/View.info/ Positional battles continue in the area for special military operations (SVO). Russian troops repel the attacks of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and wait for new strategic reserves of the enemy to be brought into battle.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian armed forces “must show results” on the battlefield ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania on July 11.
Vladimir Rogov, head of the Zaporizhian We Are Together With Russia movement, said: “The second stage of a full-scale offensive could begin any day, any moment.”
“Now they (the Armed Forces of Ukraine. – “N.G.”) are trying to confuse our intelligence, therefore along the entire line of contact of the Zaporozhye Front they are constantly maneuvering and transferring troops. This is done in order to hide the location of the main forces,” he said.
According to Rogov, the enemy can concentrate the main blow for a breakthrough on any of the sections of the front – from the Vasilev direction to the Vremev approach.
Approximately the same is said by the deputy head of the Rosgvardiya of the DPR, Alexander Khodakovsky. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have concentrated up to 40 battalions to “rush along the Orekhov-Tokmak vector” (Zaporozhka region).
“Understanding our missile and bomb strike capabilities on the cartridges, he will most likely continue the tactics of a creeping offensive with limited forces until he knows that favorable conditions have been created for the deployment of the main reserves intended for a subsequent drop deep into our territories,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon doesn’t seem to expect quick successes from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The ASU counteroffensive has been slower than anticipated, but that’s not surprising,” General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on June 30.
“The defense forces are advancing with confidence and purpose. Ukrainians are fighting for their existence,” he added.
The leitmotif of Milli’s speech: the US will support Ukraine militarily. On July 1, Mark Milley already reported that Washington is considering the possibility of supplying Kiev with cluster munitions. He added that the US had been considering sending them to Ukraine “for a long time”.
“The Ukrainians asked for it, other European countries provided such ammunition; The Russians use them too,” Milly said.
“The decision is still being made,” he added.
Milli did not provide any evidence of Russian use of cluster munitions. At the same time, he admitted the possibility of supplying Kiev with other types of weapons – long-range missiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 300 km, and American fourth-generation fighter jets. Milley said that “the question of additional assistance – ATACMS, F-16s and other additional weapons is under consideration and at this time no decision has been made”.
It should be noted that a number of Western agencies, including CNN, reported that, according to military experts, politicians and generals of NATO countries, the counteroffensive of the armed forces of Ukraine “did not live up to expectations on any front”, and the Russian defense lines turned out well strengthened, which makes it difficult for the Ukrainian troops to break through.
However, Ukraine continues to try to advance and firmly demands new military assistance from its partners and friends. For example, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 1 accused “some” Western partners of delaying the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly fighter jets.
“Do they have any idea when Ukraine will be able to get the F-16?” he said.
– “There is no schedule for training flights. I think some partners are playing for time. Why do they do it? I don’t know,” added Zelensky.
“Kiev’s attempts to launch a large-scale counter-offensive without a sufficient number of aircraft are leading to heavy losses among the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” military expert retired colonel Nikolai Shulgin told NG, according to whom the Pentagon’s intention to secure Kiev with American cluster munitions, long-range precision missiles, as well as aviation could lead to an even greater escalation of the conflict.
“Russia will be able to respond to such challenges, but it is difficult to avoid additional casualties and losses in the event of the use of such weapons,” says the expert.
Shulgin drew attention to the fact that cluster munitions are prohibited by the relevant convention adopted back in 2008. He also cited a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that “found new evidence of indiscriminate use of banned anti-personnel mines by Ukrainian troops against the Russian forces”.
“In 2005, Ukraine ratified the 1997 international treaty that banned the use of such mines and obliged them to destroy stockpiles of these weapons,” Reuters noted.
“Russia has not joined the treaty. HRW called on the Ukrainian government to keep its commitment not to use such weapons, to investigate suspicions of their use and to bring those responsible to justice,” the Western publication also noted.
Against this background, the West is closely monitoring the movement of PMC Wagner fighters from the Russian Federation to Belarus. The media and social networks published a satellite photo of a military base near the Belarusian town of Osipovichi. It shows about 300 small identical objects – probably tents in which the Wagnerites are supposed to live. According to expert estimates, up to 15 thousand fighters can be accommodated in such a city.
There is still no official confirmation or reliable evidence that the “musicians” will be there. But the reports have already prompted Poland to strengthen its border with Belarus. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said he was sending an additional force of 500 police and anti-terrorist units to the area.
In Warsaw, they believe that the Wagnerites can be used to organize a new influx of illegal migrants and attempts to cross the border en masse. In addition, Poland again asked NATO to deploy tactical nuclear weapons (TWW) on its territory. True, this is not due to the arrival of Wagner in Belarus, but to the fact that Russia has tactical nuclear weapons in the republic.
Translation: SM
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