The fact that 24 hours later we’re still waiting for confirmation of Ukrainian forces at Ternova is certainly concerning, but then, it took at least that long to confirm that Ukraine had recaptured Staryi Saltiv. It’s almost as if the Ukrainian troops at the vanguard of assaults in the Kharkiv area have been told to not immediately send video clips and photographs—conveniently geolocated—of their every move.
One thing that seems very clear is that there is still fighting going on immediately outside Lyptsi, so Russia is certainly not abandoning all its positions in this area. We can be sure that Russia still has forces just north of this town, because artillery was directed from there toward Ukrainian positions closer to Kharkiv. It does look like Vesele may have been captured, as most of the activity—both reports and satellite data—have moved north along the road toward Neskuchne, but I’m leaving it as contested for now. There is definitely still fighting in the little mini-salient extending down to Pervika.
Ukraine and Russia controlled settlements, Kharkiv area
There’s a change in both software and layout for the map tonight. Hopefully it gives a better sense of which areas are under control and where there is dispute.
Despite statements from both Ukraine and Russia that they were preparing to advance in the Kherson area, that doesn’t seem to have happened yet. There was some tank-to-tank fighting north of the city at the the beginning of the day, but there seems to be little action in terms of artillery, and no reports of new settlements captured by either side. Russian attempts to advance toward Lyman and Ozerne to the east of Izyum were turned back, with Russia suffering multiple vehicle losses, but details are sketchy.
And that seems to be about it. Something of a breather day in terms of updating maps, but a day that was still almost certainly unbroken hell on the ground. Which seems like a good opportunity to post this story of a Ukrainian officer and a Russian pontoon bridge.
Summing up the thread, an engineering officer for Ukraine was informed of a Russian attempt to cross the Siverskyi Donets a couple of kilometers east of Ozerne, where Russia had another failed advance on Wednesday. By seeing the position Russia was starting from, the engineer was able to predict where they were going, how many bridging sections it would take to get there, and how long Russia would take to complete the operation. Under cover of fog and smoke, Ukrainian teams prepared and, sure enough, the Russians aimed directly for the spot the engineer predicted.
Russia needed to get eight pieces of bridging in place to complete the crossing. Ukrainian troops let them get to seven. And then …
When the artillery let up, the planes took over the job, with the Ukrainian Air Force streaking in to drop bombs on the Russian position. The results of the engineer’s prediction, and the immediate, accurate action by the heavy artillery and aircraft can be seen in the tweets below.
That’s an entire Battalion Tactical Group wiped out in a moment: a BTG and then some. Plus boats. Plus bridge sections. Plus bridging equipment. Plus all the men who had the expertise to complete this work. It’s definitely worth going back and reading the full account from the engineer involved, but the best bit may be about how to complete his observations, he employed ordinary consumer drones shipped out to him by a friend.
Gotta have those sweets. However, this event was anything but sweet for the Russians attempting to cross the river. This is not the first such attempt that Ukrainian forces have halted. In one day, three bridges were stopped in another area closer to the eastern lines, though none of those efforts seemed to come with anything like this kind of equipment count.
Seriously, go read the thread and understand the steps that were involved: scouting, planning, getting forces into position, and then striking at just the critical moment when Russian forces were most exposed. There are a couple of money-asks in this thread, and I have to state right now that I can’t confirm that this guy is real, or that he really did what he says he did here. This is not an endorsement. But man, if he’s a fake … he’s a good one.
