Expert Oleksandr Musienko stated that Russia, intensifying its offensive operations in the Kharkiv region, seeks to semi-surround the city of Kharkiv and present the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with a difficult choice.
"The strategic goal is the semi-encirclement of Kharkiv. Not battles for the city and its capture, but semi-encirclement from the northern, eastern and western directions. This can be traced from the point of view of the logic of the forces involved. On the other hand, there are doubts that they are able to implement the strategic task ," said Musienko.
He explained that, in his opinion, the success of the task for the Russian Federation will depend on the speed and volume of Western aid packages, the readiness of our command to act and transfer forces from Donbas to the northeast.
"I see an intention to put our command in front of a dilemma , what to protect first of all. That is, whether to continue defensive operations in the Donetsk region with the transfer of additional forces, or to transfer them to the Kharkiv region after all. But the main reason for the offensive is the semi-encirclement of Kharkiv. In this sense, the diversion of troops is one of the elements of a large-scale operation, the beginning of which we are watching," Musienko emphasized.
We will remind that from Friday, the Russian occupiers intensified their offensive in the Kharkiv region. The terrorists tried to break through the defense positions of the Armed Forces.
As of now, active hostilities are taking place in a number of settlements in the region.
