location is that while the russians are talking about scaling back operations in some parts of the country, not here, not in donetsk, not in the donbas region, they have said they could enhance operations there, so the damage you're seeing right now in donetsk, these pictures could soon get worse. more pictures just in, near kharkiv, a ukrainian can be heard saying we are pushing them back. you see burned military hardware. also you can see damage to houses and cars. all right, joining me now is nina khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at new school in new york, co-author of "in putin's footsteps: searching for the soul of an empire across russia's 11 time zones." professor, as always, so great to have you on. what is putin up to? what is russia up to with these claims of scaling back operations in certain places, what do you think? >> well, they actually didn't claim that much. they said that they are