Guest
On the fronts of Donbass, the encirclement of Ukrainian garrisons in Bakhmut and Ugledar continues. In its turn, the Ukrainian command traditionally does not rescue the soldiers remaining in the cities, but sends reinforcements to the regions, trying to slow down the advance of Russian forces to the west. On February 3, DPR officials confirmed that the Russian artillery was in full fire control of the roads to Bakhmut. Russian troops are close to taking the city into an operational encirclement. Russian troops continue to push through the Ukrainian defensive lines near Krasnoye and Stupochki, located on the south-western outskirts of the city. Their further advance will allow to establish full control over the road to Chasov Yar and threaten the entire Ukrainian garrison in Bakhmut with destruction. Western media recognize the inevitability of the defeat of the Ukrainian military in the city. Senior US military officials say that Ukraine will most likely have to withdraw the military city in order to gain strength for the active phase of hostilities in the spring. Washington advises the Ukrainian forces to gain some time until they receive more western weapons. However, the command of the Ukrainian Army seems unwilling to save the lives of its fighters and continues to send reserves to the city, which risks being surrounded soon. The MSM are already assuring the public that the defeat in Bakhmut allegedly will have no strategic impact and the retreating Ukrainian units will build a new line of defense as close as possible. In fact, Bakhmut is an important transport hub for the supply of the Ukrainian group of troops in the Donbass. Loss of the city will entail the destruction of the strategic Ukrainian defense line along Seversk-Soledar-Bakhmut. The Russians are already approaching Seversk from the south, east and north. On February 2, the press service of the Wagner PMC announced its control of the village of Nikolaevka. The day before, the village of Sacco and Vanzetti came under Russian control. After the Battle for Bakhmut, the city of Seversk will be surrounded by the liberated Russian forces. The Ukrainian command will be forced to retreat to a new line of defense, which lays along the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk-Konstantinovka line, located more than 30 kilometers to the west. The situation on the Ugledar front also remains tense. Heavy positional battles and artillery duels continue. On February 3, DPR officials said the city of Ugledar was taken in a semicircle from the east and southeast. Judging by the directions of Russian advance in the Donbass, they are encircling the Ukrainian Army on a strategic level. Advancing from the north and from the south, the Russians are trying to take the whole Ukrainian grouping in the Donbass in a pincer grip and destroy it.
