Military analysts have been saying for days that Russian forces have “paused” their offensive operations in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. But try saying it to Ukrainian fighters under fire and digging into defensive positions in towns and villages.
Ukrainian authorities said on Friday there had been skirmishes at at least 10 locations in Donetsk province, as the Russians tried to improve their positions along a divided, ostensibly divided front line. ahead of what is expected to happen. a much larger military boost to capture parts of the province over which they did not control.
“The occupiers tried to control the passage” running between the cities of Bakhmut and Lysychansk, the Ukrainian staff said in an evening news bulletin listing a series of clashes. Russian forces have also conducted “offensive operations” in several other locations, including the villages of Nagirny and Bilohorivka, the report said. “Ukrainian soldiers stopped all these bad attempts of the enemy with fire and repelled him.”
Elsewhere in the province, the report spoke of how Ukrainian soldiers “successfully repelled” an attack, and in another location it said: “Under the fire of Ukrainian soldiers, the remnants of The enemy has retreated.” There was no immediate comment on the skirmish from Moscow.
Donbas, close to the Russian border and once a region of heavy industry, mining and agriculture, has been the focus of President Vladimir V. Putin’s campaign in Ukraine since Russian forces failed to capture two cities. the country’s most important, Kyiv, capital, and Kharkiv, at the early stages of the conflict. Donbas is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at CNA, a research institute in Arlington, Va., said this week that “this is a very temporary regret; it’s not really an active pause. “Speech on podcast “War on the Rocks,” He said Russian forces were still trying to put pressure, “without much success,” on fortified Ukrainian positions around the city of Sloviansk.
He said the next Russian advance would most likely target that city and another further south, Kramatorsk, and that the struggle for Donetsk province could drag on for months. He and other analysts, including Western intelligence officials, have emphasized that both Russia and Ukraine suffered heavy losses and facing serious human resource problems.
This week, U.S. officials and others familiar with intelligence assessments estimated that, overall, about 20,000 Russians were killed and about 60,000 wounded. Russia tried to recruit more soldiers with provide large cash bonuses to volunteersUkrainians from separatist territories, mercenaries and militarized National Guard units.
Ukraine is also losing significant numbers of troops: In June, a senior government official said the country was losing between 100 and 200 soldiers a day.
The military also faces a shortage of equipment. According to Western officials, nearly a third of Russian equipment was destroyed, although the Kremlin retains a significant advantage in heavy weapons.
That has prompted Ukrainian officials to repeatedly beg for more heavy weapons and ammunition from the West, saying they need supplies to counter Russia’s advantage from long range. On Friday, the Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, acclamation the appearance of the first M270 . multiple launch missile systeman armored vehicle that is its most advanced artillery rocket launcher.
Reznikov said the weapon would be “good company” for the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS. America has cross eight and promises four more truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers. The Ukrainian military says it is using the arrived aircraft to attack Russian bases and depots in the rear of the front line.
However, some analysts say Ukraine needs dozens more missiles to effectively counter Russian artillery, and Ukrainian officials say they need up to 300 multi-role missile launchers.
