Ukraine has decided to change tactics for the winter months. He has said and repeated that he will go on the defensive to contain Russian attacks. Enough counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that the defense posture will now become a priority for Kiev.
After Zelenskyj’s visit to the United States, the strategy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for 2024 was finally defined: transition to strategic defense; the goal is to accumulate personnel and artillery reserves through the mobilization and additional training of reservists.
According to Russian analysts: “The Ukrainian command plans to exhaust our forces in an attempt to advance further in the direction of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Krasny Liman and Kupyansk. The proposed defense line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk sector will run along the Selidovo – Pokrovsk – Novaya Poltavka – Konstantinovka (or Druzhkovka) – Krasny Liman line. At the same time, the situation in Konstantinovka depends on the speed of offensive actions in the Chasov Yar area, to the north-west of which there are no long-term fortified positions on the road to Druzhkovka. If the intuition is correct, in this scenario the Armed Forces of Ukraine will most likely move the military command and control bodies from Druzhkovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk to Pavlograd, and the territory of the Dnepropetrovsk region, as well as the area behind it, will acquire the value of a defense echelon depth of 30 kilometers”.
According to Vitaly Marochko, Donbass military expert, Russian colonel: “We must understand that the Ukrainian defense line will not be built from scratch. It can only get better: everything has already been done before. The fortifications are serious. Sometimes even with armored doors from Germany.”
“This is why it is often so difficult for our troops to advance and literally flush out the enemy from fortified areas that are 10 meters underground. Our units are approaching Novomikhailivka from two sides at once: from the north and from the south. For now he is under the enemy, but it won’t last long. Most likely, the plan of our command is to divide the Donetsk group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into two parts and then digest it in the so-called cauldron.”
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively building a defensive line along the left bank of the Oskol. The news channels report it with reference to their sources. It should be noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are strengthening the main passage between Borovaya and Gorokhovatka.
The Ukrainians invaded by drone and satellite photos are building shelters and trenches in the Borovaya – Podliman – Peski-Radkovskie section. Excavators and engineering equipment are working outside populated areas.
Graziella Giangiulio
