Day 252: November 02In the Luhansk region, the Ukrainians achieved progress in multiple directions. If yesterday the Ukrainian General Staff reported that the fights were taking place in Mykolaivka, then today it was also confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Even though both parties claim control over the settlement and state that they are repelling the enemy’s attacks, one thing is clear for sure, and it is that the front line has been pushed around 2 km east, and the Russians lost more ground. The fighting also continues in the nearby settlement called Orlianske. At this point, the next move of the Ukrainians becomes ambiguous because by successfully developing their offensive further north, they opened doors to more possibilities. If previously, the best possible course of action had been breaching the defense in Orlianske, cutting supplies to Kyslivka, and collapsing the Russian defense there, then now we can see that by breaching the defense in Pershotravneve, the tactical position of the Russians will deteriorate even more. This was not obvious initially, as the Russians in Pershotravneve had a multilayered defense structure and significant control over the region. However, this did not apparently help them, likely due to the difficulties of supplying this group or the lack of manpower. In any case, by breaching Pershotravneve, the front line will collapse up to 4 km north and 7 km east, and although there are no checkpoints here for establishing strong supply centers, the expanded control over the region will significantly improve their mobility and open more ways of developing the offensive further.In the central part of the region, the Ukrainians improved their tactical position even more. If yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that they assaulted Novoselivske, then today, they also reported that the Ukrainians successfully crossed the river near Stelmakhivka. This means that the Ukrainians have expanded their bridgehead on the Zherebets River’s western bank, and it looks like it was done in an attempt to consolidate control over Novoselivkse because from here, as reported today by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainians started assaulting Kuzemivka.In the southern part of the Donetsk region, the Russian offensive results became more evident. When it comes to the main target of their attack, the control over Pavlivka seems to be split. Some Ukrainian sources say that the Russians control no more than half of the village, while some Russian sources say that the Russians control everything to the south of the river and could not develop their offensive further due to complications with the geography. Lastly, President Vladimir Putin reserved his decision to withdraw from participation in the grain deal. This sent a massive shockwave through the Russian media space, and here is why. On 29 October, the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopil was attacked with unmanned surface vehicles. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Ukrainian forces used seven autonomous maritime drones and nine unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct the attack. In response, Russia accused Ukraine of using humanitarian corridors for military purposes and decided to withdraw from participation in the grain deal. This was already considered a weak response by the public, so when even this decision was reversed because, as Putin said, they received some written guarantees, the public went crazy. This is a very important detail because, according to Putin, one of the main reasons why he decided to start the war is that Russia cannot trust any written guarantees from the West or Ukraine anymore. However, now, amidst the war, he did just that. This is a huge blow to his influence that the growing opposition will for sure use against him in the future.If you are against the invasion of Ukraine and want to support the work that I am doing, consider making a purchase in the online store UA Supporter. Here you can find a lot of products with Ukrainian symbols, to not only show your support for this channel, but also for Ukraine.