Syrskyi explains why 2023 Bakhmut counteroffensive failed

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has provided an explanation of the 2023 offensive near Bakhmut and denied the NYT's claim that Melitopol was supposed to be the goal of the counteroffensive but he changed the direction to Bakhmut.

Source: Syrskyi in an interview with Lb.ua

Quote: "Every officer and general who took part in the fighting knows that this [NYT article – ed.] is not true at all.

Yes, we conducted an offensive south of Bakhmut. But we conducted offensive actions with two brigades from the group. If we had five brigades, I think both Bakhmut and Soledar would have been liberated."

Details: The New York Times wrote earlier that the plan to counterattack Melitopol was key for Ukraine, but General Oleksandr Syrskyi insisted on retaking Bakhmut, which changed the strategy and led to failure on both fronts.

Syrskyi said that at the planning stage of these operations, it was understood that the forces were insufficient, as they had only two brigades with no additional ammunition.

"But we were counting on the unexpected, on the fact that we would break through the enemy's defences with such, not so much adventurous, but bold actions, given that they were not ready, not like, for example, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. There, all the fortifications were in an ordinary field. And so we expected to be able to advance and cut the road between Bakhmut and Horlivka. That’s the first point", Syrskyi said.

The second road, says Syrsky, which the military wanted to cut on one side, is the road between Bakhmut and Debaltseve. "This is the main route that was used for logistics. And the road to Popasna went off from it. This is another road that goes to the main motorway," explained the Commander-in-Chief.

He noted that these are three roads that provided logistical support to the Russian group of 20,000 people. "If we managed to cut these routes, the enemy would be forced to retreat. Otherwise, they would have been encircled," Syrskyi said.

Syrskyi said that the military failed to implement this plan. "We simply did not have enough assets and personnel," he added.

Background:

• According to The New York Times, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the then Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, and Kyiv's British partners supported directing the counteroffensive towards Melitopol. This manoeuvre, though ambitious, aimed to sever the land supply routes for Russian forces in Crimea.
• The newspaper describes a meeting in which Syrskyi said he wanted to break from the plan and execute a full-scale attack to drive the Russians from Bakhmut. He would then advance eastward toward Luhansk Oblast. He would, of course, need additional men and ammunition.
• The Americans were not told the meeting's outcome. But then US intelligence observed Ukrainian troops and ammunition moving in directions inconsistent with the agreed-upon plan.
• Soon after, at a hastily arranged meeting on the Polish border, General Zaluzhnyi admitted to Generals Cavoli and Aguto that the Ukrainians had in fact decided to mount assaults in three directions at once. 

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!