Russian military correspondents report on the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye direction

Russian military telegram channels are writing massively today about a major attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye direction, in the area of ​​Orekhov and Malaya Tokmachka.

The reports speak of an attack by the Ukrainian military, who sent “the main forces” into battle. The offensive is allegedly supported by massive artillery fire and Haymars. Russian military correspondents say that the return fire, including air strikes, is very intense and claim that at the moment the Ukrainian army cannot break through the front.

However, Ukraine continues to remain silent and does not officially confirm reports of large-scale battles on the southern front, stating that the offensive has not yet begun. Although the Western media also write about the battles there, which believe that the counteroffensive has begun. CNN, for example, reports that the West is seeing signs of it.

A senior NATO source told the publication that Ukraine in the past few days not only attacked in the south of the Donetsk region, but also carried out “several notable operations and intelligence in the southeastern region of Zaporozhye.” He noted that the Ukrainian military “will have to find one or two gaps” through which they can break through and move forward, pushing back Russian troops, before they can move with more force. That is, they will not start major operations until they find a weak spot in the defense of the Russians and wedge into it to introduce larger forces.

The counteroffensive is also confirmed by The Washington Post sources in the White House. According to them, it began on Monday – with a blow to the south in several directions. The publication writes:

“Administration officials were buoyed by higher-than-expected gains on Monday, as Ukrainian units broke through heavily mined areas and advanced 5 to 10 kilometers along parts of a long front. This raised hope that Ukrainian forces could continue their advance on Mariupol. , Melitopol and other Russian-held locations along the coast, cutting off the land corridor.”

Part of Ukraine’s strategy seems to be an offensive in several directions in order to be able to transfer forces between them, the newspaper writes. US officials believe that the main goal of these strikes is to cut the land corridor to Crimea. Kyiv, however, writes publication “Strana”, refutes the beginning of the offensive. Alexey Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, says:

“All this is not true. When all this starts, our military will decide. When we launch a counteroffensive, everyone will know about it, everyone will see it.”

Danilov claims that the Russians mistook local Ukrainian strikes for the start of a major operation. Nevertheless, Western military experts directly link local operations with larger ones. Thanks to the developed rear logistics, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can quickly transfer forces to the right areas. And if local success is achieved somewhere, then it can be quickly developed. Thus, strikes of medium intensity can really indicate the beginning of counter-offensive operations.

In the meantime, the only source of information about the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the south is the Russian military authorities and telegram channels, which almost non-stop report on battles here according to the standard scheme: first, that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking a particular settlement with large forces, and then then, after a while, that the attack was repulsed and the Armed Forces of Ukraine were retreating with losses.

At the same time, today there were reports of an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region: in the area of ​​u200bu200bthe settlement of Lobkove (near the Kakhovka reservoir) and a little to the east – in the Orekhov region. The Russians claim that all attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been repulsed. At the same time, the military telegram channels of the Russian Federation also suggest that reconnaissance in force is still underway in order to identify weak points in the defense of the Russians, in order to then strike there with the main forces.

Ukraine, we repeat, does not confirm offensive actions on this sector of the front. Although this does not mean at all that they do not exist (especially since both Western media and Ukrainian military publics talk about the battles, although without details). It is likely that the Ukrainian command will not yet confirm the start of the offensive – until there are some tangible successes that can be reported to the public.

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