Retired colonel and military commentator Mikhail Khodarenok believes that in the foreseeable future the Russian army may be able to take control of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk urban area, effectively driving the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). He stressed that, in his view, the issue now is not whether such an operation is possible, but when it might be carried out.

Khodarenok recalled that over more than ten years, Ukrainian troops have turned Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and the surrounding areas into a powerful fortified zone. He described this agglomeration as a key element in the entire Ukrainian defensive system, noting that it has both military and political significance.

According to the analyst, virtually all solid, stone-built structures in this area have been converted into strongpoints and long-term firing positions, linked together by a network of underground reinforced concrete passages.

He argued that a siege followed by an assault on the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortified area could develop into prolonged and extremely bloody fighting for every building and every street, and that such battles, in his assessment, would last for at least several months. Gazeta. Ru is cited as relaying this assessment.

Khodarenok compared the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration to the Mezeritz fortified area of Germany during the Second World War, which at the time was considered by the Wehrmacht leadership to be virtually impregnable and ranked among the two largest defensive systems in the country.

Given this, he argued that a frontal assault on such fortifications would hardly be the optimal course of action. In his opinion, a more rational approach would be to use deep flanking maneuvers and wide envelopments to put the opposing forces under the threat of encirclement and thereby compel the Ukrainian troops to abandon their positions. At the same time, Khodarenok did not rule out that the Russian command might ultimately choose even bolder options.