If the Ukrainian army does not allow Russian troops to capture Slovyansk, Moscow's strategy to capture the entire Donbass could be put to an end.
Russian invasion of Ukraine proved more expensive and less successful than most analysts had expected six weeks ago. Now experts are convinced that Moscow is changing its military approach.
Now Vladimir Putin has focused on trying to take control of the entire Donbas. And, according to several US officials who reviewed US intelligence estimates, Moscow wants to achieve this by early May. Because of this, the city of Sloviansk, 480 kilometers from Kyiv, could become a critical battlefield in the coming weeks.
a turning point in the war in Ukraine, “CNN quoted the Institute for War Studies (ISW) in Washington as saying. p>”They are moving to Kamyanka because it is the way to Slovyansk. We have intercepted Russian radio talks. Their task is to capture the Donetsk region from the north, “said Maksym Strelnyk, a deputy of the Izyum city council. p>On Wednesday, Adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Denysenko also noted: “If we talk about the key areas where the fighting continues, it is Slovyansk and Barvinkove.” CNN reports that 100,000 people lived in Sloviansk before Russia's full-scale invasion. They are now being urged to evacuate as Ukrainian troops prepare to defend the city from a new Russian massacre. Control of the city is of strategic value to the whole conflict. If the Russian army captures Slavyansk, it will be able to cut off Ukrainian forces in the region. If the Ukrainian Armed Forces can repel the offensive, Russia's ambitions to take full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will be thwarted.
The strategic importance of Slovyansk
CNN reminds that Slovyansk was one of the main points of the war in Donbass in 2014. For a short time, Russian forces retained control of it, but in July of that year they were forced to retreat. The importance of the city is now due to the fact that on three sides of it are now occupied by Russia: Izyum in the north, Lugansk in the east and Donetsk in the south. However, Sloviansk itself lies in the western part of Donbass, blocking access to other regions of Ukraine.
“The Russian army hopes to cut off Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine. And for this capture of Slovyansk is the minimum condition, “ISW said.
If the offensive is successful, Moscow will be able to join forces with those fighting in Rubezhnoye northeast of Slovyansk. Or even send forces south to Horlivka and Donetsk to try to surround the Ukrainian military. However, Russia suffered numerous military setbacks in the first six weeks of the war. And the inability to capture Ukrainian cities, such as Kyiv, forced it to focus on Donbass. In this context, a new Russian defeat in Sloviansk under pressure from Ukrainian resistance may put an end to even Moscow's new strategy.
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“If Russian forces fail to capture Slovyansk, Russian frontal attacks in the Donbas are unlikely to break through Ukraine's defenses on their own. And Russia's campaign to seize Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts is likely to fail completely, “ISW experts said.The reinforced Russian troops, which are now moving from Izyum in the direction of Slovyansk, consist of the First Guards Tank Army, which previously took part in the battles near Kharkiv and Sumy. They have not yet been joined by forces withdrawn from the Kyiv region. And their advance to Slovyansk has been slow and has not made much progress in a week. But Russia could step up its offensive as soon as new troops are available. On Monday, Slovyansk residents were ordered to evacuate for fear of a full-scale attack and a humanitarian catastrophe that could ensue. Such a fate has already befallen Izyum, which has been under constant Russian attack for many weeks. On Monday, a senior US Defense Department official said the Russian Air Force makes more than 200 sorties daily. And most of their strikes are concentrated in the area around Izium.
“It's getting worse every day. Russia began bombing a few weeks ago and is not stopping them for a minute. Russia says it is cutting back on military operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts. But Izyum and Kharkiv region were not so lucky, “Strelnyk said, adding that the dead were simply buried” in the city's central park. “
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