The decisive factor in the loss of Vuhledar was the media activity of Member of Parliament of Ukraine Mariana Bezuhla. A few hours after her post about the rotation of the 72nd Brigade, the enemy threw forces three times larger on the weakened positions.
OSINT analyst and military observer Vitalii Kononuchenko reported this on Radio NV.
"The 72nd Brigade was fully prepared to fight, but a very bad joke was played by the media role of those people who should not have participated in it. I am talking about Mariana Bezuhla and her post, her statement that in Vuhledar the rotation of the 72nd Brigade continues. On the same day, literally a few hours after her post, twice or three times more enemy forces went to the positions where the planned rotations of the 72nd Brigade took place. With more armored vehicles, with bigger artillery support. That is, the enemy reacted to it literally at the moment," said Vitalii Kononuchenko.
He noted that after the publication of MP Bezuhla, who came to the parliament as part of the Servant of the People, the rotation was disrupted. And the main line of defense was captured by the enemy on the same day.
"Near Vodiane, east of Vuhledar, there were our fortifications. A single line of concrete structures, with concrete bunkers that were built in advance. And they were, unfortunately, captured by the Russians on the same day. Because we were, so to speak, "caught" on rotation. And this media component was really the deciding factor. If it wasn't there, as they say in the 72nd Brigade, they would have kept everything, knowing that we have this one moment of rotation. Unfortunately, this was a decisive factor," the military expert emphasized.
According to Kononuchenko, the western part of Vuhledar was defended by units not as strong as the 72nd Brigade. Therefore, after the enemy tripled the pressure, this brigade was also unable to hold its positions.
The expert also emphasizes that in the existing conditions, the withdrawal of Ukrainian defenders is a rather difficult process.
"The military compares this withdrawal to the withdrawal from Zenit in Avdiivka in the winter of this year. Our forces had to withdraw from almost complete encirclement, almost without any support, and some of the military could not do it. Some of the soldiers from the 72nd Brigade say that they are now in a similar situation, because the only road by which they can get into or out of the city is completely under fire control of the enemy, and movement along it is extremely difficult," said the expert about the consequences of Bezuhla’s public post about one of the most important areas of the Donbas defense.
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