The Ukrainian President, Volodomir Zelenskywas the main guest at the meeting of the Rammstein Contact Group, formed by the defense ministers of NATO countries. Supported by the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austinand by its German counterpart, Boris PistoriusZelensky called for a greater effort by his allies to “end the war by the fall and restore international legality,” which sounds more like a wish than a realistic goal.
Zelensky particularly stressed his country’s need for air defense. The latest Russian bombings against civilian targets in Lviv, Kharkov and Dnipropetrovsk are the most cruel expression of a problem that Ukraine has been suffering from since the beginning of the war: Patriot anti-missile batteries arrived too late and in too small numbers. Zelensky and former foreign minister, Dmitry ZulebaThey spent months begging for at least seven more batteries to stop the air hemorrhage, but with little success.
Ukraine has also repeatedly asked the United States to be able to use its long-range missiles to attack military targets on Russian territory and thus be able to put an end to the problem at its root. The United States has only agreed to limited attacks on very specific positions in the Belgorod region and has always been reluctant to extend this authorization for fear of nuclear escalation. Other partners such as France or the United Kingdom do not see the situation in the same way, but are forced to follow the American policy in order not to break the union bloc.
Zelensky also used his visit to Rammstein to defend the offensive on Kursk, which was not consulted with any allied country. precisely for fear that it would be rejected and conveniently leaked to the pressThe Ukrainian president estimated that 6,000 enemy soldiers have been killed or wounded so far during the operation and claimed to already control more than a hundred towns and about 1,300 square kilometers of Russian territory.
The right strategy
Similar statements were made by General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in an interview with CNN. Syrsky also claimed responsibility for the offensive on Russia’s Kursk region in the face of attacks that link the offensive to recent losses in Donbass and separate the two situations: according to his version of events, the problems on the Eastern Front were earlier and the incursion into Russian territory only alleviated them.
In concrete terms, according to Syrsky, the operation would have revitalized the morale of his soldiers, somewhat weakened by the difficulties of facing new mass mobilizations and by the obvious lack of preparation of the new recruits, and would have allowed to release the pressure on them. . certain enclaves of the Donetsk region. Syrsky recognizes that The idea was to force Russia to mobilize more men to recover the ground lost at Kursk. and even though it was not achieved one hundred percent, he is nevertheless satisfied with the result.
“The strategy was right,” Syrskyi told the American channel. Even though Russia kept its most experienced troops around Pokrovsk, it at least had to divert support units that were consolidating other positions, which is very visible.” In other words, the pressure on the front lines may seem the same, but the fact that the rear is exhausted leads to fewer rotations, more problems in the supply chains and more exhaustion among the soldiers left behind.
Niu York resists Putin
For example, Syrsky repeated a phrase that Zelensky had said a few days earlier: “Last week, Russia did not advance even a kilometer toward Pokrovsk.” The expression itself is true, but misleading. Russia advanced at great speed in the last week of August from Ocheretyn along the T0511 to the town of Hrodivka, about ten kilometers from Pokrovsk. Since the beginning of the month, the stop has been absolute.
It remains to be seen whether this stop is a necessity, as seems to be the case at Chasiv Yar, Toretsk or even Niu York, where the 12th Azov Brigade is even regaining ground from the Russians, or whether it is a strategic issue. Because the fact is that Gerasimov’s army is advancing in other directions around Pokrovsk and in an alarming manner. Specifically, Russia seeks to capture southern cities of Selydove, Ukrainsk and Kurajovewhose conquest would allow a safer advance and protect the rear.
Progress has also been made on the T0509 highway, which leads to the large city southwest of Donetsk, still in Ukrainian hands: Velyka Novosilka. The Russians already control Prechystivka, just twenty kilometers from what appears to be their other major objective, where the southern and eastern fronts could meet. The question is whether they will prefer to advance little by little and take cities as they go or whether they will launch themselves via the N15 and the aforementioned T0509, dividing the Ukrainian defense into different parts… but at the same time opening very lightly protected flanks to the rear.
The logical thing would be to try to seize these enclaves before ending the frontal attacks on Vuhledar – where every Russian attempt continues to end in carnage in its own ranks – and Pokrovsk. On the other hand, it would also be the slowest and most costly. The Kremlin is now faced with this dilemma: to seek faster and more dangerous alternatives to carry out a coup before the autumn rains and possible peace negotiations or to continue bit by bit a war of attrition that never stops counting the bodies.
