The Russians at the second stage wanted to repeat the battle at Cannes. Completely encircle the entire Ukrainian army in the Donbass and force it to capitulate, eliminating Ukrainian statehood. But it fails.
Strelkov-Girkin:
Regarding the situation on the Donetsk front (I don’t have any information on the rest of the fronts):
The area south of Izyum:
fierce fighting continues along the entire perimeter of the Russian bridgehead. There are tactical advances everywhere. According to incoming reports, the most fierce battles are taking place on the right flank - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Velikaya Kamyshevakha (and, possibly, directly in the village), as well as "on the edge" of the offensive - in the center of the bridgehead - in the area (possibly - and on the territory) of the village of Novaya Dmitrovka . After taking the indicated n.p. our troops will approach directly the Barvenkovo-Slavyansk highway and create a threat of its interception (which will not be easy, since the settlements along this highway merge into an almost continuous agglomeration).
It should be noted that the battles are continuous "viscous" character. The enemy has enough manpower to - despite the lengthening of the front line in this area - nowhere to allow Russian troops to make deep breakthroughs.
At the same time, the enemy continues to withdraw his forces from the bridgehead he still has on the left bank of the Seversky Donets - from the Liman-Yampol region and the Severodonetsk ledge, leaving the most advanced positions to the east between Severodonetsk and Popasna (in which fierce fighting continued).
It is assumed that the enemy will soon (today or tomorrow) leave the Estuary and withdraw its troops to strengthen the flanks of the grouping - near Barvenkovo and Slavyansk.
To prevent this and to surround the enemy units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Armed Forces of the DPR were unable.
In general, the enemy defends himself competently, stubbornly, owns the situation and his troops. There is no panic in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is absolutely clear that the command's bet is made on GAINING TIME AND INFLICTING MAXIMUM LOSSES to the SHOCK UNITS of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (the Armed Forces of the Luhansk Donetsk People's Republic) - due to the unhurried surrender of the territory.
Ahead of the Russian troops in this direction is a huge Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, prepared in advance for a long defense. It will definitely not be handed over to the APU until the last opportunity - defending, if necessary, as a "besieged fortress". (In this regard, the fate of the remnants of the garrison of Mariupol is very important - they should not be released or interned in any case - otherwise the garrison of Slavyansk-Kramatorsk will defend as long and stubbornly, if not longer and more stubbornly). However, this "fortress" will still need to be surrounded, which is very difficult to do with the limited forces available and at such a low pace - at which the enemy freely withdraws his units and prepares new defense nodes in advance.
In the south - in the area of Gulyai-Pole and Orekhov - the situation has not changed significantly. The "southern part of the ticks" has stalled.
In the central area - near Donetsk - the situation is generally unchanged. There is a lull in most areas, fighting is going on only in the area north of Avdiivka, where the DPR Armed Forces have minor tactical successes.
The general conclusion, unfortunately, is bleak: the offensive of the Russian group, which did not become unexpected, to cover and encircle the Donetsk group of the Armed Forces, met fierce resistance and will not lead almost exactly to the complete encirclement and defeat of the enemy.(if suddenly 2-3 additional tank corps do not "fall from heaven" in order to sharply break through the front and connect deep in the rear of the AFU). "Cannes" definitely didn't work out.
In the best case, the enemy will slowly and with great losses (mutual, of course) "squeeze out" from the Donbass for many weeks and even - it is not excluded - for several months. That will allow him to create, train and massively put into battle strategic reserves on any selected site without much haste by the summer. And also - to crush Transnistria, gathering sufficient forces for this and not risking a defeat near Donetsk during the operation.