At the beginning of the year, Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region increased significantly. US military analysts are not ruling out a major offensive on Ukraine's second-largest city.
Kharkiv – It would be the next horror scenario in the Ukraine war, perhaps an increase in brutality: street fighting in a big city where many civilians live. The Kremlin regime could currently be planning a major offensive on Ukraine's second largest city in terms of population after Kiev.
Ukraine War: Is Vladimir Putin planning a Russian offensive on Kharkiv?
We are talking about Kharkiv in the extreme north-east of the battered country. The city is not only home to around 1.4 million residents, it is also an important science and education center with several universities and colleges. What makes Kharkiv an even more interesting target for the treacherous Moscow autocrat Vladimir Putin?
“Russian forces may step up their efforts to capture Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region in the coming weeks,” write the analysts at the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW). An offensive on Kharkiv itself cannot be ruled out, the American think tank predicts increased Russian attacks with rockets and artillery on the city of over a million inhabitants and its surroundings at the beginning of January.
What's more: The fact that the attacks are increasing significantly again for the first time since spring 2022 is arousing speculation that Putin could order the conquest of Kharkiv before the (undemocratic) presidential election in Russia (March 15 to 17), writes Mirror online. After all, the city is only 40 kilometers from the Russian border in the Belgorod region.
Russian Belgorod Oblast: Ukrainian army detects no major troop concentration
According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army has not detected any major troop concentrations. But recent reports from Belgorod Oblast are drawing attention. The Ukrainians vehemently attacked the city of the same name, Belgorod, from the air on January 4th, which is why, according to Russian reports, there were some evacuations. In several surrounding communities, the Christmas holidays were extended until January 19th. Because something is brewing militarily? Speculation.
The ISW recently recorded at least “significant fighting” around Kupyansk (formerly 30,000 inhabitants), which is located about 80 kilometers southeast of the city limits of Kharkiv. According to US analysts, the Russian troops stationed there are less worn out than elsewhere. Kupyansk is not only a strategically important railway junction, the P07 national road also runs from here to just outside the gates of Kharkiv.
Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast: Ukrainians hold only a limited strip of land on the Oskil River
Loud ntv.de The Ukrainians only hold a limited strip of land east of the Oskil River. The question is how well the hinterland up to the city of over a million people is secured by Ukrainian troops. Apparently, the few remaining operational Leopard 2 tanks are being moved back and forth between the contested front lines near Kupyansk and near Kreminna, 90 kilometers to the southeast.
Just one indication among several that things are particularly burning. As photos from a recent troop visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky document, the Ukrainian units near Kupyansk also have modern CV 90 armored personnel carriers from Sweden. Because it will soon need clout there? Meanwhile, Kharkiv could be militarily desirable for Putin for various reasons.
Battle of Kharkiv: Russian army suffered defeat in a major Ukrainian city
For example, Ukrainian defenders inflicted a crushing defeat on Moscow's invading forces here in the so-called “Battle of Kharkiv” between February and April 2022. How The Washington Post and Forbes Later reported, the Russian 20th Guards Army was said to have failed to take the city, although it reportedly attacked with 560 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and around 300 T-72 main battle tanks.
| Kharkiv | |
| Title: | “Hero City of Ukraine” |
| Region/Location: | Kharkiv Oblast / northeastern Ukraine |
| Resident: | 1.42 million (before the start of the war) |
| known by: | scientific and cultural center in the east of the country |
| militarily important because: | Industrial center (electrical, food and chemical industries; mechanical and rail vehicle construction), transport hub (airport, railway) |
Instead, on February 27, Russian soldiers were driven out of the suburbs by territorial defense forces after fierce street fighting, and from May Kharkiv was finally one of the starting points for the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2022, in which the 20th Guards Army was pushed back behind the border. Because of its resilience, Zelensky later honored Kharkiv as the “Hero City of Ukraine.” A supposed disgrace that Putin wants to eradicate?
Russian offensive against Kharkiv? Ukrainian defenders are running out of ammunition
It is not the only historical reference; Putin is known to think in historical dimensions: In August 1943, the Red Army of the Soviet Union crushed the German Wehrmacht in the Belgorod-Kharkov operation. Today, the acute Ukrainian ammunition shortage could play into the hands of the Russians near Kharkiv due to slow deliveries from the West.
Like that Editorial Network Germany (RND) With reference to retired US General Ben Hodges, the Ukrainians have long had to ration artillery shells. It is correspondingly difficult to maintain defensive positions. According to the Ukrainian military, the rate of fire had to be reduced by 90 percent in several locations compared to summer 2023. Why could it soon be about Kharkiv again? (pm)
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