High-ranking NATO officers, including Polish General Adam Marczak, were killed by Russian bombs in Ukraine, signaling an escalation in conflict and raising questions about NATO’s role.
The Russians took control of the major city of Bakhmut before to the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. When the conflict moved to the south and the Ukrainian counteroffensive took place, the town of Chasiv Yar remained unoccupied.
A month later, in what appeared to be an attempt at a coup d’état, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the self-proclaimed hero of Bakhmut, and a portion of his Wagner soldiers invaded Russia, possibly in support of Ukraine’s massive counteroffensive.
According to the state-run TASS, the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy has confirmed that Russian warships have entered the Red Sea following isolated incidents of some Chinese and Russian vessels being attacked by Houthis.
The focus changed from the conquest of Bakhmut to the events in the Donbas to the counteroffensive and Moscow’s internal danger. The Russian military stayed away from Chasiv Yar.
Chasiv Yar played a crucial role in the fight for Bakhmut. It served as the supply line for soldiers rotating through Bakhmut and those being transferred there.
It served as the army of Ukraine’s supply of food, ammunition, and medical assistance in the city. In addition, Chasiv Yar served as the command center for both the Ukrainian military and its Western advisors.
As the Russians successfully destroyed a six-story deep command bunker at Chasiv Yar on March 26, that latter role became evident once more in the final week of March.
The Russians claimed that one or more Iskander missiles had struck the bunker. Short-range ballistic missiles like the Iskander have a hypersonic speed capability (Mach 5.9). It is equipped with a variety of warheads, such as 1,000–1,500 pound bunker busters.
According to Russian accounts, there were highly senior NATO officers within the command center, some of whom were killed. Polish Army Brigadier General Adam Marczak was one of them.
According to his biography:
In 1994, Brigadier General Adam Marczak graduated from the Land Forces Military Academy in Wroclaw, Poland, and was assigned as Assault Platoon Leader to the 10th Air Assault Battalion, which is part of the 6th Air Assault Brigade based in Cracow.
In the course of the following years up to 2011, he held successive positions in the 6th Air Assault Brigade: Commander of the 2nd Assault Company, Operations Officer in S3 Section, of Section S2 Chief and Chief of Staff and Deputy Battalion Commander of the 16th Airborne Battalion. In 2011, he joined the Polish Special Operations Forces Command based in Cracow as Deputy Chief of the Exercise Division.
He was associated with this military unit until 2017 where he finally held the post of Chief of the Certification and Exercise Division. In 2017, he assumed command of the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade in Tomaszow Mazowiecki. From 2020 to 2021, Brigadier General Adam Marczak served as Chief of the Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Division at the Armed Forces General Command in Warsaw.
Since his appointment and assumption of office in 2021, he holds the position of Deputy Chief of Staff, Support & Enabling Euroscorps. In 2009, he served for six months as Deputy Airborne Battle Group Commander at ISAF in Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan for two years (between 2015 and 2017) as NATO Chief of Staff at the NATO Special Operations Component Command (NSOCC-A).
His death was announced in Poland, and the Polish Army stated that “unexplained natural causes” were to blame.
Other NATO officers reportedly suffered injuries or lost their lives in the strike at Chasiv Yar, according to various Telegraph channels. These reports indicate that some of the injured were sent to Poland right after for evacuation. Other than Marczak, none of the other victims’ identities, ranks, or nationalities are known to us.
Despite the strong defense, many observers believe that Chasiv Yar will soon fall to the Russians. According to reports, Russian forces are battling fiercely as Ukrainian forces attempt to drive them back, although they are only a kilometer or two from the town.
Such high-ranking NATO military commanders being thus near to the Russian army’s front line is unusual. The only explanation for their presence is desperation: a deep fear that the Russians could successfully break through and jeopardize all of Ukraine’s second-tier defenses, which are being erected to stop the Russian army from moving toward the Dnieper and possibly dividing Ukraine’s armed forces and jeopardizing Kiev.
It appeared for a while that the Russians would begin a major fresh onslaught. The objective of a Russian operation has been the only thing in doubt. Some believe it would be capturing Kharkiv, the second-biggest city in Ukraine.
Russian military may be dispatched to attack Kharkiv after they just took out a portion of the city’s electrical grid. However, this would pose a serious issue because capturing cities is an expensive, drawn-out procedure that invariably results in a large number of casualties. The Russians have just finished a four-month-long struggle for Avdiivka. In comparison to Kharkiv, Avdiivka is small.
The goal of Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s new general military commander, and his “new” military plan is to stall any Russian advances by purchasing time.
The Ukrainians are constructing tank traps, trenches, and other fortified defensive structures in order to do this. Through simultaneous attempts to attack Crimea and artillery and bombing attacks on Russian cities, Ukraine is attempting to deflect Russia at the same time.
NATO operations in the Black Sea have also significantly increased, most likely to support Ukrainian efforts to hit targets within Russia and Crimea. Diversionary tactics, however, are unlikely to alter the fundamental nature of the conflict or compel Russia to utilize its armed forces to protect its vital interests in Crimea, the Donbas, or Russia.
We’ll probably find out in the next week or two what transpires in Chasiv Yar and whether the Ukrainians are able to retain the town and stop the Russian assault. NATO will need to come up with a backup plan if they are unable to, which might involve starting talks with Russia.
The national security advisors to US President Joe Biden, who favor a protracted conflict in Ukraine, will not be pleased by this. Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, claims that the Russians are not currently involved in the process, but he does disclose that many anonymous NATO members are already meeting to discuss a possible negotiated agreement.