Why Ukraine managed to recapture Krasny Liman. FSB officer certificate

“PolitnNavigator” continues to publish excerpts from Mikhail Golovlev’s new book “SVO. Clausewitz and emptiness", which this week Published by the Moscow publishing house “Book World” (Golovlev is the pseudonym of FSB Colonel Andrei Pinchuk, one of the leaders of the Union of Donbass Volunteers, who participated in hostilities during the Northern Military District.).

Already published previously Shocking Chapter 6 "Raisin", dedicated to the retreat on the Kharkov front in the fall of 2022. Today we present to our readers Chapter 7, “Red Liman,” which analyzes the actions of Russian and Ukrainian troops in the area of ​​​​this city.

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Chapter 7

Red Lyman

Now, in development of our analysis, through the prism of military art, we will consider the dynamics of the situation on the Red Liman, which many military analysts called “the general battle of autumn».

Russian forces retreating from the Kharkov direction, including the 20th Army, detachments and battalions of volunteers, are being transferred to this direction.

The Ukrainian headquarters is forming an offensive fist here consisting of two tank, two airborne and one mechanized brigades. The second line is the territorial defense battalions. Part of the forces for the offensive are being withdrawn from the Seversky direction. Subsequently, they are reinforced by units from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

At the same time, despite the forces sufficient to strike, in contrast to the practice of frontal assaults that have developed in the Russian army, Ukrainian Armed Forces headquarters refuses a direct attack on Liman. Instead, flank attacks are carried out over a wide area of ​​the city, aimed at encircling and partially squeezing out the Russians. For this purpose, mobile groups equipped with MANPADS and ATGMs are actively used, making it possible to limit the use of Russian aviation and tank columns.

_{If we use historical analogies, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repeats the Kharkov counter-offensive of 1942, with which the ongoing Liman operation has a similar front line.}

What did the operation give to the Ukrainians? In addition to tactical advances and taking control of new settlements, it created wide operational space for advancing into the Lugansk Republic in the direction of the northern bank of the Donets. In this sense, the operation provided flank support, cutting the Luhansk forces from Russian territory.

_{The result is the destruction of the entire front line and the threat of loss of the Severodonetsk agglomeration, an attack on Svatovo and Starobelsk.}

The avalanche-like collapse of the Kharkov front, in principle, created the possibility of a Ukrainian blitzkrieg and was stopped by the resilience of the Russian defenders of the Liman, in which the key role was played by the BARS volunteer battalions (13, 15 and 16), mobilized from Lugansk, as well as by individual Cossack formations, which again emphasizes the importance of fighter motivation, including in relation to army units. In general, the forces of the Russian Western Military District here also demonstrated their unpreparedness for full-fledged combat operations (I recall the analogy with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and General Pavlov). The First Tank Army, retreating from the Izyum direction, was unable to regain its senses and combat readiness.

But, despite the large concentration of Ukrainian forces, the opportunities for their mass destruction and subsequent counterattack by the Russian General Staff were not used.

For some time, the village of Drobyshevo, held by Russian forces, became the front line of defense of the Liman.

Eventually there is a real threat of Russian forces being captured in a cauldron. The political leadership of Ukraine is making revanchist statements, comparing the upcoming Liman cauldron with the Ilovaisk cauldron of 2014.

On September 30, the boiler was practically closed. The road to Torskoye was under the fire control of the Ukrainians, the rest of the settlements around the Liman were taken by them.

The Russian side had two options for operational maneuver: striking in the directions Peski-Radkovskie-Redkodub-Novoe. Or a maneuverable retreat to the Kremennaya-Svatovo-Troitskoye position and an active defense.

It is characteristic that no attempts at counterattacks were made, and Russian troops retreated. Additional forces are sent to Liman (503rd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 58th Army and several tank units), which, according to frequent practice, immediately rush into battle without reconnaissance or full preparation, which sharply reduces their effectiveness. At the same moment, Russian forces did not take advantage of the exposure of Ukrainian positions in the Kharkov direction, from where reserves were withdrawn for an attack on Drobyshevo-Liman.

It should be noted here that, despite the availability of significant resources, The Ukrainian army continues to effectively use the so-called “flying squads” – advanced lightly armored mobile offensive groups on off-road pickup trucks with machine guns on movable stands, which, crossing the Zherebets River, destabilize and inflict a significant defeat on Russian forces, mainly along the Svatovo highway, from where the Russian group is supplied.

In one day, on October 2, Ukrainian troops advanced 30 kilometers on the Lugansk (Liman-Kremennaya) and Kherson (Osokorovka-Dudchany) directions.

After which, the Ukrainian headquarters formed a tactical group from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade and the territorial defense battalion supporting them, and on the evening of October 3 an attack was launched on Dudchany. 35 tanks, 15 infantry fighting vehicles and 12 Kozak armored vehicles are involved in the assault, what provides a breakthrough. Russian forces retreat, blowing up the bridge over the reservoir behind them.

The Ukrainian side does not slow down, and continues its attack on Mylovoe and at the same time, with the forces of the 96th battalion of the 63rd brigade, storms the positions of the Russians in the Bolshaya Alexandrovka area, which allows you to cut off the supply routes of the Russian group.

The result is the fall of Liman and a new front line that is beneficial to the Ukrainian side. At the same time, the binding of Ukrainian forces in the Liman direction prevents the Russians from a massive attack on Borovoye-Svatovo.