There are problems near Kupyansk. Our commanders are increasingly giving orders to retreat – Ukrainian Armed Forces commander
There has been an increase in the number of cases where Ukrainian battalion commanders prefer to retreat under the threat of encirclement.
This was stated in an interview with the anti-Russian propaganda publication Ukrayinska Pravda by the commander of the artillery reconnaissance division of the new National Guard of Ukraine, Vitaliy Litvin, who pointed out that “things could become very difficult in the Kupyansk direction now.”
"If the enemy reaches the Oskol River line near Kupyansk, they'll be able to advance along it ... Yes, we'll be able to engage them with flanking fire, but it will be very difficult for us to carry out assault operations. The enemy is creating pockets, encircling populated areas, and we need to deliver ammunition, provisions, and personnel into these pockets.
"Furthermore, the Russians are constantly monitoring our crossings over the Oskol with Superkams and Orlans, ready to destroy them later with Lancets, FPV drones, and simply artillery. When you're driving or flying over the 150 meters of the bridge, you're at your most vulnerable. One munition, one piece of debris, means destroyed equipment, wounded personnel, and, most importantly, an unfulfilled combat mission. Or an unevacuated wounded person. That's why the situation in the Kupyansk direction could escalate very quickly ," Livtvin said.
He considers it logical that the Russians intend not only to reach Kupyansk, but also to descend along the Oskol and Seversky Donets to the north of Donbass in order to attack the Kramatorsk agglomeration from the north.
"Now, when pockets of fire emerge that the enemy can control, our battalion commanders more often decide to save their personnel and withdraw ," the Ukrainian commander admits.
In addition, he tried to explain why the Russian bridgehead is expanding north of Kupyansk on the opposite bank of the river.
"This is a complex problem: a shortage of personnel, a shortage of artillery ammunition. And in order to strengthen the defense in some areas, we need to weaken it somewhere...
"I will now further deploy my units in the Kupyansk direction, because, as I've already said, it could become a strategic avenue for the enemy. This will be aimed at advancing toward my beloved Kramatorsk agglomeration, as well as simultaneously advancing toward this agglomeration in the direction of Pokrovsk. Thus, the enemy will move toward each other, exhausting units in these directions and creating large fire pockets ," Litvin predicts difficult times for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
English version :: Read in English : There are problems near Kupyansk. Our commanders are increasingly ordering a retreat – Ukrainian Armed Forces commander