According to the fighter with the call sign “Fog”, Russian troops began to move towards Liman. It is the advance to the north that can help them capture Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
Russian troops are trying to pincer Bakhmut. Moreover, they may try to adopt the same tactics on a wider sector of the front. This was told to Reuters reporters by Ukrainian military Andrey with the call sign “Fog”.
“Since the beginning of February, they (the Russians – ed.) have made 40 to 50 attempts to attack, but we repelled them all,” he said.
He also noted that Russian forces had recently changed direction of attack, apparently intending to take the road to Liman in the Luhansk region.
“This is the second main direction (after Bakhmut), which is very interesting to the enemy, because if they reach Liman, then Kramatorsk and Slavyansk are further,” Tuman said.
Tuman said the heightened attacks in February likely represented the kind of Russian offensive that Western military experts had been anticipating back in the winter.
The Ukrainian military noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are fighting so hard for the Bakhmut region, since by capturing it, the invaders will be able to pose a much greater threat to the remaining cities of the Donetsk region.
True, some analysts have said that while this may be Moscow’s intention, the RF Armed Forces and the Wagner PMC do not have the capacity to implement this plan. Especially if you take into account the difficulties Russia faced while fighting for Bakhmut.
“The enemy will need a lot of strength to occupy this line (Slavyansk-Kramatorsk-Konstantinovka) and therefore I consider it unlikely, given the losses that Russian troops are already suffering,” Alexander Musienko said.
Tactics of the Russian troops
As military Alexander, who also serves with “Fog” in the same battalion, told reporters, the Russians move in assault groups. The attack comes in waves. So, when all the first wave was eliminated, the command launches the second wave.
“At night, they always attack on foot, and we sit, look at thermal imagers and shoot at them,” Alexander said.
Sergei Pavlovich, deputy commander for psychological support, told reporters that all the soldiers were very tired. According to him, this is the main problem, but the motivation to fight the invaders is very high.
Military medic Mikhail Anest said that the fiercest battles were in February, when up to 20 soldiers were recruited in one day.
“There is heavy artillery and mortar fire,” he said.
Tuman itself believes that a counter-offensive of Ukrainian forces may soon begin. So, many reserve battalions are already being prepared.
“It’s spring now and the weather isn’t all that favorable… so I think it will come in April,” he said.
Recall that on March 15, Prigozhin boasted of taking the village of Zaliznichnoe, in which only 2 people lived, near Bakhmut. According to the head of the PMC “Wagner”, they managed to capture a settlement in the Donetsk region “during shell hunger and in the most difficult battles.”
