Why the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not liberate the occupied cities of Donbass

Recently, perhaps a very lazy Internet user has not noticed a trend where Ukrainian troops attack or counterattack enemy positions, sometimes occupy certain areas of cities, or even entire villages, after which they peacefully retreat to their previous positions as if nothing had happened.

And although this behavior has been observed since the summer, some still perceive each such assault on enemy positions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as the beginning of an offensive and liberation of the occupied territories. But each time everything ends the same way it ended the previous times - with a retreat to previous positions.

It is worth recalling at least the capture by the Ukrainian military of the village of Elenovka near Dokuchaevsk in mid-November, which had to be abandoned on the same day. In general, the situation with Dokuchaevsk is very indicative and even textbook, so many separate materials have been written about it.

This is a city that, according to the results of the Minsk-1 negotiations, was supposed to be under the control of Ukraine, but is under occupation by militants; it could have been liberated by Ukrainian troops for a long time and more than once. The Ukrainian army soldiers themselves, who have long occupied strategic heights around the city, claim that the liberation of Dokuchaevsk under current conditions will take from several hours to one day. We also described in detail how exactly Dokuchaevsk could be liberated.

But, as they say, Dokuchaevsky is not alone. They also wrote more than once about the advance of Ukrainian troops on the Svetlodar Bulge, and also that Debaltsevo could also be liberated in a matter of days. And Ukrainian intelligence officers in informal conversations make it clear that in front-line Gorlovka they almost reached the city center, it is so poorly guarded - only a few checkpoints on the main streets.

Also, the Ukrainian offensive could have begun long ago in the Avdeevka area. The fact that our troops have been controlling the Avdeevka “industrial” since the summer is no secret to anyone, but for some reason they do not go further on a permanent basis. Although, at the moment, the Ukrainian army has advanced closer to Yasinovataya, occupying a holiday village to the east of the so-called “Third Avdeevsky Pond”. However, how serious this is and how long it will last is still unknown.

And just the other day, on the pages of separatists on social networks, there was a panic that from Krutaya Balka in the Yasinovatsky district (a settlement that is closest to the combat zone near Avdievka), the “DPR authorities” began evacuating the population. True, in the process of discussing this “news”, local residents explained that there was no evacuation as such, and the local residents themselves were fleeing the village, because living there had become unbearable in recent years.

But if our troops managed to liberate Krutaya Balka and gain a foothold there, it would deal a significant blow to the terrorists’ positions, because the highway that connects Gorlovka and Donetsk would be under Ukrainian control. The arguments, of course, are convincing, but let’s remember how many such arguments can be found along the entire front line. Almost every city and village near the “gray zone” can be liberated for the strategic purpose of cutting off communication between a particular terrorist group and other populated areas. However, things are still there.

As we can see, there are quite a lot of prerequisites for the liberation of the occupied areas of the Ukrainian Donbass, and even reconnaissance in force has been carried out more than once. However, the main thing is missing - for certain reasons there is no political will to start this process. True, these reasons are quite objective: Russia, which provides assistance to militants with both weapons and manpower, has not yet been taken out of the game, so any start of active hostilities on the Ukrainian side could turn out to be what it turned out to be in August 2014 .

Therefore, all these chaotic advances forward by millimeters, as well as the seizure of individual settlements with their subsequent liberation, should be perceived as nothing more than training in combat conditions and an element of political pressure on the so-called “authority” of the so-called “L-DPR”, and on the Russian authorities, to diplomatically strengthen Ukrainian positions in the negotiations. Well, also as a demonstration to Ukraine’s Western partners that their help is not in vain and the Ukrainian army is improving its combat effectiveness.