Moscow’s military command is dropping some of its last reserve units to try to stop the Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine, Forbes reports.
The reinforcements came from the 76th Airborne Guards Division, which, according to military analyst Rob Lee, “may be Russia’s best division and is relatively new.”
The last time this unit went on an attack was in February, when it took part in the Russian offensive to stabilize the situation on the front line around the city of Kreminna, Luhansk region.
The fact that the Russians are calling up this unit again seems to confirm that the Ukrainian offensive, which began in June, has gained momentum, and in recent weeks, Kyiv forces have managed to liberate the towns of Urozhayne, located in the south of Donetsk Oblast, and Robotyne. .
On August 16, the Ukrainian army liberated the village of Urozhayne, which the Russians turned into a real redoubt. On August 22, Ukraine announced that its troops had entered Robotyn, another strategic city in the Zaporizhia region.
Also, the Russian army used the 76th Guards Airborne Division during the offensive of Ukrainian troops on Kherson
The Ukrainian military said Monday that its forces had fully liberated Robotin, and the two victories brought Kiev closer to its goal of cutting off Moscow’s forces from the south of the country and Russia’s land corridor to Crimea.
A Ukrainian reserve officer was one of the first to notice the transfer of the 76th Guards Airborne Division from the Kreminsk direction of the front to the Robotine-Tokmak-Melitopol direction in a tweet on the @Tatarigami_UA account.
“According to Russian military doctrine, the 76th Division is, at least on paper, part of their strategic reserve, underscoring the importance of this move,” he tweeted over the weekend.
The reason the Ukrainian officer points to the unit being one of the reserves “at least on paper” is because it has been on the front lines for much of the war launched by Vladimir Putin last year.
The Airborne Guards Division fought near Kyiv in the first weeks of the war and reportedly took part in the massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Buch.
After being withdrawn from the northeast of Ukraine, it was transferred to the eastern front, and then to the southern, where in October last year it tried to stop the Ukrainian offensive in the Kherson region. At the beginning of the year, it again returned to the east to conduct operations around Kreminnaya, and then was again pushed back to hostilities in southern Ukraine.
Recent events at the front in southern Ukraine
Given that Ukraine has also thrown several of its strongest units into battle recently, the outcome of the Ukrainian offensive may be decided by which of the two armies makes better use of its reserve units.
One of the Ukrainian commanders on the southern front told Reuters at the weekend that Kyiv forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defense in the south of the country and will now be able to advance faster.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, but well-prepared Russian defensive lines fortified with minefields slowed their advance south toward the Sea of Azov. The main target is the coastal city of Melitopol, which was occupied by Russian troops in the first days of the invasion.
“We don’t stop there,” declared the commander nicknamed “Combat”, leading a part of the troops that stormed the village of Robotîne. “It’s Berdyansk’s turn, and then the others. I made it clear to my fighters from Pochatok: our goal is not Robotîne, our goal is – Azov (Sea),” he added.
Robotîne is located approximately 100 km from Berdyansk, a large port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and 85 km from the strategic city of Melitopol. “We passed the main mined roads. We reach the lines through which we can pass (forward). I am sure that from here we will advance faster,” said Kombat.
Urozayne, another major city liberated by the Ukrainian army this month, is instead in the line of attack on the port city of Mariupol.
However, these statements regarding the advancement of Ukrainian forces appeared after the emergence of increasingly pessimistic assessments of Western special services regarding the chances of success of the offensive in the south of the country.
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Source: Hot News
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