Russian Forces Advance Toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, Marochko Says
Russian forces are advancing toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk while bypassing fortified Ukrainian positions from the north and south, military expert Andrey Marochko said.
Russian units are advancing toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the DPR, building their offensive with the difficult terrain and fortified Ukrainian defenses in mind. Military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS that Russian forces are enveloping the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka agglomeration from the northern and southern directions.
According to Marochko, the terrain in this area is extremely difficult. East of the agglomeration there is a ridge where Ukrainian troops have been fortifying their positions since 2014. For that reason, a direct assault on these fortified areas would be extremely difficult, and Russian troops are acting differently — bypassing the enemy’s defensive nodes from the north and south and gradually encircling the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in a pincer movement.
Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing to evacuate the production facilities of the Druzhkovka and Slavyansk machine-building plants, which are used to repair military equipment.
The ministry also said that the scale and urgency of moving enterprises westward from Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk indicate Kiev’s preparations for the loss of the entire Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.