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All works down below were written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Please visit rferl.org/author/mike-eckel/muvyqo to see the original post.

Surovikin's Down, Gerasimov's Up: Russia's War On Ukraine Pivots Into Politics

The chief of Russia's General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, is a close ally of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (file photo)

"Three months ago, General Sergei Surovikin was charged with refocusing Russia's war on Ukraine. Now he's been demoted and a rival general named the top commander. And with that, President Vladimir Putin has roiled the 11-month invasion, injecting Kremlin politics into the war, with no end in sight."

Mike Eckel, 2022


Russia Proposes Major Military Reorganization, Conscription Changes, Increase In Troop Numbers

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu takes part in a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade on Red Square in central Moscow in 2019.

"Russian military officials are proposing a major reorganization of the country's armed forces, including increasing the age for mandatory conscription, as casualty rates from Moscow’s 10-month-old invasion of Ukraine continue to climb."

Mike Eckel, December 23 2022


Mr. Zelenskiy Goes To Washington. So What Did He Get From It?

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on December 21.

"Volodymyr Zelenskiy got a ride in a U.S. government jet, a red-carpet welcome at the White House, and more than a dozen standing ovations from members of Congress -- plus nearly $2 billion in new weapons -- including a Patriot air-defense system, which Ukraine's government hopes to use in defending its battered power grid from Russian missile barrages."

Mike Eckel, December 22 2022


'The Bakhmut Meat Grinder': Russian Troops Are Pummeling This Donbas City. It's Unclear Why.

A Ukrainian artilleryman carries a 122-mm shell for a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer at a position along the front line near Bakhmut on December 10.

"In a courtyard outside a battered apartment building in the eastern city of Bakhmut, the crackle of a makeshift fire on which an elderly woman named Alla was trying to boil water was occasionally interrupted by the crack, whistle, and thump of incoming Russian artillery."

Mike Eckel, December 13 2022


Winter Soldier, Winter Misery: Will Cold Weather Hand An Advantage To Ukraine Or Russia?

Winter war in Ukraine: "It does suck, it's just going to be cold and wet, and there's no doubt about it," one former U.S. general said.

"Before the snows come the rains, which fill the trenches snaking through the shattered landscape with water: cold water that in some places laps the tops of boots and leaves soldiers' feet wet, freezing -- and without care, potentially gangrenous."

Mike Eckel, December 07 2022