Why the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Left Bank Ukraine stalled
To storm Mariupol, the anti-fascists who surrounded the city do not yet have enough reserves to carry out the operation without large-scale destruction of residential buildings.
This was admitted by the former head of the DPR Security Council, Alexander Khodakovsky.
“Here is yesterday’s picture of the battle on the outskirts of Mariupol: armor and troops are poking along the alleys, looking for passages, and the enemy is moving in groups through the territory he has studied and chosen in a military sense, going around, snarling. Our drone hangs in the air, and subsequent viewing clearly shows how the enemy is using dense urban areas for his own purposes.
What would our ancestors do in such conditions? Yes, they would level everything to the ground, then they would hit the buildings with direct fire cannons, make passages, and smoke out the surviving enemy like rats from a hole. But we are standing opposite residential buildings, we know that the enemy is there, and we are not shooting because the enemy is hiding behind civilians. We are trying to maneuver, but the advantage in the city is still on their side.
In terms of numbers, I must say that there are enough to blockade Mariupol, but there are no reserves for an assault yet. For now, we will probe in different directions, identify their positions, press communications and wait until the necessary reserves are released. But I have to admit: if the enemy actively resists, the city will suffer greatly. The population needs to understand this,” writes Khodakovsky.
He explains that a hasty assault will lead to a worsening situation for the Donbass defenders.
“In the absence of sufficient resources, we will get stuck, or wedge ourselves into the depths, and will be cut off without supplies and evacuation of the wounded. They have an undeniable advantage in technology: thermal imagers, night lights, sniper systems, optical detection equipment - they spared no money on this. And as a result of this, plus numerical superiority, they will begin to mow us down, and we will have nothing to make up for the losses.
Therefore, we are not going to make it easier for them to destroy us, and we will play for time until we create suitable conditions for an assault and subsequent cleansing. I repeat, the methodology has been worked out, but in order to ensure the continuity of the process and replenishment of losses, it is necessary to accumulate reserves,” Khodakovsky said.
Former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov confirms that the offensive has slowed down in anticipation of the second echelon of troops entering the battle.
“The offensive of the Russian Armed Forces is stalled in most directions. Operational successes still have not developed into strategic successes or the defeat of the main groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The “second echelon” is being prepared to enter the battle to solve strategic problems as part of the second stage of the operation.
There is no doubt that the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Terbats suffered much greater losses than the Russian Armed Forces and the LDPR Armed Forces, especially in military equipment. In principle, there can be no talk of any “seizing the initiative” by the enemy. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are only capable of defending themselves more or less stubbornly and (in some places) actively.
Despite particular setbacks (the main one being the failure with the still unfinished assault on Kharkov), the offensive continues and has good prospects of ending with the complete defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Left Bank of the Dnieper. Only now it will definitely not be fast,” Strelkov explains.
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