"Russia Is Throwing Its Last Resources Into The Fight"

The AFU is holding back the new pressure and inflicting huge losses on the occupiers.

Has the Russian army began a new offensive in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya directions? For commentary, Charter97.org turned to military expert, co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Razumkov Center in Kiev Alexei Melnyk:

- Yes, the last two days have seen abnormal activity of the Russian army. If in the first two weeks of March the number of military clashes was slightly more than 100, then, for example, in recent days this figure has reached 280.

The intensity has at least doubled. What our military, including General Alexander Syrsky, note is, on the one hand, the improvement of weather conditions, i.e. drying of the ground, plus in these regions there was rain, fog, unfavorable conditions for drone flights. The Russians tried to take advantage of these opportunities.

But the result is also, as they say, visible. If the average daily losses before were recorded at the level of less than a thousand people, in the last two days it is 1500-1700, that is also almost twice as many. There is a direct correlation between activity and the number of combat losses.

It is important to note here what the commander of the Unmanned Systems Force, Robert "Magyar" Brovdy, said: these are not just estimates, virtually all of these losses are documented on camera.

- The occupiers are suffering colossal losses. Can the depletion of manpower stop the Russian army already this year?

- The Russians are preparing, probably, to use the last opportunity to conduct an offensive operation, because, most likely, without some radical measures in terms of mobilization, the offensive resource of the Russians this year will be almost completely exhausted. That is why the Russians are now, at least, assessed as having one of the last opportunities to achieve an operational breakthrough on the front line.

- There are reports of successful counterattacks by the AFU in the Dnipropetrovsk region and near Stepnogorsk. What results were achieved and does it change the situation on the front?

- You are right to say that we are talking about counterattacks, we are not talking about counteroffensives. Counterattacks have also been undertaken, taking advantage of the favorable conditions that have developed.

Many people have noted the Starlink factor. It's that disabling Starlink in the Russians has created huge connectivity problems, serious problems for the operation of drones, which are radio-controlled, not on fiber optics. The Russians' ability to control the battlefield and use drones has been greatly diminished since this decision to shut down Starlink.

The AFU has been able in that time to use drones to sweep the gray zone and reportedly expand it to a depth of about 50 kilometers, destroying places where personnel, equipment, and logistics are gathered. In fact, the use of such a window of opportunity will not be endless, but it was a sin not to take advantage of it.

There is confirmed data that for the first time in quite a long period the balance of territories occupied and over which the AFU has regained control is no longer in Russia's favor.

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