Marta Hychko10:12, 08/13/24

The debris of a lost battle is scattered on the border: the remains of Russians, bullet casings and discarded body armor.

All that remains of the Russian border post are ruins, stray dogs and abandoned customs declarations. The Russians hastily fled from it under the pressure of the advancing Ukrainian troops .

As  The New York Times writes , Ukrainian armored vehicles broke through the border unhindered, covering the flow of infantry. The largest foreign invasion of Russia since World War II continues.

There are many risks for Ukraine

At the checkpoint, a Ukrainian military man standing on the side of the road waved to the passing forces. Instead, a few days ago, the chief of the Russian General Staff announced that the attack had been repulsed. The debris of a lost battle is scattered on the border: the remains of Russians, bullet casings and discarded body armor.

The transition to Russian soil was an important moment for Ukraine in its war with Russia. During the first month of the war, Ukraine did strike back with a helicopter assault across the border and regularly bombarded Russian oil refineries and airfields with drones. Two previous smaller incursions into Russia by groups of Russian émigrés with the support of the Ukrainian army ended in a swift retreat.

But until last week, Ukrainian troops did not invade Russia. The Armed Forces easily cut through the weakly defended border, advancing tens of kilometers deep into Russia and changing the history of the war after a gloomy year. Two dozen settlements were captured.

“I’m glad to go to Russia in a tank, and it’s better than they went to our country in tanks,” said one Ukrainian military officer.

Not all equipment survived. Journalists saw how on-board platforms dragged the damaged MaxxPro to Ukraine. On both sides, several buildings were destroyed by Russian aerial bombs, which indicates brutal air attacks. Where the road crossed a high open plain, clouds of smoke rose from all sides.

“There are many risks for Ukraine. The offensive aims to force Russia to divert its troops from the fierce fighting in eastern Donbas, which has not yet happened, and to gain leverage in peace negotiations, although they are not planned. The question is whether Ukraine will be able to hold Russian land long enough for achievement of these strategic goals remains open,” the newspaper writes.

A turn in the war

Vladimir Putin promised that the attack would not soften his position in the negotiations. Russian forces continued to attack Ukrainian forces in the east, although the Russians are repelling an offensive in the Kursk region. But the Ukrainian armored columns going to Russia are a significant turning point in the war.

Ukrainian troops breached the border on Tuesday in a surprise attack that began with demining the roads. Armored vehicles followed them, breaking through the thin defense of young conscripts and border guards.

The attack on the Suja border post left a terrible scene of ruins just a few hundred kilometers south of Moscow. The Armed Forces entered the territory of Russia for several tens of kilometers.

On Monday, about a dozen Ukrainian soldiers in surgical masks swore as they pulled out dead Russian soldiers and put them in body bags. The outpost was clearly not ready for a tank and artillery assault.

Ukraine was preparing secretly. Thick summer leaves in oak-maple forests hid heavy machinery. Fictitious exercises hid the movement of troops. The soldiers dispersed and spent the night in abandoned houses.

Only at the last moment, according to the deputy commander of the Ukrainian brigade, even the senior officers were informed about the attack. The commander, who asked for his name and rank, lieutenant colonel Artem said that he called his subordinate officers to a meeting at the edge of the forest to announce the offensive. It was three days before the operation. Private soldiers found out only the day before.

“The idea that we would really enter the territory of Russia seemed incredible,” said the colonel.

According to him, there was a very strict limit on those who knew about the attack plan. Still, when news spread through personnel, the army relied on the discretion of its soldiers. Officers did not take the soldiers’ phones, hoping they would keep the secret.

The strategy was to quickly break through the border defenses and maneuver on the roads, blocking Russian counterattacks and taking advantage of the hilly landscape in this part of Russia, which is interspersed with marshes and lakes, limiting the Russians’ ability to move by road.

“This is a blow to the authority of Russia, which presents itself as a victorious empire. But we have created a buffer zone inside this country,” said the lieutenant colonel.

The secrecy of the attack was of the utmost importance

Last year, after the government announced a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine for several months, which ultimately failed. A research institute affiliated with the Ministry of Defense studied successful military operations. Experts have found a common thread: the silence of the political leadership contributes to the achievement of goals. This week, Ukrainian officials waited several days to even admit that they had invaded Russia.

“It is appropriate to share details, comment and brag only after the operation is over,” said Ivan Kyrychevskyi, a military expert of the Ukrainian analytical group Defense Express.

At the border, secrecy was expensive. Unable to warn residents, Ukraine was forced to evacuate them after Russia responded by bombing Ukrainian border villages. Ukraine said it was evacuating 20,000 people.

44-year-old Nataliya Vyalina, a kindergarten teacher who lives in the Ukrainian village of Khotyn, heard on Tuesday morning how tracked vehicles were moving on the roads. That day her village was bombed. The woman approved of Ukraine’s strategy, even though she was forced to flee.

“Let them try to be occupied, invaded, hear how children cry in bomb shelters, see how old people suffer,” she said in a shelter for displaced people from the border zone.

“I want the war to end,” said Vera Prostatina, a 65-year-old retired accountant who was forced to leave her home. “But now the Russians are taking over villages and towns. Let this be a lesson to them. The enemy must be punished. They have brought us war and destroyed our lives. Now I want it to end for them and for us.”

A few hundred meters inside Russia, the road is strewn with holes from mortars. A road sign indicating the direction of a turn towards Ukraine or Russia is littered with shrapnel. The explosions tore off the blue sheet of the Russian border post.

Bloodstains on the floor and scattered bandages indicated that the Russian soldiers had lost the battle in this place. Here, Russia faltered on its own land. An explosion rang out in the passport control hall. Flat screens hung from the roof on wires. Rubles, not collected by Ukrainians, lay outside on the roadsides.

Battles in the Kursk region

As you know, fighting on the territory of Russia has been going on since August 6. Ukraine did not comment on the situation until yesterday, when the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi announced the control of  about 1,000 square kilometers  of the territory of the Russian Federation, and President Zelenskyi announced his intention to protect the border from Russian strikes and attacks.

A Ukrainian military official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the Defense Forces advanced deep into the territory of the occupiers  at a distance of up to 30 kilometers  in a straight line. Officially, the details of the advances and the location of the military are not disclosed.

(C)UNIAN 2024