With Russia’s front collapsing, Putin is weaponising the Dnipro River by using it to slice Ukraine in two (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,722)

Putin is trying to cut Ukraine along the Dnipro River. Attacks on bridges have two main aims. Military analysts: what Ukraine’s response should be. The left and right banks as a pillar of Russian propaganda. How analysts envision a war with Russia: Putin dies in 2027, and Estonia is invaded three years later. Map of the day: Sloviansk and Kramatorsk must be evacuated. Videos of the day: Iskander-M’s four-minute flight; reconnaissance troops found the coordinates, HIMARS finished the job; Russian refineries are burning again. The river and winter as Russia’s main weapons. Looking at a map of Ukraine, the Dnipro River resembles its backbone. It flows from north to south through key historic and industrial cities such as Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, notionally dividing the country into a left and right bank. It rises in Russia, flows through Belarus and continues for 1,095 km across Ukraine, where it empties into the Black Sea. The history of the Ukrainian Cossacks revolved around this river, which they used both for trade and as a natural defence. To read this story, log in or subscribeEnjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.Read without limitsAlready a subscriber? Login