Russia begins its offensive in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv

Till now everything has happened as per the script. As the intelligence units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine predicted, the Russian aggressor has tried, after the celebration of the Victory Day. Open a new front in the Kharkiv region, The same area from which they were expelled during the fall of 2022. For now, Z Soldier has crossed border at various border points: Strelecha, Krasne, Pylna and Borisivka. Ukrainian sources say they have been rejected. Russian sources claim that they have taken these villages closer to the border line. In the next few hours we will know who is lying.

It all started with a massive early morning bombardment of all border areas with Grad-type missiles and artillery shells. Later, infantry units with less armor support They have broken the borders with Russia, Ukrainian forces were waiting for them and In any case their penetration did not exceed three kilometers

, The only place where fighting continues is the town of Vovchansk, very close to the border post, where the few remaining residents have been evacuated.

For Ukrainian military analysts, This is a reconnaissance strike in a 65 kilometer long area to detect Ukrainian defense positions., Therefore, it appears to be the first step in a larger offensive aimed at advancing further south. The Ukrainian military had already indicated that they had a large number of troops present, More than 40,000 soldiers are waiting for action on the other side of the border, The commander of Ukraine’s Kraken unit, Konstantin Nemychev, raised the figure to 50,000 members. Of course, today’s attack did not have that strength.

What is Russia trying to achieve by opening this new front? Intelligence sources had revealed months earlier that Vladimir Putin had created a new army corps last year to deploy across that region. You have three options: The first thing to do is to create a buffer zone A distance of several kilometers between the border of Russia and Ukraine to avoid the general infiltration of the Free Russian Army, anti-Putin volunteers who fight in the Ukrainian army.

The second involves the much more massive use of armored forces, that is Attempt to encircle and isolate Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, cuts off the main road from Kiev. This pocketing maneuver failed in the first weeks of the war, at a heavy cost to Russian forces. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that “the Russian army lacks the forces necessary to seize the city of Kharkiv, but Russian offensive operations against that city or Sumy could draw forces from other, more significant parts. Will attract and focus the front line. In other words, it may be a distraction.

The third is even more complicated: try to take the city from the north, Kharkiv is a vast city, home to Tsarist architecture, surrounded by working-class and industrial neighborhoods. The towers of buildings in places like Saltivka, partially destroyed during the first weeks of the war, are quite fortress-like. Russia has not yet managed to conquer any provincial capital in Ukraine and the only capital it held, Kherson, was lost in 2022. At this point in the war, after more than two years of attrition, the capture of the city of Kharkiv depended not only on the resources of the Z troops, but also on how many brigades Ukraine could send to the front. Able to move there without making other areas unsafe, as analyst Franz Stefan Gaddy explains.

strong security

For some months now, and in anticipation of this summer’s offensive, Ukraine had strengthened all defenses in the area, digging new lines of trenches, erecting bunkers and landmines. They were inaugurated by Volodymyr Zelensky himself during a trip whose photos were recently published.

The purpose of these formations is not to stop the Russian advance, but to make it advance more slowly and with more casualties. Military analyst John Helin believes that this entire operation has been written to intimidate the weaker side. that Ukrainians will have to use their reserves,

the city of Kharkiv is 30 kilometers from Russia, During the first weeks of the invasion, Putin’s army tried in vain to conquer it, leaving the remains of several battalions around it, but caused great damage to the city, especially in the peripheral neighborhoods from which it tried to enter and buildings in the center. Governments in, who were blown up by missiles from across the border.