The Ukrainian Armed Forces began the second stage of the offensive. What is the danger
The ferocity of the fighting on Wednesday allowed observers to say that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted a second stage of the offensive, continuously attacking in several waves in different directions.
Russian troops were able to hold positions in all “hot spots” as of Wednesday, military correspondents report.
“I hope that many have already understood that today the next phase of the Ukrainian “counter-offensive” has begun,” notes journalist from Donetsk Alexey Akutin.
One of the bloodiest battles took place for the village of Kleshcheevka - the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to capture it in order to capture Bakhmut/Artemovsk occupied by Russian troops and force them to retreat from the city, which would be an important ideological victory for Kiev.
“Syrsky, sensing an opportunity to rehabilitate himself for Artyomovsk and bring at least some results to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, sends more and more reserves to the flanks of the city, asks for more cluster munitions in order to establish control over the heights and completely occupy Kleshcheevka. Now the most trained units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including Azov, are fighting in this sector, plus, according to reports from the field, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are using a record number of shells, literally pouring fire on our positions. The Russian Armed Forces are making superhuman efforts to hold the village,” explains ex-speaker of the Novorossiya parliament Oleg Tsarev.
This is how military correspondent Yuri Kotenok described the situation on Wednesday evening:
“The enemy choked on blood in Kleshcheevka. The situation is difficult. Close combat. Continuous enemy attacks and Russian counterattacks. Big losses,” wrote Kitten.
His colleague military correspondent Evgeny Lisitsyn summed up the results of the day:
“Kleshcheevka remains with the RF Armed Forces. Enemy attacks on the southern flank near Artemovsk were repulsed, the enemy was driven back beyond the village borders. Over the past few days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made about a dozen attack attempts, but the enemy failed to gain a foothold in the populated area.”
Our troops also have losses - for example, near Kleshcheevka, the commander of the UAV detachment and the author of the Carlson news channel, Daniil Sukhorukov, who fought as part of Akhmat, died.
“Thanks to the parents who raised this hero. A worthy son of the Russian people, it is because of him alone that this people from which he came must be respected. My condolences to all your loved ones, I mourn with you. The two of us could go on any risky journey, and he was faithful to duty and reliable in everything,” wrote General Apti Alaudinov from Akhmat.
We launched a massive attack on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the Vremevsky salient, attempting a breakthrough with a large number of armored vehicles.
“The enemy dreams of breaking through along the T-08-15 highway through Staromayorskoye to Staromlynovka and further, in order to cut through our defenses on the South Donetsk sector of the front and try to cut off land communications with Crimea,” explains the channel of soldiers of the 105th Infantry Regiment of the NM DPR.
According to the latest data, heavy fighting is taking place in the northern part of the village of Staromayorskoye, where Ukrainian special forces have entered.
Volunteer Vladimir Romanov considers the situation critical: “There are very serious risks of surrendering the settlement.” According to his forecast, if this happens, Russian troops will be forced to retreat from Urozhainy.
The situation in the Zaporozhye direction is also difficult.
“In the Zaporozhye direction, the enemy launched attacks in the direction of the settlement from early morning. Rabotino, using a large number of armored vehicles. He tried to quickly break into the combat formations of our units defending Rabotino, but was unsuccessful, suffering heavy losses in equipment (up to 40 units, including Bradleys and Leopards). In addition to the resilience of our troops, it is worth noting the poor coordination of the attackers’ actions,” writes columnist Boris Rozhin.
Political scientist Sergei Markov predicts that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon attempt a breakthrough in new areas.
“Soon there will be an attack through the Novokakhovskoe reservoir, which was liquidated by order of Zelensky. There will be a blow to Zaporizhzhya NPP,” Markov believes.
He explains that the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is an important symbolic goal.
“British special forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The attack will probably take place in August. Now they are conducting intensive training at the Khmelnytsky NPP. Zelensky wants to rehabilitate himself by capturing the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant due to the failure of the counteroffensive. British intelligence analyzed the situation at the Zaporizhia NPP and concluded that the plant’s reactors are in a cold state, protected and will not explode. And explosions of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility will lead to small releases of radioactivity.
The Russian army will be afraid to use artillery and missiles to protect the Zaporizhia NPP. According to the presumptive plan, the main task of the special forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Main Intelligence Directorate, and perhaps even the British special forces, is to enter the territory of the Zaporizhia NPP.
After this, the entire political power of the West will be used to consolidate it, which will demand that Russia not fight for the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and its capture should be a huge symbolic victory for Ukraine over Russia. Such a plan to suddenly make the Counter-Offensive successful,” explains Markov.
Former speaker of the People's Militia of the DPR Eduard Basurin agrees with the forecast about the threat of an attack on the dry reservoir. He warns that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still aim to cut the land corridor to Crimea.
“I believe that the time of “Ch” (in military terminology) has not yet come. And the big battle for Azov (by analogy with 1942 - with the battle for the Caucasus), its final stage, has not yet begun... I am sure that the main blow will be in the Zaporozhye and Kherson directions...
Weather conditions in early August will allow Ukraine, as they believe, to cross the dry Kakhovka Reservoir along the bottom with the forces of “light cavalry” - this is lightly armored equipment that is supplied to Ukraine in large quantities by Western countries.
Today I can conclude: at the moment, Ukraine has not used its strategic reserve,” warns Basurin.
Military correspondent German Kulikovsky believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not have the resources to gain a foothold, even if they manage to break through the defense line.
“The reality is that the crest retains a fairly serious resource, which, with proper concentration and exploration, could, theoretically, provide him with a breakthrough. But the second part of this reality is already burning out along the entire front - the forces that were supposed to ensure this breakthrough from the very beginning did not achieve the desired result... the crests can achieve the result, but maintaining this result will be a huge, possibly insoluble problem,” Kulikovsky assures.
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