NYT: Russia Is Trying To Break Through Front Line

The occupiers are trying to use the “window of opportunity.”

Russia is trying to increase its advantage in eastern Ukraine and break through the front line, using the time while Ukraine waits for the arrival of the first shipment of military aid from the United States, according to The New York Times.

It is noted that in recent weeks, Russian troops have captured or entered a number of villages on the eastern front, which indicates a deterioration of the situation in the region for Ukrainian troops, which, in particular, was announced by Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky on April 29, noting that Ukrainian fighters had retreated from three villages near Avdiivka — Berdychiv, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.

Military experts say Russia's recent successes reflect its desire to use a “window of opportunity” to continue attacks until the first shipment of military aid arrives in Ukraine to help ease the plight of its defense forces.

The NYT also quotes the head of the non-governmental research group Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, Serhiy Kuzan, who said that the Ukrainian command had to make “a choice between a bad situation and an even worse one” and decided to lose territory, not soldiers.

The situation is also complicated by the fact that Russian troops managed to break through the northern part of the defensive line and quickly advance to the village of Ocheretyne, located on the road leading to Pokrovsk. At the same time, as the newspaper writes, it is not yet known whether Russian troops have gained full control over it.