Ukraine faces new Russian offensive as peace talks stall
The Straits Times
KYIV, March 25 - Ukraine will aim to repel Russia's new springtime offensive along the front line during a breakdown in U.S.-backed peace talks by building on recent tactical successes and battlefield innovations like mid-range strikes. Read more at straitstimes.com.
KYIV, March 25 - Ukraine will aim to repel Russia's new springtime offensive along the front line during a breakdown in U.S.-backed peace talks by building on recent tactical successes and battlefield innovations like mid-range strikes.
The focus of the widely anticipated campaign is the so-called "Fortress Belt" of heavily defended cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow has repeatedly demanded Kyiv relinquish in return for peace.
Over the last week, Russia has launched a battalion-size assault northeast of Sloviansk, the belt's northern anchor, and smaller attacks near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, on its southern end, seeking to create conditions for a broader offensive, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Authorities in Sloviansk announced on Friday the evacuation of children from the city as Russian forces advanced just 20 km east - a sign of the deteriorating security situation.
Though Russian forces outnumber Ukraine's, improved tactical assaults by Kyiv and its evolving drone strike capability could slow Moscow's gains, said Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank.
"Russia still has enough manpower to keep advancing this year," said Lee. "How far they're going to get is an open question."
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