A large-scale operation of the Russian Army in the Donbass has begun; This is Russia’s largest military operation since the Patriotic war in 1945.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has not recently released information about the deployment of forces in the Donbas, but this does not mean that Russia’s offensive capabilities are “exhausted”.
In fact, the information lull may indicate, preparation for the implementation of one of the most important strategic operations, in the special Russian military operation in Ukraine; it was the encirclement of the Slavic-Kramatorsk defense zone by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Earlier on March 25, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian army and pro-Russian militias, controlled 54% of the territory of Donetsk and 93% of the territory of Lugansk. Currently, the Russian Army is concentrating its forces to occupy the entire Donbass region.
In the Slavic-Kramatorsk defense zone, which houses the 95th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Army (Headquarters in the Gorlovka Region), people heard loud Russian artillery shelling into the area.
According to some information, Russia used Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles to attack Ukrainian forces defending here. This is also a typical sign, for the Russian army is about to launch a major attack coming.
Currently, Ukrainian forces are the strongest defense, concentrated in the direction of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut and Lisichansk; Currently, the Russian army has organized a siege, and is capable of not attacking directly, but attacking from the flank in the direction of Pokrovsk.
But no matter which offensive direction Russia takes, it will encounter very strong Ukrainian forces currently defending in the Donbass. Before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Ukrainian Army was in Donbas, numbering about 135-140 thousand troops
It can be said that before that, most of the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were concentrated here. The numbers of the Ukrainian side in the Donbass, 30% more than the total number of Russian troops, have been brought into Ukraine to conduct a special military operation.
According to Russian intelligence, Ukraine’s defenses in the Donbass, have been reduced by at least half due to casualties, captured or missing by Russian troops; troops abandoned their positions in the first weeks of the conflict.
But in reality, the remaining Ukrainian forces in the Donbas are enormous; The defensive battlefields here are built widely in several lines, can support each other well. All these defensive positions, which have been prepared for many years, even have foreign assistance.
Ukraine’s defense forces in Donbass, arranged into relatively solid defensive fulcrums, with many anti-mechanized obstacles; soldiers and commanders here, have been tested continuously through 8 years of conflict.
During the first month of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the forces in the Slavic-Kramatorsk defense zone were largely uninvolved; so there is still a large number of weapons, equipment and fortifications that have not been destroyed.
Therefore, the battle to capture the Russian Donbass region, specifically breaking through the Slavic-Kramatorsk defense line, will certainly face many difficulties. In preparation for this battle, the Russians withdrew their forces to encircle Kiev and the city of Chernihiv; as well as adjusted forces in Georgia to strengthen.
The Russian army with its superior firepower, especially the air force and artillery, will “soften the battlefield”, before sending infantry and tanks into battle. According to information, the battle to capture the city of Mariupol is about to end, so the Russian army will concentrate more forces and attack on the flanks.
After completing these two large-scale operations, if Russia wins, the Ukrainian Army will lose most of its forces and the Russian Army will have a larger operating space in the west. But it was certainly not an easy operation for the Russian Army.