30 2GM Friday May 27 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
Fighting in the eastern Donbas region
reached its fiercest level yet, Ukraine
said yesterday, as Russian forces pre-
pared to attempt another crossing of a
river that has proved to be a significant
obstacle.
Constructing a pontoon bridge over
the Siversky Donets is crucial if the
invading forces are to bring armour and
logistics from the east to join the fight
for the Donbas, analysts said. “The
battle for the river line is alive and well.
One way or another they will get there,”
General Sir Richard Barrons, former
commander of UK Joint Forces Com-
mand, said.
The Centre for Defence Strategies, a
Ukrainian-based think tank, said Rus-
sian troops were “actively exploring”
the area between the villages of Dron-
ivka and Bilohorivka, where they plan
to cross the river from the south. Up to
15 pontoon bridge sections and eight
tugboats have been brought forward, it
added. Enemy forces are also gathering
in two locations north of the river, fuel-
ling fears that the Russians will attempt
several crossings at once.
“Judging by the number of forces
gathering in the area of Yampol and
south of Dibrova, in the coming days we
should expect attempts to force the
Siversky Donets river on a fairly broad
front,” the think tank said.
The Russian army has plotted a slow
but steady course deeper into the Don-
bas region since withdrawing forces
from central and northern regions,
forcing Ukrainian troops in eastern
towns and villages to retreat.
Ukraine said yesterday that the Rus-
sians were pushing deeper into the
industrial region made up of Donetsk
and Luhansk, the two “breakaway
President Putin’s elite airborne forces
have suffered heavy casualties after
being thrown into battles more suited
to heavier-armoured infantry units,
according to British intelligence.
The Ministry of Defence said the
VDV paratroopers had been involved
in “several notable tactical failures”.
They included the failed crossing of the
Siverskyi Donets river in eastern
Ukraine this month and the storming
of Hostomel airport outside Kyiv.
VDV paratroopers carried out an
assault on the airport using about 30
helicopters, and although they cap-
tured it their victory was short-lived as
the Ukrainians retook it.
The MoD also cited the airborne
forces’ “stalled progress” towards the
city of Izyum since last month.
“The VDV has been employed on
Elite Kremlin troops ‘poorly equipped’
missions better suited to heavier
armoured infantry and has sustained
heavy casualties. Its mixed perform-
ance likely reflects a strategic misman-
agement of this capability and Russia’s
failure to secure air superiority,” the
MoD said.
It assessed that the “mis-employ-
ment” of the VDV in Ukraine high-
lighted how Putin’s significant invest-
ment in the armed forces has resulted
in an “unbalanced” force.
“The failure to anticipate Ukrainian
resistance and the subsequent compla-
cency of Russian commanders has led
to significant losses across many of
Russia’s more elite units,” the MoD said.
Robert Clark, a research fellow at
Civitas, agreed the forces had been
wrongly utilised. “They’re poorly
equipped to seize the critical bridge-
heads due to the lack of air supremacy
and being lightly deployed. They don’thave the equipment necessary,” he said,
adding that they would be better used
with infantry battalion tactical groups
to reinforce Russian assault lines or
exploit gaps in the enemy’s defences for
rapid territorial gains.
Ben Barry, senior fellow for land war-
fare at the International Institute for
Strategic Studies, said it was not un-
common for paratroopers to be used on
the ground when they could not carry
out an airborne operation.
“The British used 16 Air Assault Bri-
gade in this way in Iraq. Using airborne
troops in this way has often happened
and often succeeded,” he said.
The Ukrainian Main Intelligence
Directorate noted that up to 60 per cent
of Russia’s high-precision weaponry
has been exhausted, so it is seeking
other methods of striking critical infra-
structure and has intensified the use of
aircraft to support offensives.Larisa Brown
Nine lions have been rescued from a
zoo in the Ukrainian city of Odesa after
a risky mission by British ex-soldiers
and wildlife activists.
Moving the pride had become urgent
after a Russian missile strike on the
nearby airport. There were fears a
direct hit on the zoo could set the
animals loose and they were already in
danger of starving because of the
ruined tourism market.
“There had been a lot of shelling in
the area and the lions were trauma-
tised,” said Lionel de Lange, who orga-
nised the rescue at Biopark zoo and
runs the animal charity Warriors of
Wildlife.
Plans to liberate the animals “from
under the noses of the Russians” —
believed to be the biggest big cat rescue
in an active war zone — were keptsecret until the last minute, de Lange
said. He was joined by Tom L-S, a Brit-
ish army veteran who prefers not to use
his full name, and a team of war veter-
ans and activists from the animal wel-
fare charity Breaking the Chains, to
carry out the daring raid on Tuesday.
De Lange said: “The fighting could goNine lions saved from jaws
Jane Flanagan Cape TownOne of the nine lions taken to safety
from “under the Russians’ noses”Drone images show Russian forces surveying fields near the town of SvitlodarskFighting reaches
new intensity in
eastern Donbas
republics” loyal to Moscow. Ganna
Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defence min-
ister, told a press briefing: “Enemy
forces are storming the positions of our
troops simultaneously in several direc-
tions. We have an extremely difficult
and long stage of fighting ahead of us.”
They are closing in around several
urban hubs, including Severodonetsk
and Lysychansk, which straddle the
Siverskyi Donets river. The cities’ fall
would bring most of Luhansk province
under Russian control, a key aim.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian for-
eign minister, said the military situa-
tion in the east was bad. “Withoutmultiple launch rocket sys-
tems, we won’t be able to
push them back,” he said.
Russian forces have
shelled more than 40
towns in the region,
forcing Ukrainians
to bury any civilians
killed in mass
graves, officials
said. Rodion
Miroshnik, an offi-
cial in the self-pro-claimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s
Republics, told Russia’s Tass news
agency that 8,000 Ukrainians were
being held prisoner in the area.
Serhiy Gaidai, the Luhansk region’s
governor, said: “Our boys are slowly
retreating to more fortified positions.”
He hinted at further withdrawals, say-
ing it was possible troops would leave
“one settlement, maybe two. We need
to win the war, not the battle.”
Ben Barry, a senior fellow for land
warfare at the International Institute
for Strategic Studies, said that being
able to cross the Siversky Donets river
would be of “considerable advantage”
to Russian attempts to capture Severo-
donetsk. “If the attackers do manage to
establish a bridgehead on the far side of
the river, they have then got to con-
struct some kind of bridge. The bridge
becomes a choke point which is a very
attractive target.”
The Russians have tried and failed to
put several pontoons across the river in
an effort to encircle Ukrainian troops,
including an attack this month in which
they lost almost an entire battalion.
In a gesture of support, Sanna
Marin, 36, the Finnish prime
minister, visited Kyiv yesterday
and toured the sites of the
Russian massacres in Bucha and
Irpin with President Zelen-
sky.
6 Russia has admitted
for the first time that 115
national guardsmen
were sacked for refus-
ing to fight in
Ukraine. A court in
the southern Kabar-
dino-Balkaria repub-
lic found that the
troops had “arbitrarily
refused to perform an
official assignment”.Ukraine
Larisa Brown Defence Editor
LUHLUHLUANSANSANSKKKKDONDONNNNNNNNETSETSKKUKRAINE RUSSIA50 milesRussian-
held territory
Russian advance
Ukrainian
counter-offensive
Intense fighting in
past 24 hoursSources: Institute for the Study of War
and AEI’s Critical Threats Project.Sanna Marin,
Finland’s leader, with
President Zelensky