As of: February 20, 2024, 4:11 p.m
By: Patrick Mayer
Comments
Press
Split
Russia is conspicuously increasing its attacks on Robotyne.
Putin is probably planning the next offensive in Ukraine here.
It will be a test for Zelensky's new army commander.
Robotyne - Russia is attacking again in the Ukraine war.
After taking the Avdiivka bastion in eastern Donbass, Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin's invasion troops are now vehemently attacking the Ukrainian defenders in the south in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine front: Next Russian offensive at Robotyne in the south
More specifically, there is fierce fighting again near the village of Robotyne between the small towns of Orichiw and Tokmak.
This is where the Ukrainians were literally stuck in their failed counteroffensive in the summer of 2023.
Ukrainian military officials and bloggers report increased attacks by both armored formations and infantry on the narrow wedge that the Ukrainians were able to drive into the Russian fortifications over the summer.
That's not all: Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady even expects the next large-scale Russian offensive at Robotyne after the occupation of Avdiivka.
“It will become clear in the near future how the new commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces will act,” said the Associate Fellow of the
International Institute of Strategic Studies
in an interview with
t-online
.
Ukraine: Serious Russian attacks near Robotyne
Significantly: Ukrainian soldiers came under "heavy fire" in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and the Russian army carried out several attacks near the village of Robotyne, army spokesman Dmytro Lykhovy said on Ukrainian state television on Monday (February 20).
Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Tarnawsky also described on the Telegram online service that Russia was trying to advance “with small storm troops,” supported by “several units of armored vehicles.”
The attacks would be “stopped, the enemy will be eliminated on the outskirts of Robotyne,” Tarnawsky wrote.
In keeping with this, Ukrainian bloggers shared drone footage (see tweet above) that is said to show the use of cluster munitions against Russian infantry.
However, as
Bild
reports, the Russians were able to regain positions lost at Robotyne in three waves of attacks over the weekend.
The pressure on this section of the front is said to be immense.
And not just here.
Russian attacks in the south and east: Ukraine complains of high losses
According to the Swiss news portal Blick.ch,
military expert Ralph D. Thiele warned
: “The front is crumbling.
There is a threat of an implosion.” Ukraine is “under pressure in many dimensions – land, sea, air, cyber, space, politics and society.” Furthermore, “logistics are overwhelmed with a nightmare hodgepodge of weapon systems.”
The fact that the Ukrainian armed forces are complaining about a significant shortage of ammunition has also probably spread to Moscow.
Only for artillery shells should the ratio be 1:6.
As an example, former Ukrainian tennis professional Sergei Stachowski, who joined the territorial defense forces, complained about
heavy losses in an interview with the
Süddeutsche Zeitung .
There is a lack of “tanks.
aircraft.
Machines that can shoot and destroy.
We have received a lot of support when it comes to military equipment.
But we are constantly under the greatest pressure that we have to withstand.
There is simply no break,” said the former ATP player.
“And we are clearly outnumbered, which means we are losing a lot of material.
Actually everything.
We put everything in and lose it again.
Just like we lose our people.
This war demands victims, day after day – machines, people, everything.”
Ukraine front: Russia bombs settlement near city of Zaporizhzhia
There are also videos circulating on X (formerly Twitter) of how Russian soldiers can allegedly be captured at Robotyne.
But there are increasing signs that Putin has much more plans here, in the south of the battered Ukraine.
As
Bild
reports, Russian air forces and artillery bombed the settlement of Stepnohirsk in the same region.
This is located on the huge Kakhowka reservoir, just 20 kilometers south of the large city of Zaporizhzhia (around 700,000 inhabitants).
Because Putin wants to take over Ukraine's sixth largest city in terms of population?
Not unlikely.
In this tricky situation, the new Ukrainian commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyj, who is still not without controversy, must now prove himself.
Some soldiers call him “butcher,” writes Der
Spiegel
.
Other sources give the name “Butchers of Bakhmut”.
Near the Ukraine front: President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (middle) and General Oleksandr Syrskyj (right) look at a map.
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region: heavily contested in the Ukrainian war
Because: The former commander of the Ukrainian army (2019 to February 2024) once had the strategically unimportant Bakhmut in Donbass held for weeks in order to then unsuccessfully attack the small town in the summer of 2023 after the withdrawal.
Each with the risk of losing many soldiers.
Under his command, smaller tank units also failed to advance near Robotyne towards Tokmak.
Now the Ukrainians are clearly on the defensive here again.
In Germany, there may now be some movement on the question of “Taurus” deliveries to Ukraine: The traffic light factions are increasing the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz with a proposal.
(pm)