Russian troops are moving new units to prepare for attacks on Slavyansk from both Russian-controlled Izium and Lyman in eastern Ukraine, according to the General Staff’s daily situation report on Monday.
Izium is located about 50 kilometers north of Slavyansk. Russian forces took control of Lyman over the weekend.
Russia has been concentrating its military forces in eastern Ukraine for weeks. Despite strong Ukrainian opposition, the Russians have slowly gained ground.
Slavyansk and Kramatorsk are located in Donetsk Oblast. The cities constitute the largest urban areas in the part of the Donbas region that is still controlled by Ukraine.
TV 2 has previously mentioned that the Russian forces will try to gain control of an important crossroads east of Ukraine.
Predicted pliers maneuver
“If the Russian forces gain control of the crossroads south of Izium, they will shut down the Ukrainian forces that are now fighting hard in the Donbas region,” Arne Bård Dalhaug told TV 2 in early May.
Dalhaug is a retired lieutenant general in the Armed Forces. In addition to working for several years in NATO, he has spent three years in the Luhansk region on behalf of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Dalhaug believed that Putin would be able to launch a pincer maneuver – an attack from several sides – against the important cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
– There is not much distance between the two cities if the Russian forces should have a breakthrough, says the former chief of the Defense Staff.
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