VLADIMIR Putin is plotting to seize the Donbass region in just a few weeks while distracting Kiev’s forces on the northern front, military experts warn.
The new offensive in Kharkiv could be Moscow’s ultimate mistake – stretching and distracting Ukraine to finally conquer the prized eastern region in June.
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Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the British think tank RUSI, argued that in the coming weeks Kremlin troops will attack Donbass from the north and south in a pincer movement to take over everything.
Speaking to The Sun, he said that for more than a month Russian forces have been stretching Ukraine along its entire 600-mile front “putting pressure everywhere at once”.
In a bid to beat incoming Western arms shipments by allowing Ukraine to bolster its defenses, Russia is on a “timetable to get something done quickly,” Clark said.
“It’s a big semicircle and they’re trying to attack everywhere at the same time,” he argued.
But the Kremlin’s ultimate plan, Clarke argued, is to conquer the entire Donbass region of eastern Ukraine once and for all.
On May 10, Russia began a major new offensive in the northeast, in the Kharkiv region, after amassing more than half a million troops who appeared poised to march west.
Ukraine is desperately trying to hold the line as Moscow launches troops into meat-grinder attacks, seizing key villages and towns in its fastest advance in months.
By June or July, if they are lucky, the Russians may have conquered all of Donbass
Professor Michael Clarke
And yet, Clarke believes this is a cruel deception, designed to lure Kiev’s troops north, while most of Moscow’s troops are actually preparing to turn east and march south.
He said: “It’s a two-pronged offensive, as I see it.”
Russian advances on two fronts underscore the severe shortages of ammunition and manpower that have crippled the Ukrainian military and opened the way for the Kremlin army to erode Ukrainian territory.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, former deputy supreme commander of NATO, also fears that Putin’s next ultimate objective will be the East and not the North.
He told The Sun: “The latest offensive appears to be causing real problems for the Ukrainians.
“This could allow the Russians to – if they launch an effective attack in the north, force Ukraine to lower its defenses around the southeast.” [of Donbas].
“This could allow Russia to concentrate its forces in the Donbas and break through there and encircle Ukrainian defenses while gaining significant ground.”
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ENJOYING DONBAS
Although Ukraine is terrified that Russia will head towards the city of Kharkiv after weeks of constant bombing, Professor Clarke argues that this is probably not its strategy.
“Kharkiv is a big city,” he said, adding that they were likely to keep up the pressure.
“But they can just sit back and do what they’re good at, which is bomb residential areas until everything turns to rubble and then plant a flag in the rubble.”
Instead, the border town of Vovchansk – where fierce street battles took place following the entry of Russian troops this week – will likely be more crucial, he argued.
“If they manage to take Vovchansk, I think they will head east to join the forces coming west from Kupiyansk.”
And then the game began.
By creating a northern front in the Kharkiv region, “it will create a united force from west to east that will then head south to link up with Chasiv Yar’s forces heading north – and take Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.”
He stated that these two main cities are the gateway to the rest of Donbass.
“That would make perfect sense to me – between now and the end of June or July, if they’re lucky, the Russians could have taken over all of Donbas.”
US rushes in military aid and Zelensky cancels trips: the latest news on Russia’s new offensive
The US rushed to provide military aid after Ukraine admitted its forces were withdrawing in certain areas and President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled all future foreign trips.
This is the latest news on Russia’s major new offensive in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has massed more than half a million troops on the northeastern front in a bid to overwhelm Kiev’s strained defenses and battle-weary troops.
Ukraine is desperately trying to hold the line, but Russia has a significant advantage in manpower and ammunition and is increasing its advantage, gaining miles of ground in days.
The blitz, considered the first stage of Russia’s summer offensive, was designed to finally break the stalemate by launching troops into human wave attacks.
Royal United Services Institute war expert Dr Jack Watling told The Sun that unless Ukraine managed to raise more troops, its prospects were bleak as Russia had “significant numerical superiority”.
Kiev said Russian pressure appeared to have lost momentum on Tuesday – but faced with Putin’s 500,000-strong force, it warned that could change quickly.
On Wednesday, Moscow said its forces had advanced deeper into the Kharkiv region and captured the symbolic city of Robotyne – one of the only prizes of Ukraine’s silent summer counter-offensive.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
