Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian defenses in the south of the country while expanding their rapid offensive in the east. They are seizing back more territory in areas annexed by Russia and threatening supply lines for its troops. Officials there installed by Moscow have acknowledged Ukraine’s advances in the Kherson region – one of four that Russia illegally annexed last week. Ukrainian troops are said to have gained territory as much as thirty kilometers away from where the front stood just days ago. The latest gains are a 00:00 big strategic victory for Ukraine, says András Rácz, a Senior Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. DW’s Nick Connolly is in Kyiv and put the 03:28 latest Ukrainian gains into perspective. What will Putin do next? Russia has taken steps to escalate the conflict – the illegal annexation of four more Ukrainian regions, the mobilization of new troops. Political analyst Liana Fix explains what impact the mobilization now underway in Russia will have on the battlefield after 07:23 Russia has been experiencing a series of military setbacks. She is a Fellow for Europe at the US think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, and joins us from Washington, DC.