News Ticker

Russia Launches Surprise Offensive In Kharkiv, Aims To Create Buffer Zone

11/05/2024 This article was posted by TLB Staff MILITARY, WORLD 0

ER Editor: Military action in Ukraine is still concentrated in the eastern area, around the Donbass. Kharkiv is north-east, not far from the Russian border. We do, as ever, recommend analyst Simplicius on the topic of precise military action in Ukraine, and for the larger, long-range play Russia is making. See —

Special Report: Russian Forces Breach Kharkov Border

Here’s a map showing Kharkiv and Sumy (east) and Kiev further left (west) —

Of note from Simplicius:

In accordance with information we’ve been reporting for many months about stirrings in the north, Russia has finally launched an assault on the Kharkov region. But it’s important to clear up a lot of misconceptions about the objectives.

Firstly, the assault was likely smaller than it may have sounded at first—more a recon by fire or advanced scouting party, with most of the damage being done by Russian long range fires and drones. However, it did capture half a dozen small, mostly abandoned settlements on the Ukrainian side of the border:

…

The fact that this motorized regiment without much heavy gear was used is revealing. It confirms reports that Russia is nowhere close to introducing its “main force” into the region, which can come much later after Russia has tested the Ukrainian defenses, revealed their positions via recon-by-fire, and then softened them up with air strikes.

Ukrainian military sources report that not only does Russia possibly have a much larger force it intends to introduce later, but another one is gathering in Sumy region as well: …

Well, almost exactly two months later, it looks like things are bearing fruit. I believe the current action is both multi-stage and longer term. That means you won’t see a flash-in-the-pan blitzkrieg or thunder-run, but rather a very methodical introduction of forces from the north at key points like turning the screws on a vise.

Russia will likely see how Ukraine reacts to the Kharkov incursion, watch where it deploys its reserves, and act accordingly, with potential Sumy and/or Chernigov contingents to come in much later.

The objective here is not to take Kharkov any time soon. That can happen much, much later in an organic fashion as a byproduct of far more exigent objectives, like cutting off the Kupyansk corridor for the AFU. Little by little, Russia will worm its way in and surround Kharkov, which will be besieged and likely fall very slowly, maybe even by mid 2025 or so. They’re not in a rush to capture it any time soon as doing so is not necessary for the time being, nor would provide any recognizable strategic benefit.

Remember: the objectives right now are to degrade and destroy the AFU manpower, not to “capture territory”—that will all come as a natural secondary byproduct of its own.

In the meantime, Russia is slowly degrading the logistics in the region:

And some tweets —

********

ER: Zerohedge still takes the Deep State line on this situation.

Russia Launches Surprise Offensive In Kharkiv, Aims To Extend Border 10km Deep Into Ukraine

Tyler Durden's Photo TYLER DURDEN

Following several more cross-border attacks from Ukraine, including direct drone hits on Russian oil facilities over the past 48 hours, Russian forces have launched a surprise ground offensive which seeks to break through front lines in the northeastern Kharkiv border region on Friday.

“Russia launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions… Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades, and artillery,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed of the new action in a briefing. “Now there is a fierce battle underway.”

Via Reuters

Civilians have also been witnessed fleeing border areas in droves as heavy fighting ensues. Already Moscow forces have penetrated at least 1 kilometer deep in what’s being described as an effort to create a larger ‘buffer zone’ in order to help prevent Ukrainian attacks from reaching Russian territory.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said that the new offensive began at 5am local time with armored vehicles leading the charge of infantry troops in this major effort to effectively push the border itself deeper into Ukraine territory.

Kharkiv region on fire amid a major surprise Russian offensive:

But Ukraine defense officials have claimed, “As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue.”

The AFP has written, “If Moscow’s advances are confirmed, it would represent the Russian military’s largest land operation in the region since sending thousands of troops across the border in February 2022.”

Below: the center of Vovchansk after heavy fighting…

Heavy shelling is also taking place, especially in the vicinity of Vovchansk, which is a border town of a few thousand people but which had a pre-war population of 17,000. According to further unfolding details:

Kharkiv region’s governor said the length of the border and the settlements in it were a “grey zone” and confirmed active fighting taking place.

A senior Ukrainian military source who declined to be named said Russian forces had pushed 1 km (0.6 mile) inside the Ukrainian border near Vovchansk.

The source said Russian forces were aiming to push Ukrainian troops as far back as 10 km inside Ukraine as part of an effort to create a buffer zone, but that Kyiv’s troops were trying to hold them back.

Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city and sits very close to the border, has been attacked heavily by airstrikes for months, and has had its energy infrastructure severely downgraded in the attacks.

Via BBC

Ukraine regional governor Oleg Synegubov described that “Enemy shelling from various types of weapons has been intensifying in Kharkiv region in the northern area for the last day.” He further wrote on Telegram while confirming at least two civilians killed, “In Kharkiv region, evacuation routes have been developed since 2022, and a system of humanitarian aid distribution, temporary resettlement.”

The Russian side is also urging civilians to seek immediate safety amid the heavy border fighting. “There is fighting on several parts of the line of contact, including in the border areas of Kharkiv region,” Vitaliy Ganchev, a Russian officials overseeing the Kharkiv region stated on Telegram. “In this regard, I ask residents living in these areas to be careful and not to leave shelters without an urgent need.”

This week at least eight Russian civilians have died in the Belgorod region after Ukraine forces sent more drones across the border. Also, Ukrainian drone slammed into an oil refinery in central Russia’s Kaluga region south of Moscow overnight.

And the day prior, a drone struck an oil refinery in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, which is a first of the conflict. It reportedly involved a long-range, slow moving drone flying at a low altitude. This has raised questions of the current state of Russia’s anti-air defenses.

Source

************

Published to The Liberty Beacon from EuropeReloaded.com

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Related Articles

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


Copyright © 2012 - 2025 | TLB Project™ LLC