How Long Can Ukraine Hold Hill 207?
One stubborn contingent of Ukrainian troops is blocking a Russian march on Sloviansk.
Russian forces have their sights set on the last two free cities in the sliver of Donetsk Oblast still under Ukrainian control: Sloviansk and Kramatorsk
Having captured Pokrovsk, the Russians aim to march on the twin cities from the south
They’re also planning an east-to-west assault toward the cities
But a major Ukrainian strongpoint is blocking that planned westerly attack: Hill 207
Unable to take the heavily defended hill by direct assault, the Russians are now trying to surround and cut off the hill’s defenders
While Ukrainian forces press their counteroffensive in the southeastern sector of the 1,200-m front line of Russia’s 48-month wider war on Ukraine, Russian forces are preparing for their own offensive farther north. Specifically, they’re planning to drive toward Sloviansk from the east, probably as soon as the weather warms up.
But there’s at least one major obstacle in their planned path: a heavily fortified hill just south of the ruins of Siversk and 25 km east of Sloviansk, one of the twin free cities in western Donetsk Oblast. The preparatory fight around Hill 207 could determine whether the Russians can strike at Sloviansk and neighboring Kramatorsk from the east ... or must march on the twin cities from the ruins of Pokrovsk, 45 km south of Kramatorsk.
The shorter eastern approach might seem easier for the Russian, on paper. But the Ukrainian 10th Mountain Brigade, entrenched on Hill 207, is doing its best to complicate the coming Russian offensive. If Hill 207 holds and Ukrainian forces block a south-to-north march on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the twin cities could remain out of Russia’s reach well into 2027.
