The north front opened by Russia in the Kharkov oblast continues to overextend the already outgunned, outmanned and outmaneuvered Ukrainian forces that try to hold the ‘Northern Wind’ without losing any more terrain in Eastern Donetsk region.
With the Russian Federation forced probing several points along the 600-mile long frontline, it is increasingly clear that the defenders are very near a collapse of their lines.
This is especially if this bit of information that has arisen gets confirmed: it says current advances in Kharkov would be just a ‘reconnaissance in force’ and the real attack operation is still to be unleashed.
The information comes from retired Ukrainian SBU colonel Oleg Starikov. According to him, the main forces will be brought into battle only after a bridgehead has been created.
The western and northern parts of Volchansk in the Kharkov region are already controlled by Russian troops, the head of the region’s Russian administration, Vitaly Ganchev, has said.
More than 60 people from the Kraken* neo-Nazi formation have been captured in the Kharkov… pic.twitter.com/yRqbbh7B7f
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 14, 2024
US secretary of state Anthony Blinken arrived today (14) in Kyiv for a speech. US officials are reportedly ‘working to speed up the delivery’ of the approved aid.
Top little, too late?
The focus point right now is the small Kharkov city of Vovchansk/Volchansk. 6,000 people have evacuated it since Friday, fleeing a second Russian advance after more than two years.
Washington Post reported:
“Russian glide bombs weighing half a ton each have been dropped repeatedly from aircraft on Vovchansk and neighboring border towns for days. The sound of artillery shelling has been constant. Self-destructing drones can be heard buzzing overhead before crashing into vehicles. So much is on fire — the surrounding forest, cars, apartment buildings — that the heavy smoke makes it hard to breathe.
[…] Russian soldiers had reached the northern edges of the city, and the Ukrainian military says it has sent reinforcements to repel the assault.”
Watch: Ground battles in Kharkov – seen from the Ukrainian side.
Ground battles in Kharkov – seen from thge Ukrainian side. pic.twitter.com/NCTvsGPuoW
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 14, 2024
As Russians advance, Kharkov city is once again about to be within Russian artillery range.
“’The enemy is coming at us from the north and is trying to push further into our territories’, the Kharkiv region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said at a news conference Monday. The Russians are ‘trying to occupy the city of Vovchansk and take control over it, but our military is still restraining them there and the fighting is taking place in absolutely every direction’, Syniehubov added.”
U.S. officials do not yet believe that the Ukrainians are on the verge of a significant territorial loss.
“Though Western and Ukrainian officials warned for months that Moscow might mount an offensive in the Kharkov region, some military officials and opposition politicians have observed on social media that Ukraine did not prepare sufficient defenses at the border, allowing Russia to advance quickly into several villages. The Ukrainian commander responsible for the northeast front was dismissed on Monday.”
Watch: Russian Su-34 crews strike on Ukrainian forces.
Russian Su-34 crews deliver powerful strikes on Ukrainian forces
The pilots deployed high-explosive aviation bombs with universal planning and correction modules, which allow the delivery of precise strikes from beyond the enemy’s air defense kill zone. pic.twitter.com/aYN7IP0393
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 14, 2024
Ukraine has also been ceding ground in the Donetsk region, both in the besieged town of Chasiv Yar and also around Avdeevka.
Kiev’s forces are defenseless against Russia’s increased use of glide bombs, outdated Soviet-era weapons that were fitted with modern guidance systems.
These large bombs obliterate defensive military positions.
Newsweek reported:
“There are ‘active shooting battles’ happening on the northern edge of the Ukrainian border city of Vovchansk, according to a Ukrainian official, as thousands of people flee from Russian advances in northeastern Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s military conceded that Moscow had secured some ‘tactical success’ around Vovchansk/Volchansk, but said that the situation around the settlement was ‘under control’.
“Geolocated footage from Monday indicates Russian forces advanced into northern Vovchansk, the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment.”
Watch: Ukrainian equipment destroyed in drone and artillery strikes.
Gepard and another Bogdan SPG destroyed!
Several videos of destroyed enemy equipment over the past 24 hours.
1. Destruction of the Grad rocket launcher.
Kharkov direction. Counter-battery fighting in the Liptsov area. Slatino – Great Passages.
Successful destruction of the… pic.twitter.com/hmCkpLHbYj
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 14, 2024
“It is not clear whether Russia intends to launch a push to capture Kharkov City, but the current offensive has turned attention to protective measures around Ukraine’s second-largest city. If Moscow claims control of Vovchansk, the loss of the settlement would be a blow to Ukraine, but the fall of Kharkiv to Russian troops would be a much more significant setback.
‘Kharkov is an important strategic city’, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said on Monday. ‘We have preserved and will preserve it. But now active hostilities are very close’.”
Besides all the trouble with the situation as it is, Russia has also stationed small assault units near Ukraine’s Sumy region, Kyiv’s top general Budanov said, anticipating yet another Russian offensive in the north.
Telegraph reported:
“Speaking to Ukrainian TV, Gen Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said that the situation in the Kharkiv region – where Russia launched a surprise assault on Friday – was moving toward stabilization.
Gen Budanov earlier told the New York Times that he expects the assault on Sumy as soon as the situation in Kharkiv is stabilized, as Russia attempts to divert Ukrainian resources away from other parts of the frontline.”
Watch: cluster munitions hit Ukrainian drones.
Some people believe Russian cluster munitions aren’t hitting the targets, as in the new video from today of the Ukrainian drones being attacked. But they’re misunderstanding how the munitions work.
Watch the video on the left of the strike on the Ukrainian helicopters from… pic.twitter.com/9Ix1mke9oP
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 14, 2024
Sputnik reported:
“The western and northern parts of Volchansk in the Kharkov region are already controlled by Russian troops, the head of the region’s Russian administration, Vitaly Ganchev, has said.
More than 60 people from the Kraken neo-Nazi formation have been captured in the Kharkov region and are testifying, Ganchev added.
Russia’s Battlegroup Sever will soon start liberating the village of Liptsy in the Kharkov region, as Russian troops have approached the outskirts, Ganchev has said.
Ukraine is pulling up new reserves to fortified positions in the Kharkov region, but the Russian Air Force is operating there, so they will not be able to resist them for long, he added.”
Watch: Russian artillery strikes targets of Ukrainian formations in the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region.
Russian artillery strikes targets of Ukrainian formations in the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/OJ68x9TqgX
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 14, 2024
Instel Slava reminds us that “The Armed Forces of Ukraine have no reserves left, Ukrainian intelligence chief Budanov said in an interview with NYT .
“All our troops are now either in Kharkov or in Chasov Yar. I used everything we have. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone left in reserve,” said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.”
Watch: Russian soldiers storm AFU positions in Stelmakhovka, Kupyansk on buggies.
Subtitled version: pic.twitter.com/wUtNsHL4aG
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 13, 2024
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The post Northern Offensive: Russian Troops Enter Volchansk – Kharkov City Almost in Artillery Range – Kiev Doesn’t Have Any More Reserves Available (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
