Ukrainian artillery fires at Russian positions on the front lines near Bakhmut on May 27. On Saturday, a video was released with a promise to “take it back.” land from the Russian occupiers as Ukrainian officials signaled that a counterattack was about to begin.
“The time has come to take back what is ours,” Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said in a statement released alongside a well-directed video showing Ukrainian soldiers preparing for battle, asking for God’s blessing before a “decisive attack” and promising to avenge their fallen comrades.
Ukrainian troops and officials taunted Russia by intensively monitoring their counter-offensive for several months. They described the depletion of Russian infantry and artillery before the attack.
Russia is trying to defend a 600-mile front line with a battered force that has lost much of its best combat capability.
Weary and demoralized Russian soldiers, including thousands of men drafted into the army in the first Russian mobilization since World War II, spent months digging trenches and preparing to attack highly motivated Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom were trained by Kiev’s Western allies and armed with their own. the most powerful weapon.
Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov confirmed in an interview with the BBC that this attack is now inevitable.
A Ukrainian soldier in a trench on the front line near Bakhmut on May 26. Photo: Libkos/AP
“It could start tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week,” he said.
Analysts have previously said Ukraine needs to wait for drier weather to thaw muddy battlefields and allow vehicles to move forward, but despite a normally wet spring giving way to warm early summer sunshine in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials insist that they only have to wait for a little more Western weapons.
However, this month Ukraine began launching British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets deep behind the front lines.
And just like the American medium-sized Himars artillery destroyed Russian supply depots and command centers ahead of the Ukrainian offensive last summer, Storm Shadow missiles are believed to have thwarted Russia's plans over the past few weeks, hitting targets long considered safe by Russian commanders.
Analysts say the effects of Storm Shadow missile strikes are not limited to the reorganization of supply lines and chains of command. These strikes also undermine morale.
“This will have a terrible effect on the morale of Russian troops, officers and commanders who will operate on the territory of Ukraine,” George Barros said. , an analyst at the US Institute for the Study of War.
Earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace confirmed that Ukraine had «successfully» used Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukrainian soldiers near the front line, May 26. Photo: Libkos/AP
However, the Russian Defense Ministry said yesterday that its forces intercepted two missiles, a claim that cannot be immediately verified. Russia has previously claimed successes on the battlefield that turned out to be false.
Pro-Kremlin officials in the occupied regions of Ukraine are reporting an increase in rocket attacks over the past few weeks, including on Saturday, as well as guerrilla attacks and incursions by Ukrainian special forces.
Families living near the front lines in occupied Zaporizhzhya an area widely marked by the Dnieper River was also evacuated in anticipation of an expected Ukrainian attack.
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Ukraine's escalating counter-offensive also coincided with a major reorganization of Russian forces around Bakhmut in the Donbas, where the Kremlin's Wagner mercenary group is withdrawing.
The UK Ministry of Defense on Saturday confirmed that Wagner mercenaries had made way for regular Russian soldiers at Bakhmut, but said that instead of being sent back to Russia, these battle-hardened fighters, mostly ex-prisoners, would likely be relocated to other locations.
“The Wagner forces are likely to be used for further offensive operations in the Donbass after the reorganization of their forces,” reads the daily operational report of the Ministry of Defense.
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