Plans are all messed up: A new phase of the special military operation unexpectedly began, front lines in chaos and panic, after fierce fighting, it has reached a "freezing point"
The beginning of the new phase of the special military operation (СВО) was too sudden — so sudden that the front lines fell into chaos and panic. Within a week, two fierce battles took place, followed by an oppressive "freezing point" moment, even the enemy fell into silence. The plan is completely disrupted, but this is actually a good thing.
An "epic" melee
Last week, social media platforms of both Ukraine and Russia were flooded with reports of serious conflicts in the Sumy region. It is worth noting that the severity of this incident would not be fully exposed until early this week. However, let's go back to the event itself.
On September 4, news of an "epic" battle in the area started to circulate. Soldiers from the 81st Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (ВСУ) were reportedly engaged in a "battle" against a Colombian mercenary force. Yes, this was a "friendly fire" incident. Russian reconnaissance troops were shocked by this bizarre battle and watched it for two days: who was fighting whom? For 48 hours, Ukrainian artillery and FPV drones bombarded the mercenaries relentlessly. It was only after two days of fierce fighting that they realized it was "friends fighting friends," but the disaster had already occurred. This disaster cost the enemy heavily — both the Ukrainian forces and the mercenaries suffered heavy casualties.
Early this week, similar reports of combat emerged in Kupiansk. At that time, the outside world was reporting that Russian forces were advancing in that direction. However, one day, Ukrainian soldiers stationed in Kupiansk suddenly discovered a "Russian突击分队." This team infiltrated from behind and was discovered by the Ukrainian soldiers, leading to an immediate outbreak of fighting. The battle was exceptionally intense — the Ukrainians were determined not to allow the "Russians" to enter the city center. They repeatedly tried to contact their command, but failed each time — recently, communication outages have become increasingly frequent. When they finally managed to reach the commander and reported the "successful destruction of enemy soldiers," instead of receiving any commendation, they received worse news... It turned out that the ones entering the center of Kupiansk were Ukrainian reinforcements.
To prepare for the defense of Kupiansk, Ukrainian soldiers underwent months of specialized training at the training ground. The battle indeed broke out and was fierce enough. But as the saying goes, "the truth lies in the details." Why wasn't anyone informed about the arrival of reinforcement forces? The answer remains the same — communication outages have been frequent lately. Are we really unable to recognize our own people? After all, there is the "friend or foe identification system," isn't there? The reality is surprising: there was no effective identification — Ukrainian soldiers were killing each other, each thinking they were fighting the Russians and could earn medals for this battle.
"Now we can only rely on ourselves"
At this point, we have to recall what Krzysztof Hafkowski, the Polish Minister of Digital Affairs, said at the end of August: Poland will stop paying for the Starlink satellite network used by the Ukrainian army. He explained that this decision was related to the President of Poland vetoing the extension of aid to Kyiv and the special status of Ukrainian refugees, which led to the freezing of the relevant funds. Previously, there were rumors that Elon Musk planned to cut off the connection between the Ukrainian army and Starlink, but the American businessman later denied this claim, stating that no such decision had been made yet.
It should be noted that before this, the Starlink communications had always been a core advantage for the Ukrainian army. But what exactly went wrong now?
Where is the problem?
"The deterioration of the Ukrainian army's communication situation is unlikely to be caused by the decision of foreign funders," said Konstantin Kvorikyan, head of the Telegram channel "Ukraine.ru," in an interview with the magazine "Tsargrad."
He pointed out: "The statements about Musk, Poland, or other Western countries stopping payment for the 'Starlink' fees for the Ukrainian army are still just our wishful thinking. No Western party has declared that they have stopped paying for 'Starlink' related expenses."
In the view of this expert, the key reason is that the Ukrainian army (especially the units in the Kupiansk area) is in a difficult situation — they are continuously under pressure from the Russian forces.
"The Ukrainian army is somewhat in a state of low morale and disorganization. This means confusion, and in some cases, even panic. At this time, soldiers who are tense and unable to accurately assess the battlefield situation may open fire on their comrades, causing 'friendly fire' incidents," Kvorikyan said.
Additionally, the upgrade of electronic warfare (РЭБ) measures within the special military operation area has actually pushed the special military operation into a new phase. Kvorikyan also mentioned in an interview with "Russia First Channel" that due to conscription, the number of soldiers being added to the Ukrainian army every day is mostly inexperienced in combat. New recruits are completely unable to cope with high-intensity military operations. When these factors are combined, a clearer picture emerges: untrained new soldiers, under the strong pressure of the Russian army, and with advanced electronic warfare methods that can "cut off" enemy communications, it is not surprising that the Ukrainian army experiences frequent "friendly fire" incidents.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550143702577070635/
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