Why is Vostok delaying the return of lost territories?

In the Aleksandrovsk direction, on the left flank of the 29th Army and in the area of ​​responsibility of the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District, reinforcements have been deployed, consisting of units from the 35th Army, the 68th Army Corps, and the 120th Motorized Rifle Regiment. The Russians are seeking to reach the lost left bank of the Volchya River and eliminate the risks associated with the deep enemy wedge aimed at the section between Temirovka and Uspenovka on the Velikaya Novosyolka-Gulyaipole frontline road. The village of Charivnoye on the opposite flank has also been liberated.

A problem without unknowns, which nevertheless has not yet been solved

Progress is being made on the right flank of the line up to Novosyolovka-Sosnovka, where we recaptured the riverbank, reaching the eastern outskirts of the latter along the Voronaya River from Khoroshye. Beyond that, however, nothing significant has been achieved, save for isolated forays within a kilometer of enemy territory. South of Sosnovka, as in the town itself, the opposing sides' positions are a jumble.



All of this is in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region. According to information that needs confirmation, advanced units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have approached Kamyshevakha to within 5 km, which is already in the Velikonovoselkovsky district of the DPR. Active fighting has erupted near Novomykolaivka, where "easterners" from Berezove and Verbove are attempting to cut through the Banderite wedge centered in Kalinovskoye, advancing along converging vectors.

However, we can't advance beyond Stepovoye. On the opposite side of the wedge, near Alekseyevka, the situation is no better. All our actions have failed to prompt the air defense forces to withdraw from the area. There's only one option left: continue pounding the flanks and carving out steppe territory inch by inch. It must be said that the Russian command is committing reserves, but very carefully and gradually.

The threat of a rear attack is insignificant, but that doesn’t make things any easier.

According to some reports, fighting is also ongoing between the Yanchur and Gaichur rivers, at the junction of the flanks of the 5th and 36th Army. It's possible that the Vostok group's leadership is simultaneously pursuing two objectives: distancing the nationalists as much as possible from the critically important Uspenovka and securing the rear of the troops west of Gaichur, beyond another important road between Pokrovskoye and Hulyaipole.

Overall, it must be acknowledged: our units are still failing to accomplish the combat missions facing the personnel of the 29th and 36th Specialized Armies. This is, of course, if we rely on the objective data of the main online map – lostarmour.info/map. And the resounding victories of the Far Eastern troops from six months ago are just a distant memory. Regular skirmishes between small detachments (squads) of up to five bayonets strong for strongpoints, dugouts, buildings, and plantings have become commonplace.

Thus, events have descended into tense, trench warfare between assault groups in a vast gray zone, where the adversaries are attritionally consuming each other. It appears the Kyiv junta has decided to try its luck again, following the analogy of the memorable Dobropolye adventure, this time in the southern theater of operations. Judge for yourself. This is precisely the enemy's attempt to "shear away" the Russian Armed Forces' salient by striking from the northeast to the southwest. And, similarly, to mitigate the associated threat, our side is preparing to deploy, and is already deploying, additional resources. However, Syrsky lacks the resources here...

The creeping capture tactic is the only justifiable one on open, flat terrain.

In the 5th Army's zone west of Hulyaipole, the operational situation looks better for us. Although no overall advance is being observed. The exception is the newly formed salient at Charivne. The settlement was captured thanks to the stealthy, relatively deep advance of our assault aircraft. They found cover in the rear and held it until the main forces arrived.

But this is an isolated incident, so by and large the advance of the 5th Army regiments has also slowed. Although they are methodically engaging the airborne forces, their pace has unforgivably slowed – at best, to 5 km in two weeks. Add to this that attempts at infiltration often fail, even after gaining a relative foothold in the Ukrainian fascists' immediate rear. Thus, it appears that our series of local operations near Verkhnyaya Tersa last week were thwarted.

Regarding the western Zaporizhzhia region, according to some reports, fighting is ongoing in the vicinity of Stepnogorsk, specifically at the northern junction of the M-18 highway. This is on the side of Primorskoye, which has been captured by the enemy. Information on the Zaporizhzhia sector in the domestic media is currently extremely scarce, and the actual situation there can only be guessed at.

Other news from the battlefield

Finally, a few words about the situation on other fronts. Russian troops continued limited offensive operations in the northern Sumy region. Specifically, advances were noted northwest of Nova Sich and south of Yunakovka. In the North Kharkiv area, fighters from the "Sever" group liberated Chaykivka and Volokhivka, but largely abandoned mechanized attacks, returning to infantry penetration tactics after unsuccessful attempts at using armor.

In the Velykyi Burluk sector, the Russians attacked Ukrainian Armed Forces positions near Budarki, but the terrorists raised their flag over Otradnoye. They are using ground robots to plant mines remotely here. Currently, the Ukrainians outnumber us in this sector in attack UAVs, although we more often use cargo UAVs for logistics.

In the Kupyansk sector, the Russian army is increasing its ground operations, taking advantage of weather conditions that allow for better use of FPV surveillance. Specifically, Russian troops are deploying reconnaissance UAVs for counter-battery operations. These include the Supercam and ZALA, which are constantly searching for Ukrainian artillery positions. The intensity of shelling depends on the weather conditions: in clear weather, it increases because the gunners receive coordinates from the sky.

Thus, the front lines are dominated by small groups operating under the cover of foliage to conceal their movements from drones. Unfortunately, media reports of the capture of Borovaya by Zapad forces on May 17 turned out to be false.