Hundreds of Russians are surrounded at a chemical plant in Vovchansk, the main battleground of the Russian offensive in the north.
At least 30 Russians surrendered over the weekend. The others have nowhere to flee or hide. And now the Ukrainian Air Force is attacking them, with precision bombs.
Over the weekend, the equivalent of several Russian battalions captured the PJSC Volchansky plant in central Vovchansk, a city with a pre-war population of 18,000 and just 8 kilometers south of Ukraine’s northern border with Russia.
Vovchansk was the first main objective of the Russian offensive in the north, which began on May 10 and would possibly eventually aim to capture Kharkiv, a city of 1. 4 million people 40 kilometers south of the border.
But the grouping of Russian forces in the north, with several tens of thousands of soldiers, never went beyond Vovchansk. Several Ukrainian brigades, in addition to the elite 82nd Air Assault Brigade, rushed north to engage the Russians. In the United States, the Ukrainians fought the Russians street by street, building after building, and halted their advance in late May.
After a few weeks of grueling urban fighting, Russian commanders have made an ambitious decision. They ordered a giant force to capture PJSC Volchansky, in order to use the plant and its wrought concrete buildings as a base to attempt to cross the Vovcha River. flowing from east to west, just south of the plant and bureaucracy, an herbal fortification for Ukrainians protecting southern Vovchansk.
But a swift Ukrainian attack, along the north-south street of Soborna, just west of the chemical plant, would have isolated the 400 Russians sheltering there. On Monday, a map of the front line preserved through the Ukrainian research organization Deep State still indicated that the plant was cut off from the main core of Russian troops west of Soborna Street.
And now the Ukrainian Air Force has joined the battle. Air Force fighters (Mikoyan MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-27, or any of them) drop American- or French-made precision bombs at the factory. Rob Lee, an analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, knows 3 videos that show Ukrainian bombs recently hitting the main plant complex.
A Russian blogger compares the fighting in Vochansk to two of the most brutal battles of Russia’s 28-month war against Ukraine: Russia’s long-running sieges of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. The Russian air force dropped dozens of bombs on Avdiivka every day, gradually reducing the city to rubble and forcing the Ukrainian garrison to retreat in February.
“The bad news,” the blogger wrote, “is that the enemy has its own hammer-guided bombs, which is also a serious problem. “
France has pledged 50 Hammer bombs per month for Ukraine’s war effort. The United States has most likely provided Ukraine with thousands of similar bombs with retractable wings, guided by satellite and, depending on the style, potentially loaded with pounds of explosive charge.
By flying low and fast and climbing at the last minute before dropping their ammunition, Ukrainian fighters armed with six bombs each can avoid Russian air defenses and hit targets 25 miles or more away (40 miles in the case of the United States). Diameter pump. It is not easy to fight them,” says the Russian blogger.
By attacking those loads of infantrymen entrenched in the chemical plant, the Ukrainians are giving the Russians a taste of their own medicine. It is not unusual practice for the Russian Air Force to bomb Ukrainian positions before a ground attack.
It’s a terrifying experience for Ukrainians. ” These bombs absolutely destroy any position,” wrote Egor Sugar, a soldier in the Ukrainian army’s 3rd Assault Brigade, who fought in Avdiivka.
Now it is up to the Russians to be afraid and bury themselves in the concrete.
Sources:
1. Center for Defense Strategies: https://cdsdailybrief. substack. com/p/russias-war-on-ukraine-170624
2. Deep State: https://deepstatemap. live/en#15/50. 2920/36. 9356
3. Rob Lee: https://x. com/RALee85/status/1802598596228894720
4. War translated: https://x. com/wartranslated/status/1802607652305867127
5. Egor Sucre: https://x. com/SugarEgor/status/1758538023539556496
A community. Many voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.
Our network aims to connect other people through open and thoughtful conversations. We need our readers to share their perspectives and exchange ideas and facts in one space.
To do so, please comply with the posting regulations in our site’s terms of use. Below we summarize some of those key regulations. In short, civilians.
Your message will be rejected if we realize that it seems to contain:
User accounts will be blocked if we become aware that users are engaged in:
So, how can you be a user?
Thank you for reading our Community Standards. Read the full list of publication regulations discovered in our site’s terms of use.