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Russia apparently wants to launch a large-scale offensive in the Donetsk region. Putin’s troops are targeting a strategically important city.
Kiev – Is a new Russian offensive in the Ukraine war imminent? Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin’s forces appear to be amassing a large concentration of troops near one of the key cities on the Ukraine front in the east. At least that’s what the Ukrainian military reported on Sunday (May 5th).
This circumstance corresponds to the statements of one of Putin’s defense ministers, Sergei Shoigu, who recently hinted at a major offensive in the war in Ukraine.
New Russian offensive in the Ukraine war: Putin’s troops are concentrated in front of a strategically important city
According to Ukraine, Russia is currently deploying up to 25,000 of Putin’s soldiers around the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar. The new concentration appears to be taking place in the shadow of the Kremlin’s claim that Russian forces have captured another village in the Donetsk region. “The enemy has gathered a group of 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers around Chasiv Yar,” said Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, speaking to Ukrainian television about a possible offensive on Chasiv Yar, which could become a turning point for Russia.
The important city west of the Russian-controlled city of Bakhmut in Donetsk has been described as a “fortress city” by the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW). According to the ISW’s assessment, the capture would help Russia attack Ukraine’s other important defenses.
Putin’s new offensive: Conquest enables Russia to advance on the “backbone of Ukraine’s defense
Successful capture could also allow Russia to cut off the settlement of Kostiantynivka from Ukrainian support. The conquest would in turn endanger the “backbone of the Ukrainian defense” in the Donetsk region, the ISW continued in its current assessment of the situation on the Ukrainian front.
Ukraine’s army chief, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said last month that Moscow was trying to “break through our defenses west of Bakhmut,” take control of Chasiv Yar and create “conditions for a further advance” toward the city of Kramatorsk, to the northwest of Chassiv Yar lies.
Donetsk region: Russia is preparing a new offensive in the Ukraine war
Russia wants the city by May 9th Syrskyj named a possible time when Russia could have set its sights on conquering the city. Meanwhile, “Ukrainian and Russian forces” apparently continued fighting near the settlement on May 4th. However, there were apparently “no confirmed changes on this front line,” the ISW continued.
The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that it had repelled a dozen attacks near Bakhmut in the past 24 hours. The Russian Defense Ministry said Putin’s troops had attacked Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut. However, it is possible that the conflict is just the prelude to a large-scale offensive by Russia to achieve new, significant gains in territory. What is certain is that if the Russian troops advance, Putin would once again accept heavy Russian losses and “extremely high costs in human lives”. (mast)
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