The Armed Forces of Ukraine carry out extensive offensive reconnaissance mainly by fire and small-scale actions in order to determine the disposition, strength, composition, defense organization, reserves of the Russian Armed Forces
The war in Ukraine continues unabated, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces carrying out, as we will see below, large-scale offensive reconnaissance ahead of their full-scale offensive action to liberate their country’s territories from Russian invaders.
Ukrainian artillery hit Donetsk and Yasinovataya
Specifically, according to Russian media with sources from his country’s Foreign Ministry, “the Ukrainian army carried out 26 strikes in Donetsk and its suburbs in the morning today, and in particular, Ukrainian artillery shelled Donetsk and Yasinovataya”
Today, Donetsk and Yasinovataya became the target of bombardments by the Ukrainian armed forces. This was reported by the representative office of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) at the Joint Control and Coordination Center for War Crimes Issues in Ukraine (JCCC).
According to the JCCC, the Ukrainian army fired 26 155 mm projectiles in two directions. The shelling began at 06:30 Moscow time when the village of Yasinovataya, located near Lastochkino, was hit by eight shells. Then at 07:20, the same area again came under fire, this time ten shells were fired.
The next attack, at 07:25 Moscow time, targeted the city of Donetsk, specifically the Kuibyshev district, from the village of Galitsinovka. A total of eight 155mm shells were fired at Donetsk.
The situation is greatly aggravated by the fact that long-range weapons with a range of up to 500 kilometers have appeared in the arsenal of the Ukrainian army.”
Ukrainians are trying to find the weak point of the Russians in Donetsk
Meanwhile, the commander of “Ahmat” announced the intense activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in various parts of the front
In particular, Apty Alaudinov, Deputy Commander of the Second Army Corps (2ndSS), Commander of the Akhmat Special Forces, notes that the activation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) is observed only in certain sectors of the front, without significant changes in the tactical situation in the front.
“The actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not mainly on the front line and are focused only on specific areas. However, the situation as a whole has not undergone critical changes. Control over the areas under our responsibility is fully maintained .” says Alaudinov.
But the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Jan Gagin, also pointed to the activation of the Ukrainian armed forces on the other side of the line of contact.
Gagin clarified that the Ukrainian army was looking for vulnerable points in the Russian defense perimeter
Finally, we remind you that the leader of Wagner’s mercenaries, Prigozhin, had expressed his fears of a possible occupation of tactically important territories (ETS) in the Bakhmut region by the Ukrainians, which would lead to the encirclement of his men inside the city, following which they could then the Ukrainian armed forces to move towards Kodema, Popasnaya and Gorsky.
Tactical elements
In a military encounter, the winner is the one who succeeds in imposing himself on the enemy on the battlefield.
In order to reach this point, the winner must make as few mistakes as possible against the loser, applying the basic principles of warfare.
In addition to the above, we emphasize that a key element to achieving victory is to mislead and deceive the opponent.
Two elements are those that exist interdependent on the battlefield, fire and maneuver, where until recently the former helped the latter to achieve victory.
However, in recent years, it seems that fire trumps maneuver on modern battlefields.
This is due to the fact of the rapid development of weapon systems that provide high accuracy in firing at long distances, but also the addition of multiple means of surveillance to the armed forces of countries, which negate the possibility of surprising a very large measure.
Armed and surveillance drones, attack helicopters, close air support aircraft, early warning aircraft and satellites are a mixture of weapon systems that significantly reduce combat unit maneuverability, usually movement of the fighting forces on the battlefield, in order to purposely impose on the enemy.
Following the above, we realize the value and also the magnitude of the difficulty of deceiving the enemy, so that he is surprised and defeated on the battlefield.
Offensive reconnaissance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk
The most important contribution to this is offensive reconnaissance, by which we find the weak point in the enemy’s tactical arrangement and then plan our operation incorporating a good plan to deceive the enemy.
At this point, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now, which, thanks to wide offensive reconnaissance conducted mainly by fire and small-scale actions, which is why there is no substantial change in the front line as mentioned above, are trying to verify in conjunction with satellite images , reconnaissance by drones and other means, the layout, strength, composition, defense organization, reserves of the Russian Armed Forces.
They will then proceed to draw up an operations plan, where they will include the plan to deceive the enemy, in order to launch their big spring attack.
In conclusion, we emphasize that in our opinion the main part of the attacking Ukrainian armed forces will bypass Bakhmut, trying either to encircle it or to isolate it, in order to succeed in liberating territories further east of it. this.