This is overblown. The Russian army is responding to a recent drone strike where Ukraine flew a Cessna turned into a bomb 800km into Russia and blew up a refinery. Yes, they're a lot like the 9/11 bombers, those glorious Ukies, aren't they?
Anyway, Russia has ~2,000 soldiers involved in this two-pronged push out from a town called Belgorod in the general direction of Kharkov. Yes, I'm going to use the proper spelling instead of the FotM Ukrainian version. I'm old school. Belgorod is a small city, but an important logistics hub right on the border that's been bombed repeatedly with the same sort of tactics (suicide drones onto predominately civilian infrastructure, crowded markets, buses during morning commutes, etc). Russia has responded harshly to several of these, including most recently an attack that left over 100 civilians dead. Russia sent a cruise missile for every dead body in against Ukraine's biggest city's electrical grids.
So, ~2,000 soldiers, lightly armed, minimal use of armor, are pushing out. Ukraine's ceding the territory, which is basically a bunch of farmhouses, in order to withdraw their troops to more defensible positions. They're still 100 miles from Kharkov, and Russia's not even close to bringing the kind of equipment and men needed for a real push. It appears to be a largely symbolic move, or a move designed to force Ukraine to further spread its forces along the 900km-long front.
Russia will grab whatever it can grab, and if Ukraine pushes back, they'll give the ground back and retreat for now. Right now, they're much more concentrated on clearing Donetsk province, and some of the heaviest fighting is in a town called Chasov Yar, just past the city of Avdeevka. Both were heavily fortified and major logistics hubs, so Ukraine's fighting for that ground hard - one of few places it's not just retreating for now to save lives.
My guess is Putin will secure the entirety of the four breakaway provinces, push up to the Dniepr River and re-evaluate from there. An assault on Kharkov isn't quite yet in the cards.
This is overblown. The Russian army is responding to a recent drone strike where Ukraine flew a Cessna turned into a bomb 800km into Russia and blew up a refinery. Yes, they're a lot like the 9/11 bombers, those glorious Ukies, aren't they?
Anyway, Russia has ~2,000 soldiers involved in this two-pronged push out from a town called Belgorod in the general direction of Kharkov. Yes, I'm going to use the proper spelling instead of the FotM Ukrainian version. I'm old school. Belgorod is a small city, but an important logistics hub right on the border that's been bombed repeatedly with the same sort of tactics (suicide drones onto predominately civilian infrastructure, crowded markets, buses during morning commutes, etc). Russia has responded harshly to several of these, including most recently an attack that left over 100 civilians dead. Russia sent a cruise missile for every dead body in against Ukraine's biggest city's electrical grids.
So, ~2,000 soldiers, lightly armed, minimal use of armor, are pushing out. Ukraine's ceding the territory, which is basically a bunch of farmhouses, in order to withdraw their troops to more defensible positions. They're still 100 miles from Kharkov, and Russia's not even close to bringing the kind of equipment and men needed for a real push. It appears to be a largely symbolic move, or a move designed to force Ukraine to further spread its forces along the 900km-long front.
Russia will grab whatever it can grab, and if Ukraine pushes back, they'll give the ground back and retreat for now. Right now, they're much more concentrated on clearing Donetsk province, and some of the heaviest fighting is in a town called Chasov Yar, just past the city of Avdeevka. Both were heavily fortified and major logistics hubs, so Ukraine's fighting for that ground hard - one of few places it's not just retreating for now to save lives.
My guess is Putin will secure the entirety of the four breakaway provinces, push up to the Dniepr River and re-evaluate from there. An assault on Kharkov isn't quite yet in the cards.
Belgorod is not a small city. It's a capital of the Belgorod region. Population may be 1/3 of a million at least.
That may be. There is a 100.000 army and more in the vicinity.