NOW TAKE THE WAR TO MOSCOW:

 According to US officials, more than 50 countries are now supporting Ukraine with arms shipments under US leadership. For months, they have also been coordinating politically in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group: deciding which country should supply which weapons to Ukraine, and determining the route that heavy weapons, such as the US HIMARS missile systems or the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, supplied by Germany and the Netherlands, should take in order to reach the Ukrainian front.

This aid may have brought about a turning point in the war, said Nico Lange, of the Christian Democrats. "The crucial aspect of the past few days is that Russia is now being forced to react to the Ukrainians' statements and actions," Lange, who had served as chief of staff to former Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, told DW. "Until now, it was the other way around: The Ukrainians were forced to react to everything Russia did."

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told DW that targeted HIMARS shelling of the Russian army's ammunition depots and command units has enabled Ukraine to reduce area bombardment by shelling -- in the east and south of the country, at least -- "by a factor of five to six."

Lange said: "Russia has now moved significant forces to the south, toward both Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, to reinforce its presence there and concentrate on securing and holding the conquered territories." The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, near Zaporizhzhia on the Dnieper River, is occupied by Russian forces, and an intelligence report by Britain's Defence Ministry states that Russian units are using the nuclear plant and the area around it as protection.

At the beginning of August, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency reiterated his urgent demand that Russian forces grant IAEA access to the facility for inspection and repairs.

"From this, you can tell that the war is changing," Lange said, "and that Russia is now forced to respond to the things Ukraine is doing." Russia is not able to "escalate indefinitely," he said -- and, in fact, is in "tremendous" military difficulty. "The Russians have gone on the defensive both north of Kharkiv and in Kherson in the south," he said.

Tweet   @brothersjudd