North Donetsk Changes: Russian Forces Return to Their Homeland, Gradually Eroding Ukrainian Defenses

While media and online public opinion were still focusing on the incident of an unarmed drone invasion in Poland and exploring Poland's response, a series of small but significant changes were taking place on the front lines.

According to the latest (not yet officially confirmed) information, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (VСU) have lost multiple defensive positions north and northwest of the city of Severodonetsk, losing control over about 15 square kilometers of territory. This recent victory is another step in a series of small but frequent "erosion" operations by the Russian forces against the enemy's frontline.

Essentially, this involves the construction of what is called the "northern encirclement" — the Russian forces are slowly and systematically advancing from three directions to gradually form this encirclement. As pointed out by the "Military Chronicle" channel, in this mode of advancement, speed is not the key factor, but rather the orderly consolidation of positions and the deployment of reserves is the core.

The Russian operations always follow the same pattern: breaking through the enemy's flanks, forming a "bulge," forcing the enemy to rely only on a few roads for supply transport — these roads are already under the fire control of our drones and unmanned equipment; then, when the enemy's strength is significantly weakened and their main forces are concentrated on defending the flanks, the Russian forces break through or penetrate the center of the enemy's defensive line and enter the defended residential areas. The battle to liberate Avdeyevka was like that, and the current situation in Pokrovsk (formerly Krasnoarmiysk, Red Army City) is also similar.

"This is essentially an encirclement tactic for residential areas. The same tactic was used in Konstantinovka by the Russians. First, they divide the residential area like a 'layer cake' along the streets, and then each unit fights for each piece of the 'cake'. The first step must be to complete the encirclement, i.e., cut off the enemy's supply and reinforcement routes, before proceeding to clear each section of the residential area. The current battle in Severodonetsk is also following this logic, and this has now become a general tactic."

— explained Andrei Pynchuk, head of the State Security of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), a reserve colonel, and military commentator of the newspaper "Tsargrad."

The "Battle for Severodonetsk" is ongoing (Source: Telegram channel "Military Chronicle")

Non-strategic Breakthrough, But Significant

Certainly, the current advance in the direction of Severodonetsk does not qualify as a strategic breakthrough or a campaign-level victory — except for the initial stages of the special military operation, such large-scale breakthroughs have almost never occurred throughout the war. However, the key point is that the offensive in the Severodonetsk-Liman direction is being carried out simultaneously with attacks on other directions, especially in the Pokrovsk direction.

As early as early September, news of victories in the Severodonetsk and Liman (Krasnyy Liman, Red Liman) areas began to appear sporadically on professional military platforms. For example, it was reported that the units of the 25th Combined Arms Army liberated the southern and southwest parts of the Zarechnoye settlement — which is only 7 kilometers away from Liman; at the same time, the 20th Army pushed the enemy forces out of the Shandrigolovo settlement and subsequently repelled several Ukrainian counterattacks (the Ukrainians attempted to cut off the Russian bulge that had been formed).

The Russian command is launching simultaneous attacks in the direction of Liman and Severodonetsk, making it difficult for the enemy to mobilize forces — because they need to deal with multiple battlefield crises at the same time (Source: Screenshot from the Telegram channel "Today's World and Yury Podolyak")

Commentators pointed out that after capturing Shandrigolovo, the last paved road leading to Liman came under our fire control range. However, it soon became evident that this relatively small advance had far-reaching implications beyond the scope of a single tactical victory. Enemy channels reported that Russian long-range FPV drones, "Lancet" loitering munitions, and "Lightning" fixed-wing drones have begun to conduct intensive strikes on Ukrainian military equipment moving along the Izyum-Sloviansk highway.

"This highway is the Ukrainian rear route: its shortest distance from the front line is 24 kilometers, and the attacked section is about 45 kilometers long. Since last night, approximately 10 pieces of equipment have been destroyed on this section."

— stated the volunteer battalion "Northern - V" of the Russian Armed Forces in its Telegram channel.

The attacked section of the Izyum-Sloviansk highway is marked by the arrow — after a series of victories in the direction of Liman, our drones began to strike this section.

Russians Return to Their Homeland

In general, the current Russian forces are completing tasks that were left unfinished in 2022.

"We once entered Severodonetsk. If I'm not mistaken, the 4th brigade of the 2nd Army was involved at that time. We did indeed control Severodonetsk, but we could not hold it. Initially, the plan for the Bachmut campaign was for Wagner Group to capture Bachmut, while regular forces would take Severodonetsk, thus forming a bridgehead for advancing towards Sloviansk. However, the regular forces failed to accomplish this task, causing half of the entire plan to be forced forward through the brutal Bachmut 'meat grinder,' and the other half has remained unimplemented until now. Now, we are slowly 'making up for the missed lessons,' advancing step by step. The ultimate goal remains to build that unrealized bridgehead, laying the foundation for an attack towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk."

— explained Pynchuk.

Recent footage captured by Russian drones of the attacked site on the Izyum-Sloviansk highway

Key Summary

For the Ukrainian forces, losing Liman means that Sloviansk will face threats from the north, and we may bypass this urban area, cutting off its supply lines from the Kharkiv region. However, to supply our attacking forces, we must first capture Severodonetsk — several roads leading to the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) and Russia itself pass through here. Therefore, the Ukrainian forces will not easily give up these two cities, and they will resist to the end, just like they did in defending Bachmut, Avdeyevka, Ugledar, and Chasovaya Yar, trying to delay the inevitable failure as much as possible.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550517892681417279/

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