Russia forces in Ukraine concede territories previously under Russian control; blame tactical error for their losses in the east

Russian military leaders admit that they fell for a Ukrainian plan that threatened a major attack in the south when in fact it was planning all along to attack in the northeast.

"The Russian forces concluded that the Ukrainian side tried to lure them into the Kharkov battle to launch the main attack in the direction of Uglidar,” one source said to media outlets.

Russian sources have also claimed that “American generals effectively contributed to the planning of this operation, and provided abundant intelligence information to the Ukrainian army, which is fighting in the ranks of hundreds of mercenaries.”

Now, they are assessing that Ukrainian forces are planning to retake territories in autonomous region. Some of the regional military leaders were dismissed due to this failure.

Russian sources now say that Ukrainian forces "are clearing minefields that they had previously set up on the outskirts of Ugledar in the Donetsk People's Republic, which indicates that they are preparing to launch an attack."

To regain their footing, Russian military leaders are deploying more Chechen military assets, as confirmed by the president of the Chechen Republic last week, in this video release.

However, today, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, voiced a rare public criticism of Russia's military mistakes in Ukraine pointing out "loss of strategic areas in eastern Ukraine," and pledging to restore all these areas recovered by Ukrainian forces during their counter-offensive that has been going on for days.

The Chechen news agency quoted Kadyrov as saying that "the Russian forces made mistakes, and if there are no changes, I will talk with their leadership to explain to them the situation on the ground," adding, "We will recover all the areas we lost in Kharkiv."

In an 11-minute audio message posted on his Telegram channel, Kadyrov rejected the loss of Izium, a vital supply hub, and acknowledged that the military campaign was "not going according to plan".

The rapid fall of Izyum in the Kharkiv region is the worst military loss for Russia since its forces were forced to withdraw from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, last March.

Video showing Chechen armed forces preparing to leave for Ukraine: