Published: 03.07.2022 – 15:00
The Russian offensive in Ukraine continues. Several cities of the country were bombed: Kyiv and Kharkov in the north, Mariupol in the south. Ukraine is now worried about an attack on the port of Odessa, the country’s third largest city on the Black Sea coast. Since the beginning of the offensive, the Russian army has been advancing much faster in southern Ukraine.
From the first days of the offensive, observers noted the difference between the advance of Russian troops to the south and north of the country.
While the Russian troops are bogged down in the area of Kyiv and Kharkov, the units operating in the south of the country are advancing much faster, right up to the encirclement Mariupol and threaten the city of Odessa.
Concentration of troops
The first possible explanation for this difference lies in the concentration of Russian troops in the Crimea and in the Rostov region, less late and, undoubtedly, better organized than those carried out in the north in Belarus thanks to pseudo-military maneuvers.
Thus, the troops deployed in this sector also benefit from a more effective logistics line, which the northern units do not have. They also don’t have to worry about mud, which slows down the progress of armored vehicles.
Another possible element of the explanation is the use of naval and amphibious weapons, which made it much more difficult for Ukrainian forces to resist the southern advance. Finally, they were no doubt stimulated in the north by the symbolic dimension of the defense of Kyiv, the capital of the country, whose capitulation would allow for the regime change desired by Vladimir Putin.
Big danger for Ukraine
No less dangerous for Ukraine is the advance of the Russian army to the south. Odessa offers an extremely important access to the sea for the country. Capturing it would also allow Russia to target the Dnieper and pincer Ukrainian forces stationed in the east of the country.
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