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A spring offensive by the Ukrainian armed forces has been expected for several weeks. This should enable a breakthrough at the front in eastern Ukraine and far-reaching territorial conquests.
The purpose of the operation: Russia is attacked and weakened. At some point, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (45) hopes that Russia will have no choice but to take a seat at the negotiating table.
Ukraine has a valuable asset up its sleeve
But there remains a problem with the widely announced counter-offensive by the Ukrainians. Deliveries of urgently needed ammunition are delayed. Even Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov (56) recently tempered expectations of the planned offensive, qualifying them as “absolutely exaggerated”.
However, several military experts now point out that the Ukrainian armed forces still have a valuable asset up their sleeves. Russia is an easy target on one point in particular.
Moscow’s supply lines from Crimea to the mainland in southern Ukraine are considered the “lifeline” of the Russian military. “The rail link from Donbass to Crimea is the only reasonably well-functioning logistical link for Russia in southern Ukraine,” emphasized the security expert and deputy director of the German Association for Foreign Relations, Christian Mölling (50), recently in the Stern podcast “Ukraine – The Location”.
“Politically, that would be a disaster for Russia”
The double-track railway runs from Russia’s Krasnodar region over the Crimean Bridge to the occupied peninsula. From there, the railway continues towards the Ukrainian mainland. One of the tracks runs towards the disputed city of Kherson, the other towards Militopol and from there to Donbass annexed by Russia.
A successful Ukrainian attack on these supply lines would be devastating for Moscow and pose serious problems for the armed forces. “That would be a political disaster for Russia,” Mölling concluded.
Simon Weiss, security expert at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, agrees. He believes that the Ukrainian armed forces will target the Crimean Bridge in the first place.
“The railway makes it possible to transport military goods quickly to the north of Crimea and thus close to the front,” he told the Tagesspiegel.
Attacks could force Russia to the negotiating table
Security expert Mölling is convinced that it should not be too difficult for the Ukrainians to break through the Russian supply line. To do this, they would only need to be equipped with “a limited number of rocket artillery”.
Should the Ukrainians actually succeed in destroying the Russian ‘lifeline’ and thereby retaking the areas in the south, this would put Ukraine in a very strong position and could force Moscow to the negotiating table, according to the experts. (ceded)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
