During the past hours, the Russian “Wagner” forces made new progress in the vicinity of Ukrainian Bakhmut, which is witnessing the longest battle of the Russian operation in the Donbass region.
Ukraine calls on the residents of Bakhmut to evacuate immediately
And the commander of the “Wagner” group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed this progress by saying: “Despite the bloody battles and losses, our men took full control of the town of Paraskovievka.”
Meanwhile, Prigozhin criticized his country’s army’s movements, describing them as “terrible military bureaucracy.”
According to military experts, the new advance of “Wagner” forces in the town north of Bakhmut is “strategic in terms of timing and strategic importance, towards controlling the entire Donetsk basin and Donbass before the upcoming spring battle between the two sides.”
‘More Ukrainian downfall’
Commenting on these events, the Russian researcher at the “Volsk” military institution, Vorogtsov Starikov, believes that “the coming days will witness more Ukrainian fall.”
He explains the reasons in his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, by saying:
- “Moscow’s strategy now relies on cutting off supply routes and not on gaining more territory, as happened in the first months of the military operation, followed by withdrawal from strategic regions such as Kherson, Zaporizhya and Donbass as well.”
- “This strategy is what Wagner has already implemented over the past months, which is to cut off the main supply routes and then impose a siege, and thus the fall of cities becomes a matter of timing only without cost or military depletion in resources and soldiers.”
- “By taking Paraskovivka, Moscow will have tightened its grip on all western supply routes to Kiev in the entire Donbass-Donetsk axis.”
- “This is a greater victory than the fall of Bakhmut, which has weeks to run out of stocks with the besieged Ukrainian forces in this axis.”
What is the significance of Paraskovievka?
- Paraskovievka is located between Solidar and Artyomovsk (Bakhmut in Ukrainian), in the last part of Donetsk, and the northern entrance to Bakhmut.
- Control over this entire axis would give Moscow a faster launch to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which lie further west in Donetsk.
- For days, the Russian army targeted most of the manufacturing and assembling centers of the drones inside Ukraine in successive strikes, to prevent any air attack on the forces that are already advancing.
Russian military changes
In light of the Russian progress on the ground towards the Bakhmut axis and the Donbass region, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced changes in the leaders of 3 military regions, which are the central, southern and western regions.
It should be noted that Russia is divided into 5 military regions, which are “Western, Southern, Central, and Eastern,” as well as the Northern Fleet as a separate region.
Kyiv is racing against time
Ukraine, which is receiving successive defeats in the eastern axis, considers that controlling Bakhmut will be a “costly victory”, given the length of time it took, and what it says are “heavy human losses resulting from waves of Russian attacks.”
In this regard, Naumkin Purvat, a specialist in international politics at the Ukrainian Tavrisky University, says, “The only solution to stop the Russian advance on the eastern front is the speedy arrival of new Western aid.”
He explains to “Sky News Arabia”:
- “In order for Kiev to repel these Russian attacks, Western aid must arrive quickly, and tanks and medium-range missiles enter the eastern fronts, which will be the beginning of Kiev’s launch towards Crimea as well.”
- Over the past weeks, Moscow has deliberately targeted the marching centers in Kiev to ensure that there is no coverage for the forces on the ground.
Munich conference discusses European security on the impact of the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian demands
- Purvat points out, “The need for the West and America to seriously study the issue of providing Ukraine with fighter jets,” so that Kiev can confront the Russian attacks.
- This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has done, who is urging allies to “send weapons quickly” to counter the Russian invasion.
- He also warned the world leaders meeting in Germany, as part of the activities of the Munich Security Conference, that “hesitation and delays are a threat to the security of their countries.”
- “We need speed. Speed in concluding our agreements, speed in supplies to advance our fight, speed in decisions to limit Russia’s capacity. There is no alternative to speed because life depends on it,” Zelensky said in a video address to the conference audience.
