After the crushing defeat in the Battle of Avadiivka, Ukraine's defenses in the east have leaked everywhere. In addition to continuing to expand the results of the battle on the front west of Avadiivka, the Russian army also suddenly launched a surprise attack on the west of Bakhmut to capture Ivanivsk, which opened the prelude to the offensive on Chasov Yar, the key point of the Donbas Canal defense system. For Ukraine, after losing the fortress of Bakhmut last year, Chasov Yar absolutely cannot afford to lose, otherwise once the defense line of the Donbass Canal collapses, there is no danger to defend west to the Dnieper.
On the surface, the Russian army's attack on Chasov Yar is aimed at the key point of Ukraine's second line of defense, but in terms of the art of war, as long as it is not the stage of Armageddon, it is a wise strategy to avoid the real and attack the false. In the Chasov Yar direction, the Russian army can only attack head-on, unable to implement a flanking encirclement like the battles of Bakhmut and Avadiivka to disperse the Ukrainian defense. If it bites hard, the cost of casualties of the Russian army will be unbearable, and it is obviously not cost-effective to injure the enemy by 800 and lose 1,000 by itself.
First of all, Ukraine is well aware of the strategic value of the Chasov Yar fortress, and once it is attacked, it will definitely defend it and will send reinforcements from Ukrainian troops behind. Just like the battle of Bakhmut, Ukraine has successively increased to 27 brigades. Therefore, as long as the Russian army uses its firepower advantage to continuously feint to attack Chasov Yar and create a large number of "gray areas", it will continue to attract reinforcements from the surrounding Ukrainian army, resulting in insufficient defensive forces on other key fronts.
Judging from the situation on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, the front that really conforms to the tactical thinking of the Russian army in the early stage is Severodonetsk and Seversk in the east of Lisichansk. The capture of Seversk would maximize the strategic buffer zone in these two strategic locations, freeing them from the threat of long-range Ukrainian artillery fire and initiating post-war reconstruction efforts. Importantly, Seversk is an important industrial region in eastern Ukraine and is strategically important for Donetsk's post-war economic development.
In fact, while the Russian army is feinting the fortress of Chasov Yar, it is quietly tightening the encirclement of Seversk. On April 9, Russian forces simultaneously launched attacks in Pilogrivka, northeast of Seversk, and Rozdolivka in the south, as well as north of Vesele. On the same day, under the cover of open ground fire, the Russian army advanced 2 kilometers north of Viselle. Local Ukrainian forces are trying to increase the stability of their defenses, but the lack of personnel and ammunition makes their defenses extremely unstable.