hot q&a｜how much impact will the change of hands of the important town of donbas have on the war between russia and ukraine?
2024-10-04
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xinhua news agency, moscow/kiev, october 4th hot questions and answers｜what impact will the change of hands of the important town of donbas have on the russia-ukraine war?
xinhua news agency reporter liu kai li dongxu
the russian ministry of defense confirmed on the 3rd that the russian army has taken control of ugledar, an important town in donbas. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky later admitted that the territory had been lost. how important is ugledal? how did all parties react to the change of hands? how will the war go in the future?
how important is ugledal?
ugledar was once an important coal-producing area in the donbas region. it literally means "gift of coal" in russian and is located at the junction of the donetsk region and the zaporizhia region. the town is located at a commanding height in the local area and has a complex geographical structure. after the crimea incident in 2014, ukraine operated ugledar into a huge military fortress. after the ukrainian crisis escalated in february 2022, the fighting between russia and ukraine continued for about two years.
russian military analysts believe that ugledal, chasofyar, seversk, pokrovsk and other places form the "donetsk arc" at the forefront of the russian-ukrainian war. ugledar is an important node at the southwest end of this arc. it was once an important logistics support and supply center for the ukrainian army in the donbas region. cnn called it "an important fortress at the intersection of the ukrainian army's southern and eastern fronts."
igor korotchenko, a russian military expert and editor-in-chief of "national defense" magazine, believes that the control of ugledal is an important victory for the russian army, opening the way for the russian army to advance westward, and "a heavy blow to the ukrainian army and the ukrainian authorities." image".
how did all parties react?
ukrainian president zelenskiy admitted at a press conference after meeting with the visiting new nato secretary-general rutte on the 3rd that the ukrainian army had lost ugledar, and stated that it was out of the interest of saving the lives of ukrainian soldiers and the national interests of ukraine. considering that the ukrainian army retreated, it was completely correct.
as early as the end of september, as the fighting situation in ugledar became tense, news that the ukrainian army would lose this place emerged one after another. to a certain extent, ukraine has long been mentally prepared for the fall of uglidar. still, the news could dampen morale.
the new york times reported that after russia captures ugledar, it will not only be able to advance further in donbass, but also provide more security for rail transportation to crimea. the associated press believes that the loss of the uglidar fortress highlights the deteriorating situation of the ukrainian authorities and will weaken the ukrainian army's defense capabilities in donbas.
how is the war going?
commander-in-chief of the ukrainian armed forces alexander sersky said on the 3rd that he had ordered the strengthening of defenses in the eastern donetsk region. ukrainian military experts believe that because there are a large number of landmines and unexploded ordnance in the ugledar area, and the rainy season is approaching, the russian army still faces many difficulties in quickly attacking pokrovsk north from this direction.
after meeting with rutte on the 3rd, zelensky called on "the west to shoot down russian missiles and drones attacking ukraine" and to allow ukraine to use weapons provided by the west to carry out long-range strikes against targets in russia.
u.s. department of defense deputy spokesperson sabrina singer said at a press conference on the 3rd that u.s. president biden had promised not to send ground troops to ukraine, but the united states would provide assistance to ukraine in its efforts to regain its territory.
analysts pointed out that rutte visited kiev and reiterated that he would continue to provide military support to ukraine. not long ago, zelensky went to the united states to promote the "victory plan", and the biden administration announced that it would provide more military assistance to ukraine. at present, russia and ukraine still cannot see the dawn of armistice peace talks. (over)
