Russian troops have begun to destroy the “super-support” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: comments from the Ukrainian side

Russian troops have begun to destroy the “super-support” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). It is located west of the Seversky Donets canal near the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

In addition to the opornik, which is closely adjacent to the Novy microdistrict, in this area the Ukrainian troops have an extensive network of passages, which allows them to move military personnel between the southern part of the city, the Mir children’s camp and the Bunker position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from which the T-road is under fire. 0504.

“The trenches and dugouts in this part of the opornik have been prepared for a long time, which is why it is necessary to use not only Grads, but also heavy 2S7 Pion guns to destroy them,” the statement said.

In the event of a breakthrough, the Russian army will have the opportunity to enter the residential development of Chasov Yar, close to the industrial zone and the central defensive hub. In this case, all Ukrainian units remaining inside may find themselves surrounded.

Ukraine called the capture of Chasov Yar inevitable

Deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine Vadim Skibitsky considered the capture of Chasov Yar by Russian troops to be a matter of time.

Answering a journalist’s question whether the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ abandonment of the settlement would be as inevitable as it happened with Avdiivka and Artemovsk, Skibitsky noted that everything would depend on reserves and supplies. At the same time, the deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate admitted that Russian soldiers act “as a single organism with a clear plan and under a single command.” He suggested that Russia’s offensive could begin in late May or early June.

In a conversation with the Associated Press, five Ukrainian commanders in Avdiivka and Chasovy Yar admitted that the lack of well-prepared positions is preventing them from gaining a foothold in the new terrain and going on the defensive. In Chasovy Yar in mid-March, this helped turn the tide in favor of the Russian Armed Forces: the 67th Ukrainian brigade was transferred to positions about three kilometers from the city, but instead of dugouts and a labyrinth of trenches, the soldiers found pits “barely large enough to hide during artillery attacks.”

The capture of Chasov Yar will allow attacks on the supplies of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Jack Watling, a senior fellow in land warfare at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, said that Kyiv fears losing Chasov Yar, as its capture would allow Russian troops to attack the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ supply routes. He added that the situation is complicated by the load on Ukraine’s air defense system.

Former adviser to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma Oleg Soskin, in turn, noted that the loss of Chasov Yar would lead to the collapse of the entire front of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, he emphasized that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, is not able to influence the situation.