Israel is new zone of political tension. Hostilities on Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line. Column by Serhiy Zgurets

Russian provocations with Ukrainian weapons in Israel

Actually, Ukraine should take into account its intelligence reports that the Russian side is preparing for a provocation and may transfer some of the Ukrainian weapons captured on the battlefield to Hamas in order to compromise the supply of European or American weapons to Ukraine. So far, there have been no such actions by the Russian side, although there have been attempts.

A good example is the hand anti-tank grenade launcher that was used to hit the Merkava tank and claimed that Hamas had received them from Ukraine. But in fact, they were Iranian copies of Soviet systems. I think this story will continue in several variations, but Ukrainian intelligence has already reported such provocations that could come from the Russian side or Hamas. 

How can the war in Israel affect the world's assistance to Ukraine?

"One world war - different theaters of war". This is how one of the leading Middle East experts quite aptly assessed the Hamas invasion of Israel amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Hamas carried out a large-scale attack, the preparation of which was kept secret, and it is unlikely that Iran and Russia were involved.

Now the Israeli army is conducting the first phase of Operation Iron Swords, which will be one of the largest in recent decades for Israel, as the conscription of reservists is already underway. Already 300,000 have been called up for service, while Israel has 400,000 reservists.

Israeli troops have regained control of all settlements on the border with Gaza, and airstrikes are being carried out on Hamas targets, more than 500 strikes over the past day. And the IDF has not yet launched a ground attack on Gaza. This is due to the fact that the Israelis are trying to find out where the hostages are staying, because Hamas is holding about 130 Israelis hostage, and there are high-ranking officials among them. Further, everything will depend on the strategy that Israel approves. We understand that the next stage of Iron Swords is now beginning.

So, how will the Hamas massacre affect Ukraine? First of all, I would like to say that a zone of high tension is appearing, including with the involvement of countries with nuclear weapons. For some time, the international community will be overly focused on the events in the Middle East, and it is important that the focus does not shift from Ukraine. Representatives of the United States, the EU, and NATO have stated that they are able to provide support to Ukraine in these circumstances.

As for weapons, Israel once transferred ammunition to Ukraine through the United States. These were American stockpiles. Israel itself actually opposed the supply of any weapons to Ukraine, and this, in my opinion, was a mistake. We are now seeing a situation where Russia, Iran, and other countries are helping Israel's enemies. At one time, Israel was against Israeli "Spikes" that were delivered to the Baltic states being supplied to Ukraine. At the time, it was said that Russia could somehow complicate the situation on the borders with Israel, given its influence on Syria.

In fact, it is impossible to negotiate with one terrorist through another. And that's why President Zelenskyy was absolutely right when he said that Hamas's tactics in Israel are the same as Russia's tactics against Ukraine. It's the same evil, but the only difference is that it's a terrorist organization that attacked Israel, and here it's a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine.

Escalation on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line

Russia is trying to intensify its hostilities on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line. This is one of the areas that has been relatively calm for a long time, but now, according to the Khortytsia group spokesperson, Russia is attacking in the direction of Kupyansk and other areas to push Ukrainian troops beyond the Oskil River and the Zherebets River.

Yuriy Fedorenko, commander of the UAV strike company of the 92nd separate mechanized brigade named after Ivan Sirko, noted that Russia's task remains unchanged. They are being given a clear demand to reach the administrative boundaries of the Luhansk region and restore their position and influence over the city of Kupyansk.

Accordingly, the Russian troops carried out quite active assault operations from different directions two months ago but had no success. The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to stabilize the situation then, and recently the Russian enemy has tried to carry out unsuccessful assault and attack operations in certain areas, with the initiative remaining on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.