Ukrainian military analyst: Russian offensive in Donbas has started losing steam
Military expert and reserve colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleh Zhdanov believes that by the end of June Russian troops will switch to trench warfare.
"In principle, today the intensity of the hostilities is decreasing. The Russians are trying to resume the offensive in certain areas around Severodonetsk, but this is not as powerful an offensive as it was at the beginning of last week, when the situation seemed almost critical for us, and the threat of encirclement was very big," Zhdanov explained.
He stressed that the Russians are already beginning to move troops from other directions.
"We'll see where that leads. But I think it will be the deadline [June 22] for them to focus their efforts. Then, most likely, everything will move to trench warfare," he said.
According to Zhdanov, June 22 is a new deadline, by which Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to capture the entire Luhansk region.
"These are consequences or the old Soviet imperial ambitions, when even a war is planned to a certain date. This was done by the Soviet Union, but we know at what cost and the number of losses," Zhdanov concluded.
On June 12, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces began counteroffensive in certain directions. According to him, the fighting is currently taking place along 1105 km of the front, when its total length is 2450 km.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the fiercest fighting is taking place in Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Slavyansk.