The official word so far is that no one really saw this coming, not Russia and not even the United States. Ukraine’s decision to invade Russia is looking like a high-risk gamble but so far it appears to be paying off.
After months of losing ground to Russia in brutal, grinding battles in Ukraine, Kyiv shifted tactics with a surprise attack into Russian territory this week that caught Moscow off guard and opened a new front in the 30-month war.
Ukrainian forces have punched through Russian border defenses and seized several settlements in fighting that was still raging on Thursday, according to Russian officials, a Ukrainian soldier and analysts. The attack triggered a state of emergency in one region in the west of Russia. Ukrainian armored columns were filmed moving along roads as far as six miles inside Russia…
The goal was to shift the fighting — and Russian soldiers and…
