Military expert Khodarenok is sure that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will try to capture Artemovsk by the NATO summit
There are only a few days left before the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius. And the APU has not yet achieved any tangible success that could be presented to the participants of the upcoming forum. Whether Kiev will be able to achieve any military victories, the military observer of the Newspaper understood.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
The other day, the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, announced a change in the strategy of the AFU counteroffensive. He claims that now the main goal will not be to move forward, but to "deplete the Russian army."
"At this stage of active hostilities, the Ukrainian Defense forces are fulfilling the number one task - the maximum destruction of manpower, fuel depots, military equipment, control points, artillery and air defense forces," the NSDC Secretary stressed.
The statements of officials of the opposing sides during the armed conflict should be treated with a fair degree of skepticism and constantly ask in this case the question: is not such a demarche of the Ukrainian politician an element of the operational disguise plan and is the enemy misleading us with a statement of this nature about his true intentions?
But it seems that this time in Alexey Danilov's speech everything roughly corresponds to reality. The AFU has not had major successes on the line of combat contact yet, and indeed, the military-political leadership in Kiev, according to the statement of the NSDC secretary, in this case it makes sense to switch to option "B".
The enemy is currently stubbornly covering the city from the north (the settlement of Berkhovka) and from the south (Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka). The thing is that in the area of the listed settlements there are dominating heights from which Bakhmut can be seen in the palm of your hand. And in military affairs, this is sometimes crucial. As they say, space is space, and with the help of a simple stereo tube, artillery fire can be adjusted much more efficiently.
Currently, the most intense fighting is taking place in the area of Kleshcheyevka. Divisions and units of the Ukrainian army are storming the village for days on end, undertaking several attacks a day. Despite certain successes, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not yet officially confirmed the occupation of this settlement.
The settlement itself does not matter much, but in the north-west of Kleshcheyevka there is a dominant height from which the entire Bakhmut is viewed and shot through. If in the near future Russian troops leave Kleshcheyevka after fierce fighting, then the surrender of the village will create very big problems for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in this area of defense. In this case, it will be very, very difficult for Russian troops to withdraw from Bakhmut even in an organized manner.
So far, more or less reliable information from the combat area is as follows: the dominant height is behind the APU, the village itself is controlled by the Russian army. During a special military operation, Bakhmut became a kind of moral symbol for both warring parties. If the Ukrainian army captures the city in the near future, then this will be the possible prize of the entire first Ukrainian "counteroffensive".
It should be emphasized (and there is no doubt about it) that the possible fall of Bakhmut will significantly strengthen the moral and psychological state of the AFU personnel. The price of the issue, therefore, is very, very high.
The Ukrainian army has only one thing left - to take Kleshcheyevka first, and then Bakhmut. But whether the Russian army will allow the APU to do this is still a big question. There is every reason to believe that for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the defense of Bakhmut is a matter of principle, and units and units of the Russian army do not intend to leave the city. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will certainly defend themselves in the city on the principle of "not a step back."
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
