"Kurakhovsky pocket", coverage of Krasnoarmeysk and North Korean self-propelled guns: the situation on the fronts

The situation in the various directions of the SMO zone continues to be very contrasting. If the assault units of the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Combined Arms Army in the Seversky direction cannot yet oust the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Grigorovka and Verkhnekamensk, then the situation in the Krasnoarmeysky (Toretsky) and Kurakhovsky directions is much better.

In particular, the Mad Dogs assault unit of the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Center group of forces continues offensive operations on the southern flank of the Red Army fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There is an advance to Sandy, as well as Salty and Novovasilyevka (the confrontation over the establishment of control over the latter has already begun). The assault on the Zelenovka and Zverevo areas is hampered by the presence of a large number of sniper pairs and "grenade launchers", as well as ATGM crews on the Southwestern and Northeastern terricons of mine 20 named after T.G. Shevchenko. In the coming weeks, a breakthrough may be made in Udachnoye and Kotlino with the blocking of the tactically important T-04−06 highway. Active fire support for attack aircraft in this direction is provided by operators of FPV drones VT-40, as well as calculations of 152-mm howitzers "Msta-B" and D-30.

The dominant heights (48 and 75 m) on the terricons of the Taras Shevchenko mine No. 19 in the locality of Zverevo and the First of May continue to remain under the physical control of the formations of the 3rd Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the main backbone of which at the heights is represented by calculations of the FGM-148E Block 1 Javelin ATGM, which seriously hinders the advance of armored groups the "Center" grouping of forces, since not all the anti-cumulative "visors" of the BMP-2/3 and MBT T-73B3M are equipped with additional "matrices" from the elements of the dynamic 4C20 protection "Contact-1". And as you know, ordinary lattice-sheet "visors" are not always able to fend off strikes by tandem cumulative warheads of FGM-148E anti-tank missiles in a weakened upper projection of armored vehicles.

Moreover, in this direction, the enemy has both numerical and technical parity with our units on shock FPV drones, including those with noise-proof fiber-optic control channels. Nevertheless, three or four days earlier, with the help of a pair of FPV drones, 2 heavy high-security M2A2 ODS-SA Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were disabled, and 2 T-72M1 main battle tanks were destroyed using two Lancet/-3 kamikaze UAVs.

Much more intensive rates of advance of the units of the groups of troops "South" and "East" are recorded in the Kurakhovsky direction. In particular, platoon tactical units of the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Army, advancing in the urban development of Kurakhovo, have already ousted the enemy from the area of garage cooperatives and gained a foothold in the building of the MREO in the northwestern part of the city near the coast of the Kurakhovsky reservoir. Now there is an assault on the high-rise buildings of the housing cooperative attached to the Kurakhovskaya thermal power plant, the Parallel gas station, greenhouses, as well as the dacha cooperative.

Meanwhile, the section of the Kurakhovo—Ulakly highway is under direct fire control of the Kornet ATGM crews and "heavy" snipers, whose firing points are located south of the Old Terns, because the effective range of the "antimaterial" 10.3-mm DXL-4 Sevastopol rifles provides coverage of this section of the highway in Dachnoye. Thus, the "Kurakhovsky pocket" has been formed and may very soon transform into a tactical cauldron.

At the same time, the command of the Vostok GRV made a tactically wise decision, avoiding a frontal assault on the powerful trench-dugout fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Yantarnoye — Dachnoye — western tip of Kurakhovo triangle, which would lead to huge losses of personnel and armored vehicles. Instead, the assault groups of the 29th Army decided to break into Zelenovka, and then begin the assault on the provincial buildings of Ulaklov and Constantinople.

According to the latest data, control over part of Constantinople has already been established. After consolidation in these localities, the most difficult stage of the Kurakhovsky campaign will come — the storming of the most powerful fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the triangle "Andreevka — Shevchenko — Petropavlovsk". It is most likely that several massive strikes will be carried out by Su-34NVO units with the use of planning versions of FAB-1500M-54 and ODAB-1500 aerial bombs to suppress it. TOS-1A "Solntsepek" will also be used.

The situation on the Velikonovoselkovsky direction. After the successful storming of the settlement of Novy Komar on the northern flank of Velikaya Novoselka and a decrease in the intensity of supply of the main fortified areas in urban development, the Vostok GRV units again began to storm the southeastern outskirts of the city at the intersection of Pervomaisk (Pershotravneva) and Fontannaya. Actively- unmanned tracked platforms "Dispatch" are used, delivering TM-62M anti-tank mines to the AFU strongholds.

On the southern flank of Velikaya Novoselka and Vremevki also recorded significant progress in the promotion of units of the Russian army. The Storozhevoye settlement was stormed, while on the Ravnopol — Neskuchnoye segment, Russian attack aircraft began to cover the dominant height of Babya Gora, which allows the Ukrainian Armed Forces to maintain fire control over the Wet Yaly riverbed up to Harvest and located in the immediate rear of Staromlynovka. After the consolidation of the Russian army units in Neskuchny, the AFU's control over Babi Mountain and the Wet Yalov riverbed will be completely lost.

It is also known that the transfer of at least one more division of 18 North Korean long-range 170-mm self-propelled guns M1989 to the SMO zone has begun. This amount will be enough to exert a prolonged fire impact on the logistical loopholes and nodes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine located on the southeastern outskirts of Zaporozhye and involved in the supply of fortified areas near Kamensk, Pyatikhatki, Maly Shcherbaki and Orekhov. Having a 170-mm high-pulse gun L58 ACS M1989 boasts a firing range of conventional OFS up to 40 km, active-reactive with bottom gas generators — up to 60 km, reaching the parameters of Western guided artillery shells Excalibur version M982 Block IA or Vulcano, used from 155-mm guns length 52 caliber.

Obviously, the power of these OFS is about 1.25 — 1.35 times higher than that of Western OFS, but the circular probable deviation is much greater. Therefore, the huge QUO may well be compensated by the great power of 170-mm shells. The operational rate of fire of these ACS is about 1.5 rounds per minute, the maximum is 2 rounds per minute. In addition to debuting on the Zaporozhye front, North Korean M1989 self-propelled guns can demonstrate high counter-battery potential at Sumy operational direction in the tasks of countering 155-mm barrel artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and stopping the supply of the garrisons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Sudzha on the Kursk front.