There’s a slew of stories that Friday will likely be Basic Zaluzhny’s final day as the top of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. I don’t know what is going to occur. I can’t rule out that the press stories are an info operation based mostly on wishful pondering. Then once more, it might be actual. I plan on doing a podcast tomorrow round midday to speak about what transpired within the Ukraine cleaning soap opera. Kudos to Alex Christoforou for dubbing this “Days of Kiev.” An homage to the legendary U.S. cleaning soap, Days of Our Lives. There isn’t a one alive and concerned within the U.S. Authorities who was a part of the deadly clown present in Vietnam that led to the overthrow of President Diem. Is it doable that the time period, Zelensky, is Ukrainian for Vietnam’s Diem? We’ll see.
John Helmer, who publishes at Dancing With Bears, translated an article by Yevgeny Krutikov, a Russian navy analyst who served with the GRU. I’m offering the total article as a result of it illuminates one side of Russia’s technique within the Donbas.
“The settlement of Tabayevka within the Kharkov area has been liberated,” the Russian Protection Ministry says. We aren’t simply dealing with the seize of a village: Russian troops at the moment are hacking into the contact traces, which haven’t budged for a 12 months. Russia is creating a brand new strategic scenario within the Kharkov area, threatening to dismember the Ukrainian defence as much as the Donetsk agglomeration.
First, Krakhmalnoye, then Tabayevka – Russian troops have superior within the Svatovo route (Kharkov area), pushing the enemy to a brand new line of defence (to the village of Peschanoye). Barely to the north, already near Kupyansk, the enemy’s positions are additionally step by step shifting to the west and southwest.
Alongside the way in which, forests are being cleared, which the VSU [Ukrainian Armed Forces] is popping into fortified areas, even giving them names (“Alligator” and “Woodpecker”). The enemy is shedding the outdated traces of trenches, the primary line of contact has been destroyed. One thing comparable is going on immediately close to Kupyansk, however there the superior fortified traces in Sinkovka are being held nonetheless by the VSU, although the positions on the flanks have step by step begun to sink.
At first look, we’re taking a look at remoted episodes of positional warfare, because the massive, iconic and recognizable geographical names don’t seem within the info releases. However this isn’t fairly true.
Firstly, even on this situation as printed thus far, strategic threats come up for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for instance, within the doable drive of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the Oskol River which has far-reaching prospects. However, it’s nonetheless not possible to foretell when this may change into doable in apply.
Secondly, the enemy has been demonstrating a systemic defence disaster within the Kupyansk route throughout the previous week. The defence of Kupyansk has been beneath building by the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the spring of final 12 months, when the choice was made in Kiev on a ‘counteroffensive’ within the southern route. New brigades with western armoured autos have been despatched to the southern part of the contact line, and Kupyansk and the realm round it have been designated for defence with the remainder of their forces.
In Kiev, they have been satisfied that Russian troops have been forming an offensive group within the Kupyansk route, and so the VSU started to attend there for a frontal assault. Nevertheless, consequently, the Russian Military didn’t undertake something of the type on this space. As an alternative, the Ukrainian items have been step by step floor down by the Russian military in positional battles, whereas the Kupyansk group of the VSU needed to be replenished with no matter troops have been left.
Now Ukrainian sources are complaining that as a consequence, a mixture of traces has shaped within the sinkhole areas (that’s the identical Krakhmalnoye and Tabayevka). Into these traces the VSU has herded separate battalions from totally different items, with the consequence that unified administration and command have been misplaced, and the efficiency high quality of the troops has left a lot to be desired.
In consequence, the VSU is contemplating the potential for transferring the remnants of these forces which participated within the failed ‘counteroffensive”’ to Kupyansk from the southern route. Earlier than that, they’d been despatched in nice haste despatched to Avdeyevka.
However that is already a systemic drawback for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since there’s hassle within the southern sector. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have step by step regained among the positions which have been left throughout the so-called counteroffensive, and these forces proceed to maneuver ahead. We’re even speaking about doable threats to Orekhov, a rearguard metropolis for the VSU, from which all of the communications and command of the ‘counteroffensive’ had been carried out.
Behind the defensive fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an open subject for tens of kilometres opens up on a complete group of web sites. Kiev’s navy reserves are step by step being squandered, and there’s virtually no human materiel left to plug the holes. Associated to those issues there are the panic campaigns in Kiev about complete mobilization.
There’s one other drawback: the attrition of officers. Western navy personnel can’t exchange this important useful resource — they’ll solely be used to service technically sophisticated weapons methods akin to air defence or long-range artillery. Alongside the road of contact, overseas officers usually tend to intervene as a result of their ignorance of the language and misunderstanding of the mentality of the [Ukrainian] subordinates.
There are different elements weakening the Ukrainian defence, however they aren’t immediately associated to navy operations. For instance, the Western sponsors are actually involved concerning the corruption of the Ukrainian management. The inspections and audits that are happening in Kiev on this difficulty proper now are stopping Ukraine from constructing new defensive traces swiftly sufficient.
One other non-military issue: political discord among the many varied factions of the Ukrainian authorities. The premonition of defeat is triggering a drop in morale, not solely in the troops, but in addition within the elites.
All this typically creates a strategic alternative for Russia to noticeably change the scenario on the road of contact.
Partial tactical successes should in some unspecified time in the future flip into a significant breakthrough within the enemy’s defence. Furthermore, we’re speaking about such a breakthrough that won’t cease in simply two or three days on the subsequent line of defense, however will lead inevitably, exactly, to the collapse of the entrance. That is precisely what the efforts of the Russian Armed Forces at the moment are aimed toward, probing for the weaknesses in Ukrainian defensive positions.
The liberation of Tabayevka is an instance of simply such an method. In the end, the VSU is not going to have time to create a brand new line of defense behind a selected settlement. After which we’ll see how the particular operation will break the present positional impasse.
If the comic Zelensky manages to take away Basic Zaluzhny and exchange him with Intel Chief Budanov we will count on extra chaos amongst Ukrainian forces dealing with off towards Russia. I’m not suggesting that Zaluzhny is a good navy chief or strategist, however he does perceive the complexity of working a mixed arms navy operation. Budanov doesn’t and won’t have time to be taught the ropes.
Ukraine confronts two deficits that can’t be remedied for not less than one 12 months — 1) lack of skilled manpower and a pair of) lack of ammunition, air protection and dependable fight autos. Russia enjoys a transparent tactical benefit on each counts.
When the Basic Employees have been discussing with President Vladimir Putin the timing of the Russian offensive to power the Kiev regime into capitulation, it has been agreed, understood, and repeated that the strategic reserves of the Ukrainian forces must be destroyed first, along with the provision traces for the weapons and ammunition crossing the border from the US and the NATO allies.
This course of, additionally they agreed, ought to take so long as required with least casualties on the Russian aspect, as decided by navy intelligence. Additionally agreed and pre-conditional, there must be no repeat of the political intelligence failures of the International Intelligence Service (SVR) which precipitated the failed particular forces operation often known as the Battle of Antonov (Hostomel) Airport from February 24 to April 2, 2022.
I like to recommend you learn his full piece.
