Putin Embarrased! Russia Ran Out Of Assault Vehicles! - RFU News

[TexasTowelie]

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Kursk direction.

Here, Russians launched a new offensive into Ukrainian territory, trying to cut off the remaining Ukrainian forces in Kursk. However, as their fallen soldiers piled up along the border, it quickly became clear that any hope for the Russians to launch their own incursion was too far-fetched.

Initially, Russian forces attempted to overrun Ukrainian troops through direct assaults on the contingent as they withdrew from Kursk. However, the Ukrainians had established solid fallback lines at Gogolevka and Rubanschina to secure their withdrawal, forcing the Russians into a three-day battle for the small settlement of Rubanschina, which massively delayed Russian advances. As it became clear that attempting to overrun the Ukrainians directly would lead to further failure, the Russians decided on an entirely different approach.

Russians still aimed to encircle and eliminate the remaining Ukrainian contingent in Kursk and Sumy, despite the larger part of the force having already pulled back successfully. To still claim victory, the Russians decided to launch an offensive into the Sumy region itself. The main focus of the Russian effort became capturing Novenke and Basivka and gaining direct fire control over the Sumy-Sudzha highway, which remains the primary Ukrainian supply line for their efforts to the northeast. Securing the road would trap Ukrainian defenders and finally set conditions to capture at least some of the withdrawing Ukrainian forces.

However, the Russians suffered from a massive drawback; catastrophic losses sustained in Kursk severely undermined their ability to launch a follow-up offensive into Ukrainian territories. According to various estimates, Russian forces suffered up to 55,000 casualties during the seven-and-a-half months of intense fighting and multiple failed counteroffensive attempts in Kursk. Notably, these losses far exceed the initial deployment of 50,000 soldiers Russians had initially moved to Kursk to repulse the Ukrainian incursion, as Russians had to move an increasingly large number of reserves from other sectors of the front, amongst them even wounded soldiers, as well as rely on the North Koreans, to finally push the Ukrainians out. Ukrainian sources also report that Russians have lost up to 2,100 vehicles in Kursk, including over 750 armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and tanks, resulting in a significant deficit in the Russian forces' armored reserve at Kursk.

While the exact number of Russian forces still present and combat-ready in this sector is unknown, it is clear they do not have the ability to launch their follow-up offensive to encircle even a part of the Ukrainian Kursk forces. As a result, geolocated footage shows that also here, Russian soldiers were forced to cross open fields to assault Ukrainian positions on foot, in improved vehicles, and even on electric scooters. Despite the lack of proper vehicles, Russians sent forth a continuous wave of assaults, hoping to overwhelm Ukrainians and accomplish their objectives through sheer numbers.

Unfortunately for the Russians, the unarmored nature of the vehicles Russians used allowed Ukrainians to leverage their artillery to inflict even more devastating losses on the Russian attacks. Additionally, Ukrainian drone operators had by this point had to time to completely relocate to the rear in Sumy, launching waves of drones at the constant Russian assaults. The devolving nature of Russian military capabilities in one of their most important sectors that is Kursk, highlights the desperate conditions the Russian military finds itself in.

Additionally, the Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod only made the situation worse for Russians, as the already dwindled number of reserves had to be urgently redirected to halt the second Ukrainian advance into Russian territory. With the active frontline now increasing by over a third, Russian forces quickly lost their ability to send continuous waves of soldiers into their flanking operation, as their efforts ultimately stalled.

Overall, the Russians attempted to achieve a breakthrough in the Sumy region of Ukraine and to cut off the Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Kursk, only for their lack of proper equipment to ultimately doom their offensive plans. With Ukrainians having pulled most of their troops out already, these soldiers stand ready to repulse any future reintensified Russian effort into Ukraine. However, as dead Russian infantry pile up on the approaches and forests leading into Sumy, the prospect of any large-scale Russian offensive into Ukrainian territory becomes increasingly unfeasible.

[niyad]

1. Slava Ukraini. Thank you for the update.