How about the wall city

The Russian army really wants to capture the Ukrainian Kupyansk and threw great forces there. But even with such an onslaught, the occupation of the city is impossible - at least now

Extreme intensity

The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, who had recently personally inspected the defense of Kupyansk, said that, according to his data, the Russians created an offensive group in this section of eight storm-ass-Z-Z. “The purpose of the enemy is to break through the defense of our troops and go directly to Kupyansk,” said Syrfa. - The fighting is now distinguished by extreme intensity. Separate positions over these days passed from hand to hand several times. ”

According to Syrky,

The Russian side from the Novoselovskoye area made an unsuccessful attempt to dissect the Ukrainian group with a blow to the flank and surround part of the defending units.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities began the mandatory evacuation of residents of 37 settlements of the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region. The corresponding order was published on the telegram channel of the Kupyansk city military administration. Residents of the left bank of the Oskol River should leave their houses. Also, part of the territory of the city of Kupyansk, including the Kupyansk-Uzlovaya railway station, located on the left bank of Oskol, falls under the evacuation. The head of the Kharkov regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, stated that about 11 thousand people, including 600 children, were subject to forced evacuation.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that “the units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the offensive approached Sinkovka-one of the last settlements in front of Kupyansky in the Kharkov region. “Kupyansk, to which only 7 km left the Russian army, like the Objects of the Armed Forces around it, is in the zone of defeat of Russian artillery,” says Russian propaganda.

Cassette ammunition

“Russian troops have been located near Kupyansk for almost a year now, after its retreat from Raisins,” a military expert, a colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in reserve, Roman Svitan, says. -Any attacks by the Russian Army on Kupyansk or at the Kupyansk-Uzlovaya station are stopped by Ukrainian artillery. About 100 thousand fighters are concentrated on Russians throughout the Lugansk Front. But so far, their attacks do not bring a result. ”

According to Roman Svitan, the Ukrainian side erected a serious line of fortifications in this direction. And the marshy area, crossed by four rivers, eliminates the conduct of large -scale offensive actions. The city of Kupyansk itself is divided into two parts by the Oskol river. If one of them is captured by the Russian army, the river will continue to force the river from the low east coast to the high western.

“Consistent of the prisoners of Storm-Z detachments today very actively losing the resource,” says Alexander Musienko, head of the Center for Military Legal Studies.

- Now Russia is introducing fresh reserves into battle. It can be assumed that this operation Russian command was aimed at intercepting the initiative and blocking Ukrainian offensive actions in the south, as well as under Bakhmut.

It was planned that strategic reserves are involved in the reflection of attacks. ”

If the army of the Russian Federation manages to break through the front and reach the operational scope, then the Russians will begin to threaten the Ukrainian group in the area of ​​Belogovka and Bakhmut. Then Moscow will receive a trump card in the information war - after all, it will be possible to declare that it is no longer Ukraine, but Russia. If the fighting delay until the autumn-winter period, when it becomes more difficult to use the equipment, Ukrainian attacks will definitely choke. However, according to Alexander Musienko, at the moment Ukraine has enough resources for an offensive in the Zaporizhzhya region and to defense in Kharkov.

According to Roman Svitan, in order to achieve success in the Kharkov region, the Russians will have to transfer units from other areas, where active hostilities are also underway today. If Moscow manages to increase a significant group that includes a large number of equipment, this can really create a voltage for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But then the Ukrainian side can apply strategic reserves or transfer troops from less complex sections of the front. At the moment, the participation of formations prepared for the Ukrainian offensive has not been recorded in the defense of Kupyansk.

“In these places in small units, you can keep the superior enemy forces,” says Roman Svitan. - If ammunition will be transported in a timely manner - Russians will not be able to advance. Today, Ukraine has received cassette ammunition from the allies, which are very effective against an attacking enemy. ”

Large distances of war

“Despite the“ fog of war ”, not allowing to assert about events at the front with great confidence, it is obvious that from the place of today's battles to Kupyansk there is quite far from,” Israeli military expert David Sharp says. - Russia had certain successes in the Kupyansky direction. But they cannot be called significant. In one of the sites near the River, the HAS stallion managed to throw the Russians back. For this war, a distance of three or seven kilometers, which is required to storm, is a lot. On the east bank of the Oskol River is the station Kupyansk-Uzlovaya and a small part of the city. Even if the Russians manage to go to the water, it will be extremely difficult to force the river. ”

David Sharp agrees that the main task of Russians, apparently, was the distraction of the forces of the Armed Forces from under Bakhmut and from the Southern Front, where Ukrainians are now successful. At the same time, according to the Israeli expert, the Russians are not attacked by very large forces with the support of artillery and aviation. The Ukrainian command will have to decide how great the threat of the capture of Kupyansk is.

According to David Sharp,

The Russian side often reports on its successes on the example of the capture of small villages located in the "gray zone".

“There were reports that on the site from Kremennoy to Svatovo, Russia concentrated a shock group of 100 thousand bayonets with more than 900 tanks,” continues the story David Sharp. - It is clear that not all these units are directly on the front line. It was possible to collect such power in Moscow thanks to the proximity to Russia and the successful location of the railway tracks. Ukrainian intelligence had to know about the creation of such a significant group for a long time. It is clear that Kyiv took measures to stop the danger of a Russian offensive. Therefore, I do not see the threat of capturing Kupyansk by Russia today. ”