The Russians say they want to “increase mutual trust” in the negotiations. Ukrainians believe it may not be a retreat, but that Putin’s army needs to reorganize and resupply the units that have been engaged for a month
It’s a potentially important day in the history of this crisis. Russia has announced that it will “drastically” reduce the presence around Kiev and Chernihivin the north, to increase – so said Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, a member of the Russian negotiating team in Istanbul — “Mutual trust and reaching a peace agreement”. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the first units have already withdrawn in the last five days from the northwest neighborhoods of the capital, returning to Belarus, from where they left at dawn on February 24: among the departments brought back across the border there are tax rates of the 35th Army and the 106th Airborne Division. The dates would seem to confirm, once again, General Ben Hodges’ 10-day prophecy. In Kiev, however, they believe that it may not be a real retreatbut that Vladimir Putin’s army needs to reorganize and supply the units that had been fighting at the gates of the capital for a month, without being able to bend the resistance: there are good chances, analysts explain, that the Russians are trying to gain time to pool the resources needed for a new offensive.
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The war, therefore, is far from over. The Ukrainian counterattacks were successful in the suburbs of the capital, in Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, where the airport where – on the first night of the offensive – landed the airborne troops who were to kill President Volodymyr Zelensky: instead it was a carnage . The voids suffered in recent weeks by a unit of Russian tanks (4th Guard) in the Trostanyets region were very heavy: 46 out of 220 were destroyed, in particular the T80s. To make them effective and structural, however, the Kiev army needs new weapons from the West. The fighting remains intense especially in Mariupolwhere the center still remains in Ukrainian hands, and in the Donbasswhere the Moscow Defense has said in recent days that it would concentrated their effortsma the Russians continue to target cities with long-range missiles, a way to keep the pressure high on Ukrainian leaders and at the same time targeting military and civilian targets. The reareven with respect to the announcement in Moscow, they are becoming increasingly important.
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In recent days, Putin’s rockets destroyed fuel depots across the countryto complicate logistics and – Ukrainians argue – create the conditions for a humanitarian crisis: it happened in Kiev, Lviv, Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Lutsk. Reduced fuel stocks could severely impact resistance operations, and it is a factor not to be overlooked: it is rather strange that the Russians did not decide to target the large tanks at the beginning of the invasion. Maybe they thought it wasn’t necessary. Kiev also has to think about how to get its device back on track, which in any case suffered heavy losses: the “defenders”, moreover, must keep the communication routes in the western part safe, from where missiles and aid arrive. In this challenge “behind” there is a probable new sabotage of the railway line in Belarus, which is essential for guaranteeing the transit of war material from Russia. According to information – to be verified – local Belarusian cells would operate.
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In this very dynamic framework the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has “reappeared”. Yesterday he would visit Mariupol accompanied by his son, Adam. A video showed it visit a hospital and meet some of its officers, including General Ruslan Geremeyev, commander of the contingent participating in the battle in the city. In the movie, the Russian general Mordvichev also appears, whose killing was announced by the Ukrainians a few days ago. Then there is a photo in which the dictator, in camouflage, he prays kneeling in the forecourt of a petrol station. And here the suspicions re-emerge: according to some, the signs of the plant are of the Rosneft network, which is not present in Ukraine. Other questions concern the exact dating of the show: all aspects made faded by the fog of war.
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But that’s not all. Because one expert, Neil Hauer, claims that Kadyrov was to be appointed general of the Russian army, an important recognition for a man who has often proved himself to be a faithful executor of the Kremlin. He does not have great strategic skills, but he does not hold back in unspeakable missions, such as the elimination of opponents. At the same time he can be a prize for external members who contribute to the campaign. An investigation of the Bbc argues that a good number of those killed are soldiers from South Ossetia and Dagestan, while 20 percent of the Russian dead are reported to be official. The share of airborne units is also quite high. However, these are assessments that cannot be considered definitive.
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March 29, 2022 (change March 29, 2022 | 18:13)
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