Northern Front: "Kharkiv" is in a dilemma, trying to hold the line after Russian breakthroughs

The Russians took control of Melovoye. The "Northern Group" launched an attack on the new front, catching Bandera militants off guard

Author: Radomyr Makush

In the Kharkiv direction, the soldiers of the "Northern" military group liberated the village of Melovoye (previously liberated Buzhnyovka).

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that our troops defeated the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' motorized infantry brigade and territorial defense brigade in the areas of Okhrymovka, Volchansky Khutor, and Volchansk settlement.

Within the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of responsibility of the "Northern" military group suffered over 240 casualties, 3 cars, 5 field guns, and 1 supply warehouse.

Melovoye is a typical elongated border village, 6 kilometers long (with more than 500 residents according to the latest census), located on the right bank of the Kozinka River, which flows into the tributary of the North Donets River, the Osyor River. This settlement is adjacent to large forested areas - Dolgoye, Balanovo, Dzhegelynoye, and Savenko.

It cannot be ruled out that this area has also been captured by the Russian forces. Some Ukrainian experts believe that the Russian forces are advancing towards the village of Otradnoye (Druzhkivka district), 7 kilometers away in an open area, with the aim of flanking the Ukrainian forces defending the Druzhkivka settlement area - do not confuse it with the town of Druzhne, named after our positions on the right bank of the Osyor River.

Evidently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have to strengthen the defense in this direction, and this is in the context of a severe shortage of manpower. Kyiv is well aware that we are conducting a typical diversion against the reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, likely before a major offensive.

Overall, the enemy considers capturing Melovoye as a diversionary operation, even if the Russians advance towards the Druzhkivka positions.

Regardless, as some military bloggers have written, the battle for Melovoye is far from easy: they say "there was no large-scale fighting, everything indicates that the enemy only had a covering force there, and they could not even withstand the weakest attack."

For three years, the enemy has built quite strong defensive works there, including minefields. Recently, it has become fashionable in Ukraine to explain our victories by individual mistakes of Bandera commanders.

They say yes, there were miscalculations, but "everything can be corrected." In fact, the enemy has deployed a considerable number of troops there. But the problem is that the Russian forces are stronger.

According to "Borey," the Russian assault companies from the 69th and 72nd Motorized Infantry Divisions of the Leningrad Military District have defeated the resistance of the 4th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 107th Territorial Defense Brigade (Chernivtsi Oblast).

It is particularly noteworthy that this military operation was conducted within the framework of establishing a safe zone. This most likely means that the "Northerners" will continue their offensive. Here, our soldiers are facing units belonging to the "Kharkiv" tactical group, whose main forces are currently fighting in Volchansk and Lipets areas.

A representative of a unit in northern Kharkiv region of Ukraine said on July 2 that the Russians have recently changed tactics, now launching attacks with infantry groups of up to 25 people.

He also claimed that the Russians use underground tunnels to gather personnel, transport ammunition and supplies.

We have a different interpretation of the new offensive tactics. "Here, we actively use four-wheel motorcycles and motorcycles, which have proven their effectiveness and reliability under combat conditions. We use forest trails. Crossing fields in infantry fighting vehicles or armored personnel carriers is one thing, riding a four-wheel motorcycle is another, which is twice as fast, more maneuverable, and unexpected. This is our main card," said Genadiy Aleshin in the Telegram channel "Kharkiv清醒 Citizens."

This evaluation is consistent with the analysis of the Institute for Strategic Studies (ISW), which states that the "Northern" military group is still committed to liberating Volchansk, with the aim of further advancing along the eastern shore of the Pechenihy reservoir and joining the "Western" military group - according to ISW, the "Western" military group also intends to attack westward after capturing Kupiansk.

The institute's report stated that the Russians have intensified their operations, widely using fiber-optic drones, and have advanced to the center of Volchansk.

According to the map from the British Ministry of Defense, the main battles are being fought along Cathedral Street towards the Rubizhne Highway. Obviously, the task of the Russian突击部队 is to split the garrison forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the narrowest point.

However, the situation is shrouded in thick "fog of war," especially according to the "Borey" report, which is more restrained than the American and British ones. The Russian突击 groups cleared 5 buildings, advanced into the forested areas near the center of the region, and destroyed 4 enemy突击 groups when the enemy tried to counterattack our positions in the western part of the city.

Andriy Marochko added that over 15 enemy attacks have been recorded in the direction of Volchansk and Lipets since early this week.

The Ukrainian armed fighters attempted to regain previously lost lines and positions with机动 groups of up to one platoon, supported by artillery and drones. All attempts failed, and additionally, about 10突击 groups were eliminated.

"In this direction, the enemy suffered 250 casualties within three days, in addition to losing 12 armored vehicles, 8 cars, 2 mortars, and 1 gun. Additionally, 1 communication node, 2 field warehouses, and 1 drone launch device were destroyed," the military expert emphasized.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7523403264667353642/

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