As of: January 30, 2024, 4:52 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Reports are increasing that the Russians in Ukraine are planning a new major offensive towards Kharkiv.
Stories from Ukrainian soldiers are alarming.
Kupiansk - Kharkiv.
The three-river city of Kharkiv plays an important role in Russia's culture of remembrance, even though it is located in Ukraine.
Where the Kharkiv, Lopan and Udy rivers converge, the Red Army fought three major battles with the German Wehrmacht in World War II.
In August 1943, the large city, which was then called Kharkov and belonged to the Soviet Union, was finally recaptured by the Soviets in the Belgorod-Kharkov operation, which was of crucial importance for the further course of the war on the Eastern Front.
A look back at the events of that time is not insignificant, considering that Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin likes to think in historical images these days and communicates them accordingly.
At the end of January 2024, more than 80 years later, Kharkiv will again be in the spotlight in the Ukraine war.
And obviously a priority for Putin.
Autocrats among themselves: Belarus ruler Alexander Lukashenko (left) and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin at a public appearance on January 27, 2024. © IMAGO/Vyacheslav Prokofyev
Supply route between Kharkiv and Kramatorsk: Russians attempt advance
As the
Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
recently wrote, “Russian forces made recently confirmed advances near Kupyansk, Kreminna and Avdiivka, engaging in continued trench warfare along the entire line of contact.”
On Sunday (January 29), Russia's army claimed to have captured the Ukrainian village of Tabayivka in the Kharkiv region.
At least this is what the Russian news agency
Tass
reported , citing the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
The picture that emerges on the map is that the Russians are trying to penetrate the important Ukrainian supply route between Kharkiv and Kramatorsk on an 85-kilometer-wide front.
The Kharkiv-Horlivka railway runs here and is largely out of service due to the fighting.
But which could be put back into operation if the front moves westwards.
The same applies to the M03 trunk road.
Heavy fighting in the Ukrainian War on the border between Kharkiv and Luhansk
The question arises: Are the Russians making this a focus of their campaign against international law in order to be able to attack Kharkiv from multiple directions?
After all, Ukraine's second largest city with around 1.5 million inhabitants is only around 40 kilometers south of the Russian border in the Belgorod Oblast.
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On Sunday (January 28), the US broadcaster
CNN
reported heavy fighting in the area in the northeast of the country where the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions meet.
“The enemy is concentrating on a large number of artillery attacks and trying to advance,” a spokesman for the Land Forces Command told
Ukrainian television about the situation near Krokhmalne, according to
CNN .
The village is located around 26 kilometers southeast of Kupyansk. The Ukrainians recently withdrew their troops from Krokhmalne, allegedly to take up more advantageous defensive positions on higher ground, it was said from Kiev.
All in all, the invaders are very active.
In the Zaporizhzhia region the enemy is trying to recapture lost ground.
Oleksandr Shtupun, Ukrainian military spokesman
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian armed forces themselves report that they are also under great pressure further southeast in the area around Bakhmut.
They actually wanted to take the completely destroyed city in the fall, but that failed.
Corporal Oles Maliarevych from the 92nd Separate Brigade reported on the situation near Bakhmut: “The enemy is gathering troops, they are attacking every day.” Maliarevych emphasized that the Russians now have many more drones, including some with night vision devices.
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been confronted with heavy rocket attacks since the end of December.
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine: Target of a new major Russian offensive?
Even in the south, Russian troops are currently trying to make progress after the Ukrainian counteroffensive came to a halt here in the summer of 2023.
“All in all, the invaders are very active, they have increased the number of attack operations.
For the second day in a row, they are conducting 50 combat missions per day.
The enemy is active in all directions,” CNN
quoted
Oleksandr Shtupun, Ukrainian military spokesman for the southern front.
“In the Zaporizhzhia region the enemy is trying to recapture lost ground,” he said.
However, there are increasing indications that Kharkiv is likely to be the focus of a new major Russian offensive.
Since the end of December, the city has been confronted with rocket attacks, some of them massive, almost every day, although these attacks have since subsided over the course of the war.
Around Kharkiv, the Ukrainian defenders inflicted a severe defeat on the Russian invasion troops in the so-called “Battle of Kharkiv” between February and April 2022.
As
The Washington Post
and
Forbes
reported, the Russian 20th Guards Army is said to have failed there despite having 560 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and 300 T-72 main battle tanks.
(pm)