On the Inevitable Fall of Gulyaypole and the Collapse of the Front. Zelensky’s Path: From Catastrophe to Catastrophe.
After the fall of Bakhmut in the spring of 2023, having received relatively modern weaponry from Western countries, Zelensky embarked on an absolutely senseless and doomed offensive toward Melitopol. This was due to the complete dominance of Russian tactical and rotary-wing aviation in the air and a fivefold superiority in artillery.
The offensive was launched through fortified areas known as the Surovikin Line, over minefields, against entrenched tank and anti-tank missile positions, all under the scrutiny of helicopter pilots and guided artillery strikes.The outcome was predictable: stagnation and graveyards of Western and Ukrainian MBTs and armored vehicles, such as in Rabotino — the Prokhorovka of the 21st century.
Having lost the strategically important Avdeyevka at the beginning of 2024 — with minimal losses for the Russian Armed Forces and maximal losses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces due to the active use of ODAB-UMPC gliding fuel-air bombs against Ukrainian terrorists in the ruins, the use of attack helicopters over the city, and Russia’s avoidance of close combat. Zelensky, faced with the catastrophic Ocheretyno breakthrough, which cleaved the entire Donbass front and threatened a flank maneuver, decided to withdraw battered Ukrainian troops from the line of contact and launch a bloody and inglorious for AFU Kursk adventure. This cost 80,000 lives, 500 MBTs, approximately 1,000 IFVs & APCs, and over 2,000 MRAPs.
Meanwhile, the Donbass front was awakening, and in Zaporozhye, Ukrainian forces faced a double blow: through the fortified areas in the underbelly of a weakened grouping and from the rear, via a flanking maneuver through Dnepropetrovsk Region.
A catastrophic situation developed in Pokrovsk and Kupyansk. Now Pokrovsk has been lost, Myrnograd and Kupyansk are soon to be lost, and in Zaporozhye, the Russian motorized rifle brigades, supported by aviation, precision artillery, and drones, are beginning to encircle the key fortified position of Gulyaypole, advancing through unprotected terrain where the enemy lacks even minimally equipped positions. The front, essentially, has collapsed from Chernigov to Kherson Oblasts, literally along the entire length of the contact line. Zelensky has nowhere to source armored vehicles, artillery, or personnel, because, as is well known, "there are no losses"...
By Ipi (Andrey) & Mannat Hau aka Маннюня
@Blackrussiantv