Not only the seizure of Donbas: Musienko talks about two tasks of Russian troops at the front
The Russian occupation forces now face two tasks at the front in Ukraine – a minimum and a maximum task.
This was stated by Oleksandr Musienko, Head of the Center for Military Legal Studies, during a national telethon, commenting on the intensification of fighting in Donbas.
According to the military expert, the minimum task of the occupiers is to capture Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
– They obviously have two tasks: minimum and maximum. The minimum task is to capture Donetsk region, gain full control over Luhansk region and stabilize the frontline. That is, to leave behind what they occupy. The South is extremely important for them – it is a land corridor to Crimea,” Musiyenko noted.
He clarified that this is why Russian troops are trying to intensify hostilities where they can, in order to draw back Ukrainian forces.
– “The maximum task is to try to expand the bridgehead and move further in order to increase the occupation of Ukrainian territory,” the expert explained.
He emphasized that the Russian Federation is continuing to mobilize and redeploy forces to the front for these very purposes. In particular, the 1st Tank Army of the Russian Federation, which was practically destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the full-scale war, was partially restored.
This tank army of the Russian Federation was trained in Belarus, and now the command has moved it to the area of Valuiki (Belgorod region), where there is a deployment point for Russian troops.
According to Musiyenko, in general, the enemy is now concentrating on three directions:
- The first is that it plans to flank the rear of the Ukrainian grouping of troops moving towards the city of Kreminna in Luhansk region. For this purpose, the Russian command has redeployed 1 tank army to the Valuik area. The aggressor wants to block the advance of Ukrainian troops in Luhansk region and is counting on a large number of manpower – its mobilized troops.
- The second is the fighting in the area of Bakhmut – Soledar. The enemy is planning to move from Soledar to the northeast – in the direction of Bilohorivka and Siversk, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling the attacks.
- The third is the Zaporizhzhia direction “as an accompanying direction to move to Donetsk region.” The occupiers see that the Ukrainian defense line near Bakhmut is strong and are trying to bypass our forces from the north and south.
– It should be noted that the previous few days, when the enemy tried to intensify combat actions in the Zaporizhzhya sector, were not successful for them. They intensified shelling, started sorties of their groups, but were unsuccessful,” added Musiyenko.
The military expert clarified that more intensive use of manpower and assault groups of the Russian Federation is being observed. This may indicate that the occupiers do not have enough artillery and heavy weapons in all areas.
In addition, Russian troops have begun to pull back their forces, fearing Ukrainian long-range weapons: for example, they have relocated military helicopters from near Melitopol to Berdiansk.
According to Musienko, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who recently became the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, has begun to use airborne troops more actively at the front, despite the fact that they had previously suffered heavy losses.
The military expert also does not rule out that under Gerasimov’s command, Russian troops may be preparing missile strikes on military targets before an offensive.
