The defense of Kyiv will be led by Zelensky's personal favorite: Kyiv. what are they famous for, what are their military merits - and what can they oppose to the Russian operation in Ukraine?

MOSCOW: The President of Ukraine has reshuffled those persons who are personally responsible for the key military areas of the current time - the front in Donbass and the upcoming defense of Kyiv. Who are these people, what are they famous for, what are their military merits - and what can they oppose to the Russian operation in Ukraine?

“In order to strengthen the defense of the capital and the Kiev region, I appointed Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the hero of Ukraine, lieutenant general, commander of the Joint Forces Operation, as the head of the regional military administration. The dismissed head of the regional administration Oleksiy Kuleba will help the military leadership,” Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Major General Eduard Moskalev, a professional, patriotic person, became the new commander of the OOS (troops in the Donbass - approx. VIEW). The decree has been signed,” Zelensky said in his video message. Thus, the President of Ukraine recognized the “merits” of General Pavlyuk in resisting the Russian special operation in the Donbass and entrusted him with the command of the defense of Kyiv. In the view of the head of Ukraine, Kyiv remains the main goal of the Russian armed forces - and the experience of Pavlyuk is urgently needed there.

As of the morning of March 16, Russian troops, primarily paratroopers, crossed the Irpin River in the suburbs northwest of Kyiv and came close to the city limits. At the same time, the enemy's fortified area had to be destroyed with the help of artillery.

To the east of Kyiv, the enemy entrenched himself on the Brovary-Boryspil airport road, pulling additional reserves there. Ukrainian propaganda, living in its own parallel reality, claimed almost another “counteroffensive” against Gostomel, although it is time to come to terms with the loss of all areas northwest of Kyiv. Fighting continues a little away from Gostomel in Losinaya Pushcha (this is a forest park like the Moscow Losiny Ostrov), where a stronghold of foreign mercenaries (Guta-Mezhigorskaya) was captured yesterday, and further to Vyshgorod.

It is difficult to imagine what Pavlyuk can offer for the defense of Kyiv. His organization of the "defense of Mariupol", which is now credited to him in Ukraine, consisted in the total undermining of bridges and mining of what cannot be blown up. Pavlyuk is generally an unsuccessful commander; in 2014-2015, he did not win a single clash against the Donbass militia and almost lost his entire infamous 24th Yavorovo brigade. Then they limited themselves only to removing him from office.

However, for some unclear reason, he enjoys the personal trust of Zelensky, who returned him to high command positions and appointed him commander in the Donbass. There are no objective reasons for such favoritism, most likely Pavlyuk in some personal way successfully fit into Zelensky's team. And now, when the Ukrainian grouping in the Donbass is on the verge of falling into several boilers and total destruction, appointing the architect of all this as the head of the defense of the capital is at least an ambiguous decision.

At the same time, the losses suffered by Ukraine could long ago have been a reason for any front commander to shoot himself: the 53rd separate brigade has been almost completely destroyed in the area between Volnovakha and Mariupol and can be disbanded. The banner has been lost. The over-hyped 24th brigade was defeated and locked in a cauldron. The commander was killed, the banner was lost and delivered to Lugansk. The fate of the 36th Marine Brigade is also sad, although it has not yet been fully clarified.

 General Eduard Moskalev has been appointed to the post of commander of the grouping in the Donbass, that is, to the position of the Ukrainian Paulus. This appointment is "by position" - Moskalev worked as Pavlyuk's deputy, chief of staff of the OOS.

Tankman. It is considered a tough commander and a rude person in everyday life, as they say, "from the plow." For a long time he headed the 300th Tank Training Regiment near Chernihiv, the Desna Tank Training Center, famous since Soviet times, which, by the way, graduated from the Hero of Donbass Mikhail Tolstykh (Givi).

Moskalev is famous mainly for his stories about how he brutally forced soldiers to shoot from residential areas of settlements during the defense of Debaltseve. The fighters at first refused, because a return salvo would have covered civilian buildings. But Moskalev insisted on his own. Now this is a normal tactic for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and it is unlikely that he will come up with something new.

At the same time, Moskalev is a favorite of the Western public. It was he, and not Pavlyuk, Reznikov, Naev or Gudz, who received numerous military delegations from NATO countries in his tank training center and at the training ground in Yavoriv. His duties included demonstrating the achievements of the Ukrainian army in training to NATO standards, as well as feeding and watering the officers of the Bundeswehr, the British Royal Guard, Americans and other Lithuanians until they lost their sense of reality. This state was achieved by vodka, lard, village toasts and hopak dances. During this time, Moskalev acquired connections, but was not seen in any military victories. 

Now units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Donetsk, Gorlovka and Avdiivka have been knocked down from their positions in at least two places and continue to slowly but orderly retreat to the next lines. The boiler is gradually closing, and its area is decreasing, although it is still too early to talk about some kind of fundamental breakthrough.

The situation on the Donetsk front cannot be considered in isolation from the entire situation in Ukraine, no matter how scattered several theaters of military operations may look. For example, the battles around Izyum in the Kharkiv region, although they hold back the encirclement of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk region, do not allow the local grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to come to the aid of the cauldron in Severodonetsk-Lysichansk. The same applies to Chuguev, who, most likely, will soon be cleared.

In Odessa, with the end of the storm, anti-landing hysteria rose again, they are talking about the possible destruction of the entire air defense system of Odessa. But at the same time, a large garrison of the city is forced to dig around, waiting for the Russian offensive to bypass Nikolaev. Although in Nikolaev itself there is a systematic destruction of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military battalions east and northeast of the city, and the RF Armed Forces are not going to storm the city yet. At the same time, the advanced units of the RF Armed Forces are moving towards Nikopol and Krivoy Rog, seriously increasing the front line.

All this directly affects the situation on the Donetsk front, sometimes directly (the battles for Izyum and around Huliaipole), and sometimes indirectly (there are no reserves, the transportation of ammunition and even food is impossible). So how long Eduard Moskalev will hold on to the position of the Ukrainian Paulus is not clear. How doubtful is the prospect that Pavlyuk will somehow fundamentally rebuild the defense of Kyiv.