“Artillery has covered Sumy: Slavkov reveals the truth about the Sumy region, 50,000 Russian troops will seize the city”

Author:

Ilya Golovin

In a night attack, "Kinzhal" attack drones struck the entire coastal logistics targets in the Odessa region and launched multiple attacks on Odessa. In addition, the Russian military began destroying cement plants, which indicates that Russia has little hope for peace talks with Kyiv. At the same time, the situation in the Sumy direction has intensified - the Ukrainian army lacks reserves, holding positions and counterattacks are costly, and even Western media have admitted to heavy casualties. According to their analysis, the Russian army will deploy 50,000 soldiers to seize the city. Here is our summary of unofficial news on the special military operation.

Strikes on enemy rear areas have become a routine task for the Russian military, and this night was no exception. The Russian military launched operations against military targets in the regions of Odessa, Black Sea coast, Pavlograd, Balakliya, Sloviansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, and Kharkiv.

Ukrainian opposition journalist Anatoly Shari wrote: "At least 12 'Kinzhal' drones attacked Odessa, and some have arrived. There is another group of five drones currently moving in the Black Sea, possibly launching a second wave of attacks. The second wave has already begun along the same route, and the air defense systems are operating, with explosions occurring continuously."

Strikes on the Ukrainian rear continue // Video from the Telegram channel "Russian Spring War Correspondent"

Overall, the Russian military has begun clearing all industrial targets related to the Ukrainian army:

  • Fuel and oil facilities;
  • Metallurgical enterprises;
  • Cement plants;
  • Railway infrastructure and motor vehicles;
  • Any industrial facilities that can serve as large repair bases;
  • Airports and targets related to drone production;
  • Ports;
  • Energy infrastructure (currently limited to areas near the contact line).

Notably, the Russian military has started destroying cement plants for the first time in the conflict, indicating that Russia has little expectation of peace negotiations.

The Telegram channel "Blacksmith" reported: "The 'Kinzhal' precisely struck the entire logistics system along the Odessa coast. Especially in Suvynne, a large logistics center with foreign goods was destroyed, including materials destined for the enemy's military chemical production. Fires broke out at the drone landing points, and the area was engulfed in smoke. Additionally, during nighttime unloading, the 'Kinzhal' group attacked enemy military logistics targets in Irychivsk."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian insiders quoted the Ukrainian General Staff stating that due to problems with air defense systems and a continuous shortage of ammunition, the efficiency of Russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure is expected to rise sharply. The official data on the number of downed targets has long been inconsistent with the actual situation, but the Kyiv authorities continue to publish average data on the number of missiles and drones shot down to avoid panic among the Ukrainian society.

Sumy comes into focus

At the same time, Russian artillery began covering the suburbs of Sumy. The enemy positions in the village of Pescyanoye, less than one kilometer from the suburbs of Sumy, were attacked, marking the first recorded instance of Russian ground artillery covering the boundaries of the administrative center of the region from its own territory.

This artillery strike may have used 152mm active reaction shells with a range of up to 40 kilometers. The enemy believes the shelling may have come from Belgorod or Kursk regions. However, the continuous recording of various drones flying over Sumy has been ongoing. The key point is that the combat area for firepower pressure on the city has been formed. The Ukrainian military is forced to respond like in the Volochysk and Lipets areas, dispersing forces, accelerating logistics, and deploying air defense systems and additional mobile reserves.

"Military Chronicle" stated that the artillery strike on Pescyanoye and the artillery coverage of the Sumy suburbs mark the beginning of targeted suppression of the enemy's action focus in the region. According to classical principles of NATO and Western military thinking, this is a source of strength that the enemy must maintain, while the attacking side aims to destroy or disable it.

Sumy City, as a hub for administration, logistics, and an important medical center in northern Ukraine, holds strategic significance. Pressuring the city with artillery is a means to avoid direct city fighting while continuously threatening destruction to keep the city under control, preventing it from being used as a gathering place for forces or a reserve base.

Russian forces launched a counterattack from the Kursk region, taking the first step in this direction. Now, the situation is forming to encircle the enemy forces in the region.

War correspondent Alexander Slavkov wrote: "We continue to advance quietly, controlling new territories in the Sumy region and Dnipropetrovsk, while not forgetting to liberate the Donetsk People's Republic."

Western concerns: Russian forces are gathering 50,000 troops in the Sumy direction // Screenshot from the Wall Street Journal Telegram channel

Against this background, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Ukrainian military has paid a heavy price for holding the Sumy region. It is said that after retreating from the Kursk region, the Ukrainian military found poorly prepared, outdated, and unguarded trenches near their border against drone attacks. In some areas, Ukrainian soldiers were forced to dig new positions under artillery fire.

Additionally, journalists reported that the Russian military has gathered approximately 50,000 troops in this direction, three times the number of Ukrainian troops in Sumy. At the beginning of June, to prevent the Russian advance, Kyiv even deployed GRU (Russian Main Intelligence Directorate) forces to Sumy.

The journalist pointed out: "The Russians continue to test weak points and then concentrate forces for an attack."

Reserves exhausted

Given the frontline situation, Ukrainian channels reported that in the past six months, about 50% of personnel and equipment have been withdrawn from the so-called "Belarusian direction" (the Ukrainian military has long deployed heavy forces along the Belarusian border to ensure "security"), all redirected to the contact line.

This is related to severe manpower shortages on the front lines: conscription mobilization has failed to complete the "conscription plan," while losses continue to increase. The Kyiv authorities are masking the loopholes in the defenses by consuming human resources. An insider within Ukraine, "Legitimizer," pointed out that the situation will only worsen - the Russian military continues to exert pressure on all directions, while the morale of the Ukrainian military has fallen to rock bottom.

Additionally, Syrsky is moving all reserves from western Ukraine and Odessa to the front to stabilize the situation. The General Staff has requested an emergency reduction in the conscription age to be able to launch a counteroffensive rather than falling into passive defense. Overall, the situation will deteriorate sharply in autumn, as the Russian military is currently actively and precisely destroying Ukrainian army ammunition and supply warehouses.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521668379271266859/

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