Experts see little movement
An artillery battle is raging around Sievjerodonetsk
06/20/2022, 07:30 am
According to the US think tank ISW, the Russian offensive around the Ukrainian city of Sievjerodonetsk is faltering – despite the superiority in artillery armament. According to the experts, Moscow is even hindering itself by not calling its war a war.
According to military experts, Russia’s artillery superiority is not enough to capture the administrative center of Sievarodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. “Russia’s concentrated artillery capability, coupled with arguably weakened infantry units, remains insufficient to sustain Russian advances in Sieverodonetsk,” according to the latest analysis by the Institute for the Study of the War (ISW). Russian troops continued to fight for control of the city but made little progress on Sunday.
Against the background of Russia’s superiority in artillery armament, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday evening on ARD that Germany could and will do more in terms of arms deliveries. The war with Russia is now an artillery war. The Russian troops would outnumber artillery by 15:1. That is why Ukraine urgently needs weapons such as anti-aircraft devices and missile systems. The sooner the guns come, the greater the help and the fewer people will die.
The towns around the embattled city of Sieverodonetsk continue to be under intense Russian fire. Ukrainian forces said on Sunday they had pushed back the Russians around Sieverodonetsk. On Facebook, the Ukrainian army referred to a success in the Toshkivka area. However, according to Kyiv, Russian forces are “storming” in the direction of the village of Orikhove.
According to the ISW experts, Russia is likely to continue trying to encircle the former city and to seal off supplies from the remaining Ukrainian forces, who have largely holed up in the Azot chemical plant. However, there is currently little progress on this project. In addition, Moscow is preparing an offensive on Sloviansk. The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk area is considered the center of the Ukrainian defense forces in the Donbass region.
According to the ISW, Moscow itself is hindering the success of its invasion by continuing to speak of a “special military operation” instead of a war. This prevents Russia from mobilizing to generate more forces. In addition, the Kremlin lacks the legal means to punish soldiers who refuse to be deployed.