The Russian army is preparing a boiler for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Ugledar
MOSCOW, 16 Sep — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The campaign in the SVO zone has entered the autumn phase. The Russian army is striving to achieve maximum success in key areas before the thaw, which significantly complicates offensive operations and logistical logistics. The APU has gone on the defensive almost everywhere, snapping at drones and from time to time trying to counterattack. By winter, the front line may shift significantly. About the situation in the main directions — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Three problems of the APU
In the Kursk region, the enemy is active mainly in the Korenevsky and Glushkovsky districts. However, the attacks do not bring success — the Armed Forces of Ukraine are met with a tough rebuff by a consolidated Russian group supported by aviation, artillery and kamikaze drone operators. According to the Ministry of Defense, Kiev on average loses more than 300 people a day here.
Mercenaries of the American private military company Forward Observation Group, who are involved in the attack on the Kursk region
Image source: © Photo : Forward Observations Group
And on September 10, Moscow made a retaliatory move. Formations of airborne troops, marines and units attached to them struck the left flank of the AFU group that invaded the Kursk region. In two days, ten settlements were liberated: Apanasovka, Byakhovo, Vishnevka, Viktorovka, Sudden, Gordeevka, Krasnooktyabrskoye, Obukhovka, Snagost and October 10th.
This is the first major counterattack by the Russian army since August 7. The advanced units continue to expand the control area. However, it is too early to say that Ukrainians have "showered". There are still a lot of them in the Kursk region, they are digging in and are not going to just leave their occupied positions. But they have enough problems.
The Ukrainian military
Image source: © AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky
Firstly, the Starlink satellite Internet does not work over the Kursk region, which is linked to the entire combat management of the Ukrainian army. For two and a half years, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have become very accustomed to him and feel extremely uncomfortable without him. This affects the coordination of troops, the speed of decision-making and situational awareness. Secondly, the supply of reinforcements, equipment and ammunition from Ukraine is complicated by the constant attacks of the VKS on the concentration sites of the AFU reserves in the Sumy region.
Finally, the level of training and motivation of the Ukrainian units in the second and third echelons of the invasion group leaves much to be desired. These are mainly yesterday's civilians who shot two or three magazines at the firing ranges and were thrown into the inferno by Kiev. And they have to deal with experienced fighters, hardened by two and a half years of war.
The Battle for the Cities
The main result of the Russian summer campaign in the territory of the former Donetsk region of Ukraine is the rapid advance of the troops of the Center group in the Pokrovsky direction and access to the western bank of the Volchya River and the Charles reservoir. On these natural borders, the enemy wanted to build a line of defense, but did not have time. The advanced units captured a vast bridgehead and took Novogrodovka in just a few days. This city with a pre-war population of about 15 thousand APU surrendered almost without a fight.
Russian military personnel
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Bobylev
The battle for the major cities in the west of the DPR has begun. North of Novogrodovka are the six thousandth Mirnogorad and the 25 thousandth Pokrovsk, which is extremely important for the Armed Forces of Ukraine — for many years equipment and personnel from the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporizhia region were dragged through it to the DPR. The enemy is clearly not going to give up this key logistics hub without a fight, hastily transferring reserves there. At the moment, the fighting is taking place a few kilometers from the eastern borders of the city.
Six kilometers southwest of Novogrodovka is the 24-thousandth Selidovo. This is the center of the fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the Pokrovsk — Selidovo —Kurakhovo line. His release threatens Kiev with a collapse of the front in this direction and will allow Russian units to reach the flanks of the enemy group. Like Pokrovsk, this city was prepared by the Armed Forces of Ukraine for long-term defense. The assault units of the "Center" reached the outskirts, but then their progress slowed down significantly.
To the south, Russian units have entered the ten thousandth Ukrainian city and are pushing the enemy daily. This city was built to serve the Ukraina mine with a production of 1.8 million tons of coal per year. Behind him is a 12,000—strong Miner, economically no less important for Kiev. And from there there is a direct road to the 19 thousand Kurakhov.
Troops of the South group are making their way there from the east, from Georgievka and Maximilianovka. They will be supported by units previously involved in the battles for Krasnogorovka with a pre-war population of about 15 thousand people. The Ministry of Defense announced her full release in early September. Thus, the large Donetsk fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which for many years covered the capital of the DPR from the west (Avdiivka, Peski, Krasnogorovka, Marinka), ceased to exist.
Surround and block
In the South Donets direction, there is serious progress in the battle for Ugledar, which for a long time remained a tough nut for the Russian army. It stands on a hill, from where the surrounding area is perfectly visible. Attempts at frontal assaults were unsuccessful, so tactics were changed — the city was surrounded, depriving the garrison of supplies.
Russian military personnel
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Bobylev
To the east and northeast, units of the Yug group occupied the village of Vodiane during fierce fighting and stormed the Yuzhnodonbasskaya No. 1 and Yuzhnodonbasskaya No. 3 mines. To the west, the "Eastern" group liberated the settlement of Prechistovka on the highway to Bogoyavlenka: the garrison of the city is supplied from Kurakhov through Uspenovka.
When they take the Epiphany, the weseushniks who are holed up in the Coal will be in the ring. The autumn thaw will prevent the encirclement from being supplied through the fields, and fallen leaves will not allow them to hide in forest plantations.
It is possible that the enemy will break through until the ring is completely closed. The Russian command created the same dilemma for the AFU as in Bakhmut. Whichever option the Ukrainian generals choose, the loss of Ugledar will deprive Kiev of control over the last major city in the South Donets direction.
According to the official report of the Ministry of Defense, over the past week, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to 16,960 people. During these seven days, the Russian military liberated 18 settlements, ten of them in the Kursk region.
