Ukraine - And so it begins: the ‘Storm from the North’

‘STORM FROM THE NORTH’: Russian Forces Open New Front in Northern Kharkov, Take a Dozen Villages In a Day (VIDEOS)

Paul Serran

And so it begins: the ‘Storm from the North’. The long-awaited new front in northern Kharkov Oblast.

Group of the Russian Armed Forces ‘North’, that has been talked about for a long time, is now a reality, has advanced crossing into Ukraine and, on the first day Russian forces have already seized Zelene, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Pletenivka, Strilecha, Krasne, Pylna, and Borysivka.

I will try to relay a sense of what’s happening with the invaluable help of the coverage of Telegram channels, notably Sputnik, Slavyangrad, Intel Slava Z and Bellum Acta.

Russian Federation forces have penetrated the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from 3 to 5 km in Kharkov region, with a control zone in the border area to 110 square kilometers.

This will have a ripple effect in all the 600-mile-long frontline. As soon as Ukrainian top General Syrsky begins to transfer units to the northern regions of Kharkov and Sumy, the front in Donetsk will fold, and Chasov Yar, Kurakhovo and Krasnoarmeysk are expected to instantly collapse.

Ukrainian Armed Forces in fact have withdrawn some of the units of the 42nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade from the front near Chasov Yar and are hastily transferring troops north.

The sites of attacks on the locations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually increasing in number and in depth. If the pace of strikes continues, most of the fortified areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon cease to exist.

Syrsky’s General Staff is reportedly more concerned by a Russian army breakthrough to Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo (in Donetsk) than of Kharkov.

They are transferring personnel and equipment, but it’s not a massive movement.

Although they ‘know’ about the Kharkov attack, they also fear that it is a ‘ruse’ to drain defenses from Donetsk. They don’t know at all where the ‘main attack’ will be delivered.

Russian troops are achieving ‘tactically significant successes’, writes the American Institute for the Study of War.

It is highly likely that Russian forces have reserves ready to commit to intensifying offensive operations north of Kharkov in the coming days.

“Indirect artillery fire, combined with ongoing glide bombing and missile strikes, will most likely be aimed at creating the conditions for a larger offensive on Kharkov at a later time.”

During the assault operations, units of the ‘North’ Group took 42 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as prisoners, and the number of killed Ukrainian Armed Forces militants already exceeds 150 people.