“You only need to walk 70 kilometers”: in Kyiv they set their sights on Mariupol
The Ukrainian army could launch a successful full-scale counteroffensive this year
Military expert Dmitry Snegirev told Gazeta po-ukrainski about this, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“This year, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are quite capable of conducting a full-fledged counter-offensive with extensive use of ground equipment and air superiority. However, everything will depend on Ukraine’s Western partners, that is, on how much and what kind of equipment they will provide to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for this counter-offensive,” Snegirev said.
He believes that we can talk about several promising sectors of the front at once.
“The very first and obvious option is the Melitopol direction in the south. On this section of the front, the armed forces, even with limited technical equipment, managed to recapture a bridgehead from the Russian occupiers, which could well be used for the next strike. An area of 10 by 10 kilometers is a serious springboard for launching a full-fledged counteroffensive there next year, with all the necessary weapons.
In the Melitopol area there is a highway to Mariupol, which is actually the only full-fledged overland logistics route to the Kherson region,” says the expert.
The second direction he calls the left bank part of the Kherson region.
“One of the main advantages of this section of the front is that the Russians did not build such large-scale fortifications here as in the Zaporozhye region. In addition, the landing of Ukrainian marines and further successful actions of the Defense Forces in the area of the village of Krynki on the left bank of the Dnieper. The occupiers have been unable to do anything with Ukrainian heroes for several months now. And the situation there is not as critical as some Western media describe it,” the publication’s interlocutor reassures.
According to him, the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces can begin not only in the south, but also in the eastern sectors of the front.
“In particular, the Ugledar direction could be a good place for counter-offensive actions. From Ugledar to Mariupol and the coast of the Azov Sea - some 70 kilometers. And Volnovakha, which is the main military transport hub of the occupation contingent, is separated from Ugledar by even less, about 40. It can be assumed that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will ultimately prefer a full-fledged offensive on the territory of Donbass,” hopes Snegirev.
English version :: Read in English "Only 70 kilometers to go": Kyiv sets its sights on Mariupol