Sounds like Russia is crawling out of Kherson because they cannot continue to defend it or supply their troops:Don’t look now but the battle for the south, and for Kherson, is heating up. https://t.co/nrumy7IqZp
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) August 13, 2022
If the Russians abandon city of Kherson as Ukrainian authorities and local sources on the ground are saying they are now doing and Ukrainians bring HIMARS forward, it would put the entire Kherson oblast (the part on the eastern bank of the river) in GMLRS range https://t.co/ZrSXxUUvRM
— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) August 13, 2022
Most of the military command of the Russian occupiers have already left Kherson, says Yuriy Sobolevskyi, Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Council.
— Ukraine Front Lines (@EuromaidanPR) August 14, 2022
All main roads are under fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.Antonov bridge cannot be crossed even on foot.#UkraineFrontLines
Southern Axis Update:#Ukrainian forces again struck the #Antonivsky road bridge near #Kherson City overnight on August 13-14, likely ensuring that all three road bridges into central Kherson Oblast remain unusable.https://t.co/IXZbaCxIu6 pic.twitter.com/JL9LLgc5Sq
— MrGeopolitical (@Conquerors1011) August 15, 2022
Markos has been predicting for weeks that all the Ukrainian talk about retaking Kherson has been designed to lure Russia into sending reinforcements to Kherson, who can ultimately be surrounded and captured as Ukraine destroys the bridges out of the area. Today Markos writes:Another big BOOM on Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, now. The detonation of ammunition is reported #Kherson #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/iuFEFeAXq5
— Special Kherson Cat ππΊπ¦ (@bayraktar_1love) August 13, 2022
Russia continues to flood forces into the Kherson area in response to Ukraine’s repeated declarations that it is just this close from launching its long-expected counter-offensive to retake its land. The whole situation continues to have the feel of a trap as Ukraine systematically eliminates ammunition depots and supply routes into the region....Ukraine has also begun hitting the two bridges connecting Crimea with Kherson oblast. Cutting off Melitopol from the south will be critical to retaking that city....Russia isn’t surrendering that territory without a fight, but … its generals may have lost their appetite for being on the wrong side of the Dnipro.
It’s been a while since we’ve discussed Russia’s inability to mass attacks, and it’s because they adopted, so some success, their “flatten everything with artillery then send some troops for ‘reconnaissance by fire’ to see if any defenses are left standing.” You don’t need to “combine” any “arms” to make that work.But as Russia pushes beyond its supply depots (with HIMARS compounding the problem), and its artillery becomes more exposed to Ukraine’s counter-battery fire, things are reverting to what we saw earlier in the war. And just like then, Russia’s inability to mass firepower into fewer lines of attack means they spread their combat power thin, helping defenses hold....Russia is exhausting itself to gain hundreds of meters in eastern Donbas...
Russia aims to steal Zaporizhzhia’s power by severing its connection to Ukraine’s remaining territory, according to Ukrainian leaders, international nuclear-power experts and the plant’s staff. https://t.co/19KBvV0yjd via @WSJ
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) August 15, 2022
