Kiev believes it is ready to continue the resistance and even gain ground in Kherson
President Vladimir Putin has not finished clearly articulating the military objectives of the invasion of Ukraine. Initially, the main target appeared to be Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, with the apparent intent to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government. Later, on March 25, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the withdrawal of its troops from the Kiev area to concentrate them in Donbass, in the east of the country, with the aim of completely taking over the Donetsk and Lugansk provinces and under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Three and a half months have passed since the Russian military stepped up efforts to take all of Donbass from Ukraine, but much of the Donetsk region is still there. With the capture of Lisichansk on 3 July, the occupation of Lugansk was practically completed. Now the Russian army is in a better tactical position to undertake the capture of important cities in the Donetsk region, such as Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut, against which the bombing campaign is not stopping.
Meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu just after the capture of Lisichansk, Putin said the units that took part in the attack deserve to “rest, gather strength and increase their combat capability”. Then, last Thursday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed that the Russian military in Donbass would benefit from an “operational pause.”
However, the head of the government loyal to Kiev in Lugansk, Sergei Gaidai, has been warning for days that “enemy forces do not give up their efforts to penetrate deep into the Donetsk region (…) no operational pause is observed. “. Rocket and artillery fire continues. The latest took place on Sunday in Chasiv Yar, next to Bajmut, where a residential building was hit, the balance of which is 25 dead, according to new figures released yesterday.
The US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assures in a report published on its Twitter account that, despite the alleged hiatus, Russian forces are conducting “limited ground offensives” in Donetsk with the aim of approaching Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and crossing the highway. connecting Izium to the city of Kharkiv. According to the ISW, “they will likely remain limited to small-scale offensive actions as they rebuild troops and create the conditions for a larger offensive.” The US Military Study Center estimates that “when the Russian military command decides it is sufficiently prepared to launch a larger offensive operation, it is highly likely that it will continue the large-scale advance with more troops and thrust than has been seen so far.” .” Leaving the operational pause may be gradual and not immediately noticeable.”
But although the main stated goal of the Kremlin is the occupation of all of Donbass, the truth is that, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Russian forces also included Kharkiv, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Krivoy Rog, Dnipro and other central points and the south. of the country, indicating that there are much broader plans towards the west. Yesterday, for example, Kharkov was hit by bombs again. The administrative head of the region, Oleg Sinegúbov, reported three dead and 28 injured, including a four-year-old boy and a 16-year-old teenager, in another attack by Russian artillery carried out at night with multiple rocket launchers. Sunday. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovich, believes that Moscow has not given up on its initial idea of occupying Kharkov and does not rule out the possibility that Russian troops deployed in the north of the city will launch an attack at any time.
Kiev also shows plans and successes in its campaign, especially to retake the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, occupied by the Russian army in the early days of the war with troops advancing from the Crimean peninsula. The Ukrainian Army’s 60th Infantry Brigade yesterday announced the seizure of the town of Ivanivka, in the Kherson region, as part of a new counter-offensive.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshuk has called on residents of the Russian-occupied territories in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions to “leave those areas and remove their relatives by all means available”. According to her, “this is necessary so that Ukraine’s armed forces do not endanger the civilian population during the counter-offensive.” “Our artillery has to work because unemployment involves the use of armed force,” he added. However, Russia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, warned yesterday that his country “will not leave the southern areas of Ukraine”. used to be.
In any case, Kiev hopes to turn the war around with the arrival of Western weapons. According to the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, SNBO, Oleksiy Danílov, assured via his Twitter account yesterday that “Western weapons are already changing the course of the war. And we haven’t started yet!” In his opinion, thanks to these weapons it has been possible to “demoralise” the Russian troops and “destroy command posts, equipment and ammunition depots”.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
