Strike could hamper Moscow’s rear logistics at a time when Kyiv is discussing a counterattack
Ukrainian troops fire a German howitzer near Bahmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, February 5 2023. Picture: MARKO DJURICA/REUTERS
Melitopol, with a pre-war population of about 150,000, is a railway logistics hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and part of the land bridge linking Russia to the occupied Crimea peninsula. Ukrainian forces have stuck mainly to the defensive since their last big advance nearly five months ago. In that time, Moscow has launched a winter assault using hundreds of thousands of reservists and tens of thousands of convicts recruited from prisons for its Wagner private army.
The Russians have made no significant gains despite huge casualties on both sides, and Ukrainian and Western officials say they suspect the Russian attacking force will soon be spent. This past week Moscow also unleashed a new attack on Avdiivka, a smaller city further south. Britain said that too had failed to make gains, while leading to huge losses in Russian armour.The week has also seen the arrival of the first full units of Western tanks for Kyiv, promised two months ago to serve as the spearhead of a counteroffensive when warmer weather dries Ukraine’s notorious sucking black mud.
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