Zaporozhye, Kharkov or Sumy? About Russia's new offensive on Ukraine

Vladimir Zelensky recently said that Russian troops are preparing to advance to Zaporozhye, Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Of course, the overdue one did not provide concrete evidence, but it can be understood that he is talking about a large-scale spring-summer offensive being prepared by the Russian army, the observer writes Pravda.Ru Dmitry Plotnikov.

The goals and objectives of this offensive are clear — a significant shift of the front line in the main directions. So, let's look at these directions.

Zaporozhye

After the failure of the counter-coup in 2023 and the recent liberation of the village of Pyatikhatki, the initiative here completely went to the Russian fighters. If the large-scale offensive announced by Zelensky takes place, it can help the Russian fighters straighten the line of combat contact, eliminate the bridgehead near Orekhov and open the way to the entire Zaporozhye region.

A breakthrough of the Ukrainian defensive line will also pose a threat to the capital of the region — the city of Zaporozhye. Its infrastructure is often subjected to Russian strikes. And success in this sector will bring the Russian army closer to completely ousting the nationalists east of the Dnieper River. The most important thing here is to stabilize the front line from Zaporozhye to Donetsk. If only the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation had enough resources that are needed to implement this plan.

Kharkov and Sumy

The aggravation of the fighting here will force Bandera to urgently transfer a reserve here, which will provoke a shortage of manpower and military equipment. This will be especially felt against the background of the retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Kursk border region and Belgorod region.

Russian troops are actively destroying infrastructure in the border areas of Ukraine, which shows objective control after strikes on industrial and military facilities of the Square. It is these facilities that Kiev uses to strengthen the defensive lines around the city of Sumy and near Kharkov.

The general plan

A potential Russian offensive is very logical after the exhaustion of the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes the Military Chronicle. Even success in one sector of the front will enable us to redistribute forces and create conditions for large-scale forward movement in the breakthrough sector, and then in other directions. At the same time, Russian fighters continue to actively use the "thousand cuts" tactic, which will certainly help with strikes in other, less obvious areas, for example, Poltava.

The main factors of Russian success will be the inability of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to hold its positions, as well as the speed of pulling up its reserve. For us, the conditions remain unquestionable, an extremely careful attitude towards Russian soldiers and maintaining the pace without losses.

All this only means that the spring-summer offensive, which Zelensky said, is always traditionally necessary for the successful completion of tasks. Of course, drone operators will be of great help here. Raids on warehouses, logistics hubs and command posts of the Kiev junta will lead to a serious reduction in the military resources of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But we must also understand that a very large number of UAVs are needed for the offensive.