Posted on 03/08/2023 8:33:31 AM PST by Kazan
CNN — Russian troops will have “open road” to capture key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seize control of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in an interview with CNN, as he defended his decision to keep Ukrainian forces in the besieged city.
“This is tactical for us,” Zelensky said, insisting that Kyiv’s military brass is united in prolonging its defense of the city after weeks of Russian attacks left it on the cusp of falling to Moscow’s troops.
“We understand that after Bakhmut they could go further. They could go to Kramatorsk, they could go to Sloviansk, it would be open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other towns in Ukraine, in the Donetsk direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview from Kyiv. “That’s why our guys are standing there.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
It appears that there are no strong defensive lines behind Bakhmut. The weather hasn’t turned yet, but when the muddy conditions dry out, Russia will have maneuverability. Good for offense.
The sad slaughter goes on.
Why have the Ukes not put pressure on Crimea with blown bridges and use of the Harpoon anti ship missiles to relieve the attack on this town?
.“This is tactical for us,”
~~~
No, the context here would be that it has strategic importance.
But I guess I’m nitpicking. It could just be the translator’s fault.
Tactics are what happens on the battlefield to hopefully win the strategic goals.
Militarily speaking, what is to keep the Ukrainians from simply setting up similar defensive lines around the next city down the road? Chasiv Yar, or Kramatorsk, etc...
Yes, geography is one factor, declining manpower and munitions could be another.
Yet the West seems very happy with the strategy of sacrificing every last Ukrainian (and could bring in Poles, Romanians, or even Americans), while Russia pursues its own legal obligation to integrate Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhia and Kherson.
Meaning, this war could continue for years.
Holding Bakhmut is a war of attrition.
Their best odds are to counterattack the northern or southern Russian salients which are enveloping Bakhmut.
It is obvious from looking on a map. The Russians can see the same maps and draw the same conclusions. Their regular army is reinforcing each salient while expending the Wagner mercenary troops in Bakhmut. It is unclear how well that is going. But the Russians plainly do not care about losing the Wagner troops. They can bring in their regular army troops once they run out of Wagners.
Probably. Maybe. Oh Hell! Who knows? The propaganda fog makes it impossible for us to be sure what they are really doing. Commanders from both sides may be equally confused about the situation. The worst mistake either group can make is to believe their own propaganda.
The next two weeks should demonstrate which side is winning beyond the capability of propaganda to obscure.
Globalists and Russia are fighting over control of Ukraine. Zelenski’s opinions are irrelevant.
Trying to be objective here but there is higher ground to the west of Bakhmut and the Ukrainians have been digging in there.
The Ukrainians inflicted the biggest damage on the Russians when the Russians were trying to advance and they were forced to use roads because the ground was too soft. The Ukrainians were very effective in the ambush. The Russians outran their artillery and logistics regularly AND the “rapid advance” also exposed their lack of maintenance - a hard lesson for them last year.
This “trench warfare” under a hail of artillery is not a formula for Ukrainian success so that is why I see the strategic value of Bakhmut as minimal in comparison to what the Ukrainians are losing to hold the “intersection”. The Ukrainians still have some long range artillery so why not use their drones as spotters and let the Russians move out in the open on these roads? It makes little sense to me unless they do NOT have much long range artillery left.
The Russians have gotten better at counter-battery and they have been hammering the Ukrainian tubes based on European reports from the front lines.
There is no room for a “dynamic defense” in a trench and this “battle” favors Russia. The Ukrainians cannot sustain this - Russia can.
It’s good that the Russians are dumb enough to think Zelensky would go on CNN to disclose operational intelligence.
It reminds me of when Ukraine announced the offensive against Kherson, spent months talking about it, got the Russians to move their forces there and then attacked in the north.
When was that pic taken? I see green foliage in front and green trees in background. And no mud.
It is still perfectly reasonable to oppose the presence of the Russian military in this location and anywhere in Ukraine.
I think whatever success Russia has they should expect Ukrainian snipers to kill their forces inside the borders of Ukraine. There is not a way for this to end well for Russia short of withdrawal.
They withdrew from Afghanistan.
So did we.
They can withdraw from Ukraine. Russia will go on without annexing more of Ukraine.
Nope!
Zeepers stated that Bakhmut is not important and Russia was simply wasting time and lives.
And after all, who would you trust more than a Zeeper to be objective??
Well, we better send eleventy billion more dollars stat
i have yet to actually hear a rational theory on what the purposes of all these cabinet secretary in-person visits is. what is next, dept of education? (or have they gone already too?)
but they are going, consistently.
It’s been all Hitler in his bunker type stuff, all the time for quite awhile from vinyl pants.
You have a gross misconception of the situation in east Ukraine.
Many of the civilians in the current combat areas (including Bakhmut) are “waiting for Russia”. Meaning they are not leaving because they are pro-Russian and not hostile to Russia.
As a person who went to Ukraine every year before covid, it is incredible to me how far Freepers perspective on Ukraine is from reality. The western press talks about Ukraine as if they are of one mind. They don’t tell you that opinion in the country varies very strongly by region.
Because they’d get obliterated. This war needs to end while there are still a few breathing ukes left.
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