Russian Advances Gaining Momentum on Eastern Front: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 2 praised the pace of Russian advances in Donbas, despite an ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive—now in its fourth week—into Russia’s Kursk region. “We haven’t been advancing at such a quick pace in Donbas for quite a while,” Putin said. He added that Russian forces were “already bringing territories under control not by 200 to 300 meters but by square kilometers.” Putin made the remarks while addressing university students in Kyzyl, the capital of Russia’s Siberian region of Tuva. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s forces in Donbas were facing “the most combat-focused Russian brigades.”...