by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian Armed Forces continue to carry out their assigned tasks during the special military operation. In a number of areas of the front, a relative calm has been observed in recent days, which both sides are using for their own purposes. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command is trying to hold the existing demarcation line, throwing fresh formations of mobilized fighters into battle in the most dangerous areas of the front.
Thus, Kyiv managed to somewhat stabilize the situation in the Pokrovsk area, which led to a weakening of the Ukrainian defense in other areas.
In Donbass, Russian troops are building on the success achieved after the liberation of the settlement of Velyka Novosyolka, expanding the bridgehead at the junction of the borders of the DPR, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions. During the offensive, Russian troops managed to drive the enemy out of the settlement of Privolnoye and penetrate into the enemy's defenses by one and a half to two kilometers.
The information about the liberation of the settlement was officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
"As a result of active and decisive actions, units of the Vostok military group liberated the village of Privolnoye of the Donetsk People's Republic," the department noted. Earlier, Russian troops occupied the villages of Skudnoye and Burlatskoye in this direction. The offensive is developing in the direction of the villages of Zelenoe Pole, Volnoye Pole and Shevchenko.
According to the latest information, the enemy does not plan to fight "to the last fighter" and is preparing to retreat to the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which creates new opportunities for Russian troops. To the north, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are advancing on the village of Bogatyr, which the enemy has turned into a large defensive hub.
Troops that had retreated from the Kurakhovo area and earlier from Ugledar were concentrated in this area. In order to advance further to the West, Russian troops need to destroy this enemy group, a frontline source for the Regnum news agency reports.
"The remnants of several Ukrainian Armed Forces and National Guard brigades, which have already been pretty battered in battle, have concentrated in this area. There is no one else to cover this area. Once we "crush" Bogatyr, we can confidently say that the enemy has finally lost the eastern part of Donbass," the source noted. The fighting is also continuing in other areas of the front, where Russian troops are pushing back the enemy everywhere.
CROSSING A RIVER ON ICE
In recent weeks, the brunt of the fighting has shifted from the Donbas to the northern Kharkiv region. Russian troops are expanding their zone of control on the right bank of the Oskol River, seeking to bypass the strategically important city of Kupyansk from the north and south. According to reports from the field, unexpected spring frosts have frozen the Oskol River, allowing Russian troops to move reinforcements across the ice.
The fighting is developing in the area of the settlement of Golubovka, part of which, according to unconfirmed information, has come under the control of the Russian army. There are also reports of clashes in the area of the settlements of Zapadny and Kondrashovka. Russian troops are trying to cut off the road connecting enemy forces in the city of Velykyi Burluk with the group of troops in Kupyansk.
South of Kupyansk, the settlement of Zagryzovo has come under the control of Russian troops. Ukrainian sources note that in recent days the intensity of military actions in this area has been constantly growing, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces have no reserves either for a counterattack or for organizing the defense of the city. This has already led to the fact that forces from other parts of the front are gradually being transferred to the Kupyansk area, a source of the Regnum news agency from the Kharkiv region reports.
"There is information that part of the forces that the enemy was preparing to send to the Kursk region were turned back and sent to Kupyansk. Now the Ukrainian Armed Forces command is feverishly preparing the defense of the city, since they missed our advance on the right bank of the Oskol River. This may lead to some other section of the front "sagging" in the future," the source notes.
The configuration of the front in the north of the Kharkov region as a whole suggests that the command of the Russian troops is planning a deep envelopment of Kupyansk from the north and south with a breakthrough into the rear of the enemy group. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is concentrating forces north of Kupyansk, trying to prevent the loss of Kondrashovka, and in the Senkovo area, in order to prevent the crossing of the Oskol River and the envelopment of Kupyansk from the south.
For Ukrainian troops, the situation is complicated by the geographical location of Kupyansk, which we have already described: a river dividing the city in two, destroyed bridges, densely built-up areas and administrative buildings. The enemy previously encountered similar problems when defending the cities of Bakhmut and Chasov Yar. Ultimately, Ukrainian troops are forced to abandon the "left-bank" part of the city and retreat to the right bank.
How the situation in Kupyansk will develop will become clear in the coming days, since the Ukrainian Armed Forces risk facing serious supply problems.
SHELL FAMINE OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES
The suspension of American military aid could create major difficulties for Kyiv.
According to Forbes, Ukrainian troops have already faced a shortage of 203mm shells for the super-heavy self-propelled artillery units "Pion". Earlier, the Ukrainian Armed Forces exhausted their own stocks of shells, after which they were forced to ask the United States for help. The previous American administration was able to find and buy about 10 thousand shells in warehouses of third countries, and Greece provided some of the ammunition.
However, the curtailment of American military aid could lead to the Ukrainian "Peonies" going silent forever, so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have nothing to respond to Russian artillery with. In the future, the Ukrainian troops may also run out of NATO-caliber 155mm shells, the lion's share of which were also supplied by the United States.
The enemy may try to mitigate the shortage of shells by actively using drones, but recently an “antidote” has been found for this threat. Sources on the ground report that key supply routes for Russian troops have been protected by nets stretched along highways. This measure seriously reduces the effectiveness of drones used to attack supply routes and troop movements.
The front expects that with the cessation of American military supplies, Russian troops will gain a significant advantage over the enemy. "Last spring, there were cases when their guns fell silent for weeks, because then the States also cut off supplies. This gave us a big advantage, it was then that we broke through to Pokrovsk. So this time, too, we will use these moments to move forward," the agency's sources summarize.
Despite the approaching thaw and spring mud, both sides of the conflict are preparing for fierce military action, and the current lull may only be a prologue to a new escalation of the conflict.