Is Russia on the run?

, which began on September 6th, continues to in the country’s north-east. On the morning of September 11th, Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s military chief, announced his forces had retaken more than 3,000 square kilometres in 11 days—vastly more than Russia had captured in several months of grinding combat since April. Other accounts suggest the figure may be nearly 9,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of Cyprus. There are widespread reports of Russian soldiers beating panicked retreats, of encircled units, and of large quantities of abandoned military hardware. The recapture of two logistical hubs, Izyum and Kupyansk, has in effect ended Russia’s grand plans to seize control of , Ukraine’s eastern region. It also opens up the prospect of Ukraine regaining towns, like Severodonetsk, that Russia had clawed away only after months of bloody fighting.