The Russian Army is advancing rapidly on the front in Donbas, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the Ukrainian defense, reported the American newspaper “New York Times” (NYT).
Russian troops have made rapid gains in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region over the past week, seizing several villages and closing in on the city of Pokrovsk, one of the main Ukrainian defense strongholds in the area. Military analysts say these rapid gains reflect Moscow's improved ability to exploit cracks in Ukraine's defense lines, which have been thinned and weakened by relentless Russian attacks and resource shortages.
In recent months, Russian troops have increasingly focused on identifying weakened and poorly organized Ukrainian units before breaking through, throwing dozens of soldiers and armored vehicles onto the battlefield. Ukrainian forces and analysts themselves admit that while the Russian military made huge mistakes at the start of the full-scale invasion, it is now learning and adapting quickly on the front. In addition, now Ukraine is losing settlements due to inappropriate rotation.
Rotation is usually the most dangerous moment" for an army, as it leaves positions only partially filled when soldiers fall back. The constant presence of surveillance drones hovering over the battlefield makes such rotations extremely difficult, especially for Ukraine, whose defense lines are already thin due to a shortage of manpower.
The Russian army vastly outnumbers the Ukrainian army in manpower and military equipment and ammunition. At the moment there is no “big breakthrough” on the front, but the Russian offensive threatens the “last defense belt” of Ukraine in the Donetsk region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said yesterday that its forces had taken control of the village of Lozuvatske in the Pokrovsky sector of Ukraine's Donetsk region, where some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in the 29-month war, Reuters reported. The Ukrainian General Staff made no mention of the settlement in its briefings, but noted that heavy fighting was taking place in the surrounding area.
Unofficial military bloggers reported the loss of at least two more settlements in the sector. Russian forces have been slowly and steadily advancing through eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region since capturing the key town of Avdeyevka in Donetsk region in February. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that forces of its “Center“ have captured Lozuvatske, northwest of the Russian-controlled regional center of Donetsk.
The ministry also reported that Russian forces struck other settlements in the sector and repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukrainian officials have reported for weeks that the Pokrovsky sector has been engulfed by the heaviest fighting along the 1,000-kilometer front line. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the situation in the sector twice with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Sirsky.
Ukraine's armed forces are under strong pressure in the eastern part of the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night in his evening video address to the nation, DPA reported. The situation around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in particular has been carefully analyzed by the military leadership, Zelensky said. "This region was and continues to be the center of Russian attacks," Zelensky pointed out. Everything possible should be done to strengthen Ukrainian defense positions in the region, he added.