The Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to make gains in southern Ukraine and the Donbas. The next phase of Kyiv’s operation is showing promise as Ukrainian forces advance and liberate several settlements.
Fighting in the South of Ukraine
Starting on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military launched another phase in its large-scale counteroffensive.
Kyiv has now committed a much larger portion of its reserves, likely sending the 10th Operational Corps—a Western-trained and -equipped formation—into the fray.
There is heavy close-quarters fighting as the Ukrainian forces advanced deeper into the Russian defensive lines.
“South of Orikhiv, fighting is focused near the village of Robotyne, in the area of responsibility for Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army,” the British Military Intelligence assessed recently.
The 58th Combined Arms Army recently lost its commanding general, Major-General Ivan Popov, who the Russian Ministry of Defense dismissed after he voiced concerns about the situation on the frontlines and the lackluster support of the Kremlin for the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
“Eighty kilometres to the east, Ukrainian forces defeated elements of Russian airborne forces’ (VDV) 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment to capture the village of Staromaiorske,” the British Military Intelligence added.
The settlement is a key logistical node in that part of the battlefield and will likely affect the Russian military’s defensive effort in the sector.
Kyiv’s most likely objective is to capture the port-city of Melitopol and sever the land bridge that is now connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
But in the northeast, the Russian military continues to attack along the Svatove-Kreminna line of contact in a localized, diversionary offensive meant to distract the Ukrainian military leadership from the counteroffensive.
Elite Russian VDV units are leading the offensive operation, but the heavily forested area, especially the Serebriansk Forest west of Kreminna, isn’t conducive to fast-paced offensives. Indeed, the Russian forces have only achieved marginal gains in the sector. Despite the obvious diversionary offensive, the Ukrainian military seems to have been ready for such a development and is defending effectively.
Russian Casualties in Ukraine
Meanwhile, on day 523 of the conflict, the Russian forces keep losing a significant number of troops in the fighting. Over the last 24 hours, the Russian forces lost almost 500 men killed, wounded, or captured and dozens of heavy weapon systems. The losses are piling up with every passing day.
Overall, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Sunday, Ukrainian forces have killed and wounded approximately 245,700 Russian troops, destroyed 322 fighter, attack, bomber, and transport jets, 311 attack and transport helicopters, 4,205 tanks, 4,795 artillery pieces, 8,178 armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles, 698 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 18 boats and cutters, 7,275 vehicles, and fuel tanks, 459 anti-aircraft batteries, 4,011 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 711 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 1,347 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
While the high rate of casualties persists, the Russian military will have a hard time regenerating sufficient forces for an effective large-scale offensive operation in the future. Indeed, as the months pass, the Russian forces are only becoming weaker.
A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
From 19FortyFive
