Zelensky Attacks!?

Kupiansk

You will have seen reports of Ukrainian advances in Kupiansk, with maps and quotes from Russian military bloggers like Radov and “Rybar” and others, asserting that the Ukrainians have taken the city, which is the story that the Ukrainian media are pushing.

Some well-known bloggers in the West, including on Substack, have excitedly sounded the alarm about Russian defeat with all sorts of impressive documentation. Of course, TikTok too

However, this is what a Russia military writer,Vladimir Lytkin wrote two days ago.

The Ukrainian press is already trumpeting what amounts to a victory for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the “complete liberation” of Kupyansk.

Our own media reports that the situation is truly dire; the enemy has deployed not just regular mobilized infantry, but well-trained assault units, including mercenaries, to the city.

But our forces are no pushovers either. The intensity of fighting in this area remains very high, and drone use is very high .

Today, two days later, when the story was “breaking news”….

MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. The city of Kupyansk is under the control of the 6th guards combined arms army of Battlegroup West, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

“We are firmly holding, have held and will continue to hold our positions in the city,” a company commander, call sign Uranus, stated in a video, with another commander, call sign Colossus, reporting no Ukrainian forces near the Kupyansk milk canning plant, and a third, call sign Granit, confirming his personnel are successfully executing tasks.

TASS has compiled the main information about the situation in the special military operation zone over the past 24 hours.

Russian troops repelled three attacks by the Ukrainian military aimed at breaking through to Kupyansk in the past 24 hours…

There are a few things to keep in mind.

The Russian media are alive with rumor about the SMO, which of course always seems to begin with Ukrainian claims, usually proven exaggerated or false later.

No matter, the Russians LOVE to argue and dispute governmental pronouncements, except for what Putin says. For them it seems Putin is the only honest man in Russia!

But Putin recently said that the Kupiansk was in Russian hands –a major victory —which Zelensky denied. But now, it seems that the Ukrainians are attacking with a very large force cobbled together from its best units, mercenaries and reserves, hiding in the forest near the city with small groups of infiltrators preparing the way for larger assaults.

Ummm.. question, Teacher. “Why would Zelensky have to attack Kupyansk if the Russians had failed to take it?”. Ok, Ok, I’m sorry. I will go to the back of the class.

Russian commenters on various sites and Telegram criticize the Russian military for being “unprepared” and suggest that Gerasimov lied to Putin about the situation in the city.

I do not think Gerasimov lied.

On the one hand, the Russians have a fairly modest force in the city simply because there are more tactically and strategically important cities elsewhere.

At same time, they knew that Ukrainians could not attack without drawing on their last reserves, which could very well be decimated in such an assault and would have to be drawn from other more important areas.

Who would do something that dumb?

Zelensky, of course.

And Zelensky gave lots of warning,,,,

What do you do with a crazy person? Sometimes it is best to humor them - in this case with a little maskirovka. Rather than bolstering defenses in Kupiansk, the Russians seemed to have opted to sit tight, even perhaps allowing the Ukrainians to infiltrate into the city’s gray, encouraging them to commit larger numbers of forces and equipment hidden in nearby forests.

Once in the city, the Russians can hold the Ukrainians in place with troops in advantageous positions and wipe them out from the air. For mercenaries and the Azovs there will be no mercy.

That is one theory at least, keeping in mind the tactical risks.

In addition, there are big benefits to the Russians, such as in the South in the Zaporozhye and Sumy regions from which the Ukrainians have had to draw forces.

Then again, I may be wrong but, if so, Slavyangrad and Two Majors and Intel Slava and others more competent than I on Telegram would be wrong too

In any case, the hoopla is fading,

Even Rybar was shifting is position:

Kupyansk reports that over the past 24 hours, the Russian Armed Forces selflessly held back the enemy’s onslaught on our remaining positions. The drone operators were looking for an opportunity to deliver provisions and ammunition between the mists, and the fighters on the ground skillfully aimed drones at the enemy. ‘

According to the latest information, we managed to prevent new losses of our troops’ strong positions, despite fierce counterattacks by the AFU.

However, this generally does not eliminate the issue of organizing military operations in the area.

Let’s see what happens.

Professors Chappy and Ichi supervising….

If “Professor Jiang” (BA, literature) can have a podcast, why can’t Dr. Chappy and Dr,Ichi?

A couple more days until New Years. The Gregorian One. I celebrate (naturally) according to the Julian Calendar. Which means New Years is January 14th.

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