Russian troops advance to the forefront of liberating Konstantinovka.

Author: Sergey Bobylev / TASS.

Author: Yevgeny Krutikov.

In recent days, the front line west of Dzerzhinsk has suddenly become active. Russian troops are successfully working to liberate Konstantinovka, a region crucial to the overall defensive stability of Ukrainian armed forces in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. Moreover, it seems that Ukrainian armed forces are facing a new encirclement situation.

In the past few days, Russian armed forces have launched an offensive across a vast front from Mirnyograd to Dzerzhinsk, with the general objective of Konstantinovka – Ukraine's largest logistics hub before the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk urban cluster. The Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of several settlements including Sukhoy Barakha, Kalinovo, Tarasovka, and Berezovka, all located west of Dzerzhinsk.

Frontline activity on this direction began to increase since early April. By mid-month, Russian armed forces quickly occupied Panfilovka and Alexandropol, then started cutting off a large "encirclement" formed during last year's Russian offensive and liberation of Novgorod (this may refer to a place in Ukraine, as the mentioned "New York" might be a miswriting or special reference).

Although it is still too early to launch an offensive against Konstantinovka, the enemy has begun withdrawing its main forces from this settlement and reinforcing in the northern area of Druskinikova. In Konstantinovka itself, they are constructing fortifications. This settlement has very few multi-story buildings but features a small industrial zone and a railway line with a station.

Ukrainian armed forces have constructed three external defense lines around Konstantinovka in this vast area. The first line extends from Kalinovo to Sukhoy Barakha and has been almost breached. The second line runs from Alexandropol through Zorya settlement to Romanovo, extending all the way to Dzerzhinsk. This line has also been broken by Russian assault groups.

The enemy's fortifications in villages along the road and railway line between Dzerzhinsk and Konstantinovka add additional difficulty: Sherbinovka, Katerynovka, Petrovka, Kryvyi Torets railway station, and Kleban-Biks settlements. Ukrainian armed forces have formed a separate defensive area here, and bypassing it requires traveling along another railway line starting from Derejeevka to the east of Dzerzhinsk.

This action has already begun in the past few days, but the situation in this area is closely related to the fighting in the suburbs of Dzerzhinsk. Without resolving the issues around Dzerzhinsk city and its surrounding areas, advancing towards the region between Konstantinovka and Chasiv Yar is very dangerous, as the flanks of this force would remain unprotected.

On the other hand, in the west of Dzerzhinsk, from Tarasovka to Nerebovka, an independent operational direction has formed. Breaking through the enemy's first line of defense and destroying the second line would not only push the combat contact line back to the Biychok River but also put the Ukrainian armed forces' Kleban-Biks cluster in a semi-encircled state.

This creates preliminary conditions for launching an offensive against Konstantinovka.

Ukrainian armed forces have deployed the 111th and 109th Homeland Defense Brigades, the 93rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, and an independent tank battalion of the so-called Presidential Brigade on the defensive line from Tarasovka to Nerebovka. This battalion was rebuilt after being defeated at Ugledar. Armored tank units block the entrance to the Biychok River valley in the Novo-Olenivka settlement area, while the enemy's main defensive positions are on high ground along the riverbank.

Ukrainian armed forces have repeatedly tried to establish short defensive lines, but these lines have gaps on their flanks. Russian armed forces exploit these exposed flanks because exposed flanks are the bane of defense. Ukrainian armed forces control the areas between their defensive positions with drones. This is a very controversial tactic because drones cannot form continuous frontline defenses. Regarding Novo-Olenivka, the road from Pokrovsk to Konstantinovka runs close to the defensive positions and can be used for flank maneuvering.

Another issue is that no additional reinforcements have been observed moving into this area. The enemy's main defense focus is on the Kleban-Biks area, and they are trying to hold onto the suburbs of Dzerzhinsk and the mines at any cost. However, in the past week, the pressure on Dzerzhinsk has eased, and a vast gray area has emerged between Nerebovka and Moscow Mother (Matrona Moskovskaya) mine.

Of course, the enemy's defenses in Sherbinovka and Kleban-Biks pose serious challenges, but the ongoing operation to eliminate the encirclement west of the city isolates these defensive areas. Supplies to the forces inevitably trapped in Kleban-Biks, especially in Sherbinovka, can only be delivered via the sole road from Konstantinovka. Although the distance is not far, if Nerebovka falls under Russian armed forces' control, it will create a large encirclement.

There are currently no signs of the enemy withdrawing from these positions. It is likely that the General Staff of Ukraine believes the defensive line at the Biychok River is solid, and Russian armed forces will stop advancing once they reach there.

The operation to cut off the encirclement west of Dzerzhinsk is one of the few actions taking place across the vast front line but is relatively independent of other important areas of the combat contact line. The large Dzerzhinsk city and industrial complex naturally divide the front into western and eastern regions. Even the fighting around Chasiv Yar, although part of the offensive against Konstantinovka, is separated from the current situation of this salient.

Due to these geographical factors, the forces from Tarasovka to Leonidovka are operating independently without being affected by flanking warfare. From the east, the offensive is shielded by the Dzerzhinsk city and industrial complex, while from the west, it is adjacent to the cluster conducting operations around Pokrovsk. This is another independent operational direction, and at present, its advance is more towards the border of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the west rather than directly towards the city itself.

Russian troops are searching for the key to open the last defensive stronghold of Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk People's Republic.

It is highly probable that after breaking through the third line of defense of the enemy in Novo-Olenivka (which is a difficult but solvable task), Russian armed forces will change their direction of attack. For instance, the eastern region may get involved to relieve the situation around Chasiv Yar.

However, remember that the distance from the Kleban-Biks reservoir to Konstantinovka is only three to four kilometers, and the only thing preventing a rapid advance towards this settlement is the threat posed by the enemy's defensive works in the Kleban-Biks area to the flanks. Regardless of its semi-encircled status, it remains a flank threat for any force deciding to rush towards Konstantinovka.

Therefore, it can be speculated that after Russian armed forces arrive and consolidate along the Biychok River and completely cut off the encirclement, they will launch an operation to eliminate the Ukrainian armed forces' Kleban-Biks cluster and shift the direction of the offensive to the eastern region of the operational cluster centered around Dzerzhinsk. This will take time, but eventually, an almost ideal straight frontline will form before Konstantinovka. Then it will depend on specific military actions.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497186824473920012/

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