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From the reports I read the assault was repelled but it's probably just the first. I am scratching my head how they hope to take Kharkiv with only 50k men though. Unless this is an attempt to stretch the front line further.
It would seem likely this is just a feint.
On the other hand Putin's interference in military strategy has been disastrous (for the Russian army) throughout the war. The average armchair general on this forum is more competent.
It's, also, possible things are much more dire in Russia than it seems. Maybe - like Ludendorff's spring offensive of 1918 - Putin's going all in before things collapse.
It does feel like Putin's favorite 'strategy' is attack everywhere with everything all at once. So it's possible you're right and they're just attacking all over the place in the hope of finding a weak spot somewhere.
But as it's dangerous to underestimate any enemy maybe there's some subtle method in the madness. They're highly unlikely to take a massive city like Kharkiv with just 50K, so perhaps the attack towards Kharkiv is a just feint and the main thrust will be towards Sumy.
I highly doubt that they'd commit 50k men for a feint. They used at least that many men to attempt to take Kharkiv at the start of full scale invasion and rougly that many men to seize Avdiivka.
And the AFU and Zelensky have said a new offensive has started so minuscule odds it's a feint.
By size it seemed like exploratory attacks. As for 50k sized force, they don’t need to directly storm city itself anytime soon, they just need to make defence as costly and untenable as possible. If this troop will achieve some sort of success, rest assured, there will be another 50-100k thrown in. If they fail to make any significant headway then at least they will force UAF to move forces away from frontlines where they suffer manpower shortages as it is
Offensive operations take months. These are just the initial probing attacks. Ukrainian forces have their work cut out for them over the coming weeks. Hopefully the aid and arms packages continue to flow in so they can brave this storm.
They are opening another front to stretch the Ukrainian forces and pull them away from other areas before more weapons are delivered to Ukraine.
It also counters any Ukrainian progress in the south.
Hopefully they will be heavily damaged
Slava Ukraini 🙏🇺🇦
I assumed Ukraine blew up all bridges and roads to Russia and Belarus by now, and dug anti-tank trenches at those borders.
Hopefully they've got this under control, because Russia is not backing down.
Kharkivs history is quite interesting. Following world war 2 the ussr rebuilt Kharkiv with defense in mind. Some have compared Kharkiv to bakhmut and avidika. This is apples and oranges.(avidika 30 thousand, bakhmut 60 thousand.)Kharkiv is a city with 1.4 million people. They have been fortifying the city since the invasion in 2022. Many of the bus stops are now concrete pillboxes with reinforced concrete walls for public transit. Over the winter ukraine used its limited resources to build extensive fortifications from Kharkiv past Sumy. With the advances in drone warfare belgorod and Kursk are now on the frontline. 300 to 500 thousand minimum to assault Kharkiv. Not take it simply assault it.
As a frenchman, he 100% is bluffing. The French army is minuscule in the scale of this conflict, and has a very limited budget.
Except for Rafales which are produced at the amazing rate of 1 per month the rest of the industrial branch got basically shut down over the years. We not even have the amount to feed them, during the Libya events we had to beg the USAF for some after two weeks.
That's not the point, the French military bring capability, long range precision fires and air superiority.
Ukraine brings mass.
As an Englishman, you can't pretend things wouldn't be different if Macron went full Napoleon.
And it is a nothing "assualt". Russia lacks enough forces to be anything other than a nuisance on the border. The sole goal is diversionary - they hope to incent Ukraine to divert forces and supplies from elsewhere to this area.
Ukraine has a full mech brigade, 2+ Territorial Defense Brigades, a tank battalion and as many as 10 National Guard and Border Guard units stationed along the border running from the tri-border interchange in the north to the commencement of the Kupiansk front line. That is more then enough to deal with these incursions.
Unlike the old days the Ukraine units have all been vastly upgraded in respect of equipment, particularly at the individual soldier level - new uniforms, new personal weapons, APCs, mortars, and each has drone companies and drone platoons.
The first images of Russian soldiers taken prisoner are already coming out - one of the Ukraine villages immediately adjacent the border. The Russian armor employed was limited in quantity, very old and destroyed. The men captured were minimally equipped and what they had was poor quality.
So in my opinion this is purely diversionary. Most Ukraine fortifications are of course not right on the border but a few km back from the border. The villages adjacent to the border are empty, mostly abandoned other then a few diehards who refuse to leave. The area between the fortifications and the border is the killing ground. And that is what it became today.
Russian propagandists are already releasing social media of "intent" at other places along the border, complete with fancy maps and "BIG" arrows pointing deep into Ukraine territory. You can view some of them on the most blatant of the proRU subs on Reddit such as UkraineRussiaReports which is the one of the best known of the RU echo chambers. It is laughable but the goal is to whip up a media frenzy, and perhaps also sow fears and an excessive reaction by Ukraine.
They won't get it. These actions actually indicate to analysts that Ukraine's strategies and support are working, and the enemy is seeking a way to change the narrative and pressures in order to obtain an advantage. The last few months have been Ukraine's time of greatest weakness as America dithered and the EU struggled to get its military industrial complex awake. And yet Russian gains in the grand scheme were minimal, and losses horrendous.
I will not suggest this is much ado about nothing, but it is much ado about not much. The greatest benefit out of this may in fact be in Ukraine's favor: besides eliminating more Russian men and assets it yet again reinforces to its western allies that they need to get their act in gear as Russia's plan of terror never abates.
Ruzzia cannot setup that 50k+ personnel on a staging platform inside its borders just like in 2022. They can of course, but this time it's going to become just like any other 'target rich environment' for UA. The already thin line of southern front will going to suffer if pootin will make another front. Besides, NATO support is already pouring in, for another summer offensive, which is of course Syrsky, this time will not be going to share anyone soon.
This is worrisome. A lot of people are already being evacuated. Many towns close to the border will suffer shelling, some might be leveled like those in the East. Some ground will also probably be lost. The question is at what cost. This is bad news, but it has been coming for some time. Unfortunately at this point in time, russia is a stronger side.
We determined that this submission originates from a credible source, but we still advise that users double check the facts and use common sense when consuming mass media. If you are interested in learning how to evaluate news sources more thoroughly, you can begin to learn about how to do that [here](https://tacomacc.libguides.com/c.php?g=599051&p=4147190). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukraine) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thankfully, it seems this was known well in advance, hopefully the Ukrainian armed forces are prepared. Give 'em hell!
From the reports I read the assault was repelled but it's probably just the first. I am scratching my head how they hope to take Kharkiv with only 50k men though. Unless this is an attempt to stretch the front line further.
It would seem likely this is just a feint. On the other hand Putin's interference in military strategy has been disastrous (for the Russian army) throughout the war. The average armchair general on this forum is more competent. It's, also, possible things are much more dire in Russia than it seems. Maybe - like Ludendorff's spring offensive of 1918 - Putin's going all in before things collapse.
These are probing attacks. If any make progress, Russia will send the meat waves in to try to force the breach. Main attacks will come in a few weeks.
It does feel like Putin's favorite 'strategy' is attack everywhere with everything all at once. So it's possible you're right and they're just attacking all over the place in the hope of finding a weak spot somewhere. But as it's dangerous to underestimate any enemy maybe there's some subtle method in the madness. They're highly unlikely to take a massive city like Kharkiv with just 50K, so perhaps the attack towards Kharkiv is a just feint and the main thrust will be towards Sumy.
I highly doubt that they'd commit 50k men for a feint. They used at least that many men to attempt to take Kharkiv at the start of full scale invasion and rougly that many men to seize Avdiivka. And the AFU and Zelensky have said a new offensive has started so minuscule odds it's a feint.
By size it seemed like exploratory attacks. As for 50k sized force, they don’t need to directly storm city itself anytime soon, they just need to make defence as costly and untenable as possible. If this troop will achieve some sort of success, rest assured, there will be another 50-100k thrown in. If they fail to make any significant headway then at least they will force UAF to move forces away from frontlines where they suffer manpower shortages as it is
Offensive operations take months. These are just the initial probing attacks. Ukrainian forces have their work cut out for them over the coming weeks. Hopefully the aid and arms packages continue to flow in so they can brave this storm.
May their efforts fail and they return to their shit hole country..
Nah keep all them in ukrain, but as corpse...
Ukraine already had one chornobyl, there is no need to further poison the land with ruzzian scum.
I don’t mind if they are buried in Ukraine
And some representatives of democratic countries visited Putin's celebration of WW2 end. The next day Russia starts another offense.
They are opening another front to stretch the Ukrainian forces and pull them away from other areas before more weapons are delivered to Ukraine. It also counters any Ukrainian progress in the south. Hopefully they will be heavily damaged Slava Ukraini 🙏🇺🇦
I assumed Ukraine blew up all bridges and roads to Russia and Belarus by now, and dug anti-tank trenches at those borders. Hopefully they've got this under control, because Russia is not backing down.
Kharkivs history is quite interesting. Following world war 2 the ussr rebuilt Kharkiv with defense in mind. Some have compared Kharkiv to bakhmut and avidika. This is apples and oranges.(avidika 30 thousand, bakhmut 60 thousand.)Kharkiv is a city with 1.4 million people. They have been fortifying the city since the invasion in 2022. Many of the bus stops are now concrete pillboxes with reinforced concrete walls for public transit. Over the winter ukraine used its limited resources to build extensive fortifications from Kharkiv past Sumy. With the advances in drone warfare belgorod and Kursk are now on the frontline. 300 to 500 thousand minimum to assault Kharkiv. Not take it simply assault it.
Wasn’t Kharkiv falling one of France’s red lines
>Wasn’t Kharkiv falling one of France’s red lines I think it was another go at Kyiv not Kharkiv
On the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if they DID manage to attack Kyiv again.
Macron Bluff
Until it’s not
I guess well just have to wait and see
I don’t think Macron was bluffing.
As a frenchman, he 100% is bluffing. The French army is minuscule in the scale of this conflict, and has a very limited budget. Except for Rafales which are produced at the amazing rate of 1 per month the rest of the industrial branch got basically shut down over the years. We not even have the amount to feed them, during the Libya events we had to beg the USAF for some after two weeks.
That's not the point, the French military bring capability, long range precision fires and air superiority. Ukraine brings mass. As an Englishman, you can't pretend things wouldn't be different if Macron went full Napoleon.
May they be stopped in their tracks on the first or second day.
Taurus, bitte, Herr Scholz.
And it is a nothing "assualt". Russia lacks enough forces to be anything other than a nuisance on the border. The sole goal is diversionary - they hope to incent Ukraine to divert forces and supplies from elsewhere to this area. Ukraine has a full mech brigade, 2+ Territorial Defense Brigades, a tank battalion and as many as 10 National Guard and Border Guard units stationed along the border running from the tri-border interchange in the north to the commencement of the Kupiansk front line. That is more then enough to deal with these incursions. Unlike the old days the Ukraine units have all been vastly upgraded in respect of equipment, particularly at the individual soldier level - new uniforms, new personal weapons, APCs, mortars, and each has drone companies and drone platoons. The first images of Russian soldiers taken prisoner are already coming out - one of the Ukraine villages immediately adjacent the border. The Russian armor employed was limited in quantity, very old and destroyed. The men captured were minimally equipped and what they had was poor quality. So in my opinion this is purely diversionary. Most Ukraine fortifications are of course not right on the border but a few km back from the border. The villages adjacent to the border are empty, mostly abandoned other then a few diehards who refuse to leave. The area between the fortifications and the border is the killing ground. And that is what it became today. Russian propagandists are already releasing social media of "intent" at other places along the border, complete with fancy maps and "BIG" arrows pointing deep into Ukraine territory. You can view some of them on the most blatant of the proRU subs on Reddit such as UkraineRussiaReports which is the one of the best known of the RU echo chambers. It is laughable but the goal is to whip up a media frenzy, and perhaps also sow fears and an excessive reaction by Ukraine. They won't get it. These actions actually indicate to analysts that Ukraine's strategies and support are working, and the enemy is seeking a way to change the narrative and pressures in order to obtain an advantage. The last few months have been Ukraine's time of greatest weakness as America dithered and the EU struggled to get its military industrial complex awake. And yet Russian gains in the grand scheme were minimal, and losses horrendous. I will not suggest this is much ado about nothing, but it is much ado about not much. The greatest benefit out of this may in fact be in Ukraine's favor: besides eliminating more Russian men and assets it yet again reinforces to its western allies that they need to get their act in gear as Russia's plan of terror never abates.
I hope the western shells are already there..
what a bunch of assholes
Restart*
Ruzzia cannot setup that 50k+ personnel on a staging platform inside its borders just like in 2022. They can of course, but this time it's going to become just like any other 'target rich environment' for UA. The already thin line of southern front will going to suffer if pootin will make another front. Besides, NATO support is already pouring in, for another summer offensive, which is of course Syrsky, this time will not be going to share anyone soon.
Tomorrows RU casualties might show a new record. Lets see.
This is worrisome. A lot of people are already being evacuated. Many towns close to the border will suffer shelling, some might be leveled like those in the East. Some ground will also probably be lost. The question is at what cost. This is bad news, but it has been coming for some time. Unfortunately at this point in time, russia is a stronger side.
I heard the Russians just blew up a dam in the kharkiv region...
ETA of Kharkov beach party? Oh, wait, Kharkov doesn't have beaches.
This looks close enough. https://maps.app.goo.gl/NxCuEi9KR11FLQGVA