(MENAFN) As Russia's conflict in Ukraine entered its ninth month, the army's flaws became more obvious, with an apparent reliance on Iranian assistance getting greater.

Despite Tehran's denials, Ukrainian residents are ignoring strikes said to be carried out using Iranian-made Shahed-136 "suicide" drones, and Ukrainian troops are gaining ground in the south and east.

Meanwhile, US senators and the French president – more on this later in the article – appear to be sending confusing signals about their willingness to continue helping Ukraine.

Also, this week, Russian soldiers pummeled Bakhmut in the east, but were unable to breach Ukraine's defenses.

Ukrainian forces allegedly secured a highway connecting Kreminna and Svatove, two towns that open the way to Starobilsk, a significant logistical hub, in the Luhansk area.

Russian soldiers' efforts to recover the offensive in Kharkiv, where they recently lost more than 8,000 square kilometers (3,088 square miles), proved futile. Ukrainian forces claim to have retaken 544 communities in the area, with only 32 still under occupation.

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