By Tom Balmforth
kyiv (Reuters) – Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said on Sunday that Russian forces aimed to capture the town of Chasiv Yar by May 9, setting the stage for a major battle for control of the Ukrainian highlands. east, where Russia concentrates its assaults.
The fall of the town west of the destroyed city of Bakhmut on the date Moscow marks Soviet victory in World War II would indicate growing Russian battlefield dynamics as kyiv faces a slowdown in Western military aid.
Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who warned over the weekend that the situation in the east had deteriorated, said Russia was concentrating its efforts west of occupied Bakhmut to try to capture Chasiv Yar before moving on. head towards the town of Kramatorsk.
Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region is 5 to 10 kilometers from Bakhmut, the devastated town captured by Russian forces in May last year after months of bloody fighting.
kyiv’s brigades are currently holding back assaults near Chassiv Yar and have been reinforced with munitions, drones and electronic warfare devices, he said in a statement broadcast on the Telegram messenger.
“The threat remains relevant, taking into account that the Russian higher military authorities have given their troops the task of capturing Chasiv Yar by May 9,” he said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Facebook that he visited Ukrainian units on the Eastern Front on Sunday and described the situation as “tense” as Russia tries to make progress in the areas west of Bakhmut.
“Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, we managed to thwart these plans thanks to the courage, training and professionalism of the defenders,” he wrote.
Russia marks May 9 with a major military parade in Red Square, overseen by President Vladimir Putin, who won another six-year term in the Kremlin in closely controlled elections in March.
ATTACKS ON THE ENERGY SYSTEM
The war has intensified in recent weeks, with Russia carrying out three massive airstrikes against Ukrainian power plants and substations, raising fears about the resilience of an energy system that was hobbled during the first winter of the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in his evening speech on Sunday: “The situation at the front during such a hot war is always difficult. But these days – and especially on the Donetsk front – it is becoming more difficult.”
The Ukrainian leader warned that the Kremlin could prepare to launch a major offensive in late spring or summer.
It is unclear where exactly this attack would take place, but Russia has focused its attack efforts in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has tried to find a pressure point to strike back against the Kremlin this year, using domestically produced long-range drones to bomb oil installations deep within Russian territory.
Ukraine now faces labor problems and a shortage of artillery shells.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia think tank, told X that Chasiv Yar would likely be a significant battle.
“Chasiv Yar is located on high, defensible terrain. If Russia takes (the town), it could potentially accelerate its advance deeper into the Donetsk (region) as part of a planned offensive this summer,” he said. he declared.
“Russian forces will still have to cross the canal to take (the city), but they have now reached the canal southeast of (the city). An immediate increase in munitions deliveries could prove crucial.”
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by David Holmes and Diane Craft)
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