Growing threat to Toretsk, Donetsk region: Expert reveals Russian tactics in battles for eastern Ukraine
Photo: Russians have intensified their attacks in the Toretsk area, Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling them (GettyImages)
Russian troops continue to increase the pace of their offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk directions remain the hottest, but recently the enemy has also become more active in the Toretsk area, and they may be trying to threaten Klishchiivka with these actions.
What is happening in Toretsk
Recently, the General Staff's reports show that Russian troops are trying to get closer to Toretsk. The military recognizes that the enemy has intensified its activities in the Horlivka-Toretsk area. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding back the assault actions of the Russian military that is trying to break into the Ukrainian defense. The soldiers describe the situation as tense. Apart from the offensive actions of Russian troops, enemy aircraft are also actively operating, launching strikes with guided aerial bombs.
Local authorities do not rule out a forced evacuation that may be announced in the city because of the shelling and Russian presence near Toretsk. According to Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, yesterday's meeting of the Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations, considered the strengthening of evacuation measures from the Toretsk community.
"Every day the enemy is shelling the community with all kinds of weapons, including bombs and drones, it is extremely dangerous to be here," Filashkin wrote on his Telegram channel.
Last weekend, the DeepState project also reported that the enemy had increased pressure on Toretsk, managing to capture the village of Shumy, which is located near the city. However, the Ukrainian military did not officially confirm this information. Analysts believe that the Russians will try to build on their tactical success by bringing additional reserves to the area. Their goal is obvious - to take Toretsk, DeepState adds.
Photo: Toretsk, Donetsk region, on the DeepState map (screenshot deepstatemap.live)
What is Russia's goal: Expert opinion
Oleksandr Musiienko, Head of the Сenter of Military Law Researches, said in a comment to RBC-Ukraine that the threat to Toretsk has increased.
"The occupiers have entered Shumy, this settlement is basically in the lowlands to our positions. Accordingly, the dominant heights are controlled by Ukrainian troops, who are doing everything possible to block the enemy and prevent it from advancing," Musiienko said.
According to the expert, additional support forces for Ukrainian troops may be sent to this area. Besides, Ukraine is now slightly improving the situation with the supply of ammunition from its partners.
"Therefore, I think that our forces will be concentrated on inflicting maximum losses on the occupiers, slowing down the pace of their operations to prevent them from entering Toretsk or moving further. But only combat operations will show how the situation will develop," Musiienko explains.
The expert does not rule out that the Russians want to threaten Klishchiivka with their intensified activity in the Toretsk area, particularly, by trying to develop flanking attacks around the settlement.
"Because Russian troops are advancing on Klishchiivka from the northern flank. I think they will also try to develop an offensive toward Klishchiivka from the southern flank. But only from the south to push our grouping out of this settlement and level the front in the Chasiv Yar area and also to advance in the Toretsk area. Today it is a flanking operation," Musiienko said.
As he explained, the Russians are trying to level their offensive front line this way. This is the Russian goal that one can trace in this direction. Almost in every direction where Russian troops are advancing in the east, they follow the following classic scheme: flank attacks, attempts to semi-encircle or surround Ukrainian troops, level the front line, and block logistics, Musiienko added.
In early May of this year, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the Russian army could launch an offensive in the direction of Toretsk in the Donetsk region to complement offensive operations near the town of Chasiv Yar. However, the Russians needed a tactical pause for such a maneuver, analysts noted.
In its recent report, ISW said that Russian troops had launched their summer offensive, which includes the Toretsk area.
Read more about what is happening on the battlefield and where the most fierce battles may take place in the summer in RBC-Ukraine's article "Russia's summer plan: Key frontline areas for future offensive".
Sources: reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Telegram channel of the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Vadym Filashkin, DeepState maps, ISW reports, as well as exclusive comments by the Head of the Сenter of Military Law Researches Oleksandr Musiienko.
