The Russian army is carrying out an extensive assault over several kilometers in the Donbass, and on Tuesday increased its troops in Ukraine further. The shelling continued to intensify, according to the latest British intelligence reportreleased at 9 p.m.
Deadly attacks were carried out on the cities of Kharkiv and Kramatorsk, and Moscow claimed to have targeted targets near Zaporizhia and Dnipro. According to a senior US Defense Department official, Russia has increased its military presence in eastern and southern Ukraine, bringing the total of battalions in the country to 76.
However, Russia seems to be impeded in its progress by “environmental, logistical and technical challenges (…) as well as by the resilience of the very determined Ukrainian forces”continues the British intelligence report. “Russia’s inability to eliminate resistance in Mariupol and its indiscriminate attacks (…) are indicative of their continued failure to achieve her goals as quickly as she would like. »
L’Institute for the Study of War analysis (ISW) is similar. According to its latest report, Russian forces are likely to gain ground with a large concentration of artillery and men, but Russian operations are unlikely to show greater success than the offensives around kyiv, says the note. The ISW also reports effective Ukrainian counterattacks southeast of Kharkiv, which likely would have required the Russians to divert units of soldiers to reinforce that front.
In Mariupol, the last Ukrainian soldiers resisting the Russian attacks are still holding out despite the incessant Russian fire and bombardment. In this port city where the authorities fear the death of 20,000 to 22,000 civilians, the fighting is concentrated around the Azovstal metallurgical complex. In addition to the Ukrainian fighters entrenched there, “at least a thousand civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly, [sont] in the underground shelters” plant, the Mariupol city council said on Telegram on Tuesday. “There are fights going on, street fights (…) but also tank battles”said the head of the regional civil administration of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, on CNN.
In the south of the country, another front privileged by Moscow, the Russian forces have also reported dozens of other missile strikes. Russia, which already occupies the city of Kherson, “concentrate one’s strength” to advance towards the Mykolaiv region, further west, where the shelling has intensified, Natalia Goumenyuk, spokeswoman for the southern command of the Ukrainian armed forces, said on Tuesday.
“Everyone expected an offensive like February 24 with a terrible big force”however, underlined on Tuesday the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Oleksiy Arestovych. “But it is proceeding cautiously. These are Russian units trying to advance. In the South they try to encircle us, it started the day before yesterday [dimanche]. »
