Photo: Video frame of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Director of the MGIMO Center for Military-Political Research Alexey Podberezkin explained why the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk line is the last line of defense for Ukrainian troops.
“The Slavyansk-Kramatorsk group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is strong,” Podberezkin said in in an interview with the Ukrainian portal .RU. He noted that these soldiers are well trained and the organization of defense was taught to them by American instructors.
Therefore, the expert said, this line is the last line of defense. After the conquest of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, there will be no urban development and prepared fortifications. The armed forces of Ukraine will have to fight in the forest-steppe.
As for Odessa and Nikolaev, as Podberezkin noted, Russian troops will not attack them, because these cities can be easily bypassed from the north, where there is common border with Transnistria.
“It's obvious, there are no secrets here,” added Podberezkin.
In addition, the expert specified that there are fewer armed forces and professionally trained soldiers in Nikolaevsk and Kharkov village ru, so after the conquest of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the situation there can develop much faster.