The recently promoted Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky, famous for continuing Zelensky’s policy of pocket resistance, announced in an interview with CNN the success of the Kursk operation after claiming as proof Russia’s failure to advance “a single kilometer” in the Pokrovsk direction.
Syrsky committed these statements to the historical record after Ukraine’s defense of the village called Lesovka, located on the southern end of the two prongs in the Pokrovsk direction—Ocheretyne in the north, Netailove in the south, passed from Ukrainian to Russian hands, repudiating Skyrsky’s claim of “a single kilometer” with the fall of an entire village.
Saudi Arabia’s news media, Al-Arabiya, published a summary of the interview in an article entitled: “أوكرانيا: عملية كورسك ناجحة.. وروسيا لم تتقدم بالشرق منذ أيام.” In the interview, Syrsky is quoted as saying,
“وقال سيرسكي في مقابلة مع شبكة “سي. إن. إن” إن التقدم الروسي توقف. وأضاف “خلال الأيام الستة الماضية لم يتقدم العدو مترا واحدا باتجاه بوكروفسك. وبعبارة أخرى، نقول إن استراتيجيتنا ناجحة.”
Syrsky’s statement about “a single kilometer” comes after days of Russian advances in the Pokrovsk direction, one the consequences of which became the withdrawal of the 47th Mechanized Brigade. The 47th Mechanized Brigade, one of the most elite, NATO trained, best equipped, was forced to withdraw after the disintegration of its tank company. After suffering irreplaceable losses in Abrams tanks, the brigade could not no longer reconstitute the company.
After the 47th Mechanized Brigade withdrew, the Russians continued to advance in the Pokrovsk direction, causing panic to spread throughout Ukraine’s general staff until Ukraine decided to deploy its National Guard in the form of the 15th Mechanized Brigade, which is known as “Kara-Dag”. According to Syrsky, the Russians failed to advance “a single kilometer” in eastern Ukraine these past six days due to the 15th’s deployment.
Ukraine’s “Kara-Dag” brigade has put up stiff resistance to Russian advances on the approach to Selydove in the village of Mikhailivka, the entryway into Selydove. The number of losses Russia lost in the village appear to be historic. According to one of the journalists quoted by the Western, Ukrainian as well as Russian sources, David Axe, the historic losses reached nearly “200 vehicles in a day.”[1]
Together with Kara-Dag Brigade, Ukraine’s 12th Azov Brigade and the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, Ukraine is launching small counterattacks, although these have not been enough to stop Russia’s continued advances into Pokrovsk. Russia’s 2nd Combined Arms Army, for instance, has continued to advance throughout the heights opposite Kurakhove, which is located some 100 to 150 kilometers below the levels at which both Donilovka as well as Lesovka.
A Russian reporter reported on the fall of these villages in a post on September 6th, 2024. He stated: “114 бригада ВС РФ подошла с фланга к н п Украинск, освободив перед этим село Долиновку. Враг упорно не отдавал этот небольшой населенный пункт, но грамотные действия 114 бригады заставили противника бежать.” Apparently, the 114th Brigade has captured more than 40% of the settlements in the Pokrovsk direction.[2]
“The high terrain in and around Pokrovsk has the effect of channeling attacking forces into the city’s lower southern approaches. That also channels them into Selydove, whose peak elevation is around 100 feet below the highest ground in Pokrovsk.”[3] The Russians are exploiting this peak advantage with an array of artillery, FPV drones, or mortars.
One of Ukraine’s military bloggers, whose work is frequently cited throughout the world’s news media, stated of Russia’s advance the following: “Найбільш гарячі ділянки фронту — Покровськ. Там українські військові щодня стримують орду кацапів, які без перестану лізуть на позиції наших бійців.”[4]
DeepStateUA’s comment about the relentlessness of Russia’s advance in the Pokrovsk direction is a reflection of the results Russa’s 2CAA has continued to achieve since its deployment to the direction in August. In July, 2024 Russians advanced at a pace of 5 square kilometers per day. In mid-August, the pace picked up to 11 square kilometers a day. After the 2CAA deployed to the Pokrovsk direction, the pace more than doubled, approaching 28 kilometers per day.
In a reflection of the significance of Russia’s advance in the Pokrovsk direction, the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies, a research centre to advance Zelensky’s servitude to NATO’s geopolitics, has accurately what is at strake for Pokrovsk. It predicted: “The upcoming battle for Pokrovsk will be the climax of the enemy’s offensive operation in the southwestern theater of operations in 2024.”
Ukraine’s Kursk operation, however, is reaching its fourth week without noticeable results. After the initial invasion, Ukraine failed to assert control over any additional military objectives, most especially the Kursk nuclear power plant.
While the pace of Russia’s advance may not have stopped at “a single kilometer,” Ukraine’s small counterattacks have undoubtedly slowed Russia down. When the amount of daylight equals dark, the summer ends. With the autumnal equinox only weeks away, Russia’s winter offensive from Avdiivka’s fall on February 17th, 2024 to the present depends on the outcome of the battle for Pokrovsk, in whose direction Ukraine’s fronts continuously collapse.
The continuous collapse of Ukraine’s fronts before the climatic battle at Pokrovsk comes at an inflection point for the U.S.-led Ukrainian proxy force. With the WSJ attempting to cover up the loss of one of Ukraine’s six F-16 fighter jets together with one of the pilots NATO paid more than 60 million dollars to train, the hundreds of billions of dollars companies like Blackrock have invested into war bonds for Ukraine’s death agony have become insolvent.[5, 6, 7] Against the backdrop of Ukraine’s insolvency, NATO, whose war in Ukraine is at a strategic terminus, does not appear to be prepared to transfer more F-16s into the crosshairs of Russia’s long range strike. NATO, nonetheless, approved more than $250 million in Ukrainian aid before the “‘критичний момент’ для України у світлі наближення зими.” [8]
References
[1] – [“As The Russians March On Pokrovsk, the Ukrainians Damage Or Destroy Nearly 200 Vehicles In One Day,” Forbes, September 3rd, 2024]
[2] – [RtrDonetsk:26779]
[3] – [“Ukrainian Reinforcements Are Counterattacking Outside Pokrovsk,” Forbes, September 6th, 2024]
[4] – [DeepStateUA:20282]
[5] – [“Ukraine’s Other Problem: Spiraling Debt,” Foreign Policy, July 18th, 2024]
[6] – [“S&P affirms Ukraine’s ‘selective’ default rating after country secures approval for debt restructuring,” Reuters, August 30th, 2024]
[7] – [“Ukraine has a month to avoid default,” The Economist, June 30th, 2024]
[8] – [“Остін на “Рамштайні” анонсував новий пакет військової допомоги США для України на $250 млн, Українська правда, 6 ВЕРЕСНЯ 2024.]