Ukraine's Dilemma: Fight to Hold a Ravaged City, or Pull Back

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Just to enter Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian soldiers run a gantlet of Russian artillery shells zeroed in on the only access route: a bridge littered with the burned husks of cars and trucks that didn’t make it.

And once inside the city in eastern Ukraine, the focus of both armies for the past several weeks, Ukrainian soldiers battle Russians in back-and forth combat for control of deserted, destroyed neighborhoods.

Ukraine’s leaders now face a key strategic decision: whether to withdraw from the midsize city and take up more defensible positions, or to remain and risk being boxed in if the bridge is blown up. It reflects the choices the country has had to make since the Russian invasion began, between giving ground to avert death and destruction in the short term, and holding out against long odds in hopes it will later pay off.

In Sievierodonetsk, that calculation has taken on significance beyond the city’s limited military importance. In remarks to journalists on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to Sievierodonetsk and its neighbor across the river, Lysychansk, as “dead cities” ravaged by Russian attacks and nearly empty of civilians.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraines-dilemma-fight-to-hold-a-ravaged-city-or-pull-back/ar-AAYc0Io

[TigressDem]

1. I Just wish Putin would drop dead. He is a pox on the World.

[TigressDem]

2. K&R K& R K&R K&R K& R K&R K&R K& R K&R

[PortTack]

3. Ukraine now holds 80-90% of SVRdonestk, bombed out as it may be.

The Ukrainians suffered heavy losses but the orcs suffered even more so that was a strategic goal achieved. Military experts speaking out say the Ukrainian forces have left themselves plenty of room to retreat if needed. I would highly doubt President Zelensky and his experts would allow themselves to fall into another Mariupol situation. Google maps updated sometimes 2-3 times a day confirms this.

The INTl Study of War says that when the battle for SVRdonestk and the the Donbas ends it will leave the russians so depleted it will be questionable whether they will be able to continue- another win for Ukraine.