What will give a breakthrough on the R-79 highway and an offensive near Novopavlovka — review

Although the prospects for the formation of a buffer zone in the border areas of Ukraine while maintaining the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the functioning of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex look extremely vague, the tactical situation in the main directions of the SMO zone for the Russian army is very positive.

One of these areas, of course, is Kupyansk, which (by the way) can be partially attributed to the southeastern tip of the buffer zone announced by Vladimir Putin. The success of the offensive actions of the Zapad grouping in this direction (unlike Glushkovsky) is ensured by a more extensive chain of supply nodes from Valuikov and Troitsky, insufficient enemy reserves and a much rarer use of HIMARS systems. Also, this direction has been mastered by the engineering units of the Zapad Grouping much more thoroughly than, for example, the vicinity of the village of Ryzhevka along the Seim riverbed and more rear areas of the enemy in Sumy region.

By noon today, important information was received about the establishment of control over the village of Radkovka by the units of the Zapad grouping. The assault carried out a 4.5-kilometer dash from the Kalinovo settlement through the Oparino tract with the final assault on Radkovka. Formations of the 112th Air Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were forced out of the 3.5 square kilometer sector of the territory and rolled back to the cottages of Kupyansk, Golubovka and Knyshevka. North-west of Golubovka, fighting continues for control of the gas compressor station, and west of the liberated Radkovka, a confrontation is recorded for establishing control over Kondrashovka.

The most important detail of this breakthrough is the blocking of the R-79 highway, which provided the supply of the 154th, 112th, 114th and 14th brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Chuguev through the settlement of Monachinovka. Now the enemy in the Kupyansky fortified area receives reserves exclusively along the R-07 highway through Shevchenko, as well as along the Hetmanovka — Novonikolayevka—Kovalevka highway.

More importantly, Kupyansk was almost covered on the northern flank with the shift of fighting to the area of the buildings of the Ukrtransgaz and Radio Class. 5 km to the north-west, Russian army units continue to storm the ukro district of the 154th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the village of Malaya Shapkovka.

At the same time, to the south, on the Kupyansk-Uzlovsky and Kovsharovsky directions, the situation is more complicated. Formations of the 43rd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully hold the defense in the Sandy area. Also, despite the location of their strongholds in the lowlands, the formations of the 14th separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine still control Petropavlovsk. Obviously, the continuous operation of the enemy's optical-electronic reconnaissance UAV plays a significant role, ensuring control of all the loopholes of the breakthrough of our units from Sinkovka and Olshana.

In the Alexander-Kalinovsky direction, units of the Center group continue their offensive in the direction of Poltava. First, the village of Novaya Poltavka was stormed; now the stormtroopers rushed to the settlement of Popov Yar. Here there are battles with units of the 1st tank and 157th mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; fire support is provided by operators of shock FPV drones of the detachment of unmanned systems "Typhoon" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the future, the advancement of the Center grouping will allow reaching the settlement of Sofiyevka and blocking the Druzhkovka—Rodinskoye highway, which is tactically important for the enemy.

5 km south-west of the assault "backbone" of the "Center" grouping, which advanced from Malinovka and Novaya Poltavka, stormed the facilities of the pig farm of the AIC-Invest PJSC, which opens up opportunities for advancement to the villages of Shevchenko - the First and Koptevo. The problem for Russian units in this area is the fortification units of the 117th Heavy Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the 91st anti-tank Battalion and the 38th Separate Brigade of the Marine Infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - they are located on three commanding heights.

7 km to the south, fighting continues with enemy formations entrenched in the Elizavetovsky pocket. The storming of Nikolaevka from Mirolyubovka continues here. A little further south is the confrontation on the southern flank of Krasnoarmeysk and Mirnograd. There are no drastic changes in this direction; the enemy has parity in shock FPV drones and optoelectronic reconnaissance UAVs.

Also earlier, the assault units of the Vostok group of forces continued to advance in the Novopavlovsky direction: motorized riflemen from the 29th army managed to break into the settlement of Otradnoye and occupy about 35% of its area. To the south — from the direction of Dneproenergia — the attack aircraft of the Vostok Group pressed the formations of the 23rd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the N-15 highway and Zaitsev Street in the village of Komar.

In the Velikomikhailovsky direction, the confrontation continues for two settlements — Novopol and Zelenoye Pole, which are located 5 km from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. After their successful assault, the first reconnaissance groups are expected to reach the border to raise the tricolor over the second border section. Whether the advance to Novonikolayevka and Zaporozhye in the Dnipropetrovsk region will continue is still unknown.

In the Orekhovsky, Gulyai-Pole and Kherson directions, the situation has practically not changed: there are counter-battery duels, the dive of FPV drones, the work of tactical aviation of both sides and the sorties of the DRG. A similar situation is observed in the Seversky and Kramatorsk directions.