- Ukraine says it has liberated four villages in the south-east, calling these the first settlements won back from Russia since Kyiv’s counter-offensive began
- On Monday morning, officials reported that “the national flag is once again waving” over Storozhove, in the Donetsk region
- A day earlier, footage showed Ukrainian troops celebrating in Blahodatne and Neskuchne - and a minister said nearby Makarivka was also taken
- The settlements are relatively small - and Moscow is yet to confirm any retreat
- The Institute for the Study of War backs up Kyiv’s claims, saying Ukraine captured “multiple settlements” along the frontline over the weekend
- On Saturday, President Zelensky acknowledged that the long-awaited counter-offensive was under way
I wouldn’t extend the Confederacy analogy that far. Ukrainian nationalists were in an enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend situation during WW2, right up until the Gestapo arrested and imprisoned some of them. In contrast, the American Civil War had a singular motive: slavery. WW2 was much more complex, with alliances of convenience between parties that would otherwise be opposed to each other.
Arguably the biggest alliance of convenience was the Allies. The US supplied massive amounts of armaments even before officially entering the war through the “Lend Lease Act”. It then continued to be an official ally to the Soviet Union. But almost immediately after Germany and Japan fell, the underlying hostility between the two powers was restored in the form of the Cold War. All that is to say, judging people simply by alliances made during WW2 is a shallow judgement.