Putin seizes Kherson in southern Ukraine… where to aim next

© News1

Russian forces captured Kherson, a strategic strategic point in southern Ukraine on the 3rd (local time), and it is analyzed that they will take the southern port city of Mariupol next in turn.

The New York Times (NYT) speculated that Russian forces had seized Kherson as Russia entered the eighth day of its invasion of Ukraine, and that Russia would next capture Mariupol, blocking Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and Azov Sea routes.

The New York Times reported that Russian forces are “fearing that they will attack Myrupol, which has lost electricity and heating,” and that Mariupol is “some of the most important points for linking Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.” In addition, the media added that if Mariupol was handed over to Russian forces, the Ukrainian army would be surrounded by Russian forces coming from the east and west.”

Earlier, Mayor Igor Kolihayev of Kherson said that Kherson had been captured by a Russian attack the day before, saying, “The city is under siege. “As armed forces take control of the city’s administration, citizens must follow the orders of the Russian army,” he said.

In this regard, the New York Times reported that “following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world’s attention was focused on the capital Kyiv and the second city of Kharkov (Kharkov) located in northern Ukraine” There appears to be,” he said.

“The capture of Kherson by Russian forces will allow them to advance as far as Odessa and completely block Ukraine’s access to the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea,” it added.

In fact, the Russian army is continuing a fierce battle in the southern port city of Mariupol. Mariupol is a city in the southernmost part of Donetsk Oblast, where the Russian army and pro-Russian separatist rebels have dominated. If this area is captured, the Eastern Front and the Crimean Peninsula Southern Front will become one, and the Russian military’s superiority in the eastern and southern fronts will be strong. This is why both sides cannot back down.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has released a document on Facebook containing the battle plans of the Russian army on the 2nd (local time). © News1

In addition, a document recently released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense supports the NYT’s analysis.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine posted a document containing the tactics of some units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the 2nd, saying that it had obtained the battle plans of the Russian forces.

The defense ministry also insisted that the ultimate goal of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was to seize Mariupol.

Western officials are raising the possibility that Putin might annex part of Ukraine’s territory to Russia and set up a puppet regime that would annihilate Ukrainian forces and prevent them from joining NATO or the European Union, the New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, delegations from Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to negotiate a second armistice on the Polish-Belarus border on the same day.

The two sides held their first negotiations in the Belarusian border town of Hormel on the 28th of last month, but without any results, they broke up with a promise of the next one.

(Seoul = News 1)

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