There’s a critical train junction. I don’t think it’s been captured yet.
The highways in that area are very important.
A lot of dead Russians, I would assume.
The city of Kupiansk is a rail hub and important supply route for Russian forces to the south.
This map is not up to date - Ukrainian forces may be as close to Kupiansk as the cross to the left of the city, about 10 km away from it.
Here’s a better map, showing the Ukrainian advance, and with easier-to-see rail and road routes:
There are rumors that Ukrainian forces may already have entered Kupiansk. If the city is lost, Russians will find it much harder to supply the Izyum area.
The rail hub I read about is the railway junction in the city of Kup’yans’k (Kupiansk).
Any strikes against the railway hurts Russia’s logistics.
Locals come out to cheer their liberators:
I know you’re (half) joking, but reportedly Ukrainian forces have encountered very little resistance. It’s like the Russians just left the area virtually undefended. That’s one of the reasons I’m sure Ukrainians have moved so swiftly towards taking the critical railroad junction. If Izium’s supply line gets cut and the Ukrainians are able to hold the junction, it will be yet another major operational blunder committed by the Russians.
I would guess it depends on specifically which part of Kherson. In other regions of the local counteroffensive, per the Washington Post article linked above, Ukrainians took very heavy losses.
Not sure if you were responding to my post or someone else’s. I was referring not to Kherson, but to the Kharkiv offensive and how the virtually undefended railroad junction at Kupiansk may soon fall into Ukrainian hands if it has not already.
But as far as Kherson goes, there are estimated to be over 20k Russian soldiers north of the Dnieper. I heard an estimate several days ago that Ukraine lost 2,700 soldiers to Russia’s 2000. But that shouldn’t be a surprising ratio, as Ukraine is on offense there.
Kharkiv offensive from the Russian point of view:
Russian ultranationalist Igor Girkin:
That map gives me anxiety. That narrow of a penetration is just begging for pinch-off and encirclement.
Not that the Russians would necessarily be up for it, but… anxiety.
Latest US scheduled equipment transfer. $675 million. The latest batch of security assistance to Ukraine includes:
Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
1,000 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine Systems
Four 105mm Howitzers and 36,000 105mm artillery rounds
Additional High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs)
100 Armored High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), better known as Humvees
1.5 million rounds of small arms ammunition
More than 5,000 anti-armor systems
Additional grenade launchers and small arms
50 armored medical treatment vehicles
Night vision devices and other field equipment.
I’d call that a smart wonder.
Here’s another map:
Time is of the essence as the Ukrainians try to capture Kupiansk before defences can be prepared and before it can be reinforced by other Russian troops from around the country.
while generally true, I get the strong feeling that the russians are busy panicking and running away, and not exactly playing 4D-chess to outsmart the Ukrains.
what strikes me as odd, is that they seem to be panicking so hard, they don’t even blow up their left behind war assets … (or possibly don’t have the explosives???)
LNR troops sound mutinous:
The Ukr forces are already close enough to shut down highway and rail transport via highway and rail to Russian forces south toward Izum. That’s big. While the situation is still fluid, some reports show Russian forces in full retreat.
Russian propagandists openly talking about Ukrainian advances also makes me worry about a deliberate withdrawal followed by a pinching and encirclement. It’s a classic tactic though so I’ve no doubt the Ukrainians are aware of the danger.
It’s Russian milbloggers that are openly talking about Ukrainian advances, not official state propaganda outlets. While it’s illegal in Russia to say that the war was a bad idea, it does not appear to be illegal to say that it’s going badly. Criticism seems to be allowed if it’s coming from a hardline pro-war perspective.
unconfirmed, but quite possibly the Ukr. has a russian two star general as POW …