The guerrilla-style tactics of Ukrainian troops have darkened the lives of Russian troops. But analysts point out that Russia’s strategy of subsequently besieging Ukrainian territories and destroying everything inside is to create “coffers” – which could further turn the war on Donbass to its advantage. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hannah Maliar warned on Thursday that the Russians had increased their bombardment of the entire front line in the Donbass over the past few days, where the fighting had “reached extreme intensity”. But it is difficult to attack an invisible, flexible enemy that launches successive attacks behind the attacker’s lines. The Russian response is to constantly change its artillery to avoid firing or to carry out massacres and vandalism in occupied cities such as Melitopol.
Just last week, a Russian armored convoy derailed near this southern city on the Molochna River, inhabiting 150,000 people and becoming an important logistics axis in the Kremlin’s failed attempt to advance on Zaporizhia. Two days later, two Russian soldiers were found dead on a street, and a bridge near Melidopol, used by Kremlin forces, had been destroyed the previous month.
“This is the work of our guerrilla groups, our secret services and soldiers. They are doing this work together,” praised Melidopol Mayor Ivan Fedoro, who was abducted by Kremlin forces and accused of financing the Right Sector – the Ukrainian far-right party with the highest electoral representation – in a van. Dragged away. A bag over his head. He was eventually released in March in exchange for nine Russian prisoners. At that time, it provoked the protests of thousands of people in the city, thousands of people protested against it before the Russian army.
It seems that a section of that population is now willing to give their lives to stop the Russian war machine. Local guerrillas have passed information to the Russian military, and Ukrainform advanced this month, killing more than a hundred “invaders and collaborators” – a word of concern, indicating that even pro-Russian civilians may have become a target – and created a “deep secret city of patriotism in the metropolis and the metropolitan area.” Network.
CNN reports that Russian forces, eager to keep Melidopol in check only because of the use of the city’s airport, have imposed curfews from 6pm to 6am and accused local leaders of abducting, torturing, killing or ‘disappearing’ soldiers. And enemies.
The resistance of the Ukrainian guerrillas – despite the brutal repression of the Russians who were forced to stand guard with troops that could send the Russian-speaking city to Donbass – took everyone by surprise. “If Russian troops had come to Melidopol in 2014, they would have been greeted with bread and salt,” Fedorov himself admitted in an interview with The New Yorker, using hospitality-related expression. But a lot has changed since then.
Lesson learned
Of the many weaknesses pointed out in the Russian military structure, the lack of an intermediate position between commanders and soldiers is particularly disgraceful. This layer of military, with many years of experience in the front line, is important in NATO’s military theory, which places strategic decisions in the hands of commanders, but allows the bottom level to improve on the ground.
Mikhail Samos, director of the New Geopolitical Research Network, explained to the Financial Times that “Ukrainian theory is very similar to Western theory – the freedom to adapt and achieve goals according to your understanding of the situation.” “The Soviet model is to follow the proper written instructions of your commanders.”
Nevertheless, the Russians advanced very slowly around Sevorodonetsk, the largest city under Ukrainian control in the Donbass. At the military level, this is not considered an important goal. But with the fall of its twin city of Lychisansk across the Donets River, Vladimir Putin was allowed to announce the capture of Lukansk.
The Kremlin seems to have learned the lesson of not biting more than chewing. After failing to encircle Kiev and Kharkiv, and after failing to isolate the Ukrainian forces from the entire Donbass, their tactic was to create smaller and smaller ‘Caldrons’ as they failed to capture Gramadorsk. In a way, it seems like admitting disability. Three months ago, the Kremlin thought it could besiege Kiev, home to nearly three million people. Now he must use all his strength to besiege the Chevrolet Donetsk, where more than a million people lived.
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