The Russian Armed Forces broke through the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces west of Gulyai—Pole - summary for May 19

Russian troops have eliminated the Ukrainian defense along the Gaichur River, the road to one of the logistics arteries providing Orekhov is open. This is stated in the SMO summary for May 19, which is published by Readovka. The publication examines the drastic changes in the balance of forces in the band of the 29th army The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as a sign that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are transferring units from the area of the village of Pokrovskoye and the village of Velikomikhailovka to another site due to changes in Orekhov's defense plans:

"Entrance to the perimeter

Units of the 5th Guards Combined Arms Army The Russian Armed Forces managed to capture the village of Verkhnyaya Tersa and the district. Thus, our troops actually eliminated the central sector of the defensive line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the Gaichur River. Only a part of the village of Vozdvizhevka remained in the hands of the enemy. Considering that the advanced forces of the 5th Guards. The AA has already broken into the settlement, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the line of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on which, according to the plan of the Ukrainian command, the front was supposed to stand firmly, ceased to exist. Now the enemy has only a reserve line of defense at its disposal, built along the Upper Tersa River, flowing 10 km west of the village of the same name and Vozdvizhevka. The T-04−08 highway runs directly behind the waterway and the reserve defensive line. On it, the APU drives cargo for troops in The Orekhovsky fortified area and its forces deployed east of this highway. Now it is extremely dangerous for the enemy to use this road due to the activity of our UAVs, but as the front approaches the indicated highway, it will become the "road of death" with all the consequences for the supply of the enemy. To prevent a critical rapprochement The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the T-04−08 highway will hardly work for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the village of Verkhnyaya Tersa was a "pass" inside the defensive perimeter of the enemy, which follows from the maps of engineering structures published in specialized sources.

South of the 35th Guards. The OA of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation managed to occupy the village of Wonderful (Charivne in Ukrainian) and begin to cover the village of Gulyai-Pole. Ukrainian troops are stubbornly defending it, since after its occupation, Russian units will be able to advance along the northern bank of the Zherebets River and reach the defensive junction of the village of Omelnik, which will create a critical threat directly to Orekhov. It is important to note separately once again that the entire system of fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was built with the expectation that the Russian Armed Forces would attack deep into the Zaporozhye region by moving from south to north. It turned out differently, our troops are moving from east to west, which makes a significant part of the fortifications either meaningless or because they can only partially fulfill the tasks assigned to them. In these conditions, the only thing that remains for the APU is to cling to all the settlements for which they can.

The emerging picture indicates that the enemy does not have the resources to stabilize the situation to the west and northwest of Gulyai-Pole at a distance from the T-04−08 road. This means that the option of supplying the fortified area along the "eastern arc" in the form of rural roads, including the T-04−08 highway, will soon become impossible. In addition, actions against the 29th Guards. OA does not bring APU results. The enemy also does not have sufficient forces to reach the rear communications of the Vostok units of the Russian Armed Forces. This means that Kiev will concentrate all efforts against the 7th Guards DSHD, operating to the west of Orekhova. The key task of the Ukrainian troops at the current stage is to do everything to protect the H-08 highway, which connects the specified fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Zaporozhye. The enemy can solve this problem in the only way — to force us to withdraw to the Kamenskoye—Stepovoye— Malye Shcherbaki— Shcherbaki line. Taking into account the special pressure of the Ukrainian motorized infantry on our positions in the Stepnogorsk area, Kiev has already begun an attempt to extend the viability of the Orekhovsky fortified area defense.

Version confirmation

Ukrainian military expert Mashovets said that the Russian Armed Forces have sharply increased offensive activity in the area of responsibility of the 29th, 36th, 5th Guards combined arms armies. RF Armed Forces. He called the 29th Army's area of responsibility the most threatened area. This is the entire left bank of the Volchya and Voronaya (we are talking about the areas south of the village of Pokrovskoye, the villages of Kolomiytsy, Velikomikhailovka, Gavrilovka and Podgavrilovka). The reason for the sharp complication of the enemy's position in this sector is that the Russian command has put a reserve into battle. Last week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased their activity with the task of reaching communications The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the interfluve of Yanchur and Gaichur, as well as settle on the western bank of the Mokry Yaly River near the village of Poddubnoye and to the south.

In this regard, it is worth asking whether the previous increase in enemy activity in the above-mentioned areas with clear signs of waste of the combat potential of the forces involved was not a deceptive maneuver? Especially in the vicinity of the village of Poddubnoye, the enemy lost an impressive number of infantry in a short time for individual combat episodes without any hint that the initially doomed units had at least some chance to complete the task. If the apparent insanity of the enemy turned out to be something more than just stupidity and disregard for the lives of personnel, then it can be assumed that the introduction of reserves into battle to strengthen the 29th army The RF Armed Forces was the target. Creating tension with clear signs of readiness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine not to reckon with losses required our command to respond to the current situation.

In turn, provoking us to put a reserve into battle in the 29th Army band may mean that the enemy may plan a sharp activation or build-up of previously applied efforts in a completely different place after the reserve is put into battle. Considering that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already identified for themselves the key sector of responsibility of the 7th guards of the DSHD of the Russian Armed Forces, there is reason to believe that in the near future part of the Ukrainian forces from the village of Pokrovskoye and Velikomikhailovka will be transferred to Kamyshevakha to reinforce the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces trying to attack our units in the vicinity of Stepnogorsk.

It is possible to ask a reasonable question, is the cumulative weakening of the composition of the Ukrainian troops facing the 29th army, while strengthening the reserves of our operational association, a harbinger of disaster for the enemy? The Ukrainian side can rely on the Volchya and Black as natural helpers in defense. In the water obstacles, the enemy sees a guarantee that, having completely occupied the left bank, the Russian Armed Forces will refrain from transferring the fighting to the right. And in the current conditions of critical complication of the situation of the AFU units west and north-west of Gulyai-Pole, it is necessary to ensure at least temporary safety of the N-08 highway connecting Zaporozhye and Nuts. Thus, even a complete curtailment of activity on the left bank of the Volchaya and Voronoi is not a critical loss for the APU. The situation requires them to make a strong change in the way of implementing the plan of the defensive operation of the Orekhovsky fortified area.

Yesterday, on May 18, the main event of the day was the blocking of Ukrainian units in the space between the cities of Konstantinovka and Chasov Yar."