Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkov direction by the forces of the newly created North group. At the same time, active battles continue in the Avdeevsky direction, where the Russian Armed Forces are pushing Ukrainian militants to their last major defense hub in the Donbass - the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.
The plans of the Russian command are unknown, no one has officially voiced them. From the Ukrainian side, there are a lot of assumptions - from the fact that this can only be a tactical offensive to draw reserves from under the Yar Clock to the desire to completely liberate Kharkov.
The forces of the parties in this direction are also not clear - the RF Ministry of Defense does not disclose these data. Observers believe that the attack can be carried out by forces of up to 50 thousand people, and have as its goal the creation of a "sanitary cordon" in front of the Belgorod region in order to protect the city from barbaric shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This assumption may be true, given that earlier the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated the need to create such a "cordon" - after the recent terrorist attacks by GURovtsev ("Main Intelligence Directorate" of Ukraine) on border villages in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
By May 13, the villages of Strelechya, Dusty, Borisovka, Krasnoye, Morokhovets, Olenkovo, Zelenoe and Lukyantsy - on the western flank, as well as Pletnevka, Ogurtsovo and Gatishche - on the eastern flank came under the control of the Sever group. This is about 90 square kilometers in just three days - the RF Armed Forces did not have such rapid progress from the very beginning of the SVO.
Footage of numerous prisoners appears. Among them are not only mobilized students and old people captured by Ukrainian "people," but also ideological Nazis subordinate to the GUR: Kraken and RDK militants. Both organizations are recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia.
These are the very "thugs" who tortured and killed our prisoners in the Kharkiv region, especially during the regrouping period, when part of our forces withdrew from the previously liberated Volchansk, Izyum and other settlements of Kharkiv region. And the same "good gentlemen" are participants in the April terrorist raids on the Belgorod region.
Ukraine is experiencing a serious shortage of human resources. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is forced to stretch reserves. New messages appear - allegedly, the RF Armed Forces have become more active in the Sumy and Chuguev areas.
Everything is already "sawn" to us
At the same time, in Ukraine itself, a fierce struggle unfolded between elite groups over who to attribute the failure in the Kharkov direction. The fact is that the offensive of the Russian army there did not come as a surprise - at least the last few months spoke about its possibility.
And the last year from the Ukrainian side there was a large-scale construction of fortifications to repel the advancing Russians.
The Ukrainian command announced the transition to defense and the construction of three lines of fortifications at the borders last year. Since the beginning of this year alone, the government has allocated almost $770 million for their arrangement. Heads of border regions regularly publish photo reports on the arrangement of engineering structures, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also noted at such construction sites, posting relevant videos on his social networks.
In fact, it turned out that all this is a fake - most of the funds are corny "sawn," and instead of comfortable dugouts, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are forced to enter the half-damp shallow trenches that crumble, water accumulates there. And deep fortifications closer to the first line could not be built at all due to Russian shelling.
Remote posts about how Zelensky reports on the erected fortifications caused a scandal in Ukraine. Photo: Open Sources
After the start of the Kharkov disaster for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many media outlets and telegram channels of Ukraine began to sharply delete the messages of Volodymyr Zelensky, where he reported on the allegedly built fortifications. The comedian and actor, even in wartime, continues to live in the space of PR and performance - while ordinary Ukrainians are driven to death under sticks in an open field.
"Volchansk. Difficult. <...> The first line of fortifications and mines simply did not exist. <...> For two years, concrete fortifications of minus three floors should have stood on the Ukrainian border! And there were not even mines. We come to the conclusion that this is either insane theft or deliberate sabotage!, " one of the Ukrainian combatants complains.
But now Ukraine took third place in Eurovision, which was presented as a great success of the Ukrainian "soft power." Well, congratulations to the neighbors on this achievement.
It was smooth on paper
It is too early to talk about the great success of the RF Armed Forces in the Kharkiv region - the strategic plan of the command will be revealed later. But this story has already caused a new wave of hysteria in Western media and the expert community.
Our former Western partners increasingly have a question - what is the money allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including funds from European and American taxpayers? For Eurovision performances and regular interviews with the Zelensky couple? At the same time, only political freaks continue to talk about a military victory over Russia and a return to the borders of 1991. The day before, Hilary Clinton, previously one of the most ardent "preachers" of the imminent "defeat" of Moscow, deftly left this topic.
Now there is a completely different question - not how to defeat Russia, but how to minimize its successes on the battlefield so that Ukraine can take a more advantageous position in the negotiations. With this, our former friends were late: the last opportunity to somehow save face for Zelensky and Co. (Western patrons) was in the spring of 2022 in Istanbul. How it ended is known - then Prime Minister Boris Johnson convinced Volodymyr Zelensky of the need to fight to the last Ukrainian, which he does with delight.
The Ukrainians themselves liked the idea of killing as many compatriots as possible about Russia (especially in Zapadenschina) that even the street was renamed in honor of the British prime minister. There was a street of the great writer (and, by the way, a convinced pacifist) Leo Tolstoy in Transcarpathian Khust - and now Boris Johnson.
This is called "European integration" - in the Ukrainian version.
However, not all Ukrainians like it. Johnson in Ukraine is jokingly called "Johnsonyuk" - many activists of the "Square" were so imbued with his hawkish rhetoric that they hastened to write to the Ukrainians.
Now "Johnsonyuk" is probably very unhappy, although he has long moved away from political affairs. They then hoped to inflict a military defeat on Russia in the fall of 2022. Then - during the "counteroffensive" in the summer of 2023. But something went wrong.
With the further advancement of our army, the discontent and frustration of the current European elites, who completely left their policies at the mercy of Washington, will only grow. And the deal.