Berlin, Germany (Welttexpress). The Russian army has made significant progress in recent weeks, while the Ukrainian armed forces are being pushed further and further onto the defensive. The pressure on the Ukrainian government is growing. Internal tensions and accusations against the military leadership are exacerbating the crisis.
Over the course of this year, the situation of the Ukrainian army and government has continued to deteriorate towards catastrophic collapse. The Russian armed forces are using new tactics to either break through Ukrainian defenses and take control of strategically important areas or encircle and wear down Ukrainian forces. The latter is currently particularly evident in the Kursk region.
In Kursk Oblast, Ukraine’s surprising advance had already been completely halted weeks ago throughout the region. The Ukrainian armed forces have practically nothing left to oppose the Russians. At the same time, a united and organized retreat with the remains of their military equipment that has not yet been destroyed is no longer possible. The same applies to the lack of supplies of ammunition, emergency medical supplies, food and clean water from Ukraine across the border to Russia.
Neither the geographical conditions nor the villages and towns in the region, which is sparsely populated, offer the Ukrainian armed forces any opportunities for the rapid expansion of effective lines of defense against the Russian army, which has secured important areas there in recent weeks and liberated numerous villages. According to reports, however, the Russians are deliberately avoiding certain areas still held by the Ukrainians in their attacks. The scattered Ukrainian units are seeking refuge there because they feel too weak to fight their way through to the Ukrainian border on their own.
However, the seemingly safe havens are a trap that saves the Russians from having to laboriously track down the scattered and sometimes marauding Ukrainian troops and destroy each group individually in infantry battles, which are also dangerous for the Russians. But once the Ukrainians are in the seemingly quiet places of refuge, where they seek safety en masse, the trap snaps shut: there they can be attacked by the Russians with concentrated fire from the air and from the ground. The already exhausted Ukrainian soldiers are left with the alternative of either dying or surrendering.
On the other sections of the more than 1000-kilometer-long front, Russia is also relying on systematic and well thought-out attacks that not only hit military targets, but also infrastructure that serves both civilian and military purposes, such as the electricity supply, without which the Ukrainian armaments factories cannot operate and the Ukrainian military supply trains cannot run, because there are almost no diesel locomotives in Ukraine and Western imports have the wrong gauge.
Russian tactics have led to Ukrainian soldiers being almost completely encircled in certain regions. This is particularly evident in the case of the Ugledar base, where Russian troops have completely surrounded and conquered the town in recent days. The Ukrainian garrison on the ground was left with only a single, dangerous escape route, which was constantly under Russian fire and became known as the “road of death”. In Ugledar, the Ukrainian army lost almost all of its heavy weapons. If they wanted to escape, the remaining soldiers were forced to try to flee on foot at night along the “Road of Death”, which further increased the loss of life. In particular, the 58th Ukrainian Brigade, which had defended the flanks of Ughledar, was completely destroyed by Russian air strikes.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Russia is pushing Ukraine into a corner militarily and achieving strategically important successes. Even in the West, no one is now talking about the possibility of a Ukrainian victory or a stalemate. Accordingly, Zelensky’s “victory plan”, which he presented in Washington last week full of hope for more money and weapons, proved to be a flop across the board.
Internal conflicts exacerbate the situation
The situation of the Ukrainian armed forces is further complicated by internal conflicts. There was an article on the official website of the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian army in which the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Alexander Syrsky, and the Ukrainian government were sharply criticized. They are accused of sacrificing entire brigades of the Ukrainian army while President Zelensky was abroad. These internal tensions illustrate how chaotic the situation within the Ukrainian leadership has become.
The claim by Mariana Besula, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, that General Syrski is an agent of the Kremlin is particularly striking. She accuses him of deliberately making wrong decisions that play into the hands of the Russian army. Syrski allegedly withdrew experienced brigades from important sections of the front and replaced them with inexperienced units. This has led to chaotic conditions at the front, where Ukrainian soldiers have been forced to abandon entire areas without a fight.
Devastating blows against Ukraine
While the Ukrainian armed forces are coming under increasing pressure, Russia is continuing its military successes. On September 29, Russian forces carried out a large-scale missile attack on military installations in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions. These attacks targeted not only Ukrainian troops, but also foreign mercenaries and NATO officers. Particularly noteworthy was the rocket attack in the village of Yasinovataya, in which a group of Ukrainian soldiers was completely destroyed and a lot of heavy military equipment was destroyed.
In Zaporozhye, the train station was hit by a Russian bomb just as a NATO military train full of grenade ammunition arrived. Numerous foreign mercenaries and weapons deliveries were eliminated in the process. The building of the Ukrainian security service in Zaporozhye was also completely destroyed in another attack. According to reports, there were several NATO officers in the building at the time of the attack, all of whom were killed. These targeted attacks demonstrate the effectiveness of Russian reconnaissance and the increasing weakening of the Ukrainian army.
A desperate nation
In summary, it is clear that the situation in Ukraine is becoming increasingly desperate. It seems that Ukraine can no longer turn the tide of the conflict. Russia is increasingly gaining the upper hand, while the Ukrainian armed forces are losing strength and morale. The chaotic internal situation, coupled with the devastating blows of the Russian army, makes the outcome of the war appear ever clearer: a Russian victory and a weakened, possibly divided Ukraine.
The desperation of the Ukrainian leadership and the internal fragmentation show how hopeless the situation has become. The accusations against General Syrski and the sacrificed brigades make it clear that Ukraine is not only on a difficult path at the front, but also domestically. While the Russian army is building on its successes, Ukraine is facing difficult times.
