From "The Analyst" (Military & Strategic):
VOVCHANSK: RUSSIAN RETREAT
Under extremely heavy artillery strikes which the Russians use to slow any advance and reduce the already wrecked buildings to rubble so there’s nowhere to hide troops, Ukrainian forces have managed to advance.
The Ukrainian forces still surround a group of Russians in the centre, holed up in the aggregate plant, and make no effort to get them out knowing they will be forced out on their own eventually.
Meanwhile the advance in the north and centre of the city continues, as major Ukrainian drone operations harass and destroy Russian forces on the edge of the northern suburbs.
The Russians resort to using thermobaric weapons - knowing that these create intense heat, high over pressures close to those in a nuclear explosion, and then as the fireball collapses, sucks the air out of confined spaces causing suffocation.
They’re restraining themselves from using FAB glide bombs as the two sides tactical positions in the city are too close together and the bombs insufficiently accurate.
Some of the larger gains have been made on the northeastern side of the city, with drone video clearly showing that the Ukrainians appear to have pushed the Russians out of the city entirely in that area.
The Russians appear to have retreated into some ramshackle trenches that were never properly completed in the fields outside of the town.
Meanwhile the Ukrainians in the northeast sector remain vigilant, clearing and securing the area, searching every house, shed and cellar, using grenades and assault rifles to ensure no opposition remains, as extensive video of their operations clearly shows.
The Ukrainians haven’t made it easy for the Russians who moved into their trench line, with Marines storming the area and causing mayhem in the Russian trenches. This shook the Russians so completely that they quickly abandoned their defence and the few dugouts that remained were cleared by grenades.
To the east of these trenches lies the village of Tyke (tee-kee) in the heights above and these heights must be recaptured to give the Ukrainians any chance of regaining the area more fully.
Once Tyke is recaptured, and the Russian fire control and observation points removed, the local geography allows Ukraine to use it as a springboard to come behind the remaining Russian forces in the northwest of Vovchansk, cutting them off if they don’t retreat. If they do it this way, then it’s not necessary to attack the Russians in the rest of the city.
The Marines and their drones used their tactical advantage and the disorganisation of the Russians - whose radio traffic they listen to, constantly reinforcing the chaos behind the lines. The Marines used night vision drones and goggles to harass the Russians continuously, giving them no time to regain their composure.
So Ukraine is now on the cusp of taking control of the higher ground, and in doing so opening up a route by which they can turn around and cut behind the Russians and force the end of their operations in Vovchansk. That would effectively mean the end of the Russian operation in the eastern sector of the offensive. That would eventually cause the collapse of the Liptsy side of the Russian offensive. The stakes could not be higher.
Slava Ukraini !
