Expert Vladimir Orlov: “It will be much more difficult to take Bakhmut than it was with Soledar.”
Photo: REUTERS
According to the British edition of The Times, the Kyiv strategists entrusted the defense of Artemovsk to foreign mercenaries, as well as those mobilized who did not even have time to undergo basic military training. Another foreign newspaper, the Spanish El País, reported that soldiers from two battalions stationed in Bakhmut (Artemovsk) abandoned their positions and went to the rear because they were not given ammunition. Well, The Washington Post reports that the recruits of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, now being sent to Europe for accelerated training, are urgently changing their training goals: they are trying to teach them the skills to operate in a full-scale offensive. of the basic principles of combined arms combat.
About why the Kyiv regime is trying to close the gaps on the front with few or completely unprepared fighters, whom it also refuses to supply adequately, and whether those several thousand Rambos, now hastily preparing in the West, will help in Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda. We speak with Vladimir Orlov, director of the Center for Political-Military Journalism.
– The training of newly called up, previously untrained fighters for the competent conduct of urban combat – this used to be a long process, can it be “just sped up”?
– The Americans, it seems, will still try to conduct an intensive course of combat training with the Ukrainians, which will make it possible to train fighters who are “limitedly trained” for combat operations. Yes, of course, you will have time to teach them all the basics in a few weeks. They will be prepared for some minimal training actions.
– Survive or hold positions?
– Americans have very serious combat training in the army. It cannot be said that after their training, after their military intensive, inexperienced and completely untrained recruits will come out. This would be wrong.
– Can the Yankees train effectively in the shortest possible time?
– The Americans are good at preparing various militants. We have seen this in various military conflicts, including in the Middle East.
– But still, special training is not weeks or even months of training.
– Special operations forces are well prepared in the US But yeah, it’s not a quick process. And there they take already trained marines or paratroopers. As for the infantry, the combined arms combat course, the Americans have not come across emergency mass training for a long time. For many years they simply did not have such military tasks. And in general, they are now restoring these lost abilities for themselves.
– Is the United States better than Europe in military preparation “quickly”?
– You need to understand that Europe is, in fact, an appendage of NATO. The United States, as the leader of the NATO bloc, of course, attracted all the resources to itself. And, naturally, the US military technical and military training base is much better and broader than in Europe.
– In the east, Kyiv, thanks to these “precocious”, will it be able to accumulate enough forces, not only for defense, but also for the counteroffensive?
– Its “marginal norm” has not yet been worked out. It seems that the Americans gave instructions not to organize a counteroffensive on Soledar. It became a very reasonable decision. Despite the fact that initially Ukrainian politicians said that they would fight for Soledar to the last Ukrainian.
Has the situation changed drastically in recent days?
– Now the Americans have instructed Defense Minister Reznikov not to burn resources in this meat grinder. They told him to just back off. Give us a chance to occupy this settlement.
– So that?
– Now they are hastily organizing a new front line on the road to Slavyansk, Kramatorsk. There is a certain height there. At these heights of command, it will be easier for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to hold this line of defense than at Soledar. There, in fact, they were always under fire. And the Russian artillery could effectively attack the firing points of the Armed Forces of Ukraine using the reconnaissance resources involved.
– But there is still Artemovsk before Slavyansk.
– Yes, now there is a question about Bakhmut. I believe that a second echelon of additional defense will also be prepared. It will also be located on the commanding heights beyond Bakhmut. And the approaches to Bakhmut will be under stricter fire control by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Bakhmut will be much harder to take than Soledar.
– Will the confrontation in Bakhmut be decided, in many aspects, by artillery?
– Now the conflict is being fought with artillery means. The front lines on both sides are heavily saturated with unmanned reconnaissance teams. UAVs were created specifically for this. Now each firing point is under strict control and fire damage is dealt to them at the expense of artillery. If you look at the nature of the losses we have, that of the enemy, then up to 80 percent are losses from artillery fire.
