The Donbass region is witnessing raging battles and street warfare between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, with Kiev continuing its appeal to the West to quickly send the new military aid package, which is represented by tanks.
From the fiercest front in the battles in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military official in the Donbass front, Svyatoslav Podolak, confirms that Russia will control most of the region if the shipment of Western weapons to the fighting front is delayed.
Podolak added, during his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that the Russian “Wagner” forces are currently trying to completely besiege Bakhmut after their relative advances in Krasnagora and Marinka to the south, enabling them to completely cut off the main supply route in the Donbass front.
New Russian tactic
In its siege of Bakhmut and its attempt to impose control over the entire Donbass region, Russia relied on several tactics, according to Svyatoslav Podolak, a Ukrainian military official in the Donbass front.
- Pushing the “Wagner” forces in the beginning and waging a street war.
- Covering the progress of “Wagner” with heavy artillery to hit the mines in which the soldiers are entrenched.
- Pushing combat units and infantry in large numbers behind the “Wagner” forces.
- Targeting infrastructure in villages and cities in the region to cut off the main supply routes.
- With this plan, Wagner controlled 3 of the 5 main supply routes.
Podolak continues, during his statements, that this tactic was adopted by Russia in the industrial city “Azovstal”, which caused great human losses among civilians, due to the indiscriminate shelling and systematic bombing of the infrastructure.
And the Ukrainian military official in Donbass confirms that the remaining supply lines are being defended desperately, in addition to organizing the defenses to prevent the complete encirclement of the Russian forces in the Bakhmut region and delaying progress until the arrival of armored weapons, which will greatly enhance the position of the forces on the ground in front of the Russian invasion.
In the context, the British Ministry of Defense said that the “Wagner” forces have made slight progress in the battles taking place in various regions of the Donbass region during the past three days.
And she confirmed that the “Wagner” group almost certainly achieved more “limited gains” around the northern suburbs of Bakhmut, in the north of Donetsk province, including “Krasna Gora”.
The Russians need to control supply lines by land and block Ukrainians’ access to railroads from the west; Railways are the most efficient means of transporting Ukrainian forces and heavy weapons.
In light of Ukrainian appeals to the West to quickly ship military aid and pay it in combat zones, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “Ukrainian forces consume much more ammunition than those produced by NATO member states.”
Falling soon
Russian military analyst Alexander Artmatov predicted that the fall of Bakhmut and the entire Donbass region would take place before the 24th of this month, which is the one-year anniversary of the Russian operation in Ukraine.
Alexander Artmatov explains, during his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that the fall of the industrial region is due to the new battle tactics implemented by the Russian army, in contrast to Kiev’s heavy losses in the forces during the past weeks. Referring to several upcoming goals, including:
- Complete control not only of Donbass, but also of the southern Kherson region.
- The Russian advance allowed to establish a land bridge along the southern coast of the border and to control the water supply of Crimea.
- Sloviansk is the next big target down the M03, so Russia can advance west and link up with Russian forces pushing southeast of Izium.
Alexander Artmatov expected to intensify the pace of the military operation and resolve the battles on several fronts to prevent Kiev from benefiting from the recent Western support, which is represented in defense systems and armored vehicles, to launch a ground attack.