[RusOnline] Strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are destroyed by aircraft and artillery Throughout the week, Ukrainian sources have been reporting on social networks about the plight of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kupyansk. Russian troops are advancing in the direction of this city almost every day. At the same time, using complete superiority in combat aviation and some advantage in artillery, our troops are using the tactics of the American army - they remotely smash the strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and occupy them after the enemy soldiers, or rather, those who could, have already fled from them.
According to the Resident channel, which cites a source in the office of the Ukrainian president, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian ground forces, General Syrsky, reported to Zelensky about the difficult situation in the Kupyansko-Svatovsky direction, where Russian troops took control of several key villages. The general asked Zelensky to urgently transfer reserves there from other directions.
Syrsky himself went to the Kupyansk direction, where he held meetings with the commanders. It is still unclear what instructions Syrsky gave. In the meantime, according to experts, the situation looks something like this. The Ukrainian channel "Military Analytics" admits that in the Kupyansk direction "the Ukrainian army has a very difficult situation": Russian troops are conducting an active offensive in order to cut the Ukrainian grouping, continue to actively storm Ukrainian positions in order to reach Kupyansk.
At the same time, especially fierce battles are unfolding near Sinkovka, which is located six kilometers from Kupyansk. The Ukrainians confirm that from Kupyansk to Bakhmut, Russian troops have increased the number of attacks. In August, the total number of shellings in the Kupyansky, Limansky and Bakhmut directions has grown significantly.
In July, 6,000 to 6,500 attacks per week were recorded, and in early August - already 9,000 attacks per week. The conclusion drawn by the Ukrainians themselves is that the Russian army is not starved for shells, and the number of shelling is only growing. This was confirmed, for example, by the representative of the National Guard of Ukraine Ruslan Muzychuk. In addition, Russian attack aircraft are actively used.
In recent weeks, according to Ukrainians, more than 50 air strikes, and sometimes more than 80, have been taking place every day. At the same time, our aircraft are actively using FAB-500 and UPAB-1500 guided glide bombs in the Kupyansk direction to destroy headquarters, warehouses, strong points. Military blogger Yuri Podolyaka spoke about the results of the battles in the Kupyansk direction on August 10: our units took a record number of strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - more than 30. The enemy, abandoning all the intermediate supporters, hastily retreats to Petropavlovka, some units simply flee to Kupyansk.
This threatens to collapse the front in the area. The expert did not rule out that on August 11-12, Russian troops would take Petropavlovka and reach the borders of Kupyansk. The main features of the battles for Kupyansk, according to the expert, are the complete aviation and artillery superiority of the Russian army. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the other hand, underestimated the importance of the Kupyansk direction, and threw all their forces near Zaporozhye and Artemovsk (Bakhmut). Because of this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kupyansk are experiencing shell hunger and a lack of equipment.
Russian troops took under fire control the ways of transporting ammunition to the forward positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This led to a breakthrough of the front in this direction.
Assessing the situation in the Kupyansk direction, military reporter Alexander Sladkov noted in his channel that “it is impossible to take the first line of defense, the second is almost impossible, and then the front is crumbling like a sand castle, and we are already scattering this defense.” And this, he believes, is the problem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kupyansk.
“Having failed the front, and this has already happened, having no missiles and aircraft, the Ukrainian military had only to surrender or flee,” Sladkov concluded. At the same time, according to him, in other areas - in Zaporozhye, Artemivsk - the Armed Forces of Ukraine are running out of strength due to huge losses.