Ukraine SitRep: The Collapse of the Donbas Front...

Ukraine_Russia_War_Six_Months_Emre_Caylak

by Bernhard at Moon of Alabama

The former advisor to the former Ukrainian President Zelenski, Alexey Arestovich, posted this map:

biggerArestovich expects two Russian operations to envelope the Ukrainian troops on the frontline.

Here is the same area as seen on the Ukraine friendly LiveUAmap:

biggerOver the last weeks the Russian operation west of Avdivka towards Pokrovsk has been accelerating. Currently the Russian forces are taking three or more towns per day. Cities with some 15,000 pre-war inhabitants, like Novogrodivka, are falling within 24 hours.

The Ukrainian parliament member Mariana Bezuglaya had recently visited Novogrodivka and complained that the trenches which had been build to defend the town were empty (machine translation):

The city was captured because ” the trenches in front of Novogrodovka were empty.” In the city, too, “there were no signs of preparation for defense and the presence of our military.””In the once twenty-thousandth city, there was practically no Ukrainian army. The 31st brigade in front of the city was removed, the brigade commander for whom the team asked was removed, and criminal proceedings were opened against him (I remind you, there are still no cases against Sodol). Instead, an inexperienced unit was sent here, ” Bezuglaya wrote.
…
“A week ago, I went out on the outskirts of Selidovo in the direction of Novogrodovka and saw fortifications in front of the city. There was nothing in the city, just an ordinary civilian settlement. I went into the trenches, no one was guarding them, no one was there. I went underground and went out into the field. The Russians were already behind the field. There was no one else. I didn’t get blown up by land mines, I didn’t meet any territorial defense fighters – only single insects were the only life in the prepared fortifications around Selidovo, which the Russians had been striving for for ten years. Any civilian could have done what I did, ” the MP said and posted a photo of empty trenches near Selidovo.

The Ukrainian army in the Donbas region, or whatever is left of it, is currently on the run. There is little fighting – and damage – in the settlements. The Ukrainian artillery seems to be out of ammunition.

The Ukrainian casualties are still high. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported today of 2,345 Ukrainian casualties (within Ukraine and the Kursk region of Russia.) Since the Ukrainian attack on Kursk the number of casualties has generally exceeded 2,000 per day, a number that was rarely seen previously.

The Ukraine leadership had sent its best troops,…