2023-06-13 19:03:00
This Monday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had also claimed control of 90 new square kilometers, in particular on the side of the oblasts of Donetsk and Zapporijjia, where the offensive forces would have progressed by a few kilometers. In the Bakhmout region, intense fighting was also reported on Tuesday, but the most notable progress would have been made from the small town of Tokmak (resumed Monday), towards Berdiansk (south of the country, some 80 kilometers of Mariupol).
Russian defensive advances
The Ukrainian command reported on Tuesday that “the enemy does everything to keep the positions he has taken over. He actively uses attack and army aircraft, and conducts intense artillery fire. During the offensive, our troops face minefields combined with anti-tank ditches. All this is combined with constant counter-attacks by enemy units in armored vehicles and the massive use of ATGMs (Editor’s note: anti-tank ammunition) and kamikaze drones”.
For the time being, it seems that we are still “in armed reconnaissance operations with a view to achieving a breakthrough”, analyzes Alain de Nève, defense specialist at the Center for Security and Defense Studies (CESD). If the latter notes “that the Ukrainians use all the ground armored means that have been provided to them, the famous Leopard II tanks, other armored personnel carriers in order to support mobile maneuvers”, it remains to be seen what exactly the Ukrainians have in mind. These are also handicapped by Russian defensive advances, in particular anti-drone systems, which have now integrated the flight profiles of Ukrainian drones.
”We are no longer really in the line of contact established in the east, we have gone further south, especially towards Zaporijjia”, continues Alain de Nève. “Is there the idea of creating a breakthrough towards Crimea? It is very likely. With the prospect of the arrival of the F16 combined with the Storm Shadow (Editor’s note: missiles recently supplied by the United Kingdom) and more modular strike capabilities, one can imagine that there is a desire to move towards that. Likewise, the attempt to break through to Donetsk may also mean that they will try to move gradually towards Mariupol”.
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Azov’s Promise
”Today, at this very moment, the soldiers of Azov are writing a new story at the front in extremely difficult conditions, with their sweat and their blood. The occupants will be destroyed. The blue and yellow flag of freedom will once once more fly over Mariupol. The Azov battalion will return home”posted precisely, this Tuesday on the Telegram messenger, the famous fighters of the battalion, who had ardently defended the city during the Russian siege in mid-May 2022.
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