Russia Ukraine war, page-26620

That Gerasimov may or may not have received a cut in the leg is neither here nor there. I posted that he would be back quickly when the "speculation" broke and he is back.

What is relevant is the elimination of many of Gerasimov's staff and other senior officers. The strike clearly caused confusion and delay amongst Putinist ranks.

The situation in the vicinity of Kharkiv is becoming critical for the Putinists. Will Putinist insurgents keep that city in howitzer range by redeployment of fighters from the Donetsk front or will they retreat to the border and give up on Kharkiv?

As per Crom's repost above, the Putinist Kharkiv front had been relying on poor old Kalmyk units, LPR units and Wagner mercenaries. All suffered heavy losses.

The traditionally Buddhist Kalmyks suffered the wrath of Stalin after WW2. They were deported and a significant proportion were liquidated. Why any Kalmyks would fight for Stalin's prodegee is anyone's guess.

Anyway, the short story is that Putinist insurgents failed to make any advances over the last 24 hours.