Kherson Foothold: Large Grouping Of Russian Army Doomed To Defeat

The Armed Forces of Ukraine left only two ways out for the occupiers.

There is still fierce fighting near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Well-equipped and money-motivated Wagnerites are fighting against the Ukrainian military. However, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the line and do not allow the enemy to move forward. At the same time, the occupiers are doomed to defeat in the Kherson region. The entire territory on the right bank of the Dnipro River is under the fire control of the Ukrainian army, so the Russians have only two options on this axis - to die or to surrender.

Why do the invaders need Bakhmut so much? What plans does the aggressor have for Kherson and why can the Belarusian army become our ally? Military expert and veteran of the Ukrainian-Russian war Oleksiy Hetman answered these questions on the Apostrophe TV channel.

– The situation in the Bakhmut region is not easy. This is almost the only axis on which the occupiers are actually advancing. Is it true that Putin set the task of taking Bakhmut before the end of October? Why is this axis so important to them?

– Indeed, there is fierce fighting there. Soledar and the direct road to Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk are located north of Bakhmut, in the west - Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka. They plan to capture these very important routes at any cost. There are very good road links.

The Wagnerites are fighting on this axis. These are probably the only motivated people in the entire Russian army, because they are motivated by money. There is information that they have already been paid for the capture of Bakhmut, so they need to work it out. Moreover, they need at least some kind of victory. Even if they fail, they will tell their leadership that they captured, surrounded, killed everyone, and then suddenly they wanted to make a gesture of goodwill and retreated. In fact, they only reached the outskirts of the city, so there were fierce battles on the outskirts of the city.

The battles have been going on for several weeks there, but they have not advanced even one meter. We are holding the line. No withdrawal plans and no chance for the invaders to capture Bakhmut. Everything else is Russian propaganda.

– With what forces is Russia trying to storm Bakhmut? Are there only Wagner PMC fighters and the regular Russian army there, or has the Kremlin sent mobilized newbies there?

– It is quite possible that there will be mobilized newbies who were thrown into a meat grinder. Surrendered prisoners and those captured said that they were the Wagnerites. The rest have not yet been caught, so we can neither refute nor confirm this information.

– Do you know how good weapons and equipment the Wagnerites have? In Kherson, for example, the invaders recorded a video that they had one armoured personnel carrier for 80 people.

– The most trained and equipped Russians are fighting in the Bakhmut area. They have excellent weapons compared to other Russian groups. They don't do stupid things, it's really hard to fight them. They even have suitable clothes and don't seem to be wearing tarpaulin boots. Even so, they are not advancing. They have constant rotations and new people. However, we are still able to eliminate them.

– If the Armed Forces of Ukraine go on a massive counter-offensive in the Kherson region, will the Russians transfer troops from that axis in order to strengthen the offensive on Bakhmut?

– The group, which is located on the western bank of the Dnipro River near Kherson, is doomed to defeat or surrender. They are not able to supply people, equipment, etc. We have blocked all the roads they can use: that is, bridges, pontoon crossings, and even the barges that they tried to transport people. We are destroying everything. Their group is not fully staffed. This entire territory is completely under our fire control, so they cannot make any movements. We have not suspended the offensive against these groups. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are acting correctly in terms of tactics for the destruction of these troops. When we push them to the left bank or simply drown them in the Dnipro River, it will be very difficult for them to start crossing the river.

Now the occupiers are taking out documents and people from Kherson. There is a suspicion that they want to leave these places in order to make Kherson what they did to Mariupol: to inflict powerful artillery shelling on it and destroy the entire city. Moreover, they officially announce the planned undermining of the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. In general, you need to call a psychiatrist, because commenting on the expression “planned dam explosion” is really crazy. Nevertheless, they do not advance on Bakhmut, and are doomed in Kherson. After the liberation of these two cities, it will be possible to move further east. In addition, this will make it impossible for them to move further west towards Mykolaiv and Odesa.