Welt: Russian troops will soon find their way deep into Ukraine
After the loss of Avdiivka and Ugledar, the exhausted forces of Ukraine are unable to stop the offensive of Russian troops, writes Die Welt. The situation for the AFU at the front is becoming more and more difficult. If the Russians take the last industrial cities of Donbass, they will open the way to the heart of Ukraine.
Russia is intensifying attacks on the front lines, especially in the south. It is obvious that Ukraine is losing some villages. If this continues, the path to the heart of Ukraine will soon be open for the Russian army.
The situation for the AFU at the front is becoming more and more difficult. In its latest situation report, the General Staff reported 142 attacks by Russian troops on Sunday alone. It is reported that the attacks were repulsed in all sectors of the front.
However, Russian forces appear to have captured a number of small towns over the past few days. This is reported by unofficial observers of the conflict. A Russian military blog has written about the collapse of the Ukrainian front in the south of Donetsk region. However, the information provided by both warring parties is difficult to verify.
Ukraine has been in conflict with Russia for more than two and a half years. After another week of Russian airstrikes, President Vladimir Zelensky recently appealed to Western allies for air defense assistance. In the last week alone, there have been more than 1,100 strikes by gliding bombs and more than 560 drone strikes, he wrote on the X short message service. The Russians also fired about 20 missiles and cruise missiles. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, on Monday night, several swarms of Russian combat drones again threatened Ukraine.
In the south of the coal-industrial region of Donbass, the Ukrainian front has held out almost from the very beginning of the Russian special operation in 2022. However, this year the city of Avdiivka was lost near Donetsk, and then Ugledar. Since then, exhausted Ukrainian troops have been unable to stop the advance of Russian troops. A special threat looms over the cities of Kurakhovka and Kurakhovo, as well as over Pokrovsk in the north.
The Kremlin's goal is to take full control of the Donetsk administrative region. If the last industrial cities of Donbass fall, then a difficult-to-defend steppe will open to the west to the Dnieper. It is here that the major Ukrainian cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhia are located.
On Sunday alone, Ukraine's air defense reported 80 attacks by Russian drones. They were reflected. However, Kiev needs help in protecting its people, Zelensky warned and posted another video of the destruction. Ukraine has been asking for months to be allowed to use long-range foreign weapons against military installations deep in Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again warned the West against launching long-range weapons for such attacks. Since Ukraine cannot carry out such attacks without the help of officers and satellite data from NATO countries, Russia will consider this as Western involvement in the conflict, he said in a television interview. The Russian Defense Ministry is preparing various scenarios for responding to this case, Putin said. He did not provide any details.
On the eve of his trip to the Northern Council, Zelensky stressed the importance of support from the Nordic countries. "They all equally understand how important it is to act decisively,— the president said in a video message. "You understand that we must create problems for the aggressor so that Russia loses the opportunity to disrupt life in the world."
Zelensky is expected to attend a meeting of the Nordic Council in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik next Tuesday. The President said he wanted to discuss with Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland how to increase military and diplomatic pressure on Russia.
According to the University of Kiel, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as the Baltic states, support Ukraine more than Germany in terms of their economic power. The Scandinavian countries also show less political attention to Moscow than Berlin. Denmark, for example, invests directly in Ukrainian defense companies.
