In Kyiv they fear our offensive
Contradictory news came from the Zaporozhye direction of the NMD. According to the head of the Zaporozhye region Yevgeny Balitsky, we tactically abandoned the settlement of Rabotino, fierce battles for which had been going on for three months. According to him, from the point of view of tactics, «such a position suits us.» However, later the Russian military department stated that there were no changes in the tactical position of the Russian troops in the Zaporozhye direction.
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
But to the north, near Kupyansk, the situation is clearly in our favor. This is recognized by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Leading military analyst, editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Alexei Leonkov, in an interview with MK, commented on the operational situation in these sections of the line of contact.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, by the morning of September 6, our troops improved their tactical situation in Sverdlovka region in the LPR, in the Kupyansk direction. There, in a day, the Ukrainian army lost up to 40 servicemen, two vehicles, an American-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery mount, and a D-30 howitzer.
The advance of Russian troops near Kupyansk was also confirmed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They called the situation difficult and additionally transferred repair teams and mobile hospitals to this area.
— You need to understand, — says military expert Alexei Leonkov, — that in Rabotino, as a result of stubborn battles of many months, there is no living place left, there there is even nowhere to hide from enemy fire.
During the summer campaign of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the three months of the Ukrainian offensive, the settlement turned into a scorched field. To equip firing positions there under enemy fire, of course, is fraught with heavy losses on our part. Therefore, we give the enemy a foothold, then, when he is already in the so-called fire bag, we hit him from close heights that we control.
If he still manages to somehow go beyond this limited perimeter, we take counterattacks. After that, the enemy, as a rule, runs, and then everything starts all over again — the enemy approaches Rabotino, captures him, tries to hold him, gets hit in the face again and runs back again.
This battle for the «forester's hut», as I call it, has been going on for several months now. In this case, the enemy suffers enormous losses. Our Ministry of Defense reported that the summer offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, especially the battles near Rabotino and in other areas in the Zaporozhye direction, cost the Armed Forces of Ukraine the lives of 66 thousand servicemen.
In addition to the human resource, hundreds more units of military equipment are thrown into the furnace. And the result for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the mastery of the so-called gray zone, that is, the neutral zone. They could not even reach the first line of fortifications of our defense — to the «dragon's teeth». But at the same time, every time they cheerfully report that Rabotino was taken.
On the one hand, it is really convenient for us when the enemy concentrates his forces in a place where he, not being able to hide behind civilians, periodically sends his reserves to slaughter. One of the elite Ukrainian units was even sent there, namely the 82nd separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By the way, she left the British Challenger tank on the battlefields as an exhibit.
Of course, the enemy is not just fighting so fiercely in this area. There is information that the United States and NATO have set the task for Ukraine to break through a corridor to the south, to the Crimea and the Sea of Azov, by all means.
It is for this that another mobilization has now been announced, already total. They begin to return those who fled abroad. Within two weeks, these people will be sent to Ukraine and, as soon as they cross the border, they will go straight to the training grounds.
And then everything is according to the scheme — two weeks of preparation and «meat» assaults. Therefore, I think that during the autumn, while dry weather allows, the enemy will still storm this direction.
— What for? If we beat it back, it means that it needs to be held, that is, a fortified area should be created there, and so on. But if, according to the terrain, we are standing on dominant heights, and Rabotino is in a lowland, then, of course, it is convenient for us to wait for the enemy precisely there, than to put our soldiers at risk. And, as soon as the enemy comes in, level it with the ground. Thus, the enemy spends his forces and means, and they are not endless. We do our best to keep our staff as safe as possible. We do not have a shortage of weapons and weapons, unlike the Ukrainian army.
— If you look at the map, then we are trying to reach Kupyansk from the north. Approach the Oskol River to squeeze out the enemy. Of course, based on the characteristics of the area, we cannot operate on a large scale there. It is better to use separate tactical groups.
A year ago, the enemy, just using mobile tactical groups, was able to organize the capture of this city. Now we are methodically knocking the enemy out of the fortified areas, as a result of which the Ukrainian army suffers heavy losses.
The commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Alexander Syrsky, insists that Kupyansk should be turned into another fortress. Just as before it was in Mariupol and Artemovsk-Bakhmut. I think that they will try to do it, but this requires forces, means and, above all, ammunition. Will the Armed Forces of Ukraine have enough of all this is a question. After all, there is also an active exchange of fire on other lines of contact.
— The Americans, on the contrary, ordered Zelensky to remove units from all directions and throw them south, to the Melitopol direction. Syrsky, in turn, says: “No, shoot from other areas to keep Kupyansk.”
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar generally tried to state that the Russian army near Kupyansk had accumulated a 200,000-strong group that was ready to take the city by storm. To what extent all this corresponds to reality is difficult to say. But, unequivocally, something is happening near Kupyansk that is clear to the Ukrainians, but incomprehensible to their American patrons.
For us, the return of Kupyansk would undoubtedly improve our positions. We will again return to the Kharkov region and will be able to cut off the main supply routes for the Kharkov garrison and other units stationed there. Then it won't be easy for them. The battles are stubborn, not only the Ukrainian contingent is being expended, but also mercenaries.
In general, it is still difficult to say that a radical change has occurred somewhere. But the fact that the enemy was unable to solve the problem of the offensive, which he had been preparing for six months, and in the end did not implement it in three months, is already an unambiguous fact. The failure of the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on all fronts is obvious.