Reading #Russia military channels commenting on their leadership news about “continued progress in the offensive” is a bit like watching the “Chernobyl” series - you know it’s going to blow, and everyone knows, but nobody won’t do anything:
The current situation near Kupiansk differs from the optimistic reports of our honourable sources. Despite statements about control, there is no real progress in the city; the front line is static. The main problems are critically complex logistics (supplies are mainly delivered by air, as everywhere else, so you are constantly asked to chip in for these Maviks). It seems that the decision to continue the offensive is dictated by the need to report success, rather than the actual operational situation. Take off your rose-coloured glasses, the political officers are already misleading everyone.
And another, more detailed one (especially the last paragraphs):
Current information on Kupyansk* against the backdrop of news (https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/25795333) that “in a few days, Kupyansk-Uzloy will be completely liberated.” What we have now. There is no progress in the city. At most, new barricades and mine traps are being set up in preparation for counterattacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And this despite the fact that the liberation of the city was reported (https://t.me/gvZapad/17175) on November 20. And now, as expected, the boys are being pushed forward, under fire and drones, just so as not to lose face in front of the high command.
Despite the “flag-wavers” (https://t.me/gvZapad/17176) from 1855 bata, we still haven’t managed to take the Yubileiny microdistrict in the southwestern part of the city, which would secure our bridgehead on the right bank of the river and allow us to start working on crossing to the left bank and storming Kupyansk-Uzlovoy. Now the main fighting has moved to the northern part of the city, where the assault troops cannot even see the enemy and are fighting against the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ UAVs. Why is this happening?
It’s simple — getting into the city is now practically impossible. In addition, the transfer of ammunition and provisions to the city was already difficult: for a long time, they could only be delivered mainly by air. With the deterioration of weather conditions, this has become an almost impossible task. An additional complication is the shooting down of delivery aircraft by their own side due to poor coordination.
The forces of 121, 122 MSP, as well as 1855 bata are forced to travel a long way through the pipes, and then, under drone attacks, walk to the city from various settlements north of Kupyansk (https://t.me/gvZapad/17229). An alternative route is attempts at [hopefully, so far] unsuccessful breakthroughs from the settlement of Liman Pervy. This is a hot spot, and it is undeservedly little talked about — after all, reports say that the city has already been liberated. At the same time, the commander of the 121st Motorized Rifle Brigade, Lavrik, has ceased to be highlighted in the media, which was the case (https://t.me/gvZapad/17155) throughout almost the entire month of November, when he spent nearly a month liberating the western part of the city.
In accordance with geopolitical motives (the so-called “peace” that everyone believes in so much), we continue to report on the liberation of city after city, village after village “on credit.” The example of Kupyansk shows us why this is a bad initiative. And what are we reading now?
The situation has become so critical that about a week ago, the 121st and 122nd assault brigades began transferring several engineering and sapper groups from the 3rd OISB and 30th ISB 68th MSD at once. In other words, all the training, money, and time invested in specialists are being squandered to pay for the “credit.” That is, from a material point of view. And ignoring the fact that this is trivial — the lives and health of the fighters. Now our forces are gradually being depleted even in the absence of combat operations and attempts to build on our success in the city itself.
And what is the result? The result is that the President hears endless reports from Kuzovlev about the successes of our army in Kupyansk, which leads to new demands from above for further advances.
What can I say… It’s better to just keep quiet and breathe out so as not to write anything unnecessary. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out…
Originals: https://t.me/dontstopwar/23723 (in Russian)