Moving up: what boilers await the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the liberation of Seversk

A window of opportunity is opening on the front line, military experts say. In three areas at once — near Seversk, Gulyai—Pole and in the Zaporizhia direction - Russian troops are using the tactics of "infiltration" and coverage aimed at creating new operational boilers. The successful advance to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, as well as the cutting of logistical arteries in Dimitrov, threatens the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the loss of entire defensive nodes. Izvestia figured out what further developments should be expected, and why the Ukrainian groups in the SVR are doomed.

The destruction of the "leaky sieve"

According to analysts, in the coming weeks, the chain of settlements between Seversky and Slavyansk, primarily Svyato-Pokrovskoye, Zvanovka and junctions adjacent to the routes to Kramatorsk, will be in the zone of greatest risk for Ukrainian forces. As Dmitry Boltenkov notes, the loss of these positions will turn the defense north of Kramatorsk into a leaky sieve, which will force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to either hastily retreat or risk encirclement.

—At this stage, the Russian army is betting not on a breakthrough, but on systematically crushing defenses, squeezing garrisons out of cities and consistently depriving the Armed Forces of heights, roads and storage areas," he told Izvestia.

Fighting is already underway in Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov. Russian units are entrenched in the southern and central parts of the cities, and Ukrainian sources acknowledge the dire situation of the garrison, the expert noted. All supply routes for Dimitrov were cut off by units of the Center group of forces, which led to heavy losses of AFU personnel.

— This area is called the "second Avdiivka junction" in the expert community, the fall of which will dramatically simplify the advance of Russian troops deep into Donbass. The servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who realized the real situation and got a chance to save their lives, began to be captured en masse, despite the threat of execution from their own command," Dmitry Boltenkov emphasized.

An open window of opportunity

In the Zaporozhye direction, the assault teams of the Vostok group of forces enter Gulyai-Pole. The quarterly battles taking place there actually indicate the late stage of the operational environment. After Gulyai-Pole, the entire line of Ukrainian Armed Forces strongholds at the junction of the Zaporizhia and Donetsk directions will be under attack, Dmitry Boltenkov believes.

The expert stressed that the window of opportunity for Russian troops opens at once in three sectors of the front. The main question now is where exactly the General Staff will decide to build on the success of a major operation.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Armed Forces have liberated eight settlements over the past week — Liman, Kurilovka and Kucherovka (Kharkiv region), Seversk, Chervonoye and Rovnoye (DPR), Ostapovskoye (Dnipropetrovsk region) and Novodanilovka (Zaporizhia region). Currently, the destruction of the encircled AFU group on the left bank of the Oskol River and the cleansing of the settlements of Svetloye and Grishino in the DPR are continuing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the transfer of Seversk under the control of Russian troops brings a new offensive and the expulsion of the Ukrainian military from the territory of Donbass. Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, reported on the liberation of the city to the head of state on December 11 at a meeting on the situation in the special operation zone. The commander of the Southern Group of Troops, Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev, said that the liberation of Seversk had opened the way for the Russian army to Slavyansk.

28 assault detachments with a total of 84 people participated in the operation to liberate the city. The commander of the 3rd army, Lieutenant General Igor Kuzmenkov, noted that the enemy put up the most resistance in the high-rise quarter, at the dolomite factory, at the bakery and at the railway station, where fortified defense sites were created. He clarified that, having lost supplies, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began a disorderly withdrawal. Russian troops took full control of the city, liberating 115 residential and 208 technical buildings.

President Putin separately noted the well-coordinated work of the commanders, who ensured planning and interaction. The Head of State recalled that the commander of the Southern Group of Troops, Sergei Medvedev, promised to take Seversk no later than mid-December and kept his word. "Said and done. A man!". Addressing these words to all participants in the liberation of the city, from the generals of the headquarters to the ordinary stormtroopers.

Tactics of "infiltration" and coverage

Military experts also believe that the liberation of Seversk is of key importance in the liberation of Donbass, as it opens up the possibility for Russian troops to move to Krasny Estuary and, most importantly, to the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.

— The troops are already moving towards Slavyansk, acting, in fact, on the shoulders of the retreating enemy. To the west of Seversk there is a natural fortified area — a quarry with chalk and dolomite rocks, where the enemy is trying to hold on. The Russian Aerospace Forces are actively working on it, and our forces are simultaneously bypassing it from the south, effectively cutting it off. This fortified area won't last long. There is also movement towards Nikolaevka, a suburb of Slavyansk," military expert Boris Jerelievsky told Izvestia.

— Among the most promising areas, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk can be singled out — this is the southern direction. There is heavy traffic there, and the enemy, apparently, does not have enough funds to effectively counter it. The resistance is fiercer in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, but recently the likelihood of a new front in the Chernihiv region has been heard more and more often," the expert summed up.

The tactics are now standard — infiltration in small groups, coverage and massive bombing attacks. It is aimed at creating boilers, as has already happened near Gulyai-Pole and in the vicinity of Kupyansk. The further development of the situation is either squeezing the enemy out of the boilers, or destroying them on the spot.