The Russians Captured A Key Southeastern Town. Now They're Stuck.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive has bottled up Russian forces in Huliaipole.
As recently as December, the Russians were advancing toward Zaporizhzhia city and its hundreds of thousands of residents
But a little luck, Russian misfortune and a well-timed counteroffensive has turned the tide in the Ukrainians’ favor
Now the Russians are bottled up in the town of Huliaipole—and Zaporizhzhia is safer
Three months after capturing a critical town along the southeastern front, Russian forces are struggling to advance any farther to the west. Moscow’s plan for a quick march on Zaporizhzhia city, 80 km west of the current front line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, are in disarray.
That doesn’t mean Zaporizhzhia city and its 700,000 pre-war residents are safe. It does mean they’re in less danger than they were just a few months ago.
Friends of a free Ukraine panicked when, in late December, a contingent of exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian territorial troops retreated from the town of Huliaipole, an important logistical node sitting astride the Haichur River in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Russia motor rifle troops marched into Huliaipole behind the fleeing territorials, largely taking control of the town and its adjacent supply lines. The partial capture of Huliaipole extended a steady advance across Zaporizhzhia Oblast by the Russian 36th and 5th Combined Arms Army—and seemed to open a clear path for the Russians to march on Zaporizhzhia.
Then, a stroke of luck for the Ukrainian territorials and the airborne, assault, and mechanized troops that raced south to reinforce them.
