Posted on 06/22/2023 9:31:08 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Where is the Ukrainian army’s 117th Mechanized Brigade?
The answer to that question has implications for Ukraine’s 18-day-old southern counteroffensive, which has been making slow progress along several axes in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts.
Kyiv and its foreign allies spent months standing up, training and equipping nine new brigades specifically for the counteroffensive, plus additional brigades that would function as a reserve.
But so far we’ve seen just three, maybe four, of the brigades in action alongside older Ukrainian formations. The 117th Mechanized Brigade is one of the missing brigades. Where the brigade is, and what it’s waiting for, could speak volumes about Kyiv’s strategy as the counteroffensive grinds into its third week.
When the Ukrainians attacked starting the night of June 4, they did so in battalion-size formations along three or four main sectors. These attacks, while ultimately successful, were costly.
Elements of the new 37th Marine Brigade outran its artillery support near Velyka Novosilka and lost several AMX-10RC reconnaissance vehicles. A battlegroup from a pair of new brigades—the 33rd Mechanized and 47th Assault Brigades—got mired in a minefield south of Mala Tomachka and abandoned a couple dozen of its best tanks, fighting vehicles and breaching vehicles.
It’s possible Ukrainian commanders were probing for gaps in Russian defenses along the southern front line—and holding back the bulk of their forces, saving them for an eventual exploitation of a breach.
“We know this is going to take time, and we are confident that the Ukrainians have what they need,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday. “They have the combat power.”
But where is that combat power? Have the Ukrainians staged all nine of their new brigades in the south? How close are they to the front line? How fast could they roll into action?
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
wouldn’t be smart for the ukes to throw all their brigades against the well prepared russian defenses in the south.
in another couple weeks the dneiper mud flats will be completely dried up.
They’ll be able to throw a couple of pontoon bridges across the small river and send all their troops into unguarded crimea.
Hmmmm. I suppose the Ukrainian Army didn’t call the media (Forbes) to give them intel about the whereabouts and battle plan.
It is only some moron like Biden (in Afghanistan) will telegraph and pre-announce such plans.
It is what it is. Forbes, if you don’t go and live on-site, don’t expect to get info for gratis.
Gwjack
They probably got the hell outta there. Can’t blame them. Send the Ghost of Kiev in there.
That's probably the best move. But the Russians will be able to observe that we are giving the Ukrainians pontoon bridges and then they'll mine the beaches at Crimea.
But the Russians will be able to observe that we are giving the Ukrainians pontoon bridges and then they’ll mine the beaches at Crimea.
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There’s two parts. The first is crossing the dneiper river and capturing the lands to the south and east of the dneiper.
It may well be that the best the ukes can do this year is to win back this area.
Then there is the island of crimea. that’s seperated from the rest of southern ukraine by a couple of bridges.
I think that the ukes just blew one of those bridges.
Its less likely that the ukes will be able to get to the island of crimea this year.
Dead
If the millenial former spokeswoman for the Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign, and husband of Nancy Pelosi political advisor says so - we can rest assured the Russians will be defeated any day now.
Singh is married to Mike Smith, the political director for Nancy Pelosi
No No. Like Patton in WWII, they’ve outrun their supply lines. they are half way to Moscow.
They are so far ahead and moving so fast, no one has been able to contact them.
You consider the Denier a small river?
You consider the Denier a small river?
the dneiper was backed up into a large lake by the dam.
the dam was blown up.
the river is no longer a mile across.
Its much smaller now.
How much smaller?
I don’t know.
But the russians did run pontoon bridges across the dneiper when it was a mile wide.
should be easier to do now.
You’re more up to date about it than I am. I last saw it seven years ago when it was quite wide.
“But the Russians will be able to observe that we are giving the Ukrainians pontoon bridges and then they’ll mine the beaches at Crimea.”
No one ever went broke betting on the stupidity and incompetence of Mother Russia. So you can’t be sure.
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No one ever went broke betting on the stupidity and incompetence of Mother Russia. So you can’t be sure.
.....
The russians have good intelligence on ukraine. their spy sattelites seem to work.
imho for the ukes to do a successful crossing—they’ll have to lay the pontoon bridge at night and move men and equipment all at once in one night. AND they’ll have to have a lot of anti air batteries around the bridge. the rus will certainly try to destroy the bridge. with missles, airplanes and helicopters.
The Ukrainians should invade Belarus, it is lightly defended by the Russian troops. Belarusian troops are unlikely to defend Alexander Lukashenko so they'll surrender. Then they'll threaten Moscow. There are 300,000 Russian troops in Ukraine so Putin will have to pull some troops from the front to defend Moscow. The West would be unlikely to condemn Ukraine. They hate Alexander Lukashenko after the stunt he pulled a couple years ago for flooding the EU's borders with refugees from the Middle East.
How long until we hear the stories of US troops missing in a training accident?
Vaporized.
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