Mirnograd – At first glance it will be normal Put on the same level The two visits to the front were a few hours apart Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. If it were not for the fact that they went to opposite but not mutually exclusive places on the battlefields, it would make more sense to present the event as materialization in the bodies and gestures of the two defiant opposing chiefs. There is no forbidden commentary between Russia and Ukraine after 14 months of war.
But the reality seems more complicated, because it is precisely at this point The positions of the two are not glamorous at all. Very simply: Putin is on the defensive today (date of visit not confirmed), While Zelensky is about to respond. The Russian president has lost the initiative that he claimed for himself by launching an (unprovoked) invasion of his forces on the Ukrainian soil on February 24, 2022 with the plan to eliminate the opponent through brutal military force. He aimed to win it all in a few weeks, but today he finds himself obliged to protect his conquests: his winter offensive is mired in the sludge of the spring thaw, his forces are engaged in a bloody battle at Bakhmut, even if they are victorious by advancing through the ruins of the last western quarters, it will change very little of the military balances. like, His visit on Monday in Langi district, east of Kherson (Western Ukrainians seen in november) then in Lugansk very similar to the night place that was done a month ago In the hopeless ruins of MariupolThe cosmetic reconstruction of the buildings in the center still cannot hide the damage caused by the Russian bombs.
The stark truth remains what Putin went for Reassure soldiers and commanders In the face of a possibility, far from afar, where the latest NATO tanks, combined with the best artillery, mortars and drones produced by Western companies, are integratedThey can beat his army. Not by chance Kherson is the gateway to Crimea: Last year the Ukrainians did not defend it because they were forced to build a barrier to prevent enemy columns descending from Belarus from reaching Kiev. But today the situation looks different: The Russians had been digging trenches since Novemberbunkers, minefields were erected like madmen. The same thing is happening in Luhansk: a year ago it was seen as a launching pad for the Russian troops, which were supposed to join those coming from Kharkiv and thus break into the center of the country towards the Dnipro; But from the september ukrainian reconquest of izium and lyman here too The Russians are taking hold In view of the massive enemy counterattack.
Hence, the meaning of Zelensky’s visit to Avdiivka yesterday. The city is an integral part of Ukrainian defense system Built in 2014 to stop pro-Russian gang warfare. A month and a half ago, exhausted by Bakhmut’s challenge, the Moscow orders had tried to beat them with a thunderous bombardment. However, the results were less than rare. And yesterday the president’s message to his soldiers was clear: wait a bit, give us time to organize the offensive, and we will soon go from Avdiivka to liberate all of Donbass.
Meanwhile a positive note from Poland: Warsaw and Kiev reached an agreement on the resumption of Ukrainian grain transit, which has been suspended since Saturday after grain stocks built up in Poland, sending domestic prices down, prompting protests from farmers and the resignation of Poland’s former agriculture minister. The new Polish Minister of Agriculture, Robert Tellos, explained, “We have succeeded in setting up mechanisms that ensure that goods pass through Poland but that not a single ton of grain is left in the country.”