President of Russia Vladimir Putin gave his army the order in full capture Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March. The enemy concentrated the main efforts on conducting offensive actions on the Lymansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdiivskyi and Novopavlivskyi directions.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi especially emphasizes that the Russian occupiers are trying to surround the city of Bakhmut.
According to Western media, full-scale offensive actions of the Russian army in Ukraine can start within 10 dayshowever, Ukrainian analysts believe that the “creeping offensive” of the occupiers is already underway in several directions.
TSN.ua collected expert comments on the situation on the eastern front.
Attack attempts by the occupiers
Military expert Oleksandr Musienko on the air of the all-Ukrainian telethon, which broadcasts TSN Youtube channeltold that on the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the Kreminnaya area “it is quite hot, there are constant hostilities and it is quite difficult for the enemy there”.
He also reminded that the Russian troops had tried conduct a local offensive near Ugledarwhich was quite difficult for them:
“The 155th and 40th brigades of marines, which participated in the assault, suffered serious losses. Now we are talking about their replenishment, when they have not even started a major offensive. Ukrainian forces are difficult, but they are holding the defense, and the enemy is tightening forces”.
As the expert explained, the occupiers need Ugledar to expand their control over the railway line going to Zaporizhzhia.
“But they are advancing, trying to surround the Donetsk region from different directions, including from the south and southeast. Now the enemy is counting not just on jerks, that they will be able to march and capture something, but within the limits of positional battles to bite away control and advance.” – he said.
Photo: Deepstatemap
Commenting on the situation in Luhansk region, the expert said that there “the offensive of the Russian troops stalled after Lysychansk – they reached, and our forces occupied Belogorivka.”
“Now north of Soledar, they are trying to move towards Siversk. The enemy’s idea is to surround our forces in Bilogorivka. But our forces have begun to bombard them with artillery in the area of Soledar, and they cannot muster to make this march. The offensive is underway, in a specific direction, but there is not enough resources,” Musienko explained.
Battles near Bakhmut
He spoke in detail about the situation around Bakhmut of the Donetsk region in a video blog serviceman of the Armed Forces with the call sign “Kyyanin”. According to him, the occupiers are trying to promote even a minimal advance as a great victory, but Bakhmut is holding on.
“Along the line from Soledar to Bakhmut, from the side of Yagidny, Paraskoviyvka, in the area of Krasnaya Gora, constant suicidal assaults of these devils are carried out. Moreover, they do not spare the infantry. In the Bakhmut conglomerate – Soledar, Klishchiivka – they put infantry battalions, and the remnants of “Wagners” and regular troops. At the price, no one will stand there. In some places they are advancing, the trench will be captured and presented as a victory report. The village of Sacco and Vanzetti, three houses – it was as if Berlin had been taken over, it was publicized. On Bakhmut itself, frontal assaults intensified. The battles are going on in the private sector. On the side of Ivanivskyi, Klishchiivka climb to the track“, – said the soldier.
At the same time, “Kyyanin” noted that some of the best units of the Armed Forces, which exist in general, are currently concentrated in this area.
“There are very heavy battles there, as always. But there are such Cossacks standing there… There were battles, they packed so much “meat”. Now the guys are doing work that cannot be seen, but which can have an impact on the entire Russian East – the Ukrainian war”.
According to him, the occupiers really need to achieve success by February 24, the anniversary of the beginning of the invasion, “but it won’t work.”
“Today, the Ukrainian flag flies over Bakhmut, Bakhmut is under the control of the Armed Forces“, the soldier added.
Former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich explained the significance of Bakhmut for the Armed Forces:
“Many people wonder why we keep this Bakhmut like this, why not leave. There is a simple answer – it is a grinding machine. The Russians suffer such losses… Creating such a point of gravity and working to reduce the potential of the enemy is far from the worst military decision . One can draw analogies with the Donetsk airport, which stood for 242 days and solved the problem in our favor. It is approximately the same now near Soledar and Bakhmut.”
Arestovych added that for the occupiers, “the main meaning is to cut off Siversk and surround Bakhmut from the north and the south”.
Putin needs at least some kind of victory
The complete occupation of Donbas will allow the president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to announce that he had achieved the objectives of the “special military operation”. The deputy director of the Army, Conversion and Disarmament Research Center told about this during the All-Ukrainian telethon Mykhailo Samus.
“Russian troops are trying to break through Ukrainian defenses in the Bakhmut direction, are active in the Lyman direction, less activity is noticeable in the Vugledar direction. The Russian troops are not able to fulfill the task that Putin obviously set before them, so that General Gerasimov would at least bring him some result by the end of February. Putin will deliver a message to the Federal Assembly, he will have to say something, present some kind of victory to parliamentarians and “Russian slaves” – his people. But it’s obvious that he won’t make it to this deadline,” Samus explained.
According to him, Putin now “needs to occupy Donetsk and Luhansk regions in order to present at least some kind of victory.”
“He can claim that he has already achieved the objectives of the “special military operation”. Like, we protect the people of Donbas, and we protected them. Now we fix this situation and offer Ukraine and the West to proceed to negotiations“, Samus explained.
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