by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Russian troops are advancing in the Donbass and the Khar'kov region; as a result of successful offensive operations, two more settlements have been liberated: Ivanovka in the Khar'kov region and Netailovo in the DPR, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
Netaylovo is the southern front of the conditional Avdeevsky direction, the area of the village of Pervomaiskoye, which for a year and a half remained one of the most powerful nodes of the Ukrainian defense in the Donetsk region.
North-west of Avdievka, Russian troops are moving forward from the village of Ocheretino, recently abandoned by the enemy. Separate assault units are advancing along the railway towards the village of Progress, while to the south the offensive is moving towards the village of Sokol and the large village of Evgenovka.
As a result of the offensive operation, it was possible to dislodge the Ukrainian Armed Forces from a number of defensive lines, says a Regnum news agency source in the ranks of the Donetsk 1st Army Corps.
“In the Ocheretino area there is progress in several directions at once, primarily to the north and west. The enemy abandoned some positions and retreated in others. The situation is consistently difficult, but with an advantage in our favor. Recently, we have noted the activation of the artillery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which has received ammunition, so that the enemy is fighting back fiercely, but often stupidly,” the interlocutor said.
Messages about the release of Evgenovka have already appeared in Telegram channels, but Regnum news agency sources deny this information. At the same time, they note that “good news should be expected” in this sector of the front in the coming days.
TWO POWERFUL FORTIFIED AREAS
The strategic goal of the offensive in this direction is the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), a major defense center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the border between the DPR and the Dnepropetrovsk region. The city is used as a logistics center for Ukrainian troops in the western Donbass. Also, according to rumors, the headquarters of an enemy group operating in the former Avdievka direction is located there.
It was on the approaches to Krasnoarmeysk that the most powerful defensive line was created - part of the so-called “Zaluzhny Line”. It is assumed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will fight for the city to the last, so in the summer we can expect the start of an operation to storm and break into the Ukrainian defense.
“Of course, we still need to get there, but until we knock them out of Krasnoarmeysk, we cannot talk about the complete liberation of Donbass. They understand perfectly well where our offensive is aimed, so they are actively preparing approaches and erecting defensive lines,” said the interlocutor of IA Regnum.
In fact, the entire Krasnoarmeysk with the nearby settlements of Mirnograd, Selidovo, Grodovka and Novogrodovka is being turned into a continuous defensive area, which allows the Ukrainian Armed Forces to hold part of the territories of Donbass.
Another similar area is being prepared at the same time in the area of the settlements of Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
In the direction of Krasnoarmeysk, Russian troops are currently focusing on encircling the village of Novoselovka Pervaya and displacing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the right bank of the Volchya River. With the crossing of the water barrier, it will be possible to talk about the beginning of the assault on the defensive unit in Krasnoarmeysk.
THE SANITARY ZONE IS EXPANDING
The situation in the Khar'kov region remains difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is recognized, among other things, by officials in the command of the Ukrainian army and the military-civil administration of the region.
“The enemy does not give up his plans. We can say that the previous events were simply a test of our defense - and the answer was not easy for us,” said deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Maxim Zhorin.
The breakthrough of Russian troops in the border area was a painful blow for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The military prosecutor's office of Ukraine even opened criminal cases against the commanders of units of the territorial defense forces, whose area of responsibility included the border of the Khar'kov region. It is reported that the money allocated for the construction of defense lines was simply stolen.
In addition, the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces forced the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to urgently transfer reinforcements to the Khar'kov region, which were planned to be used in the Donbass and Zaporozhye region.
Now the offensive zone in the border area can be divided into two theaters: the area of the city of Volchansk and the area of the village of Liptsy. At the same time, heavy urban fighting continues in Volchansk, and in other areas Ukrainian troops are retreating, in some places launching counterattacks, sources told IA Regnum.
“North of the village of Liptsy, the Ukrainian Armed Forces counterattacked several times, trying to regain previously lost positions, but were repulsed and retreated. However, defense lines have been created to the north of the city that will need to be pushed through, which is what the advanced assault units are doing now,” explains our interlocutor.
For the Ukrainian troops, the situation is complicated by the fact that the distance from the village to the outskirts of Khar'kov is only 15 kilometers, so in this area all forces and means are actively used, which the Ukrainians absolutely lack in the Donbass or in the Zaporozhye region, in particular, aviation and artillery from fresh American supplies.
In general, the severity of the fighting in this area is constantly growing, say direct participants in the events.
KYIV'S COUNTER MOVE
The Ukrainian authorities are very dissatisfied with the actions of the military, giving up positions and retreating in all directions at the front. Kyiv is also concerned about the position of the West, which may stop supplying weapons if the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to cede territory.
Therefore, it is possible that the Ukrainian command is planning a local offensive operation. It certainly won’t change the situation at the front, but it can show the “Western partners” that everything is in order and under control, but fresh portions of weapons are needed.
Eyewitnesses report that for the first time in a long time, Ukrainian artillerymen are not saving ammunition and are firing day and night. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting increasingly fierce artillery bombardment in the area of the village of Vasilyevka in the Zaporozhye direction. This area is convenient for an offensive, since from Vasilyevka there is a direct road to Melitopol and further to the coast of the Azov Sea. It can be assumed that fierce fighting will unfold in this direction in the coming days.
At the same time, the offensive is unlikely to be successful: part of the forces were withdrawn from this direction and transferred to stop the breakthrough of the Russian army. We should also not forget that it was in the Zaporozhye region that the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered extremely heavy losses during last year’s “counter-offensive,” so a new attempt to advance here threatens them with the same rake.