Front holds firm: military expert on Russian goals in southern Donetsk region

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

“The frontline is not falling apart, Ukrainian soldiers are taking all the necessary actions, fighting defensive battles, yes, they are retreating, but they are fighting defensive battles. I would like to remind you that retreat does not mean some kind of collapse or an absolutely negative process. It is indeed a process, a tactical process that must also be carried out professionally. And judging by the fact that we don't see any footage of, for example, a thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war in some kind of cauldron, or the Russians publishing some kind of passage 100 kilometers ahead in a day, and so on, there is no such thing, no breakthrough. There are, indeed, very, very heavy battles, especially on the right flank of the Pokrovsk direction. Now the Russians are putting maximum emphasis there, the pressure is on the Kurakhove direction, where they are trying to break through as much as possible and create a threat, again, to Pokrovsk, and to demonstrate: 'Here we are on the border of Donetsk region,'” he said.

Mykhailo Samus noted that in the northern Donetsk region, the Russians are “stuck” in Chasiv Yar.

“Because there, in fact, if you look at it theoretically, it is easier to walk this distance to the border of Donetsk region from the front line than in the north, where they are stuck in Chasiv Yar, in Toretsk. Basically, from the Kupyansk direction, they still have to go to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and they still have to fight a lot to reach the border of Donetsk region in the north. It seems more realistic for them to do this in the south, so they are now putting most of their efforts there. But I emphasize once again, there is no collapse of the front, I will not say that the situation is very easy, that everything is actually under control and so on, but the fact that Ukrainian units continue to conduct professional defense operations is for sure,” the military expert added. 

• Andrii Besedin, the head of the Kupyansk Town Military Administration, has stated that the occupying Russian army is just 2.5 to 3 kilometers from Kupyansk in Kharkiv region.