While all eyes were on Russia, Ukraine has made significant gains this week. The chaos that Wagner boss Prigozhin created in Russia came at the right time and offers opportunities in the coming weeks.
“It’s a happy day. I wish our boys had more of these days,” said President Zelensky, who visited the front on Monday evening. “Progress has been made in all directions.”
In Bachmoet, territory had been recaptured “for the fourth day in a row”, the Ministry of Defense reported on Tuesday afternoon. “In our planning, we took into account the rivalry between Wagner and the regular army. It is now bearing fruit”, it sounded cynically.
The steady rise was a confirmation of previous Russian Telegram posts. The Ukrainian troops are on the outskirts of the town. Now comes the trickiest part: entering the center where the Russians have retreated behind the fortified defensive belt, which was still erected by Ukraine itself.
Exterminated army unit
In the south, the army took the village of Rivnopil. Remarkable detail: the village was liberated by the ’31st Mechanized Brigade’, a famous part of the Ukrainian army that, according to Moscow, had been “wiped out” on the first day of the counter-offensive.
With that conquest, the breach that had previously been made in the Russian defense line in the south is widening, now that Zhereb’yanky has also almost fallen. Ukraine used the momentum even more and continued its advance south towards Stepove and Pryyutne.
Russian military bloggers spoke of heavy casualties in their ranks, in some places up to 35 killed in a matter of hours. Russia is mainly struggling with a shortage of troops in Bachmoet and in the south, the British Ministry of Defense reported on Tuesday. Part of the Volga group, which had been withdrawn to rest, was rushed back to Russia on Saturday to ensure “internal security”.
‘Significant progress’
It has made “significant Ukrainian progress” at the front in recent days. On Tuesday it was announced that the Wagner mercenaries will be withdrawn to Belarus. “They probably won’t come back, as expected. The Volga group and Wagner made up a quarter of the Russian soldiers active in the front line,” it said.
Ukraine should be able to make use of that loss in the coming weeks. In the meantime, more than 300 square kilometers have already been liberated, “which is much more than Russia captured in the entire winter offensive.”
Successful crossing of the Dnieper
At least as important was the first successful crossing of the Dnieper to Kherson. Ukraine managed to take the Antonovsky Bridge and capture enemy positions on the western bank. “Our units withdrew from the area because of the threat of encirclement due to the actions of the artillery and the special forces. Nearby troops had to come to the rescue. The Russian army suffered heavy losses,” reported Russian military blogger Dva Mayora.
According to the military bloggers at the front, the bridgehead is steadily growing. With fast boats on the water and over the damaged bridge, men and heavy equipment are brought in. The Russian troops are having a hard time holding on. Ukraine has disrupted communications and is blocking signals to control drones.
A bad sign that the situation for Russian troops there is rapidly deteriorating is that not via internal communication channels, but on Telegram, calls were made for airstrikes against the deadly Ukrainian artillery. Military bloggers even offered to send the locations of the enemy via that social platform.
Strategic reserve in flames
The air force, which has played tricks on the counteroffensive in recent weeks, did not show up. This is partly due to Wagner’s raid on Moscow. Communications with the hinterland have been seriously disrupted after Russia destroyed the control center in Rostov-on-Don on Saturday to target the Wagner rebels. The same happened to an oil depot in Voronezh where part of the rebels were thought to be hiding. The fire was still not extinguished on Tuesday.
A strategic reserve of kerosene has gone up in flames. Since then, air cover has virtually ceased and the number of bombings on Ukrainian cities has also fallen sharply. On Tuesday evening there was a devastating rocket attack on the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. At least eight people were killed, including three children. Meanwhile, heavy fighting would be fought for control of the first city on the west bank, Oleshki.
‘Little to defend us’
According to military blogger Romanov, Ukraine controls the outskirts of the city. “A company was sent to counterattack. To put it euphemistically, it didn’t work. What do you want, some guys didn’t even have shoes.”
It turned out that not only Wagner’s uprising played tricks on the Russian troops. The attack on the Kachovka dam, which was more than likely the work of Russia, is also making itself felt. “Then part of our equipment was washed away,” testified a military blogger. “We have little to defend ourselves. The losses are great.”
‘Everything is over’
According to Romanov, Ukraine also succeeded in installing a second bridgehead on Tuesday, 20 kilometers away along the Dnieper at Hola Prystan. “The support of our air force can be summarized as: everything is over,” it sounded defeated.
And then there was another victory that was confirmed. Strategically not the most important, symbolically yes. Krasnohorivka was taken near Donetsk city. It is a city on the demarcation line. The first part of Ukraine that had been occupied since 2014, to retake Kiev.