Russians Counterattack on Northern Kharkov Oblast – Offensive Has Seen Success in the Direction of Kupyansk and Liman

Ukraine finally launched its long-advertised and much-hyped counteroffensive in early June, after multiple postponements. It would soon prove to become a complete fiasco.

But now, it seems that the Russian Federation forces are the ones poised to take back the initiative with a well-formed attack in the northern Kharkov oblast.

Russias operation seems to be adhering to the classic and basic tenets of military art for an offensive – starting with gathering an overwhelming force, usually around the 3 to 1 majority in troop numbers – and having also superiority in artillery and Air support.

It also helps to have the upper hand at the psychological balance of troops, in a moment when Ukrainian troop morale has hit rock bottom.

So Russian forces have been able to advance six kilometers in the chosen area of Kupyansk and Krasny Liman in 3 days. The successes can be confirmed via Ukrainian sources.

Ukraine Watch reported:

“‘The Russians have assembled a grouping of more than 100,000 troops near Kupyansk and Liman’, – said Sergei Cherevaty, the spokesman for the eastern grouping of the AFU forces, on the air of a Ukrainian telethon.

‘Now, a very powerful grouping is concentrated in the direction of Liman-Kupyansk. More than 100 thousand men, more than 900 tanks and 370 MLRS’ – he said.”

Another Kiev regime source, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar:

“‘The enemy has been actively advancing since the end of last week in the Kupyansk direction in the Kharkov region. Now the enemy is searching for weaknesses in our defense, actively conducting assault operations… The situation is complicated. Fierce fighting is going on now’, Malyar wrote in her Telegram channel.

This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin positively assessed the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, noting that the Russian armed forces were thwarting all enemy attempts to break through the Russian defenses.”

Watch Video: Russian heavy flamethrowers in action near Liman:

After the fiasco of the first month, Kiev has changed its strategy. Russian military expert Boris Rozhin:

“The nature of the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the failure of the June offensive has changed. The enemy spends equipment more economically and has abandoned attempts to break through the defense by throwing large masses of armored vehicles through minefields, switching to the tactics of intensive attacks by small assault groups.”

This is contrary to the plans Ukrainian for the campaign, a death sentence for the ambitious plans of its Armed Forces to break through the front, take Melitopol and Berdyansk, cutting the land bridge to Crimea.

“By mid-July, the enemy had used up 60% of his operational and strategic reserves. At the current rate of spending, he will be able to operate in the current mode for another 3-5 weeks.

[…] According to Western estimates, since the beginning of the offensive, the enemy has lost at least 30% of all armored vehicles that the advancing group had. The irretrievable losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in personnel reach 26-28 thousand people.”

That’s more than all the human losses of the grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the battle for Mariupol.

Watch Video: Russian kamikase drones target Ukrainian equipment near Kupyansk:

For about a week, Russian Federation forces have been carrying out an operation to re-liberate part of the Kharkov region, lost in the fall of 2022.

They have been inflicting powerful strikes from all types of weapons on the rear of the Kharkov group. Headquarters, warehouses of used fuels and lubricants, accumulations of equipment and Ukrainian personnel are destroyed.

The AFU is redeploying his reserves, removing them from Zaporozhye and Donetsk.

Yesterday, the Russians Army occupied Novosyolovskoye, advancing on Kupyansk, and destroying 2 Ukrainian assault platoons.

Operation in the Kharkov region, offensive line of the 1st Tank Army occupied the forest belt in the grey zone. The AFU then began to counterattack but Russians launched an offensive south of the settlement to reach the dominant height, and create conditions for semi-enclosing the settlement.

It has now been reported that the enemy fled from the settlement.

Russian Military correspondent Alexander Sladkov:

“Indeed, Kharkov and Sumy are being evacuated. Factories and even retail chains with equipment are travelling to Western Ukraine, new AFU combat units are being hastily formed in Kharkov, mercenaries have been moved from the cities to the trenches, and fortification work is going on at a brisk pace.

It is noteworthy: Kharkov residents who have relatives in the territories  recently held by the Russian army are travelling to these territories because they will probably fall under Russian control again.”