Russian troops advanced from Kharkiv Donbassan important region for encircling Ukrainian positions in northern Donetsk while consolidating their control over the south of the country bordering the Crimean Peninsula.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, in the last few hours the enemy army has concentrated troops and weapons in Izium near Kharkiv and intensified attacks in an attempt to gain final control of the area.
In addition, Moscow reportedly transported air units and up to 500 pieces of military equipment to Izium, located 70 km from Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian military stronghold in Donbass.
Small Russian advances
The Institute for War Studies, a US research center, confirmed in a recent report that Russian forces had made small but steady advances both at Izium and along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have also captured several small villages west of Izium in the past 24 hours.
According to the report, the Russians intend to encircle Ukrainian positions up to these areas, on the roads to Barvinkove and at the Sloviansk crossing. The institute also said that the growing concentration of artillery pieces is likely to allow Russian forces to achieve their objective.
In 2014, in the two biggest battles of the Donbass war, proRussian militias reinforced by Russian forces surrounded and crushed the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Thursday predicted “an extremely difficult week” because of the massive Russian offensive in Donbass. According to him, foreign aid to Ukraine will continue to grow, but its implementation “preparation [dos militares] and logistical questions” will take some time.
“However, Russia has already built up forces for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine,” the minister wrote on Facebook.
occupied territories
The Russians also seem determined to keep the areas occupied. According to Kyiv, some are already considering circulating the ruble and integrating it with the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
“From May 1 we will be in the ruble zone,” said Kiril Stremousov, representative of the new proRussian authorities in the Kherson region, neighboring Crimea.
According to the source, the transitional period, when both rubles and Ukrainian hryvnia will be in circulation, will last about four months.
“After that, transactions will only be settled in rubles,” he said, quoted by Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.
In Kherson, Russian forces on Monday broke into the local town hall, which is the first major city to be captured in just over two months after the invasion, Mayor Igor Kolykhaiv said.
The Russians announced that the mayor’s powers will be “delegated” and that the new head of the regional administration will be former mayor Vladimir Saldo.
On Thursday, Kherson’s deposed mayor commented that “possibly they [os russos] intend to merge [a região de Kharkov] to the Crimea”.
Kolykhaiv denied reports of preparations for a possible referendum in the region to declare Ukraine’s independence, as Donetsk and Lugansk did eight years ago. “It makes no sense to set up another quasirepublic. There are no preparations for a referendum,” he said in an interview with Ukraine’s NV.