Ukraine pulls troops to the front line
The General Staff of Ukraine reported on the first case of the use of strike drones by Ukrainian aviation in the Donbas. The Bayraktar TB2 drone attacked an artillery battery of the forces of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic. The video taken by the drone at the time of the attack has already spread online. Eyewitnesses report on social networks that Ukraine is transferring large reinforcements to the front line, intending to achieve a turning point in the Donbass conflict. So the war is coming soon? MK asked the expert about this.
Photo: pixabay.com
Apparently, Ukraine is preparing for a new stage of the war in the Donbas. This is evidenced by data coming not only from the line of demarcation between the armed forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the forces of the DPR and LPR, but also from the depths of the country. Dozens of videos are published online, which depict the transfer of troops from the interior of the country to the east. A large number of light and heavy armored vehicles, artillery and military vehicles were seen as part of railway echelons and automobile columns.
The situation began to escalate after the Ukrainian Armed Forces first detained the Lugansk representative in the joint observation mission, and then for the first time in history used an unmanned strike aircraft in the Donbas. A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 attack drone struck an artillery position of the DPR forces near the village of Telmanovo and destroyed, according to various sources, one or more guns.
Some sources report that as a result of the strike, one fighter was injured and one gun was partially disabled. At the same time, the APU occupied the village of Staromarinka located in the frontline zone. In the remaining sectors of the front, the DPR forces were able to hold their positions.
At the request of the MK, military expert Alexander Mikhailovsky described a possible scenario for the development of events in the Donbas, and also told what to expect from Ukrainian drones.
Words cannot describe what started in the media after the news about the use of these drones. All the statistics of their use in various conflicts have come out, and often completely divorced from reality. The only more or less objective source on this issue are services that count losses in modern conflicts based on photos andvideos. According to their data, the largest number of these drones were destroyed not in Karabakh, not in Syria, but in Libya, more than 20 pieces. And the fact that in Libya they failed to make some kind of cardinal change in the balance of power. This is the first. The second thing that can be said now, when everything seems to have calmed down a little, is that the raid was a trial and did not cause significant losses. I haven’t done it yet.
– They do it right. In my opinion, about six months ago, in a conversation with your publication, I drew attention to this: that the DPR-LPR fighters need to look into the air more often. Because even then, drones were being tested at landfills, calculations were being trained. Now we know that they are prepared, that there are enough of them in Ukraine. The second is now obvious that inthe air defense system of the unrecognized republics has “holes”, or, more simply, “unprotected areas through which drones can pass unnoticed. But at the same time, they are not acting as brazenly as in Karabakh. There they calmly attacked the Armenian positions far behind the front line. So far, they are acting cautiously here. Apparently, they are studying the enemy.
“The APU has a single strategy, which they have been trying to implement since 2014. Its essence is simple: to dissect the territory held by the militia forces with several blows, as well as to cut it off from the border with Russia. And then successively add pressure. That’s their only strategy. The task is set before the drones: to laymake way for armored formations, as well as suppress enemy air defenses in order for manned aircraft to enter into action. If Kiev decides to attack, then this plan will be implemented. But for now, perhaps, we are talking about some kind of “muscle play” on the part of Ukraine. We have repeatedly observed this in recent years.