Situation near Pokrovsk stabilized – Dpty Commander Kryschenko
The situation on the frontline near Pokrovsk in Donetsk region has now stabilized, work to clear the enemy is going on calmly, Deputy Commander of the Rubizh National Guard Brigade, Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration, General Andriy Kryschenko has said.
"Everyone saw these terrible mustaches that were there, the breakthrough that was recorded. It caused quite a resonant discussion in the media. But in a few days it was eliminated. Now the defensive operation continues, they are clearing them. But everyone already understands that the sharpness has been removed and calm work is going on there to destroy the enemies," Kryschenko said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
The general said the liquidation of the breakthrough is the merit not only of Rubizh brigade, but also of many other military units. "All units that were in that direction were engaged in the liquidation of this breakthrough. Assault units, units of the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 14th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, many attached units of the Unmanned Systems Forces," he said.
Kryschenko explained that the Russians do not spare people, but still cannot achieve the declared goals. "They do not fully achieve what they want. The defense forces are destroying them quite confidently and they no longer have the wishes that they announced six months ago... The Russian tactics are determined by numerical superiority. And they, not sparing people, simply bombard the territory with them and try to infiltrate. In our direction, they almost do not use technical means. Only drones and infantry are moving, moving and moving," the deputy brigade commander said.
He is convinced that the Russians' desire to get all of Donbas in exchange for peace, which they are proclaiming at the negotiations, is their admission of their own inability to capture Donetsk and Luhansk regions by military means for the third year, despite the losses.
"Considering the pace of the Russians, that they have covered 10-15 kilometers during this offensive, they will not be able to achieve anything soon. From what we see, they do not have anywhere accumulated crazy resources, including armored vehicles, to make some instant breakthrough. The fact that they insist that Ukraine give them this unoccupied part of Donetsk region, in my opinion, is a confession of their own powerlessness. Although I am sure that this is just stalling for time, and there will be no agreements in the near future," Kryschenko said.
He said that the tactics of pushing and infiltration by small groups, which the Russian army used this summer, did not help capture significant territories, but cost the Russians hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
"It is impossible to call this an offensive. It was infiltration and pushing. The Russians lost thousands of soldiers to advance at least a few kilometers. In six months, they actually achieved nothing. They did not break through the front, they did not take a single large city. Yes, they captured several small cities, from which our military withdrew to more advantageous positions. After all, the concept of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is to fight not with people, but with tactics," Kryschenko said.
As reported, Kryschenko at different times headed the police of Kharkiv and Kyiv, and also worked as deputy mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko, and from this position he went to the front as a volunteer. In April 2014, during the assault by separatists on the city police department of Horlivka, Donetsk region, he defended the Ukrainian flag when the militants tried to remove it from the building to hang a Russian one.