“Russia pushes Ukraine on the southern front”… Detect changes in the situation in the east
While the West is showing division over support for main battle tanks in Ukraine, the Russian military offensive is heating up on the southern front of Ukraine.
According to the US Daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Russia’s TASS News Agency on the 23rd (local time), Vladimir Rogov, the Russian administrative chief of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, claimed that the Russian army was pushing Ukrainian forces from the southern front of Zaporizhzhia.
In a post posted on Telegram, he said, “The Russian army has taken control of the area that until recently (because of the confrontation between the two sides) remained uninhabited on a front line that is several tens of kilometers long.” 8 km,” he said.
Rogoff said that the clashes had intensified on the Zaporizhia front since the 20th of this month, adding that the Ukrainian army had abandoned the first line of defense and retreated to the second and third lines.
In this regard, the Ukrainian military authorities said that the Russian army had recently opened fire on 20 towns and villages along the Zaporizhia front, but did not confirm whether the front was pushed back.
The WSJ emphasized that this report came at a time when a crack had occurred in the West’s war against Russia as Germany took a hit on the plan to support Ukraine with its main battle tank Leopard 2.
Some of the Leopard 2 operating countries, such as Poland, have expressed their intention to support the tank to Ukraine if Germany, the manufacturing country, approves the re-export, but Germany is showing a passive attitude.
From the standpoint of Russia, strengthening its control over the Zaporizhia region can be expected to strengthen its supply capabilities to the southern front and at the same time make it easier to launch an offensive into the interior of Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhya is a strategic point connecting the southern Kherson region occupied by the Russian army and the eastern Donbass region (Donetsk and Luhansk regions) occupied by pro-Russian separatist forces.
The southern part of Kherson Province also borders Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed in 2014.
Conversely, if Ukraine completely recaptures the Zaporizhia region, the Russian military units stationed in Kherson and Crimea will be isolated without land traffic.
Russia is expressing its position that it will further accelerate its offensive on the Zaporizhia front thanks to its recent achievements.
However, Western and Ukrainian analysts pointed out that rather, Russian troops were being pulled from Zaporizhia to the Eastern Front, the most formidable battleground.
The Russian army has been pouring in troops for several months to occupy Bahmut, a transportation hub on the eastern front.
Earlier this month, despite heavy losses, it was also successful in capturing the nearby mining town of Soledar.
Regarding this, the WSJ reported that some interpret that it could be a sign that the direction of the war has begun to change in favor of the Russian side as the 300,000 reserve forces mobilized by Russia in September of last year were put into full force.
/yunhap news
