Marinka was almost completely destroyed after months of fierce fighting (Photo: BI).
Russia has taken control of Marinka, an important Ukrainian city, after months of fierce attacks, but Russia paid a heavy price for winning the settlement and this could affect Moscow's future tactics, Business Insider quoted experts as saying.
Ukraine confirmed that its forces had withdrawn to the outskirts of the town to establish new positions in the face of heavy Russian attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the development, saying it would help Russia advance deeper into Donbass to gain a strategic advantage in a war of attrition.
However, Western experts say Russia's victory in Marinka was strategically limited.
Simon Miles, an expert at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy (USA), commented: "The overall story related to Marinka is about the price Russia has to pay for controlling the town, rather than the benefits of winning it."
Mr. Miles is “skeptical” about whether Russia still has enough fighting power to exploit the victory at Marinka to their best advantage.
While Marinka’s eastern location theoretically gives Russia a strategic victory — the town could serve as a gateway to the city of Donetsk — Russia’s tank problems and depleted resources after the push to capture the town could hamper Moscow’s ability to press its advantage, Miles said.
Marinka has been the scene of fighting between pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian military since 2014. When fighting broke out between Russia and Ukraine last year, Moscow stepped up its attacks on the town. Russia has been pounding Marinka since October, suffering heavy losses to capture the fortified stronghold that Ukraine has been defending for years.
The fierce war of attrition left Marinka almost completely destroyed. "A flattened town may not give Russia an advantage over its opponents," Mr. Miles said.
Meanwhile, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) described Russia's control of Marinka as a "limited tactical victory".
"A small and completely destroyed settlement does not provide Russian forces with an effective foothold that can ensure safe operations from which to launch further offensive operations," ISW said.
ISW notes that Russia’s victory may not give it a chance to gain significant momentum in the future unless it can “significantly improve” its ability to move rapidly forward with armored vehicles, something Russia has struggled with for months. In several hot spots, Ukrainian UAVs are making it difficult for Russian tanks to gain decisive ground momentum.
According to ISW, in general, since this spring, Russia has not been able to carry out rapid-moving attacks and persistent battles in Donetsk hotspots, including Marinka, have reduced Moscow's combat capabilities.
Although Russia has effectively defended against Ukraine’s counterattack, the defenders will in essence suffer less damage than the attackers. Russia may have accepted a high price for capturing Marinka and in return, it has suffered a reduction in its combat capabilities, ISW said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces remain on the outskirts of Marinka, where they are preparing a defensive line around the settlement, according to ISW.
“The Ukrainians have pulled back but remain in the vicinity and will do what they can to impede any Russian attack emanating from that area,” Mr Miles said.
In addition, ISW believes that Russian forces still have problems with tank warfare.
“Basically, Marinka has been through brutal, protracted, attritional fighting since the start of this war to advance nearly a kilometre to take the town. That is an incredibly high price that the Russians will continue to pay,” Mr Miles said.
Russia gains advantage by controlling Marinka
Contrary to Western experts, Russian observers believe that Moscow has gained a great advantage over Ukraine by controlling Marinka.
Military expert Anatoliy Matviychuk, a retired colonel of the Russian Armed Forces, said Marinka serves as an area for Kiev to launch attacks on the city of Donetsk.
"The most important thing is that the Ukrainian forces have turned Marinka into a fortification. There are long-range artillery and multiple-launch rocket positions for strikes on Donetsk. Now Marinka is under control and therefore the threat has decreased," Matviychuk said.
In addition, according to this expert, by capturing Marinka, Russia has taken control of "a railway and highway hub", not to mention cutting off the supply lines for Ukrainian forces in this area.
Meanwhile, General Georgy Shpak, former Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, said that Russia's capture of Marinka could have a major impact on the morale of the Ukrainian army because it was considered a solid stronghold of Kiev over the past decade.
Retired Russian Colonel Rustem Klupov believes that Russia's control of Marinka is the beginning of a breakthrough in Ukraine's multi-layered defense system in this area, followed by possible further breakthroughs in the Artemovsk (Bakhmut) and Avdeyevka (Avdiivka) regions.
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