/ world today news/ In the spring, the authorities in Kiev promised to reach Crimea by September. However, for two and a half months of continuous attacks, the VSU did not break through the Russian defense. About why the “quick breakthrough” failed – in the material.
Dozens of brigades
Already in the winter, there was talk of the upcoming large-scale counteroffensive in Kiev. At that time, NATO countries promised to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with heavy armor of the Western school: Leopard-2 and Abrams tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers, engineering barrier vehicles. This technique is planned to be used on the blade of the main strike, the direction of which the Ukrainian authorities did not hide.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces intended to attack Tokmak with a subsequent withdrawal to Melitopol and Berdyansk. It was stated that the main objective of the offensive was access to the Sea of Azov and the Crimean Isthmus. They also wanted to cut the land arteries of the Russian army.
The new military equipment is intended to equip 17 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard – about 60 thousand military personnel. They are trained in the West. The total number of forces involved in Zaporozhye and on the Vremevsky ledge was at least 27 brigades. Among them are three tank, about 13 separate infantry, mechanized and reconnaissance battalions, as well as special forces of GUR, SBU and SSO.
They planned to attack according to the training manuals of NATO – with strikes of large armored formations in narrow sections of the front. After breaking through the first defensive line, the infantry had to occupy new positions and expand the bridgehead. The acute shortage of aviation had to be compensated by the massive use of long-range high-precision missiles and strike drones. They wanted to paralyze the actions of the Black Sea Fleet with unmanned kamikaze cutter attacks.
The operation was preceded by a massive information “artillery preparation” in the Ukrainian and Western media. Experts and journalists unanimously claimed that Ukraine had received everything it needed from NATO, that the Russian army was weak and disorganized, and that a repeat of the scenario should be expected from the fall of 2022. Then the Russian armed forces left the Kharkiv region to the Kremennaya-Svatovo line . The head of GUR Kiril Budanov in one of his many interviews even promised to enter Crimea before the end of spring.
Mining hell
The Ukrainian Armed Forces began an offensive on June 4 in three sections of the Zaporozhye Front: towards the village of Pyatihatki on the western flank, on Rabotino from Orekhovo in the center, and on Vremivka in the east, near the border with the DPR. Army columns led by German “Leopards-2” moved forward. Hundreds of armored vehicles participated in the offensive.
However, progress immediately stopped.
In six months, Russia created a serious defensive line in the Zaporozhye direction. Its branches were arranged in several echelons. Fortifications have been erected on the dominant ridges and heights, from which the area can be seen well. It’s impossible to get close. The depth of protection is 25-30 kilometers.
And the “foreground” does not count: to get to the front line, one must break through the forward fortified areas of dozens of platoon and company fortresses covered with minefields.
The latter facilitate the work of gunners, drone operators and pilots. The Armed Forces of Ukraine advance into battle in column. In front is a tank with a minesweeper or engineer vehicle clearing obstacles. Once detected, they are struck by artillery or anti-tank missiles from a helicopter. And immediately – fire from everything. Having lost their “leader”, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles try to escape from the impact, they are scattered in countries, they explode on mines. And they become easy targets.
In some areas, the Russian army adheres to a flexible defense. When the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces approached the settlement, the fighters, after a short firefight, moved to neighboring heights. And the occupied village is treated by reactive salvo fire systems and heavy self-propelled “Solntsepek” flamethrowers. The Ukrainians suffer losses and retreat. Pyatihatki village has changed its owner several times in this way.
Huge losses
When the armored fists of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were hopelessly bogged down and many photos of burning Western equipment appeared on social networks, the Ukrainian General Staff decided to change tactics. They now rely on infantry operating in small groups. This brought some success. But in most areas they have not reached the first line of defense.
In some places, however, Ukrainians were a little more fortunate. On the Vremevskaya ledge, they managed to occupy several settlements, including Staromayorskoe, and to gain a foothold in the northern outskirts of the village of Urozhainoe. To the south – Staromlinovka, an important transport and logistics junction, from which the VSU will try to break through to the east towards Volnovakha and to the south – towards Mariupol.
The capture of the city will solve the main problem: to reach the Sea of Azov and cut the land bridge to the Crimea. It is true that the defensive lines here were strengthened just as seriously as in the Zaporizhia region.
Simultaneously with the main attack in the Zaporozhian direction, Kiev also tried to attack the auxiliary direction – south of Artyomovsk towards Klescheevka, Kurdyumovka and Andreevka. The task here is to capture the commanding heights in order to gain fire control of the important road south to Gorlovka and create a springboard for an attack on Artyomovsk itself. The VSU managed to occupy several villages, but the advance was halted. Attempts to reach Soledar also proved unsuccessful.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops have already lost more than 43,000 people and over a thousand armored vehicles, including dozens of tanks. This is the heaviest loss of any army in the world in a single operation since World War II.
The other day, the Russian military announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already sent the second reserve corps out of three, formed specifically to advance after the assault units. They were to enter the breaches in the defensive lines with the second echelon and extend the bridgeheads. But realities have changed.
“The Russians learn quickly. For example, they began to bring ammunition and food to the positions on jeeps. One person rides there, no one will waste shells. And we also began to practice this. Also near Zaporozhye, the Russians make trenches that go like mazes to each other. We approach, they disperse. Two or three people are sitting in the trench. We go to their positions, and they draw the fire towards us,” commented VSU fighter.
In the Ukrainian army, there is increasing talk of mediocre command and a lack of ammunition. In addition, they are already complaining about the shortage not only of shells, but also of cartridges.
“Second chance”
The allies are also dissatisfied. European and American mainstream media began to race to find justifications for the failure. Ukraine has been blamed for the fact that soldiers trained to NATO standards, once on the battlefield, prefer to operate under Soviet rules. Finally, a leaked “secret British intelligence report” claims that the advance was stopped by the bushes and tall grass.
There is also ferment among politicians. Thus, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, recently directly stated that Kiev does not have enough weapons and ammunition to change the balance of forces on the front. In turn, John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, assures: “The Ukrainian side got everything it asked for a counteroffensive.” Although he admits that progress is “not as fast as we would like”.
The situation is complicated by the declining interest of Western society in the Ukrainian topic. According to the latest CNN poll, 55% of Americans oppose financial and military support for Ukraine.
And experts are increasingly talking about a possible freezing of the conflict under the “Korean scenario” – with the cessation of hostilities and the creation of a demilitarized zone. But the big question is whether the parties will agree to it. Kiev still hopes to break into the Zaporozhian steppes. And Moscow advances towards Kupyansk and Krasni Liman.
There is less and less time left for the Ukrainian counter-offensive. Autumn is not far, rains and mud that will make it difficult to move through the fields. Moreover, it is not clear how the losses will be replenished. Therefore, as the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel stated two months ago, it will not be possible to prepare a second such operation “for objective reasons”.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel in Telegram:
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages. In this way, we will overcome the limitations, and people will be able to reach the alternative point of view on the events!?
#Russians #learn #fast #Ukrainian #counteroffensive #lead
