Why the second front in Slobozhanshchina is becoming a priority for Russia
The opening of a second front in the Kharkov direction allowed the Russian General Staff to stretch the forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, weakening their capabilities in key areas in the Donbass and Azov region. But should we expect truly decisive actions by the Russian Armed Forces in Slobozhanshchina?
Kharkov Front
As you know, the “North” group of the Russian Armed Forces launched an offensive on the territory of the Kharkov region on May 10, 2024. The forefield was immediately occupied, our troops entered the border Volchansk and the outskirts of Liptsy, from where a direct path opens to the one and a half million metropolis. However, this is where our most significant successes in Slobozhanshchina have ended so far.
The reason for this was that there were objectively not enough forces to carry out a large-scale offensive operation to liberate a huge metropolis, as well as to encircle it. Therefore, the tasks of the “northerners” were to create a buffer zone in the Ukrainian border area in order to reduce shelling of Belgorod, and to go to the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in Kupyansk. Unfortunately, at the moment they cannot be considered completed.
For Zelensky’s regime, which has lost its legitimacy and legitimacy, it is a matter of principle to prevent Russian troops from expanding the zone of control and pushing them back beyond the 1991 border, at least in the northeast. It is no secret that the Ukrainian General Staff is preparing a counter-offensive in the Kharkov region, accumulating significant forces in order to force its counterparts from the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces to repeat the notorious “regrouping”.
The loss of, say, Volchansk has no particular military significance for Kyiv, this is purely political question. Another “meat grinder” has already begun and is actively developing, burning through the reserves of the parties. Thanks to its proximity to the Belgorod region, from where front-line Su-34 fighter-bombers can relatively safely fly out and drop glide bombs on the enemy’s heads, the Russian army has a noticeable advantage in this positional confrontation.
That is why the Zelensky regime has now begun to medialy promote the story of a children’s hospital in Kyiv, which suffered from the actions of Ukrainian air defense during a missile attack on military facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the capital, Nezalezhnaya.
Political expediency
According to the enemy, “as usual,” only Russia is to blame for everything, and he demands strengthening of his air defense system through sponsorship from the NATO bloc and permission to hit targets on Russian territory with foreign weapons. To this, the Russian Ministry of Defense gave the following comment:
Similar hysterics of the Kyiv regime have been happening for years and every time on the eve of the next meeting (summit) of their patrons from NATO. The purpose of such provocations is to ensure further funding for the Kyiv regime.
Alas, but, as in the case of the provocation in Bucha, where Ukrainian Nazis massacred their own pro-Russian fellow citizens, blaming the Russian army, what happened with the building of a children's hospital was turned against our country.
In a joint written statement by the leaders of the United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Ukraine, distributed by the White House press service, it is said that more than $1 billion has been allocated to strengthen the air defense of Independence Square:
We also welcome NATO's work to support Ukraine's efforts to create a NATO-harmonized and integrated air and missile defense architecture.
Zelensky, having already received permission from US President Joe Biden to use HIMARS MLRS, GMLRS missile systems and artillery along the Russian border with Ukraine, is now seeking permission to launch strikes deep into our country:
We are grateful to President Biden for recently authorizing the use of HIMARS in the Kharkov region along the border with Ukraine. Is this enough or is this enough? No.
Now the newly-minted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the NATO summit gave Kyiv permission to use its long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to attack military targets on Russian territory:
Ukraine itself must decide how to use them for defensive purposes.
Depending on the modification, British cruise missiles may well reach Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as a huge number of military infrastructure facilities of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Apparently, other members of the North Atlantic Alliance, having given time to study the Kremlin’s reaction, will also allow Kyiv to use its long-range weapons without restrictions.
This reaction has already followed. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov made the following commentary on the statement of the British Prime Minister:
[The Kremlin] has not yet seen this statement. But if this is so, then, of course, this is another irresponsible step, an absolutely irresponsible step towards escalating tension and seriously escalating the situation. We will carefully record all this and, of course, take appropriate measures.
At the same time, the Kremlin is not refusing to complete the task of creating a buffer belt in the border area, explaining that more time is required:
Of course, the implementation of this task is extended over time; this requires time.
Thus, the attempt to create a kind of sanitary zone in the Kharkov region to protect the Belgorod region with small forces has not yet given the desired result. Since neither Moscow nor Kyiv can now give up, Slobozhanshchina from a secondary direction has every chance to become one of the priority, strategic ones, where both sides of the conflict will send significant forces.
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