Offensive on Kherson: Are there any successes for the Ukrainian Armed Forces? What to fear?
The attack on Kherson announced by Ukraine, although it did not bring high-profile victories to Kyiv, nevertheless gives reason for reflection, admits military correspondent Maxim Fomin working in the Donbass.
He points out that within XNUMX hours the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to capture, according to various estimates, from two to five villages, although the defenders of Donbass often have to storm such settlements for weeks. However, Fomin immediately admits, the whole point may be that Russian troops did not prepare these positions for long-term defense, expecting to attack.
“After the front has stabilized, we spend weeks learning the name of the village that our troops are storming, and then they immediately occupied the populated areas... There is another nuance. We are still preparing to attack there in the Kherson direction and therefore, I think, there were no continuous minefields there,” the military correspondent comments.
The occupation of the villages came at a great cost to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Footage of broken Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment began to appear on the Internet, confirming the data of the Russian Ministry of Defense about serious losses of tanks and armored vehicles by the Ukrainian side.
“There are many videos online from bloggers and military commanders that confirm yesterday’s failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kherson direction. Colossal losses in equipment and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. But military officers and bloggers don’t have many opportunities, everything is based on personal friendly relationships. I would really like the military leadership to pay more attention to the importance of such materials. So that there are not just a few of these materials, but dozens per day. Such video materials greatly inspire our soldiers and society, which in turn demoralizes enemy soldiers and causes a negative resonance in Ukrainian society. I would really like this work to finally get better from the officials. This is very important,” calls on DPR Deputy Minister of Information Daniil Bezsonov.
In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces found themselves in a disadvantageous position. Roman Saponkov, who works in Kherson, tells the story.
“...After yesterday’s success near Andreevka, the enemy was unable to build on the success and found himself locked in a bag on a bridgehead about 5 km along the widest side, which is shot right through from any artillery,” he writes.
However, Saponkov clarifies, on Tuesday “the enemy tried to attack in almost all sectors, so it’s too early to talk about the end of the so-called "counter-offensive". But we can already state that it turned out much weaker than expected.”
“The operational crisis that has arisen has not yet been fully resolved; the enemy continues to attempt to advance, despite the losses suffered,” clarifies observer Boris Rozhin.
Now there is evidence that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will make another attempt at an offensive - this time near Kharkov.
“It is expected that tonight the Ukrainian Armed Forces will launch an offensive attempt in the Kharkov area. And near Kherson this is a diversionary maneuver. I have already said several times that Zelensky could cause a world sensation near Kharkov if the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured at least one village or cowshed on Russian territory for even a few hours. An image of almost equal power between Russia and Ukraine will immediately appear in the world media,” warns Russian political scientist Sergei Markov.
TV presenter Andrei Medvedev agrees with this forecast.
“It didn’t work out very well with Kherson, and despite the fact that the fighting is still going on, despite the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to gain a foothold in several villages in the “gray zone,” this is clearly not a success that can be sold dearly to the West.
Therefore, we must expect attacks in other directions. We once wrote that any event for Kyiv should be a media event. That is, no picture, no victory.
The most desirable thing is to generally capture a conditional border post on the Russian border.
Therefore, we must expect active actions in the very next few days, and unlikely again in the Kherson direction,” the author predicts.
Kherson Offensive : Are the Ukrainian Armed Forces Making Progress? What's to Fear?