Caucasus

• This year, Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive was late coming, partly due to the slow delivery of western military aid.
• The sort of swift manoeuvring responsible for last year’s successful counterpunches have been nigh on impossible this year.
• You can also subscribe to our fortnightly recap of expert analysis of the conflict in Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s allies should manage their expectations, writes Frank Ledwidge, a lecturer in military strategy at the University of Portsmouth and former military intelligence officer.
• Read more:
  Ukraine war: Putin avoids further mobilisation while Kyiv suffers manpower shortage

Diverse theatres of war

• A missile strike on September 22 is reported to have killed 34 officers and wounded 105 others.
• Basil Germond, a maritime expert at the University of Lancaster, believes that this is akin to a second front in the war.
• Not only do these attacks undermine Russian morale, they have effectively denied it control of the Black Sea.

Conflict fatigue

• Stefan Wolff, from the University of Birmingham, and Tetyana Malyarenko, from the University of Odesa, have been watching for signs of combat fatigue among Ukraine’s allies, as well as anger from those countries in the global south who feel as if their concerns have been sidelined.
• Read more:
  Ukraine war: mixed signals among Kyiv's allies hint at growing conflict fatigue

  Another country where support for Kyiv, once rock solid, looks to be crumbling is neighbouring Slovakia, which goes to the polls on Saturday.

• Read more:
  Ukraine war: Slovakia may be about to elect a government which plans to halt aid to Kyiv

Another war with Russian fingerprints