Threat To Sloviansk-Kramatorsk Agglomeration Persists Despite Success Of Vivaldi Operation Deepstate

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Roman Pohorilyi, co-founder of the DeepState project, said this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, the Vivaldi operation enabled Ukrainian forces to cut off the Russian salient north of Lyman, where Russian troops had been attempting to bring in reinforcements in the Shandryholove area and advance through forests near Yampil and Zarichne. The situation was stabilized with the involvement of the Third Army Corps.

“Undoubtedly, the Vivaldi operation was successful at the tactical level. When the enemy's resources were depleted, the Defense Forces seized the opportunity and their tactical advantage, pushed the enemy back, and carried out a very successful and effective operation,” Pohorilyi said.

At the same time, according to the expert, after losing their advantage north of Lyman, Russian forces began looking for opportunities to advance farther south.

“Having failed to gain an advantage north of Lyman, the Russians began looking for openings farther south and putting pressure from there. Fighting is currently underway for Rai-Oleksandrivka because it is an important settlement, one of the last ones before Sloviansk... Therefore, it is still too early to say that the threat to the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration has been averted,” the DeepState co-founder said.

Commenting on the situation in the Kupiansk sector, the analyst noted that the Veles operation had partially helped address the problem of Russian troops infiltrating the city. At the same time,“gray zones” remain in the area, and attempts at infiltration continue.

“The problem that existed before is no longer there today... But overall, the Russians are still making these attempts. So, the Defense Forces are keeping the whole situation under control, identifying and destroying the infiltrators, but the situation could escalate at any moment,” Pohorilyi said.

Read also: Ukrainian forces have successfully adapted Russian tactics, Zelensky on Operation Veles

Analyzing the Zaporizhzhia sector, the expert drew attention to the worsening situation near Orikhiv, where Russian forces are gradually building up their manpower.

“If we talk about the Zaporizhzhia sector, the situation near Orikhiv has actually been getting difficult lately... Many of the tree lines are already teeming with the enemy. They are getting closer and closer, and perhaps at some point we will have to sound the alarm again,” Pohorilyi said in conclusion.

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since the beginning of autumn, the Defense Forces had liberated more territory than Russian forces had managed to capture.

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