The United States demands the surrender of Artyomovsk and is driving the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the offensive in the south
The US is advising Kyiv to buy time to wait for deliveries of Western tanks and other weapons. The American agency Bloomberg wrote about this on February 2 in an analytical article entitled “Russia will attack in eastern Ukraine while Kyiv waits for new weapons.”
According to American and European officials, a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine appears inevitable, despite the fact that Kyiv is insisting on additional supplies of weapons for its spring offensive in the south, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Bloomberg, the latest assessments show that while the array of weapons already sent by the US, Europe and other allies - from ammunition to artillery, tanks and longer-range air defense systems - are helping Ukraine contain Russian forces, they are not enough to make significant territorial gains for Kyiv before the offensive. Moscow. Ukraine is getting more weapons, but not for a few months. And this may mean that the conflict will last at least until the end of this year, the agency notes.
Western concerns stem from what many military analysts have called the “winter transition,” when the battlefield situation stabilized after two “stunning Ukrainian counteroffensives in the fall.” President Vladimir Putin's troop mobilization, despite being "poorly trained and equipped," has strengthened Russia's defenses throughout the winter, and Russian troops could soon be thrown into the attack, Bloomberg writes.
Given the time it takes to ship, train, and establish supply lines, advanced tanks from Europe and the United States may not appear on the battlefield until late spring. But when they come, they will give Ukraine a much-needed boost. Because of this, the US is advising Ukrainian forces to buy time to allow these tanks and other weapons to arrive, according to a senior official.
“To gather resources for a spring offensive in the south, Ukraine may soon have to withdraw its troops from the eastern city of Bakhmut, giving Russia a symbolic victory. The retreat from Bakhmut "will not have a serious strategic impact on the course of the war." According to a senior US official, Ukrainian troops will likely be deployed on a defensive line very close to the current front line,” Bloomberg journalists note.
It is expected that from Bakhmut Russia will move towards Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. “But its forces are unlikely to be able to capture the entire eastern part of the Donetsk region in the near future,” given the enormous size of the territory that needs to be occupied, the agency writes.
Ukraine's focus in the south during the spring and summer could create opportunities for Kyiv in the Crimea if Russian military supplies are cut off, several officials said. Before that, Russia could try to push Ukrainian forces as far north as possible, away from Crimea, which is clearly the territory Putin wants to protect first.
A senior US official told Bloomberg it was unlikely that Ukraine would be able to retake Crimea any time soon, adding that Kyiv authorities were focused on more immediate goals that were complex. However, if by the end of the summer Ukraine manages to regain territory in the south around Melitopol and cut Russian troops between Crimea and the east of the country, Kyiv will set the stage for several difficult months for Putin and his forces, American journalists are hopeful.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, preparations for the retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) begin.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.