2023-07-22 15:17:00
War in Ukraine Height 215 and an abandoned factory – these two places show the murderous tactics of war
Ukrainian soldiers fire a Croatian multiple rocket launcher.
© Roman Chop / dpa
At first glance, the front line hardly moves, but in fact every moat and every homestead is being fought fiercely. The front has turned into a meat grinder. Small gains of ground are bought with heavy losses.
For more than a month, Ukrainian forces have been trying to break through the Russian army’s defenses. So far with little success, in some places they managed to capture the Russian outpost lines and push them back a few kilometers. But at a high price. The New York Times states that Kiev had to accept losses of 20 to 30 percent. These percentages do not refer to the total armed forces, as some have claimed, but to the deployed troops.
The misery of the fighting is evident in two places along the thousand-kilometer front. On the heights south of Bakhmut, the Ukrainians are offensive. The heights before Klishchiyivka have strategic importance for them. The fortified ridge is in front of the site. As is often the case in eastern Ukraine, the villages are in a depression, in a valley floor along a watercourse. These places are surrounded by gentle hills, near Klishchiivka they rise about 70 meters above the level of the settlement. From there the place can be seen and shot at. The settlement is protected by two fortification systems on the northern hills. The place itself and the whole valley cannot be defended for long. If the trenches fell at the height, the Russians would fall back to the zone in front of the TO513 trunk road. This would have taken Ukraine a long way towards the major goal of encircling Bakhmut, at least in the south.
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Crucial ditch system
For weeks there has therefore been a fight over the trenches. Despite the strategic importance, both sides used only a few soldiers each. Larger formations could not find cover and would be destroyed by enemy artillery. Again and again the Ukrainians attack. And twice they were able to occupy the trench systems and thus put the Russians under pressure. The significance can be seen in the shock felt by pro-Russian commentators. But both times the Ukrainians had to give up the position they had won so laboriously. The total combat zone is not particularly large. Once the Ukrainians have established themselves, they are shot at with everything the Russians have at their disposal. Including heavy aerial bombs or the notorious TOS-1A launchers. The fortifications cannot withstand the pressure of their thermobaric missiles, but even if they did, the missiles would kill the soldiers in a dugout with the shock wave of the air pressure. The Ukrainians could not withstand the following Russian counterattacks and the survivors had to retreat. Because of the importance of the location, it is likely that Kiev will continue these attacks. Until you manage to hold the position. In fact, the Russians are finding it increasingly difficult to hold the trench system. On July 22, it looks like they could achieve lasting success because their soldiers have also reached the settlement of Andriivka, a little to the south. If they manage to establish themselves there, they can fire on the Russians from two sides.
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Supply through a dead zone
When the Russians go offensive, they find themselves in the same dilemma. North of Russian-held Marjinka and south of Krasnogorovka, which is under Kiev control, lies an abandoned industrial complex. The Russians were able to take them almost by surprise. From there they threaten the Ukrainian positions in Krasnogorovka. The complexes with their thick walls and cellars now offer them protection. Especially since the Ukrainians will have to approach across an open field. And yet the Russians are not in a good position. To reach the plant, they have to cross about two kilometers of open terrain. Their armored personnel carriers cross this death zone at breakneck speed. Many escape enemy drones and artillery this way, but not all.
This situation has happened more than once in the Ukraine war. One side holds an advantageous and important position, but the enemy manages to establish fire control over the communication routes. Defenders then suffer casualties over days and weeks trying to bring in supplies and get out injured.
The work, as well as the height show how brutal and bloody this war is. The strategists play chess against each other. They occupy rows of trees, advance a field or cut off supplies to a small village. However, the slightest gains in territory are only achieved after weeks of costly battles. There are dozens of these places. Sometimes drone videos surface showing the misery of this war. Fields covered with dead people and body parts. Soldiers attempting to flee to safety in an abandoned trench only to find themselves caught in an explosive death trap. Injured left in no man’s land, killing themselves to end the pain.
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