Source: Global Times Lisichangsk: Next step for the Russian army to attack the city [Global Times Special Correspondent Zhang Yifan Liu Yupeng Global Times reporter Liu Yang] Since the end of May, Ukrainian President Zelensky has visited the front lines in many places, and has su

Source: Global Times

Lisichangsk: Next step, the city of Russian attacks

[Global Times Special Correspondent Zhang Yifan Liu Yupeng Global Times reporter Liu Yang] Since the end of May, Ukrainian President Zelensky has visited the front lines of many places in many places, and has successively settled in cities such as Kharkov, an important city in eastern Ukraine, Zaporozhe, and Lisichangsk in the Donbas region. Obviously, Zelensky's trip to the front line is to cheer up the Ukrainian army against the backdrop of the continuous gains of the Russian military's special military operations against Ukraine. Zelensky's inspection locations selected seem casual, but they are quite meaningful, because the offense and defense of these cities are important points that can affect the next battle trend and may break out fierce wars in the future.

Uzbek President Zelensky inspected the Donbas front on the 5th and went to Bachmut in Donetsk Oblast and Lisichangsk in Luhansk Oblast. Both cities are close to North Donetsk, which Russia and Ukraine are currently competing for, and are an important military stronghold for the Ukrainian army to defend North Donetsk.

Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhidanov believes that Zelensky's front-line travel has more PR components than military parts, command or decision-making, but he believes Zelensky's behavior is correct. His personal visit to the front line greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Zakharova said at a press conference on the 8th that Ukrainian nationalists are ready to launch provocations at the North Donetsk chemical plant. On the 7th, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu announced that the Russian army had controlled all residential areas in North Donetsk and was confirming control of industrial areas and its adjacent areas. So far, the Russian army has controlled 97% of the area in Luhansk Prefecture. The U.S. War Institute believes that the Russian army may have controlled most of the residential areas of North Donetsk and launched an attack on Ukrainian positions in the city's Azov industrial zone. Commercial satellite images provided by Maxar show that Russian multiple rocket launchers have been deployed outside North Donetsk and have bombarded the city violently. The U.S. War Institute claims that the Russian army may adopt tactics similar to those in Mariupol and use large-scale artillery fire to clear Ukrainian positions.

A military expert told the Global Times reporter on the 8th that after North Donetsk almost succeeded, the Russian army's next attack focus in the Donbas region was Lisichangsk and Bachmut. Since the Ukrainian army essentially retreated in North Donetsk to retain its viable force, a large number of Ukrainian personnel have retreated to Lisichangsk and Bachmut. It is expected that the battle between these two places will be an important combat operation for the Russian army to completely take down Luhansk Prefecture and advance towards Donetsk Prefecture. At present, the Russian army has begun to carry out tentative attacks and fire reconnaissance on the two places.

At the same time, commercial satellite pictures show that the Russian army is building a pontoon bridge in Kharkov Oblast. Kupiyansk is backed by the P07 expressway, which goes directly from Kharkov Oblast to North Donetsk and Lisichangsk. The construction of the pontoon bridge may indicate that the Russian army is strengthening the logistics supply line around Kupiansk to better support the Russian army's next combat operations in Luhansk Prefecture. In the Bachmut region, Russian troops are gathering in the area east of Bachmut and launching attacks on multiple settlements. The British Ministry of Defense analyzed that in the past few weeks, the Russian attack on Bachmut from Popasna has stalled, and the Russian military's re-adjusting deployment shows that the Russian army is trying to seize the highway network in northeastern Bachmut in order to strengthen military operations on the North Donetsk-Lisichangsk front line.

Zaboroze: It is related to the stability of land bridges

According to the Ukrainian newspaper Today on the 8th, Ukrainian President Zelensky inspected Zaboroze. Zelensky said Zaporozhe could become a city that Russian troops are trying to occupy in the near future.

From the overall perspective of the Russian military's second phase special military operation, "liberation of the Donbas region" and completely opening up the land bridges of the western Russia-Donbas region-South Ukrainian region-Crimean Peninsula are its important combat goals. At present, the "liberation of the Donbas region" seems to be in sight; southern Ukraine includes Zaporoje and Khlsong State, most of Zaporoje has been taken down, and almost all Khlsong State has been taken down.But Zaporoze City, the capital of Zaporoze Prefecture, is still in the hands of the Ukrainian army, which is also an important reason why Zelensky had to go to the place for inspection. For the Russian army, Zaporoze City, which is still controlled by the Ukrainian army, is like a "nail" on a land bridge. If it is not removed, it may endanger the safety and stability of the land bridge at any time. However, as the Donbas region has not yet been captured, the Russian army's main targets are still Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast. In the future, the city of Zaporoze may be resolved by the Russian army in order.

The above experts believe that controlling the entire Zaporoze prefecture is not only of important military significance, but the economic strength of the state also attracts Russia to take it all. Zaporoze Prefecture is located in the southeast of Ukraine, at the mouth of the Dnieper River. It is one of the regions with developed economy, advanced technology and high knowledge level in Ukraine, and one of the regions with relatively strong industrial and agricultural foundations in Ukraine. The whole province has a complete range of industrial categories, with electricity, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, metallurgy processing and chemical industry occupies an important position; the local black soil is fertile and is a traditional agricultural area in Ukraine, with a complete variety of crops and a huge output. In terms of electricity, the local area has Dnieper Hydropower Station, Zaporother Thermal Power Station and Zaporother Thermal Power Station. The Zaporo Thermal Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The aviation industry is also one of the highlights of Zaporoje, with the Motor Sici company known as the "power tsar". Zaporoze's steel and non-ferrous metal smelting is also known in the world, with many well-known steel companies.

Kharkov: Russia's "third phase" important targets

Recently, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the goals of the third phase of special military operations, including controlling Nikolayev, Odessa and Kharkiv. It is obvious that Kharkov Prefecture has been included in the Russian military's combat plan and operational preparation. This is also an important reason why Zelensky visited the place a few days ago.

Kharkov is the capital of the state. Russia has a special emotion for the city of Kharkov. Therefore, as soon as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out in February this year, the Russian army quickly completed the siege of Kharkov. After that, the Russian army voluntarily withdrew from the siege of Kharkov city in order to ensure the safety of sufficient troops entering the transportation line from western Russia (such as Kupiansk).

Experts believe that for Russia, Kharkov is very close to the Russian capital Moscow and the most unstable Caucasus region in Russia. It is an important gateway to these two regions and has a very high strategic position. If the external ground reinstallation group breaks into Russia from Kharkov, it will soon be able to separate the western region of Russia's most economically developed north-south and cut off the connection. During World War II, the Soviet army and the German army repeatedly competed for Kharkov, an important town in eastern Ukraine, between 1941 and 1943, which fully demonstrated the geographical importance of Kharkov.

Kharkov is also the second largest city in Ukraine and the center of eastern Ukraine. The city has more than 90 higher education institutions, 7 Ukrainian national scientific research institutions and more than 200 scientific research branches. It is Ukraine's largest biomedical education, scientific research and production and manufacturing base. Kharkiv has hundreds of industrial facilities, including the Morozov Design Bureau and the Mareshev factory, the Kharkiv tractor factory and other important factories in the Soviet era.