There will be tears in Tucker Carlson’s house tonight.  The Fox host and Putin booster, who just two weeks ago definitively declared Russia was winning the Ukraine invasion, will now have to rectify his boosterism with the fact that the Kremlin has announced it is withdrawing troops from most of the Kharkiv region to reinforce its forces in the Donetsk region, the Associated Press reports.

Saying the move is being done “in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas,” the Kremlin has repeatedly altered its declared mission following its invasion of Ukraine in late February, when it made widespread incursions across Ukraine, as if it was trying to conquer the entire country, only to be repulsed by still opposition.  In May, after months of trying to capture the capital city of Kyiv, Moscow pulled its troops back saying it was concentrating on liberating Donbas.  Presumably, after Russia fails to qualify for the upcoming World Cup, the Kremlin will say it never intended to compete in the tournament because it was focusing forces on the Donbas region.

Moscow said it was going to concentrate troops in the areas around Balakliya and Izyum, two cities in the eastern part of the Kharkiv Oblast on the eastern shore of the Donets River, giving the Russian forces a significant nature defense to ground troops, but not Ukrainian artillery, missiles and drones.

However, the strategy may not hold.  Ukraine already holds significant positions on the eastern shore or the Donets, with troops located 40 miles north of Izyum.  Earlier this week, Ukrainian government social media accounts showed civilians welcoming Ukrainian troops into Balakliya, while others showed Ukrainian forces posing for photos in front of government buildings in Kupiansk, about 40 miles north of Izyum.