Russia's summer offensive stalls despite record number of attacks – The Telegraph
The summer offensive of the aggressor russia's army is slowing down just a few weeks after it began, despite a record number of attacks on several fronts. The large number of attacks has not led to significant breakthroughs on the battlefield.
This is reported by The Telegraph.
Thus, the aggressor state's offensive, planned in the winter and launched in May, stretches from the northern border areas of the Sumy and Kharkiv Regions to the front line in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk Regions, where russian troops are trying to break through for the first time.
It is claimed that during the winter the enemy has been building up manpower, as well as improving the tactics and coordination of missile and drone strikes – and initially there were signs that this is bearing fruit. According to DeepState, in May, russian forces advanced at their fastest pace since November of last year, gaining an average of 5.5 square miles per day – twice as much as in April.
"Steady gains were made in the Donetsk Region, especially between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, two of Moscow's key targets. But several weeks into the campaign, momentum is slipping," the review noted.
Angelica Evans, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), told the publication that the ability of the russians to launch something new and different from the previous one "really isn't there": "The summer offensive is just going to be the continuation of what they've been doing in spring."
It is noted that in Sumy, russian forces appear to have reached a complete stalemate – having re-entered the region in January and intensified their offensive this spring, russian troops have been unable to make further gains, while Ukraine has regained some territory.
Ukrainian military analyst Pavlo Narozhnyi told the publication that russia's main target in the region was Yunakivka, which lies directly on the road connecting russia with the center of Sumy. If russia captured the city, the enemy would move to the surrounding villages located on the edge of the forest, which, according to Narozhnyi, would be a "disaster" for Ukraine.
"The forest leads right up to Sumy city, so if they manage to bring in artillery to Yunakivka and into the forest, they can reach Sumy city with artillery," he explained.
However, according to ISW, Ukraine has managed to slow down the russian advance in the region. russia is sending thousands of poorly trained soldiers to lead the offensive – and this picture is observed all along the front line.
"The Russian offensive has broadly stalled … They have the advantage in manpower and drones but their infantry is very poorly trained, if at all," a senior Ukrainian NCO, who is fighting on the Kupiansk axis in the Donetsk Region, told The Telegraph.
As a reminder, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that the advance of russian troops in the Sumy Region border area has been stopped, and the line of combat contact has stabilized.
Meanwhile, russia is also trying to break through the border of the Dnipropetrovsk Region and continue its offensive. ISW analyst Evans noted that the russian federation has indeed focused on the Ukrainian defense belt, which includes Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka and Sloviansk.
"But they haven't really shown since the first few months of the war to make very rapid and widespread advances they would need to take these cities," she emphasized.
"To take Kramatorsk they would need an additional 100,000 men. They needed 40,000 to take Avdiivka, 70,000 to take Bakhmut, and that included some very well-trained and capable Wagner mercenaries," the Ukrainian NCO said.
A battlefield expert at the Royal United Services Institute (UK) said the russians were in a difficult position given the level of casualties they were sustaining.
In addition, while troops have made some progress north of Toretsk, urban fighting around the city has slowed the advance. In Pokrovsk, meanwhile, the pace of attacks remains high, but the results are not convincing.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, paratroopers in the Sumy Region captured 15 russian servicemen, most of whom are soldiers from the 810th and the 155th separate brigade of the russian Marine Corps, which was noted for its particular cruelty towards Ukrainian servicemen in enemy captivity.