Monday of fury against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin And Valery Gerasimov They know how much their strategy of letting the enemy troops establish themselves in the western part of Kursk is at stake and they are looking for a coup d’état as soon as possible to thwart this Ukrainian invasion and justify it in the eyes of public opinion. The Kremlin propaganda has been preparing the ground for weeks and repeats that every great victory was preceded by some territorial concessions, that panic is not justified and that the important thing is to continue to move forward in Donetsk.
This is precisely what the Russian army is doing, continuing to put pressure on the Kupiansk-Vuhledar axis in search of the breaking point of the Ukrainian resistance. In recent hours, they have been warned progress in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, Vuhledar and Toretskcities which, together with Niu York and Chasiv Yar, currently mark the local defense line. These are three very important enclaves for the viability of the protection of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk core, a declared objective since the beginning of the war on the Eastern Front.
Russia has decided not to take the Kursk bait and minimize troop relocationUkraine understood, probably wisely, that it was worth crossing the border and that this would force Russia to neglect Donetsk.
Russia, however, has bet on the opposite: sooner or later, if the advance on Donetsk continues, President Zelensky and General Syrskyi will be forced to abandon Kursk and send these troops to protect their own territory. It seems that one of the two will experience resounding success while the other will be on the verge of failure. It is impossible to know for now which way the coin will fall.
Recurring evictions in Pokrovsk
Because the truth is, we’ve seen it all before: Russia has been trying to get closer to Vuhledar for two years, without success. and leaving thousands of lives and impressive quantities of weapons along the way. This time, it seems that the offensive will focus on the city of Vodiane, trying once again to pocket the troops defending Vuhledar.
What would success mean after so many attempts? On the one hand, it would allow the Eastern Front to unite with the Southern Front and advance together north towards Bohoyavienka or head east along the T0509 to the Pavlivka-Velyka Novosilka axis, the city that Ukraine has chosen to begin its summer offensive in 2023. All this, on paper of course. Reality shows us that Every kilometer of Russian advance could take days, even weeks to be completed.
A little further north is the town of Pokrovsk, where the situation is also starting to get very complicated. Russian troops have already reached Hrodivka, a few kilometres from the objective, although they do not yet control the town.
Pokrovsk is one of the most important communication centers on the Ukrainian front, as up to five different roads cross there with different approaches: from Kramatorsk itself in the north to Velyka Novosilka in the south.
Taking this communication hub would be very important for Russia and besides, news of evacuations has already taken place in the city… but be careful, evacuations are not always a sign of imminent defeat. In Kupiansk – and on the whole front in general – they have been expelling people at regular intervals for two years and they are still there with the Ukrainian flag flying. The next few hours promise to be decisive in this regard.
A hotel destroyed by Russian missiles in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region.
Reuters
The point of no return
Further north of Pokrovsk are Toretsk and Chasiv Yar. Both cities have been under siege by the Russians for months without giving up. Regardless, both are critical due to their proximity to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. If both were to fall, Ukrainian troops would likely have to give up ground near their largest population center and infrastructure in the region.
In any case, one must always keep in mind what was mentioned above: Russia has never managed to advance quickly and has always done so at the very high cost of human lives.
Moreover, since the beginning of the war, we have heard talk of cities whose capture would break the Ukrainian defensive front (Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka…) and they did not do it. After two and a half years of coming and going, we must be careful in all respects.
What seems clear is that at present, Both armies play with enemy morale: Ukraine with its constant attacks on refineries and communication routes and, of course, with the seizure of Russian territory… and Russia, as Russia knows, that is, in a savage manner, without agreement between civilian and military targets.
On Monday, hundreds of missiles and drones flew over Ukrainian skies, once again revealing the Zelensky regime’s problems with anti-aircraft batteries. From kyiv, they have been asking for months Patriots to everyone, but with little success.
The result is what we saw yesterday: dead and wounded throughout the country, from Dnipro to Lviv… and serious energy damage affecting the population. This is exactly what the West does not allow Ukraine to do with its weapons. A humanitarian limitation but very damaging on the military level.
