Ukrainian forces thwart Russian plan to encircle Slaviansk and Kramatorsk
Photo: The Ukrainian Armed Forces thwart Russian plans to capture Kramatorsk and Sloviansk (zsu.gov.ua)
Ukrainian forces have thwarted Russia's plan to capture Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Russian troops have switched to the defensive, Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Third Army Corps, said.
According to the military officer, the Russian forces had hoped to execute a pincer movement around the cities and then push Ukrainian units out. However, during Operation Vivaldi, one of these "pincers" was completely destroyed.
"This made it possible not only to stop the enemy's advance but also to push them back. Now, in the area of responsibility of our units, the Russians are no longer thinking about offensive operations but only about defense," Zhorin said.
He added that the actions of Ukrainian forces had forced the enemy to try to stabilize and hold the positions they already occupied.
"Clearly, we dealt them a serious psychological blow, which we can see in the hysterical reactions of various Z-bloggers," the military officer stressed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously warned that if Sloviansk and Kramatorsk were lost, the war could spread further.
According to him, Russia wants to capture these cities to open a path into Dnipropetrovsk region, particularly toward Pavlohrad and Dnipro.
Meanwhile, amid continued Russian shelling in the Donetsk region, the mandatory evacuation zone for children was recently expanded to cover all settlements in the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk communities.
