"Ukraine morale is falling" in the Donbass: According to military experts, Russia could achieve a war goal
Created: 06/01/2022, 20:00
By: Andreas Schmid
Donbass under Russian control: Russian soldiers on a road in Ukraine's Luhansk region, between Lysychansk and Sievarodonetsk.
© Rick Mave/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The Donbass region is crucial in the Ukraine war.
"Here a war aim of the Russian side could be achieved," says an expert.
Sievjerodonetsk - Russia's focus in the Ukraine war is on the Donbass border region.
In the past few weeks, Russian troops have been able to advance further and capture important cities, such as the port city of Mariupol in the Donbass region of Donetsk.
In neighboring Luhansk, only the cities of Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk, separated by a river, are at least partially still controlled by Ukraine.
The question remains: for how much longer?
Military expert Franz-Stefan Gady believes that Russia could achieve at least part of its war goals in Donbass.
This is also due to declining morale due to the lack of arms deliveries.
Ukraine war: “More morale in Donbass is sinking”
The "large deficit on the Ukrainian side" is the lack of heavy weapons, says Gady in an interview with the
Tagesschau
.
"More western supplies of arms are needed." Especially for the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
"Things are tricky in Donbass right now, where poorly trained units with insufficient equipment and ammunition were thrown into the fray early and we're hearing from multiple sources that morale is dropping there as a result."
Russia, on the other hand, is more successful in the Donbass than in other Ukrainian regions.
"On the Russian side, the logistics in the Donbass work well and we can observe that they are proceeding very methodically and in small steps in order to keep their own losses low."
Ukraine war: "A war aim of the Russian side could be achieved here"
Russian artillery fire is said to destroy the infrastructure and break Ukraine's morale.
You can see that in Donbass at the moment, says military expert Gady.
"Here a war goal of the Russian side could be achieved: claiming the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk for themselves." Both regions are closely intertwined with the escalated Ukraine conflict.
War has been raging in Luhansk and Donetsk since 2014.
All information about the background of the Ukraine war.
Ukraine war: "Russia's first war aim was clearly missed"
The Kremlin is now offensively formulating the conquest of the Donbass as a war goal.
For Gady, however, it is also clear: "The first war goal - a change of government in Ukraine, triggered by an advance on Kyiv - was clearly missed and is no longer directly accessible for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin." Russian troops are already planning to leave the Ukrainian capital weeks withdrawn.
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"It is now a matter of achieving a first partial victory in the Donbass." This partial victory is apparently getting closer.
According to Ukrainian information, the Russian military has established itself in the city center when it stormed the administrative center of Sievjerodonetsk.
So one of the last Donbass cities could soon fall into Russian hands.
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