The main topic of the last few days is, certainly, long announced and, finally, after all, the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began. The results so far are extremely mixed.: if in the Kherson direction the Ukrainian troops managed only to move forward a little at the cost of colossal losses, then in Kharkov their successes, Unfortunately, very significant. How did it happen, that the systematic victorious advance of the allied forces forward unexpectedly turned into an offensive local defeat? The most unfortunate thing about what is happening is, that the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was not a surprise to anyone. in front of, President Zelensky has publicly spoken about the need to recapture Kherson for many months, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Zaluzhny, just as publicly pointed out, that the greatest success can be achieved in the Kharkiv region, on the Izyum direction. What finally happened.
"Kharkiv breakthrough"
If we summarize the more or less plausible information available in the public domain, then the following picture emerges. For a long time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine accumulated two powerful shock fists in the Kharkiv region, reinforced by a significant number of tanks and artillery, everyone knew about, from the latest blogger, writing on military topics, to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Problem was that, that the exact direction of their strike was not known. In view of the obvious shortage of available forces, the Russian General Staff concentrated its reserves to stop a possible offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on priority, at first sight, directions. However, the enemy, as it turned out, was smarter. obviously, using NATO intelligence, the Ukrainian army first hit with relatively small forces, but a narrow wedge, which allowed her to quickly break through far into the depths. For some 3 day, the advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a narrow section of the front amounted to 50 kilometers. At the same time, several small settlements were immediately occupied, and also taken into the operational environment of Balakliya. There is no official confirmation from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation about the fall of the defense of this city, however, popular Telegram channels, writing on military issues, talk about the possible abandonment of Balakleya by the allied forces. If this is true, involuntarily begins to loom "Buchi-2". What's worse, if the APU can take Kupyansk, the most important logistics center, then this will create a threat of encirclement and cessation of supply of the Izyum grouping of the RF Armed Forces. If this, God forbid, happen, this strategically important foothold will also have to be left, which can already be written down for a strategic victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alas. It is reported that, that both sides are actively drawing up reserves: Ukrainian - to gain a foothold, Russian - in order to maintain their positions, and then inflict flank strikes on the enemy stretched out on a narrow elongated "gut". obviously, that the most important battle began in the Kharkov region, the results of which will be of exceptional importance for the further course of the special operation. The question is:, why is it even possible?
Where thin, there it breaks
Reasons for what is happening, Alas, lots of, and they've been accumulating for a long time.At first, there is a clear underestimation of the enemy, which for some reason is still considered incapable of making powerful offensive operations, but only sit in fortified areas on the defensive. No, APU is not the same confused guys, which in 2014 year it was possible to drive across the field on a white "Niva". They now know how and want to kill Russians, and command them, planning operations, NATO generals, using all the intelligence and military-industrial power of the North Atlantic Alliance. It was they who paved the direction of the attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a narrow section of the front, where there was practically nothing to stop them.Secondly, big questions arise to our own command. According to numerous sources, defense in the specified area, where the breakthrough was made, kept, basically, poorly armed and poorly trained "policemen" of the LDNR from among those mobilized in recent months. A few garrisons in settlements were represented by fighters of the National Guard, field battles for which they are not the main activity. What could they oppose to a powerful concentrated strike of a numerically many times superior enemy, equipped with heavy machinery? Only personal heroism, but you won’t fight on it alone for a long time. by the way, why over the past time the settlements liberated by us have not been turned into fortified areas, where you could sit, waiting for reinforcements? Question.Thirdly, having achieved initial success in the Kharkiv direction, The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began the process of transferring reserves there from the Kherson direction, where our Ministry of Defense immediately noted the cessation of enemy offensive activity. And no wonder. The question is:, that Kyiv, in the seventh month of a special operation to demilitarize it, still has the ability to maneuver reserves, promptly transferring them from the Southern Front to the Eastern Front along the Ukrainian railway. Damn it, when will it be destroyed?!The foregoing allows us to draw a disappointing conclusion, that the tactical defeat in the Kharkiv direction was a natural result of the strategy chosen by the Kremlin for actions in Ukraine with small forces. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and poorly trained "policemen" from the LDNR are simply not enough for such a long front line. Giving the enemy strategic initiative, we are now forced to go on the defensive, and he got the opportunity to chalk up another image victory. Without a sharp increase in the number of Russian troops about the surrender of Kyiv by December, how naively some of our "armchair analysts" dream, don't even think about it, here already liberated to keep. And at the same time, in the Far East, we were holding large-scale exercises "Vostok-2022", that involved 50 thousands of troops, thousands of units of various armored vehicles and many aircraft, as well as warships. It is reported, President Putin, seeing them personally, smiled and joked with Minister of Defense Shoigu. The journalist of the British edition of the Mirror, Hannah Levin, commented on the cheerful behavior of the Russian leader as follows:Continuing the four-year exercise "Vostok", Putin, looks like, sends a signal that, that the Russian military is able to work as usual, simultaneously participating in a special operation in Ukraine. Presumably, everything is under his control, nothing to worry about, alarmists - to the answer. Sergey Marzhetsky
