Russia's biggest defeat: Putin's military failure will go down in history/Photo by the press service of the Azov Regiment
The assault on Mariupol and Azovstal became Putin's military-political defeat: the invaders were stuck in the city for three months, which slowed down their offensive in the Donetsk and Lugansk directions. Read more in the exclusive blog for Channel 24 website.
Despite the fact that the Russians eventually managed to establish control over Mariupol, the assault operation will forever remain in the history of the Russian Federation as the biggest military failure. The heroism of the Ukrainian defenders is unprecedented, given the balance of power between the parties.
The heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers and the failure of Russia
Even if we believe the Russian information that there were 2.5 thousand Ukrainian fighters at Azovstal, imagine the level of confrontation with the Russian occupation machine.
According to US intelligence, Azovstal's own defenders chained up from 17,000 to 20,000 Russian militants who were directly involved in operations in Mariupol. That is, the ratio of forces was at least 1 to 8.
We are talking about the fact that up to 17 battalion-tactical groups of the Russian Federation were actually blocked on the territory of the city, which for three months could not break the heroic resistance of Ukrainian fighters. This is a military and political defeat for Russia, and Moscow is well aware of this.
Ukrainian soldiers heroically defended Mariupol from Putin's army/Photo by the press service of the Azov regiment
How Ukraine won time
The heroism of the defenders of Azovstal, including representatives of the Azov regiment, the 36th brigade, the border service, the National Guard, the National Police, etc. It was their courageous and well-coordinated actions that prevented the Russians from transferring their units to the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, which allowed Ukraine to gain time.
This allowed the Armed Forces of Ukraine to build an echeloned defense line in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. And it is no coincidence that Russian troops have been unable to reach the administrative borders of these regions for the third month.
In addition, the defense of Mariupol gave Ukraine an opportunity to gain time to re-equip its troops with the latest models of foreign equipment, transfer the economy to a military footing, and receive international assistance. And most importantly, it allowed for a mass evacuation of the civilian population from the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and this is up to 2 million people. Thanks to the courage of our military, these people got a chance to be saved.
I also pay attention to the rhetoric of the Kremlin officials.
There are already statements that the Russian army is fighting one of the most professional armies of Europe. These statements cannot but rejoice. If earlier in Moscow they assured that in three days they would take Kyiv and control a significant part of Ukraine, then after three months of the heroic defense of Mariupol, they are forced to state the high combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the professional training of our soldiers.
Recall, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba called on Western partners to speed up the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
