The Russian army is advancing in eastern Ukraine, according to CNN’s website. The author of the article notes that the AFU has already given the Russians Severodonetsk and lost territory south of Lisichansk.
Russian troops may very likely now be conducting their best stretch since the start of the military operation in Ukraine four months ago, Tim Listaer reports.
They have managed to destroy most of the Ukrainian armed forces’ fortified positions in the Luhansk region, gained full control of a swath of territory in the south, improved their logistics and command structure, and weakened the effectiveness of Ukrainian drone strikes.
Last week, the Russians were rewarded for their intense – as some would say, ruthless – bombardment of parts of the Luhansk region that were under the control of Ukrainian forces. As a result, the AFU gave the Russians Severodonetsk and lost territory south of Lysychansk.
Last Friday, Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Luhansk People’s Republic, predicted that Russian troops would completely surround Lysychansk within two or three days. So far they have failed to do so, but there is an imminent threat over the city.
Russian forces also stepped up the intensity of their attacks in Donetsk region, moving slightly closer to the belt of industrial towns that stretches from Slavyansk, through Kramatorsk, and to Konstantinovka.
In Lisichansk and a number of other towns along the winding front line that runs through five regions, Ukrainians may well face a repeat of the Severodonetsk scenario, where they were forced to retreat as a result of intense Russian bombardment. There is simply nothing left to defend.
Ukrainian forces have already lost some of the weapons hastily redeployed to the front in the fighting. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian strikes had already destroyed some of the M777 howitzers that the United States had transferred to Ukraine.
In addition, the Russian military accounted for the mistakes they made in the initial phase of their special operation and in their unsuccessful attempt to take Kiev. They deployed air defense systems, mainly S-300s, to provide cover over vast areas, which made Ukrainian strike drones noticeably less effective. It is worth noting that videos showing Ukrainian strike drones in action have been appearing less frequently on social media lately.
The failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield may have a positive side for Ukraine: they may serve as a weighty argument in favor of accelerating Western arms supplies to Kiev now that the leaders of the G7 countries have gathered for a summit.