The progress they still are elusive for the Kremlin forces in Ukraine. the much advertised russian offensive in Donbas, proclaimed with great fanfare by the president Vladimir Putin in mid-April, is following patterns very similar to the development of hostilities seen during the beginning of the conflict: occupying forces that Hardly advance in the war frontand always at the cost of suffering serious losses. A month after Moscow began this new phase of the conflict with less ambitious objectives, and limited to propping up and expanding the this ukrainian under the control of the pro-Russian militias, nobody has the perception, in the Donbas in the hands of the kyiv Government, that the invading forces may end up closing pincer any around the Ukrainian positions, or otherwise achieving significant territorial acquisitions.
Following the evacuation recommendations issued by the kyiv Government, cities such as Krematorsk either Konstantinivka these days they look more desert if anything, last winter, when the war that began in 2014 was still limited to eastern Ukraine and Putin had not launched his self-styled special operation to “denazify” the neighboring state. But, at the moment, it does not seem that the inhabitants of these towns feel a imminent threat that they may end up falling into the hands of the moscow forces. “We don’t expect that to happen,” he proclaims, confident Michael Lavibsto, sitting on a bench in the center of Konstantinivka. But if that happens, “of course we’ll go.” The main regret of him is the collapse of the local economy, already very deteriorated in recent years due to the conflict with the pro-Russian militias that have been in power for eight years in Donetsk, the former regional capital. “We had a business selling lumber and now we can’t work“, he laments.
Irina Maklogon he refuses to leave his home. “In it 2014 I already left, and I lost my home; I had to buy another“, he explains. The situation has worsened ostensibly after February 24, the date of the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. “Before there was stability; now we stand up and rejoice to see that we are still alive“, she continues, while proudly showing the photos of her daughter, married to a citizen of Turkey and resident in the town of Antalya, and his granddaughter. The Donbas region, now the main war front after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the outskirts of kyiv and Kharkov, has its mind focused on the evolution of the war situation, and few of its inhabitants seemed to be aware of these days of the triumph obtained by his country in the eurovision song contest.
Verification of perceptions
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Western military observers have also noted these perceptions of stagnation in their latest reports. “Clearly, they lack (the Russians) the forces to carry out this operation,” he assured. Michael Kofmanof the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA), in statements collected by the information portal Vox. “The offensive (in Donbas) is not making dramatic progress, and radical change is highly unlikely,” the expert continued. An opinion corroborated this Sunday by the British intelligence services, which have assured that the offensive is clearly going “late” and that it was highly unlikely that significant progress could be made in the next 30 days.
Only in the towns of Adviika, a suburb of DonetskY Lisichansk and SeverodonetskFurther north, already in the Luhansk region, the Russians had managed to progress at the cost of suffering a high number of casualties, Ukrainian sources have admitted. The locality of Iziumhalfway between Kharkov and Donbas, is the geographical point where the main fighting is taking place these days, and where, as reported by the regional governor, Oleh Sinegubovthe Ukrainian troops have gone to the “counteroffensivea”.