We think they fell behind what they hoped to achieve in Donbass
told the press this senior official who requested anonymity.
They took at least several days late
he specified. They are far from having made the connection
troops entering through the Kharkiv region, north of Donbass, and those coming from the south of the country, one of the objectives of the Russian army to take in a pincer movement the Ukrainian forces deployed on the front line around the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
” They don’t move very fast. A few kilometers a day is the maximum they can do because they are pushed back. »
Even though the fighting has started, we believe they continue to create the conditions for a sustained, larger and longer offensive
added the senior US official of the Department of Defense.
He explained that the Russian forces don’t want to make the same mistakes as in kyiv
where columns of tanks had been pinned down by Ukrainian forces armed with shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
The artillery fire and airstrikes they launch on the Ukrainian forces do not have the desired effect, as the Ukrainians continue to resist
he noted. That’s why we believe their progress has been slow and uneven over the past 24 hours.
After the failure of its initial offensive in the direction of kyiv, Russia is concentrating its efforts on the conquest of all the territories of the administrative regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, partly controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.
A Russian strike hit a residential building in kyiv on Thursday as the UN secretary-general visited the Ukrainian capital, which had not been targeted since mid-April. The attack left one dead.
Photo: Reuters/Gleb Garanich
Heavy losses on both sides
The Russian offensive in Donbass was launched last week. Since then, Ukraine has admitted to having lost several small towns very close to the front lines.
The adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Oleksi Arestovych, assures us, however, that the slow progress of the Russian forces is at the cost of losses already greater than those they had suffered in a month of fighting north of kyiv.
” We suffer heavy losses, but those of the Russians are even higher. They are colossal. »
Meanwhile, Russia continues to hammer the entire front line in the Donetsk region with rockets, artillery, shells and aircraft.
The Battle of Donbass remains Russia’s priority
underlined the British Ministry of Defense, which notes particularly heavy fighting around the cities of Lyssytchansk and Severodonetsk.
For its part, the Ukrainian army claimed to have taken over the small town of Rouska Lozova, a place of strategic importance
since it is located on the highway that connects Kharkiv to the city of Belgorod, Russia.
It was from this village that the enemy carried out targeted fire on civilian infrastructure and living quarters of Kharkiv
explained the command of the ground forces of Ukraine.
Resist while waiting for reinforcements
For the kyiv authorities, the challenge is to resist as long as possible to allow the arrival on the front of the heavy weapons promised in recent days by the West, in particular the United States.
President Joe Biden on Thursday asked Congress to release an unprecedented $33 billion. Of this sum, 20 billion should be used to provide military assistance.
Faced with the acceleration of Western aid to Ukraine, Moscow has multiplied in recent days the threats of world War
even a possible nuclear strike, while increasing the pressure on European countries by cutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said on Friday that Russia does not consider itself at war with theNATO currently.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca