukrainian TV and radio channel,
00:20Russian forces have suffered significant losses in their latest attempt to seize new territory.
00:25The Russian objective, Teriyabachenko explained, was to capture a zone stretching 20 kilometers from the border deep into Ukrainian territory.
00:34This buffer would have given Moscow a staging ground for further expansion, turning Ukrainian land into a forward military daze.
00:42But the plan failed. Ukrainian troops met the assault with fierce resistance, repelling the Russian army in the Sukhoi and
00:50Kharkiv sectors.
00:51The enemy does not have the means to win this war in the region, confirmed Viktor Yanukovych,
00:57a name to verify, likely a pseudonym or error, as the former Ukrainian president shares this name.
01:04The intended official may be a current National Security Service spokesman.
01:08They have not achieved their goals. In fact, they are being pushed back further than before.
01:15Ukraine's military position has shifted dramatically since January.
01:19At the start of the year, Ukrainian forces managed to secure defensive footholds in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
01:26But now, in April, the Ukrainian command claims a strong, growing advantage.
01:31The counterpushes are not limited to the north.
01:34In the southeast as well, Ukrainian brigades have rolled back Russian positions,
01:40liberating more than 600 villages from occupation.
01:43The spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine offered a sober warning alongside the good news.
01:50Russia has regrouped its battered units.
01:53They are waiting, rearming, and preparing for another assault.
01:58We will not allow the invaders to gain an advantage, the spokesman vowed.
02:02We must find ways to push them back as quickly as possible.
02:06Russia has tried repeatedly to occupy large areas in the northeast, south, and east.
02:12But the blue zone, the northeastern borderlands, remains firmly contested.
02:18Ukraine had already driven Russian forces back once in late 2024.
02:23And since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022,
02:28Russia has never truly held a strong, unchallenged position in this sector.
02:32The war has seen dramatic swings.
02:35In late 2023, a large-scale Ukrainian retreat took place in the Kharkiv region,
02:41with forces falling back to villages just inside Russian territory.
02:45Russia also retreated north of the city of Kirch during that same period.
02:49But by the end of 2023, Ukraine had reversed the tide again,
02:54pushing Russian troops all the way to the border zone and across the Knya River.
02:58Then came 2024.
03:00Russia prepared a new strategy, a counterattack designed to expand the battlefield in northeastern Ukraine.
03:07That strategy is now faltering.
03:10Every day, Ukraine claims that Russia loses between 1,000 and more than 1,500 soldiers.
03:17The total, over nearly five years of war, is staggering.
03:21More than 1.3 million Russian troops killed, wounded, or missing.
03:25To put that number in perspective, it exceeds the total Soviet losses in some entire campaigns of World War II.
03:33To feed this meat grinder, Russia is constantly recruiting.
03:37The Ministry of Defense, under the command of General Valery Gerasimov,
03:41referred to as Mr. Blavitin in your source, likely a transliteration issue,
03:45must find 100,000 to 150,000 new soldiers every single month just to maintain current force levels.
03:54But this task has become nearly impossible.
03:57Young Russians, disgusted with Putin's war, have fled the country in enormous numbers.
04:02Those who remain are largely the most loyal supporters of the government,
04:07or those too poor or powerless to leave.
04:09While the Northeast bleeds, Ukraine is looking south, toward the Crimean Peninsula.
04:16Ukraine has announced a dramatic new phase of the war,
04:19a real, planned invasion of Crimea, using naval forces.
04:23For the first time, Ukraine claims effective control over the Black Sea.
04:28The Black Sea is in the hands of Ukraine, a spokesman declared.
04:32Ukrainian military aircraft now patrol the Black Sea airspace constantly,
04:37monitoring for illegal activities and Russian movements.
04:40For the first time, Ukraine claims effective control over the Black Sea.
04:45The Black Sea is in the hands of Ukraine, a spokesman declared.
04:50Ukrainian military aircraft now patrol the Black Sea airspace constantly,
04:54monitoring for illegal activities and Russian movements.
04:58The Crimean Peninsula, occupied since 2014, has become a trap.
05:02Russia has reportedly evacuated its wealthy citizens from the region,
05:07leaving behind only the poor and the military.
05:10Those remaining troops are under constant bombardment from Ukrainian jets and missiles.
05:15Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he plans to seize the peninsula
05:21using minimal naval resources, a bold claim that military experts view with caution.
05:27The Kremlin's response has been as predictable as it is terrifying.
05:31Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council,
05:38issued a stark warning.
05:39If Crimea falls, then Ukraine should prepare for the fall of the Kremlin itself.
05:44His implication was clear.
05:47Russia would not simply lose a territory.
05:49It would escalate beyond all current boundaries.
05:52Despite this bluster, analysts note that Russia has already withdrawn many of its warships from the Black Sea,
05:59redeploying them to safer waters, some as far as the North Sea and even near Iran.
06:05Russian warships, it seems, do not want to face Ukrainian naval drones and missiles.
06:10But on land, the equation is different.
06:13Experts warn that Russia will not back down if Ukraine launches a full ground offensive into Crimea
06:20involving Marines, submarines, and heavy armor.
06:23The next phase, if it comes, will be the bloodiest yet.
06:27Every day, Ukraine launches a little more than 20 missile and drone strikes
06:32against Russian positions in Crimea and along the southern front.
06:36But Ukrainian intelligence is not blind to the risks.
06:40A major Russian spy ring operating inside Ukraine has recently been dismantled.
06:45A victory for Kiev, but a reminder that Moscow's intelligence services remain active.
06:51Russia has deployed dense barrages of air defense systems and anti-missile batteries across the Black Sea region,
06:58turning the peninsula into a massive fortified military base.
07:02Yet Ukraine remains undeterred.
07:04Russian warships do not want to face us, a Ukrainian official said.
07:09They are willing to withdraw to the other side of the continent.
07:13President Zelensky has been consistent.
07:15Crimea will return to Ukraine.
07:18He has vowed to pursue a diplomatic solution if possible,
07:22but he has also made clear that he never recognized the 2014 annexation.
07:28Crimea fell into Russian hands through a contested peace treaty
07:32signed by former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych,
07:36a deal that Zelensky and the vast majority of the international community consider illegitimate.
07:42We do not recognize Crimea as the territory of the invader, Zelensky has said repeatedly.
07:48Not now, not ever.
07:51Conclusion.
07:52The war that has no end in sight.
07:54As of now, the war grinds on.
07:57Russia has lost over 1.3 million soldiers,
08:01hundreds of warships,
08:02thousands of tanks,
08:04and yet it still holds nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory.
08:08Ukraine has liberated 600 villages,
08:11pushed back the northeastern front,
08:13and claimed the Black Sea,
08:14but it has not yet broken through to Crimea.
08:18The frozen front is not frozen at all.
08:20It is burning,
08:21slowly,
08:22every day.
08:23And soon,
08:24perhaps very soon,
08:26the question of Crimea will be answered not with words,
08:30but with marines on the beach and missiles in the sky.
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