New maps show the "backbone" of Ukraine's defense in the eastern Donetsk region, as Kyiv's army chief warns that the situation on the eastern front had "significantly worsened."
Moscow hopes to capture a "group of major cities" in the Donetsk region, including Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka, U.S.-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday.
The settlements, described by the ISW as "fortress cities," sit between 12 and 30 kilometers (7.5 to 18.6 miles) from the current front line. Pokrovsk, a city further south approximately 30 kilometers from the front, also forms part of this defensive belt.
Over the weekend, Ukraine's army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Moscow had increased its attacks in the Donetsk region in the last few weeks, adding the situation along the front line there had "significantly worsened in recent days."
Towards the city of Pokrovsk, southwest of Bakhmut—which the Kremlin has controlled for nearly a year—Russia is using "dozens" of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to try to break through Ukraine's defenses, Syrskyi said in a statement.
"Russian threats to Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka are very operationally significant since these "fortress" cities help form the backbone of the Ukrainian defense in Donetsk Oblast and of eastern Ukraine in general," the ISW said on Saturday.
Should Russian forces seize Chasiv Yar, a settlement west of Bakhmut close to Kostyantynivka, Russia would be able to "begin attacking the southern 'fortress' cities in the Ukrainian defensive belt directly," the ISW evaluated.
Syrskyi also said on Sunday that Russian commanders hoped to capture Chasiv Yar by May 9. Moscow also plans to advance towards the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian commander said. Kramatorsk is north of Druzhkivka and south of Sloviansk.
Kyiv's ability to fend off Russian attacks depends on Western, and, above all, U.S. military aid, Western analysts have stressed. Ukrainian forces are attempting to hold back Russia's slow, but steady, gains westward while contending with shortages of key equipment and ammunition.
A package worth $60 billion has languished in Congress, ensnared by political infighting, just weeks ahead of a predicted Russian offensive getting underway as early as the end of May.
"If the United States does not resume providing aid to Ukraine and Ukrainian forces continue to lack essential artillery and air-defense munitions in particular, however, even badly-trained and poorly-equipped Russian troops might be able to conduct successful offensive operations," the ISW said on Saturday.
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About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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